nicholasf

Varanasi was the place I'd most imagined visiting for this Indian holiday. My quintessential image of India has always been people bathing in the Ganges on the ghats (large stone stairs leading into the water); just one of those images I picked up at some stage and wanted to see for myself. Then, having read further about it, ideas like it probably being the oldest populated city in the world (Iron Age settlement, 1000 BC), being the home of learning and spirituality, etc., etc., also hooked me. I took a hotel immediately on the river, spending the most on a room anywhere in India. I wanted a balcony with a table and chair, so I could work overlooking the river. I was given a lower room, and lacked such a vantage point, although there were views ... read more

I leave Kolkata tonight on the train for New Jalpaiguri, to reach Darjeeling. Kolkata has been a mixed experience for me. The first thing to mention is the extreme poverty, though I gather that has been improved in the last few years (in the central district, anyhow). The hotel's driver met me at the airport and wordlessly led me to the car. There, an old woman with a cane immediately intervened herself between the door and myself, asking for money. I didn't give it. I have barely given any money away here, on the street, because I've found it so confusing about how to judge things (see the title). I'm planning to make a donation to a charity which does verify as being trustworthy upon my return, though. I should also say that none of the ... read more

My first impression of Mumbai, and India, was sudden and vivid, despite a slight disinterest I felt upon arrival. The disinterest may sound odd. I chose to visit India on impulse when another programmer in Melbourne (I'll call him Yob) mentioned he was attending a conference in Bangalore. I'm not interested in conferences, but I had been meaning to travel to another country. It made sense to book the ticket. But as the date approached I wondered if I had the enthusiasm necessary to throw myself into another trip. Perhaps I also felt a germ of unease about the Indian culture, for typical reasons of narrow-mindedness but also for personal ones. The flight took 14.5 hours. I barely slept. Local time on arrival was 1:55 am. Trudging through Mumbai airport I found myself in 70s décor, ... read more

Osaka. I arrived this afternoon, after walking the 'Path of Philosophy' in Kyoto. Sundays always make me feel like being at home, and catching the train, finally, to Osaka, the place of my departure this Wednesday, made me think how I'd come full circle. Almost full circle. Tomorrow I'm going to Hiroshima. I planned it as the last place of significance to visit in my trip, because I want to use the holiday as something more than an opportunity to take photographs of pretty places. And, on that note, Kyoto ... I was frustrated with it, at first. Just as, in Italy in 2004, I was frustrated with Florence after leaving Rome. Kyoto is not unlike Tokyo in its centre, grand skyscrapers and architectural wonders of glass and steel. But there are more tourists, crowding everywhere, ... read more

I suppose I have to be very brief, I don't want to spend too much time blogging. Faced with the idea of writing a blog about my last weekend in Tokyo, well, I can either write 5000 words or 50. So I'm compromising with 500 to 1000. Friday night - exhaustion, brief visit to Shinjuku. Sake in Minamo Yono (Ben's place). Saturday. Ben and I began wandering around Shinjuku. One interesting thing about the Japanese concept of order is that they naturally form lines - on train platforms, waiting for buses, or even complex, bipartite queues in front of Krispy Kreme. I've included a photograph below, but the immense line before Krispy Kreme is negotiated, wordlessly, by the queuers, to be in two segments, so as not to crowd a public passage. The first person in ... read more