Author: JT

Now in Mysore after one brief night in Bangalore

The flight was great, though I was only in Bangalore (in the state of Karnataka) long enough to sleep, eat breakfast and wander the veg/fruit/flower market. The cones of coloured powder are kumkum, used for bindi dots on the foreheads of married women, as well as for religious rituals.

Kumkum, used for bindi dots

Update: By the way, Bangalore looked like a western city at night from the airplane, with real suburbs and such. It was also quite clean, at least until I got near the market… The air was noticeably cooler in the evening than anywhere else in my trip thus far, quite refreshing. And in Bangalore, by law, the auto-rickshaws have to use the meters (which are never used anywhere else), which are Rs12/$0.30 for first km plus Rs6/$0.15 per km after that.

Then I took a 2 hour express train at 11:00 to Mysore, which is southwest of Bangalore. I’ll be here 2 nights, then on Tue I will take a mid-day train to Bangalore, spend 9 hours looking around, then take a night train north to Hospet, the gateway train station for (fabulous) Hampi (where I’ll spend 3 nights before going to the beaches in Goa).
In a fit of planning activity, I have my next 3 trains booked!

There is a big Maharaja’s Palace here, which is lit up with 96K light bulbs on Sunday nights for one hour – and as it turns out, today is Sunday! They also light it up for the Dussehra festival in Sep/Oct.
I saw this girl at the train station in Mysore right after I booked a future train – she reminded me of that famous photo of the Afghani girl with the blue eyes (which I recently saw on a book cover in a shop).

Maharaja's Palace in Mysore, lit up on Sunday night
Indian girl with blue eyes

Update:  I bought some fruit today in Mysore, since I have been a little negligent in that department. Some at the market, some on the street. Four plum tomatoes for Re1/$0.03 (Rs5/$0.13 per kg, I think he rounded up my 4 tomatoes without weighing them), a red papaya for Rs10/$0.25, 15 finger bananas for Rs10/$0.25 (they range from Rs16-20/$0.40-0.50 per kg), and some “peas” (single pea-like pods on little leafy stalks). I didn’t buy any (to avoid over-buying at once), but pomegranates were also Rs18/$0.45 per kg.

I was hoping to get the backwaters written up tonight, but I’m just too tired. And I’m not sure if I’ll be up for it after a 12 hour organized tour of Mysore and surroundings tomorrow!

Flying to Bangalore tonight

On Kingfisher airlines – yes, the same company that owns the popular Indian beer Kingfisher (they are quite the conglomerate; they also have branded bottled drinking water). And I did see actual kingfishers on power lines in the backwaters…

The flight is 1hr20min flight, vs a wait-listed overnight train ride.

Does anybody work with outsourced IT in Bangalore, such that I might meet with a local IT guy for a coffee or drink?

I’ll probably go to Mysore in the later morning, then return to Bangalore for a few hours on Tue before boarding my (already reserved) night train to Hampi on Tue night.

PS Today I posted 2 videos from Varkala at http://jantrabandt.blip.tv/

Highlights of Varkala

No real sights per se in Varkala, but it was an excellent rejuvenating stop.
The town, which I ignored except for the train station, is a few km from the beach; the Varkala I describe is the tourist ghetto on the cliffs.

Here are some of the things I enjoyed in Varkala:

  • sandy beach
  • refreshing breezes
  • body-surfing in the waves
  • walking along the cliff-top walk, looking at the stores and restos and cafes (all with breezes and a view)
  • Keralan coffee – filtered!
  • fresh seafood nightly (I counted 16 restos that had fresh fish on display for dinner along the 1.2km cliff-top walkway)

    Fresh fish selection for dinner

    note the pieces cut out of the blue marlin

  • meeting other travellers (hi Brennen, Micaela, et al) – this was the first stop since Mamallapuram where there were lots of westerners
  • taking my first yoga class, and meeting a very interesting western “swami” (Jay, though he hates titles – he’s “a spiritual being having a human experience”) on the beach later that day
  • taking a hands-on Kerala cooking class  (see my other post)
  • sunsets (at least the last 2 days when it wasn’t cloudy); see a sunset wave video at http://jantrabandt.blip.tv/

    Sunset on the beach
    Tibetan shopkeeper
  • Tibetan singing bowls (there are a number of Tibetans here, with their shops and restaurants; in fact 2 of my best meals here were at 2 Tibetan restos – one fresh kingfish/dolphin-fish/mahi-mahi, and one veg sizzler).  (sorry, no Tibetan singing bowls in that picture – different shop!)
  • tourist wedding on the beach: bride and groom arrive on separate elephants, led by a little band (drums and cymbals); after a brief ceremony in a decorated bamboo hut built on the beach for the occasion, they depart together on one elephant. Lots of tourists on the beach watch! (see the photo in another post, and the video now at http://jantrabandt.blip.tv/)
  • natural spring water coming out pipes at the bottom of the cliff (refill your water bottle! I UV-sterilized it to be extra safe (because I had the technology :-), but lots of tourists were drinking it)

Misc photos: North beach viewed from a breezy 2nd floor resto, fishermen at dusk:

North beach
Fishermen at dusk

Be forewarned: every meal takes at least 1 hour!

Tips: reducing plastic waste

In Fort Cochin, a part of Kochi (formerly Cochin), I saw one Internet cafe, as well as one restaurant, that didn’t sell water in plastic bottles. Instead, they hae big 5 gallon re-usable water bottles (similar to the big water coolers we see in offices back home, or in homes and offices in Arizona and Nevada), from which you can refill your own little water bottle for Rs5/$0.13 per Litre.

A damn fine idea – why didn’t I think of that? We need to suggest that concept in more places around India and around the world!

I do remember a little condo/hotel in Isla Mujeres, Mexico (near Cancun), that put 5 gallon water tank (no dispenser though) in the room.

On an unrelated note, here is a sunset photo in Fort Cochin, with a Chinese cantilevered spider-like fishing net (the unofficial emblem of Kerala) in the foreground:

Chinese cantilevered fishing net

Arrived in Fort Kochi (Fort Cochin) today after my backwater village homestay

I spent 2 great days in a backwater village homestay in Chennamkary (island) near Alleppey. Wow. Way cool.

Today I arrived in Fort Cochin which is a more relaxing (tourist ghetto) part of Kochi (Cochin), on a peninsula by the open ocean. There are cool Chinese-style fishing nets on large cantilevered poles here (the unofficial emblem of Kerala, apparently).

All 3 of my 2GB memory cards are filled up (granted, I’ve been taking pictures at maximum 7 mega pixel resolution) despite trimmint the size on photos on my current card-in-camera 3 times in the last 3 days to make more room (since if I’m not going to print a photo, it doesn’t really need to be that high res).

Tonight I had dinner with the three fun ex-pats (Gallant, Jing and Leslie) from Hong Kong whom I met in the homestay (and I bumped into Anne from the Alleppey canoe ride here as well).

Gallant, Jing and Leslie

Arrived in Alleppey today after extending Varkala to 6 nights

Actually it is now officially called Alappuzha, but Alleppey seems more common (even in the train schedules!).
2 hours by train (Rs70/$1.75 for “sleeper” class). I almost missed getting on the train!

This is the gateway town to the backwaters of Kerala – canals and villages accessible only by boat (over a huge area).

I already did a 3-hour canoe ride (2 paddler guides) shared with Anne, a nice German almost-a-doctor I met on the train (who is travelling after studying at a hospital in Tamil Nadu for a few months). The first part was a little disappointing, and it really wasn’t until the 3rd hour (which we negotiated at the point they wanted to turn around and return by exactly the same route) that it became more relaxing and interesting – that 3rd hour definitely made it worthwhile! Anne had negotiated Rs250/$6.25 for 2 hours, which became Rs350/$8.75 for 3 hours (total, not per person).
We saw this woman and grandchild at a canoe stop for coconut water (Annerose gave some white balloons to the kids):

ld woman and grandchild

Tomorrow I go to my backwater village homestay in my “ridiculously picturesque backwater village” for 1 (or maybe 2) nights. Should be fun, and there better not be internet access! 😉

Update: I forgot to mention that on the train was also a 22 year old Finnish girl who had just married a local Indian boy in Varkala!

Tips/thoughts/feelings: Food

After 17 days in (south) India, here is what I’ve discovered/experienced regarding food:

Note that I haven’t gotten sick yet (knock on wood) and the food has been very tasty and cheap.
Only 7 of my meals have been non-vegetarian (5 of them were fresh seafood in Mamallapuram and Varkala) and I can’t say that i miss the meat.
However, I feel like I am getting too many (bad) carbs, what with all the naan/bread, idli/dumplings, dosai/crepes and even uthappum/thick-crepes.
I do have to say that I feel full after every meal.

I’ve had a range of dining experiences, in ascending order of fanciness:

  • Vendor on train (or platform): tea or coffee for Rs5/$0.13
    from a large stainless steel “cooler” (drinks are hot!) they carry.
    I noticed the lid of one of these coolers was padlocked closed.
  • Beach vendor: tea or coffee for Rs10/$0.25; whole pineapple cut into a multi-speared “popsicle” for Rs50/$1.25
    drinks from a large stainless steel “cooler” (drinks are hot!) they carry – that’s right, double the train station price! 😉
  • Push cart: a little baggie/cup of freshly cut pineapple for Rs10/$0.25 (some fruit vendors, like this one, wear latex gloves when cutting the fruit)
  • Street stall (a little shop along the street with a propane or wood cooking apparatus by the sidewalk):
    I ate at chicken and noodles stir-fry for Rs20/$0.50 in Pondy (inc. Rs5 to add the previously-cooked diced chicken into the stir-fry to reheat it) and a tomato/onion oothappam/pancake for Rs20/$0.50 in Madurai. Both were tasty.
  • Local resto: thalis and ready “meals” (Rs20-40/$0.50-1.00), and dishes (Rs30-80/$0.75-2.00) plus bread or rice (Rs10-40, $0.25-1.00) (similar to Indian restos back home, which are primarily north Indian dishes)
    Thalis and ready “meals” are similar (not quite clear on the difference, though thalis tend to be north Indian and meals tend to be south Indian, at least in south India :-) and served quickly; typically they are eaten with the (right) hand, not utensils (which makes it hard to write in my journal at those meals!)
    Thalis tend to come on a stainless steel tray, with something starchy in the middle (rice if it’s south Indian, or a dosai/crepe or something like that) with 2-7 sauces in little stainless steel cups surrounding it.
    Ready meals are usually served on a big banana leaf (as plate), with the starch and multiple sauces/items on it, but no little cups.
    See the photos in some of my other posts.
    Common “sauces” include a coconut sauce, a dal/lentil, a spicy red sauce (sambar, with tamarind), a green sauce, veggies in a sauce, soup, tapioca; common items are variations of sticky rice.
    Dishes (like we are accustomed to at home, e.g. masala, korma) usually take longer to prepare and you have to order bread (naan/chappati/roti/parota) or rice separately. So far it seems that fancier bread that includes other ingredients, such as cheese or garlic, only contains barely noticeable traces of the extra ingredients and aren’t worth the “upgrade”.
    These are often busy places with locals, who won’t hesitate to sit down at your table if there are empty seats.
  • Tourist resto: dishes (as above, Rs40-100/$1.00-2.50), fresh seafood Rs150-350/$3.75-8.75 for fish, Rs450/$11.25 for 4 jumbo prawns
    For the fresh seafood (e.g. in Mamallapuram, Varkala) you can pick your fish (either whole or a cut from a larger fish) or seafood from the proudly displayed table by the sidewalk (and includes chips/french-fries and “salad” (tomato & cucumber slices, or shredded-veggies)).
    By tourist resto I mean a more expensive resto in a touristy area, where you won’t see any locals eating there (though you will see Indian tourists from other, wealthier areas, e.g. Bangalore).

I’ll try to clarify some of this info more at a later time.

Still in Varkala

It’s so relaxing, I’m spending 2 extra nights here in my semi-luxurious hotel room (Rs800/$20 per night) – sheets without stains or holes! top sheet! real towels!

Yesterday I took a hands-on cooking class (Rs500/$12.50 for 1-2 people) with my new Scottish bud Brennen

Brennen and Jan at cooking class

(the pic shows 4 of the 5 dishes we prepared and then ate; the chicken kurma was particularly good!).

Tomorrow morning I will take my first yoga class ever.

I’ve also been doing a lot of body surfing these past few days… though yesterday it felt like I had bruised a rib (on my right side) from 2 poundings the waves gave me the day before that… though I am a little sunburnt after today.
And eating fresh seafood every night – I counted 16 restos that had fresh fish on display for dinner along the 1.2km cliff-top walkway (there are in fact more restos than that).

Oh, and today a British couple got married on the beach, arriving on separate elephants, led by a small band (and leaving together on one elephant after the brief ceremony)

Beach wedding with elephants

Yesterday was cloudy all day; today was sunny, though it rained in the evening (and feels even more humid!).

On Sunday I will move on to Alleppey, a town that is the gateway to the Keralan backwaters (hundreds of kilometers of canals connecting little villages).