amazeballs – Page 2 – Travels

3,300 steps to heaven

Posted on October 8, 2015 by Steve

I am so far behind on this blog, but I have so lost track of time I can’t tell. There are going to be things out of order, but that doesn’t matter does it? For now I think I will just jump to Palitana.

It’s a relatively small place, about 15,000 people but the one thing it does have going for it, apart from a wonderful couch surfing (CS) host, is the most important temple complex in the Jain religion.

It is a long way up, it is hot. Don’t attempt this if you can’t start by 0800 😛

Sorry, you are going to have to do you’re own research on where Jainism fits, best I can tell is that it is sort of related to Hinduism. The most obvious thing about Jainism is their diet. As well as vegetarian, they eat nothing that grows below the ground – onions, garlic, ginger, potatoes. It has to do with valuing all life, including microbes in the soil. However they do eat peanuts because they were in their shell. I did say you would have to do your own research

Dashiki and good family are Jain’s and suggested Palitana and the. temple complex. This place is not for the weak of body or spirit. It is at the top of a mountain and there are 3,300 steps leading up there.

This is one way to get to the top

Of course if you are weak of body or spirit you can hire either a two man or four man team of porters to carry you up and many people do because this is an important pilgrimage, so they will do what it takes to get to the top.

It is a long climb, it took me about 90 minutes going slowly but steadily, zig zagging up the steps at a 45° angle to make it a little easier. Also it is hot, I started at 0730 in the cool of the morning, I don’t think you’d want to get going much later than that and expect to survive.

2,700 down, 600 to go

A couple of months ago I discovered step wells via this story. I contacted Victoria and she sent me some info about them in big cities. So it was cool to discover several step wells on the way up the mountain.

A very basic stepwell, maybe it is technically a tank, watch future posts for spectacular versions of this

I think I mentioned that 3,300 steps is a long way, and to paraphrase my Indian friend Ashok “Travelling India is an exercise in endurance, but the rewards are worth it”.

This is not a temple, it is a complex of around 1,300 temples according to my CS host who also happens to be a tour guide – but was unavailable the day I went up. Did you read my way of relating the Ganesh festival to any festival you have been to? Do something similar for any Indian temple you have seen, multiply it by a very big number to get the awesomeness level of this place.

More than once I was on the verge of tears I was so moved by the vastness and beauty of the carvings. Because I was playing tourist rather than pilgrim I had more “freedom” to wander, so after seeing the very crowded temples and people doing their devotions, I went into the quiet areas where I could sit away from the hustle and just look.

Most areas photography is not allowed unfortunately.

The biggest temple, Sonji Tuk was actually the quietest. The importance of a deity doesn’t seem to relate to the size of the temple. But this one had something special, the most beautiful painted dinner ceiling. I asked and was allowed to lie on my back and just look at it for a long time. A priest thought I was sleeping and wanted to move me along, but a guard explained and all was good. I could have laid there for hours and can’t share photos because it is prohibited.

Barat suggested an hour would be enough, 3 hours later I decided to head back down. By this time it is 1200 and really hot.

[Update] this was another draft, in an effort to catch up I will finish here with a few annotated photos.

One of Bharat’s friends owns a gym. Though not much by western standards, it could still turn out boys who like to strut their stuff

Mava (pron. Mawa) is a beetle nut mixture that when combined with limestone gives the user a buzz. I tried the non-limestone version, Pan, and didn’t last long with the intense flavours. Bharat’s father used to own this Pan stand, it was pretty funny when a customer walked up and started ordering in Hindi.

Me sitting in on one of Bharat’s English classes. Needles to say, once more I was honoured guest.

Ganesh Chaturthi 2015 – the video post

Posted on September 28, 2015 by Steve

Every city has its big event. Sydney does a huge New Years Eve, Brisbane had just held Riverfire, New York does a Thanksgiving parade (I think). Imagine the biggest of these events, covering a whole city that we shall call Mumbai, a city with a population that is greater than the whole of Australia.

Every parade I have ever participated in has been pretty tightly marshalled, there is a starting point, a specific ending point and a limited number of floats. So imagine a fun alternative where instead every community group, business association, church or organisation that wants to decides they will build a float and it will be on display for 10 days in a street that is convenient to them. Blocking entire streets is OK, blocking multiple lanes of major roads is just fine, I am not sure whether getting permission is required or is optional.

On a certain day each of these floats is then transported through the streets to one of a number of destinations where they are dumped into the ocean. The float that has been on display is really just the core of each individual procession. The transportation component is a logistical feat that may involve a combination of one or more of: a mobile generator truck, a flat bed semi trailer with a crowd of people and the main part of your float, more people following it (mostly women) throwing rice at the truck, random onlookers wandering up to do puja, more random onlookers taking photos and trying to not get in the way, a truck with a HUGE sound system blaring music, a minimum of 10 drummers, people dancing and other assorted vehicles. Some groups have all of the above.

The music ranges from traditional Indian music to Gangnam Style doof to someone playing a Casio keyboard using the corniest sounding preset. All of it accompanied by the drummers, all of it loud!!!

Did I mention that you will find one of these floats about every 200 metres or so along every road in the city? Sorry, my oversight.

Every group will have their own style, some will be quite modest (I didn’t say quiet) and traditional, others will be modern and louder and more brash. Some of them delight in performance by their drummers, others seem to have an endless supply of lethal fireworks…truly lethal. In Australia fireworks for the public were banned about 30 years ago, the stuff these people were setting off was never ever legal in Australia and was genuinely scary.

The empty skyrocket box

In this video, a guy had placed a box in the middle of a really busy intersection, it contained by my count 250 skyrockets that went off at about 1 every second for about 5 minutes. It actually didn’t cause any traffic problems, but that is only because traffic was already paralysed.

This one started off cool, a big idol, some coloured smoke, note teh size of the sound system and my timing was perfect as I moved around for a different angle.

Sorry, distracted. So this parade of thousands of colourful noisy floats that you are imagining has started at random times from thousands of locations and they are all converging on a handful of destinations. Add to it millions of people out on the streets to join in the fun. Subtract from it any semblance of traffic control by the police. Add to it vehicles not in the parade seeming not noticing the parade or the millions of people and continuing to drive at top speed. Subtract any effective crowd control – some groups hold a rope up alongside their float, that’s about as good as it gets.

It is the first time have seen a God caused gridlock as all these floats tried to merge onto the main road to the beach.

Are you starting to get the idea of what the end of the Ganesh Chaturthi festival is like? It was extraordinary in the extreme. I set out at about 1100hrs and lasted until about 2230hrs when like most events, it started getting just too crowded and crazy for me.

I could rave about this for days, there can’t be many events like this in the world, much less that happen every year. I heard of Ganesh Chaturthi somewhere along the research way and it is the only reason I came to Mumbai, I am so glad I did. And if you or anyone you know is heading here, this is a must.

As an addendum, here is my list of very real ways you could die at the end of Ganesh Chaturthi:

Drown during immersion
Crushed by one of the vehicles
Blown to bits by some of the ~~fireworks~~ explosives
Run down by a motorist seemingly oblivious to millions of people and thousands of floats on the streets
Dance yourself to death
Dehydration

Holy Parvati!

Posted on September 28, 2015 by Steve

This post is stale before I even got to publish it. Read it maybe for background, but the next one is the real story here.

The title loosely translates to Holy Mother Of God, in this case the God is Ganesha.

Like the music surrounding this festival, I might have been banging on a bit about Ganesh Chaturthi. Once I discovered it and that the festival was happening while I am here it has been a constant theme, from the day I arrived.

Ganesh Chaturthi 2015

Down every other street and lane there is a brightly decorated statue of Ganesh, some big, some small, some like the main ones here in Mumbai are huge!!! The festival ends today with the statues being taken and immersed in water to dissolve, here it is at the beach and I am hoping to get there.

That I am able to cope with the crowds and lack of respect of personal space is nothing short of miraculous in itself. I tend to avoid crowds, I don’t like the jostling much. But here I have managed to mentally detach a bit and remind myself I am on an adventure and that makes it mostly bearable.

A Rs50 ($1) taxi ride to a wall of people and traffic saw me take pity on the driver and jump out before we actually got to Laulbag Raja. There is nothing I can think of to compare this to so you will get a sense of the volume and visuals of this place. People everywhere, 2 of the 3 road lanes are closed for pedestrians making the traffic even worse. There are strings of flashing lights leading to all Ganesha, but they have exceeded themselves in this area. The area is floodlit, there is live TV showing the festivities, hawkers everywhere, police and army just hanging around, barricades to funnel people in a general direction. There is obviously some sort of order in the chaos as it all seems to flow, but it is madness.

I hadn’t come all this way to not go in boots and all so I stood in a not too long line (30 mins) to get in to one of the Ganesh idols. I took the easy line where I just passed through the room caught a glimpse and then ended up in sideshow alley.

While I am making a bit light of my experience, this is also an intensely spiritual time and experience for every other person there – I seem to be the only westerner. The other line would have been a couple of hours long and funnelled people to the feet of Ganesha to touch them and have their wishes granted. There is a lot of puja happening and given the situation people are remarkably patient.

One thing I am good at is getting the most out of a situation and when we were being pushed through quickly I did a mix of ignorance/bold tourist/curious onlooker/friendly short guy/try to be inconspicuous and managed to spend a fair bit of time watching and videoing. I am sure I wasn’t supposed to wander into this area but no one stopped me so you get to see what was involved. Of course video never does reality justice.

In fact the whole experience was quite amazing. The idol is huge and georgeous despote being garishly decorated (they all are), the atmosphere is electric, and although there is conflict between keeping moving and wanting to stop, people are in a generally good mood.

I am not 100% certain of the setup but I think there is a number of big Ganesha in the area. I wandered into another fast moving line that went into a big room that was your theme park nightmare. You know how you see a ride and there is about 50 people in line so you get on the end and make your way forward and then you realise that around the corner is that sneaky hidden snakey line with about 200 people? Well around this corner was that sneaky hidden snakey line that I guess would have held at least 2,000 people…no kidding! But it was empty right now and it led to this gauntlet…note the queue on the right.

When I got to the main body of people I just couldn’t do it. There was just too many people too jammed together, but like Ikea there is no obvious exit. Going with the flow of people was one thing, imagine going against it. By the ti!e i got out I was in overwhelm, I turned my hearing aids off, had a sugar hit and walked the few Km back to my hotel where a cold shower was such a relief – and I hate cold showers.

The hotel has let me use a computer and finally I have fast internet [update: ‘faster’ internet]. Meanwhile this is random Mumbai.

Beautifully adorned woman sitting waiting for a train. It was OK to take a photo of her foot, as long as I also took a photo of the whole family :o)

The Gateway Of India monument

The India Railways building at Central Station

I don’t even want to know…

Time stopped

Posted on September 21, 2015 by Steve

A while back, in a Lonely Planet guide to India I read about the Kerala backwaters in the south west. There was lots written about day tours and house boats, but what grabbed me was the chance to catch a two day ferry trip north to Kochi (Cochin).

This plan was a kind of link in my trip, head south west, then by ferry start the trip north taking 3 weeks to get to Delhi. So you can imagine how delighted I was to get to Kollam and find that there is no such ferry.

But this trip is an adventure and on adventures things don’t go smoothly, after all, that’s what makes it an adventure, right?

In fact, despite my disappointment things were going well. My Bangalore Belly was settling down, I managed to get to Kollam, I had another amazeballs experience and I am in India. There is a ferry, but it only goes to Alleppey, takes 8hrs and costs Rs400 ($AUD9), then I can get a bus to Kochi.

Ferry 25. Kollam to Alleppey

There is a temptation to not write about this day, just post pictures of the most incredibly surprising trip. A double decker ferry with about 20 people on board chugging along coconut palm lined canals passing fishing canoes and houses and people and hot and humid.

Impressive number of fishing boats along the way

…and some not so big fishing boats

Towards the end there was a traffic jam of hundreds of houseboats tying up for the evening. They look fantastic but we're pretty expensive to hire, even by Australian standards.

Towards the end there was a traffic jam of hundreds of houseboats thing up for the evening. They look fantastic but we’re pretty expensive, even by Australian standards.

I have more photos but internet is frustratingly slow and as much as I am enjoying writing all this, it is painful Maybe I will add some more later or figure out how to make my Google album public.

Do check out this video of a steampunkish coconut oil extraction factory

And somewhere along the way I took my watch off…

Always follow the music

Posted on September 19, 2015 by Steve

There’s not a lot to do in Kollam really, though locals might dispute that. The noted sites are things like a clock tower and a shopping mall. There is also another shopping center with an internet cafe that has slow internet and old computers and where you might drop your tablet and crack the screen.

I want a front door like this

I seem to have slipped into a 2 meals per day routine. A late breakfast, then a late dinner. Having a mild case of Bangalore Belly, I decided to be a little more cautious about where I ate tonight. One decent looking place wasn’t vegetarian, an OK looking veg place had about 20 too many fluorescent lights for my liking.

I am wandering the back streets and in the distance there is some music, I follow it to a Ganesh celebration. I am very mindful about trying to observe customs so I remove my footwear and stand at the back. There is loud music and all sorts of rituals not unlike in the video from yesterday, except Ganesh is already in place.

I know that Ganesh is officially the God of removing blocked obstacles, but he also seems to be the God of garish decoration. Fluorescent colours, lots of tinsel, coloured lights, a strobe light – this is extreme decorating worthy of a reality show.

Unfortunately you miss the effect of the strobe light

After a while a couple of boys badly trying to not be obvious, stand near me and check me out. I let them be not very subtle for a while then to their surprise I say hello and shake their hands. A couple more boys wander over, it is all boys, the girls sit demurely with their mothers, at the back of course 😛

I am invited to sit but I prefer standing, I can see more and with my dodgy back I am more comfortable. This is OK.

When I go to take a photo from the back, the intention being to get the whole room and the atmosphere, I am invited, no ushered, up the front. Right to the feet of Ganesh, it is lucky I don’t have epilepsy, that strobe. Then I am introduced to the President of the association the name of which I have no idea. I shake his hand and act honoured to meet him.

Someone suggests we pose for photos in front of Ganesh, how can I refuse, and why would I? It’s like a selfie with God and I understand how celebrities must feel fulfilling their duty. By now the few kids is a group, standing around just checking me out.

Honoured guest with President plus unidentified photo bomber

The priest and helpers have been wandering, blessing people and handing out small amounts of food that I imagine have been blessed also. One is like a rice pudding, the other like a sticky date pudding, they taste great. The group of kids is now a small crowd. There are a couple of bold curious girls. The music is deafening.

A guy who speaks excellent English explains that almost everyone is northern Indian. The south Indians finished Ganesh Chaturthi a week or so ago and this is the northerners getting together to celebrate according to their calendar.

Some of the boys

By now they have asked where I am from and I give my standard answer “Australia, Ricky Ponting” which elicits much nodding of heads. There is also an odd question that is asked regularly, “what is your good name?”. Obviously they are asking my name but I can’t explain what is behind the “good name”. I have already adopted this way of asking others their name.

Guy explains that soon there will be food and I am invited to stay. Of course, following my mantra I say “yes” and I am handed over to what is now a mob of boys who seat me and ask non stop questions. But I can’t hear them as my ears are bleeding from the music.

VIP table

Although I was out looking for food I had already been thinking about how to indicate I only wanted a small meal. Hah! Not here. A couple of curries, some pickle, a papadam, and chappatis. Yum. And it was an endless supply. I ended up having to throw myself over my plate to stop it being refilled.

Chapatti man

I have learned to simplify answers to questions, it is just easier. My bad back is a swimmimg accident at the beach, it might sound Christi, but I am not even going near Ankylosing Spondilitis. I live at Brisbane, but if it is easier, it might become Sydney. My work is as a computer programmer, imagine trying to explain my life as an entertainer.

Guy happens to be a computer student and wonders if he could work for me in Australia. I don’t make any promises I can’t keep and we are going to try to connect on Facebook.

I offer my sincere and genuine gratitude for being made welcome and included, shake hands with each of the boys and head out into the night laughing at my good fortune.

I have only been here a week. What else is in store?

Heading south

Posted on September 18, 2015 by Steve

It’s a big day in India, the start of Ganesh Chaturthi, a 10 day Hindu festival. Originally I was going to avoid Mumbai, but when I read about this festival and how huge it is in Mumbai I decided to go there. Everyone warns me it is crazy.

Did I already mention this in a post? Forgive me if I am repeating but I am not going back to check.

Last night was a bit of a build up as they moved shrouded statues of Ganesh onto makeshift platforms. There are loads of these set up, various sizes and level of decoration. Each one is blocking a laneway, so traffic is a little more chaotic if that is possible.

I had decided to head south today and though I might have picked the wrong night to be on a train, night one of GS. But no fear of missing out. Read on.

Booking a train ticket was much easier than booking on the bus. Same app, but this time it connects with India rail and they don’t mind foreign cards.

The only problem was that the train was apparently full and I am on a wait list with 4 other people. I figure that getting to the station very early to sort it out is wise. I know you are thinking “there is going to be a story here” and there is, but there is a happy ending. Well, there goes the chance for some cliff hangers.

Passive aggressive street seller

I get to Bangalore Cantonment Station and am told that to get myself from wait list to confirmed I need to go to Bangalore City Station (BNC). This is a good train ride test run and despite the ticket only being Rs30 (70c) I could have gotten away without one 🙂 But I will leave it to Americans to be the ugly tourists…speaking of which, where are all the foreigners? I seem to be the only one here.

BNC I line up again and am told to go to DRM ground floor, commercial office for Emergency Quota because there is no Foreign Tourist Quota. Likely because there seem to be no other foreign tourists. I am waved off in a general direction.

Walking generally in that direction, people I ask either waggle their head which I think meant “I don’t want to admit I don’t know” or they continue to wave in a general direction.

A unique commercial collaboration between Sennheiser and Adidas. I am sure it is legit

In that general direction after some back and forth-ing I eventually spot a sign pointing to District Rail Manager – get it? Up to the front door and although the building is open, all the offices are shut up. I am hoping GS isn’t a holiday.

I should add there are no signs in the building indicating what office is where. A few people, including a police officer with a big rifle, point out different places, none of which are right. I wander around outside and a man walking towards the building knows! In fact he seems to be the Emergency Quota man! It turns out I have to fill out a form, but there are none so a hand written copy is fine.

Instructions are to drop it into a box where I was certain it would languish for days. The dice are cast, time to go with the flow. I drop my back pack in the cloak room and start following my nose.

The whole time I am working on Plan B. Can I get a bus to Kollam? No. How much for a bed for the night? Not much. Since I have spoilered this yarn, you know I didn’t need them.

Street wandering is great fun. Food, stalls, people, things. I am drawn to the sound of some drumming and the day suddenly becomes awesome! In a crowded temple something is going on, not sure what but worth investigating.

This kid was excited and going off. The drumming was loud, people inside the temple we doing puja, the atmosphere was pretty electric.

Then there was some shouting and Ganesh is hoisted into the air and taken out to the street. On the way coconuts are smashed on the ground, laps are done of a central structure, drummers are drumming.

Despite being right in amongst it I didn’t feel like I was I intruding or in the way, people were smiling, it was a joyous occasion. Ganesh went in the back of a truck and was driven off, drums still going, drummers hanging out the back. It was a rare treat to see.

One thing Indian Rail does well is manage bookings. You are given a PNR number – I have no idea what it stands for – and it is the key to your booking. You can even SMS the PNR to 138 and it will respond with your ticket status. 1300hrs and I am still wait listed for a 1715hrs train.

Mental note of location made

I have already learned that you have to be bold to get things done, whether it is crossing the road (Steve, will you shut up about roads already) or having your booking status changed.

Back to DRM and in a room the size of our bathroom are three guys, the first thing I noticed was the monochrome computer screen. I don’t think I have seen one since last century.

I give them my PNR and am ready to ask if there is a “fee” when he tells me it is all good. I am in car A1, seat 25. And no fee!

And now I am somewhere heading South. I am getting more confident, just need perseverance. Oh, and despite the wait list, the train had plenty of empty beds :o)

Looking forward to the view as we travel

I haven’t stopped laughing all day:

Went to buy a bottle of water, thought the guy said Rs50, had a money malfunction (stand by) and when I sorted it I discovered it was actually Rs15, between my dodgy hearing and his accent..
When I went to buy Rs50 water all my money apart from about Rs150 was missing from my wallet. About Rs3,000, I hoped someone deserving found it when I dropped it. Went to the ATM got more, was putting the bulk of it in my money belt and found the money I forgot I had put in my money belt.
I am heading to Kollam to catch a ferry through the Kerala Backwaters to Kochi (Cochin), my fellow compartment sharer was puzzled and it took me a while to figure out that the train goes through Kochi on the way to Kollam. [UPDATE FROM KOLLAM] there is no ferry from Kollam to Kochi – thanks Lonely Planet.

Just another day in India

Preparing a Ganesha float

Saying Yes

Posted on September 15, 2015 by Steve

In 1974 I hitch-hiked across Canada to the Montreal Olympics and then over the next many months I made my way back and forth across the USA.

One afternoon in Arizona I was standing by the road and a car load of Native Americans slowed as they drove past and I can still remember hoping they weren’t stopping for me, after all I had my preconceived stereotype of them and I’ll be honest and admit that at a younger age, it wasn’t flattering.

As we drove along they asked if I wanted to hear some singing and I thought they meant the radio. “Sure” says I and they start singing some traditional songs and explain them to me. I was invited to come and stay at their house and being a bit nervous about something or another I declined with an excuse about having to keep moving.

I have regretted that ever since. It might have turned out to be a most wonderful experience, but I will never know.

With that in mind on this trip I am planning to say “yes” to every opportunity.

Ashok, my host is in the travel industry so arranged for a car and driver for the day. Meet Azim who spoke just enough English that we could understand each other. He took me to a some of the tourist sights in Hyderabad and at one point, I was kind of ready to head home and he suggested a temple and I declined, then remembered and changed my mind and said “yes”.

Cameras were not allowed unfortunately as it was a beautiful place made of white marble overlooking the city. Lots of idols and carvings of gods. I got talking to a priest who spoke a little English and was given some holy water to drink. So far I don’t think it has worked, but it was great being included in what all the worshipers were doing.

To the museum, where they have refined the “let’s charge the rich foreign tourist a bit more” rort and taken it to the extreme. Entry is Rs 20 for locals and a bit of a premium for me at Rs 500 and for that I still had to pay extra to take photos (not an uncommon additional fee).

There was a lot to see but the highlight is a statue called Veiled Rebecca. I had to spend quite a bit of time looking from different angles to be certain that it was carved and didn’t have a material veil placed over it. I have never seen anything quite like the way the sculptor has somehow made marble look transparent.

On to Charminar. You are going to have to do your own research on these places, it is worth it. While the traffic has been hilariously incredible, the area around this monument is that image of India that you have seen so often.

The photo doesn’t do any of it justice, the crowds, the traffic, the shops, the structure itself. In fact because we were a little pressed for time today and didn’t have long, I am going to head back there tomorrow by bus to spend a few hours just hanging out.

Hmmm…dosa, Indian fast food

When you are in Hyderabad I highly recommend you eat at the Amat Hotel. We ate there last night and then by coincidence that Amiz stopped there for lunch today…well, maybe not a coincidence since it is popular. When a meal costs Rs 200 ($4.50) I generally don’t think there is going to be a lot of it…but I was very wrong.

There are actually 2 rotis on my plate, it was overwhelming to just look at. Then half way through the meal Vani and I both spotted a waiter walking towards us with a huge bucket of rice and we must have thought the same thing, that he was bringing it to us. As he walked past we both collapsed laughing at just the thought of it being delivered to us. There has been a lot of laughing.

Have you noticed the lack of cutlery. Yep, eating with your hand (right hand only) is how you do it. A pile of rice in the middle of your plate, take one or more of the accompanying dishes, massage it together and with a little practice and some instructions on etiquette it becomes second nature.

And I haven’t even touched on our visit to the Sound and Light Spectacular at Golconda Fort before dinner. I am fitting so much into a day it is hard to believe that was last night…seems like a week ago already.

And to cap it off, Facebook was all abuzz with the long awaited ousting of Abbott. YES!