Trip to India - 10 MADURAI

MADURAI.

15 January 2008 Hi today: 91.4 deg. F

Dear Friends and Family

The 13 th I boarded an overnite sleeper to Madurai, an 11 hrs jouney. The second class berth very not very comfortable and the train conductor somehow found it necessary to blow the train’s horn almost constantly during the trip. I guess they like loud noises! I found out later from other people that the first class accommodation were not much better.

We arrived in Madurai around 7:00 am and I walked to my first choice accommodation, The Hotel Supreme, where they had rooms available. This is a very good accommodation, as the hotel provides full services at bargain prices. For $12 a nite I got, a double-bed room, hot water, TV, and an adjustable-speed ceiling fan (which I like better than the more expensive air-conditioned rooms). This large hotel has an elevator, run by and attendant, two restaurants, one on top of the hotel from which you can see the towers of the nearby temple. We also get a free newspaper delivered to our room each morning. You can also get your room cleaned, and a new towel each day.

As a matter of interest, todays’ paper has the following articles: one on raising oil prices, one on a complain by some area’s locals about the intent to built a facility for visually impaired people (it is bad luck to see a blind person early in the morning!), one article speaks about the demolition of a cremation ground used by the locals to make room for multi-storey apartments, another article speaks about the need to increase protection of the Indian Ocean sea lanes against possible terrorism treats. The sport pages are interesting to read if you are a cricket fan.

After a nice long hot shower and a breakfast I went out to visit the nearby Sri Meenakshi –Sundareshwarar Temple. It is from this temple that Shiva and Parvati reigned over the Pandya kingdom. This temple, one of the six most important temples in India, is approximately one city block long and one city block wide. It has 12 highly decorated gopurams (towers) varying in heights up to 155 ft.These towers are covered with painted carvings of celestial and animal figures. The style is Dravidian architecture, dating back to 1560. Within the temple are long hall ways leading to gold-topped sanctums of the deities, the most important being the Meenakshi shrine (another form of Parvati, consort of Shiva, goddess of fertility). The second most important shrine is the one of Sundareshwarar (another form of Shiva). Within the temple is a room (museum) housing 1000 columns with carvings of deities. Also within the temple are courtyards a enclosed pool surrounded by galleries. In the pool is a large golden lotus. The temple receives more than 10,000 visitors a day. The temple is run by approximately 50 priests, and there are offerings and ceremonies taking place all day long.

In the following days I visited the Gandhi Memorial, Maharaja’s Palace, and the Flower Market. The Gandhi Memorial was very interesting, it covers, with pictures and text the period of time from the beginning of the British involvement in India to the time they left. Needless to say it does not present a very flattering picture of the British behavior! What is left of the Maharaja’s Place is about a quarter of what it used to be. What is left is the very impressive courtyard, a few galleries and a museum. Well worth a visit anyway. The Flower Market is interesting by the fact that they sell flowers, and flowers’s petals by weight (to be used for offerings).

I went to the Post Office to sent some postcards. Here again I was given stamps that do not have a sticky back. Again I was given a piece of cardboard with what was supposed to be the glue to I be used for the stamps. This was a different lokking glue than the one I used previously. This glue looked like something that may come out of the nose of a person afflicted with a severe cold. (maybe from one of the workers at the post office?).

Tomorrow I am moving to Tanjore.

Love and Peace - henri

Trip to INDIA - 09 ALLEPPEY - VARKALA

ALLEPPEY - VARKALA

11 February 2008

Dear Friends and Family

First a rickshaw to the ferry terminal, then a ferry ride to the terminal on mainland Ernakulam, then another rickshaw ride to the Central Bus Station in Ernakulam,and then a two hours ride by bus finally got me the Cental Bus Station in Alleppey. At the station I met a couple French people who were staying in a fairly large complex located around two tropical gardens. I ended up booking a room in the same hotel.

Alleppey is cut by two canals connected to the Arabian Sea and running parallel thru the city. At the other end the canals are connected to 900 km of waterways (backwaters) that fringe the coast and wind far inland. The main reason to come here is to take a boat ride thru the backwaters. There is a choice of boat size, trip length, and prices. The boats cross shallow, palm-fringed lakes, and travel along narrow, shady canals used by boat that carry coconut fiber, coconut meat, and cashews. Along the way are small villages and processing facilities. We decided to hire a small boat that came with two rowers, a man and his blind father. We stopped a couple times, once to take a hike thru rice fields and listen to our guide who showed us different kind of plants and animals (including large bats!). Unfortunatly, access to some of the canals were blocked by a parasite, very invasive plant that floats over the water surface and makes travel very difficult for paddle boats. Anyways, a very pleasant and relaxing day.

I have told you about some of the stuff we have to cope with, such as; losing electrical power, no hot water available. My last day in town, there was no water (hot or cold) available for the best part of the day.

The 9 th February I moved to Varkala, 2 hours away by train. From the train station I took a rickshaw to the beach area. The tourists facilities, hotels, stores, restaurants are located along a narrow pedestrian path winding its way along the top of a cliff situated 150 ft above the sea. I am half way thru my trip, I need a few days to relax, and this is the perfect place to do it. I found a reasonable place, a little off the path with a view on the water. I eat most of my meal in the restaurant that stands between my hotel and the water. It is run by a very nice family and they have decent food, even oatmeal and banana pancakes! They have three children a 12 years old boy, an older daughter, and a 6 years old boy that they adopted off the street when his parents both died. The two boys help around, they take the orders, and the 12 years old will remember what was ordered, add it all up in his head and tell you how much you owe.

There is no lack of activities to do around here: There are several very nice nearby beaches (some with black sand), there is a Kathakali theater five minutes from my hotel, elephant rides are not too far away. In addition, yoga classes, meditation classes, Ayurvedic massages are available nearby. I will spent some time on the beach, maybe take in a Kathakali show, but I will generally eat, drink some beer (served illegally under the table!), catch up with email and postcards, read (I bought 4 books, including the last of the Harry Potter) and generally hang around.

Varkala (lat 8 deg 44’ N is the most southern location on my trip. From here I will generally move in a northeastern direction. My next stop is Madurai

Love and peace - henri

Trip to INDIA - 08 Fort Cochin

FORT COCHIN

6 February 2008

Dear Friends and Family

I arrived in Ernakulam, the mainland town close to a series of islands in the Arabian Sea including my destination, the island of Fort Cochin an Mattancherry The time was around 4:00 am and I was there with another woman, a teacher from England. We went to an open nearby stand and had a cup of tea. I eventually walked around and found a rickshaw driver that agreed to drive the 18 km. to Fort Cochin for 180 rupees (about $5.00). I understand that they charge for their return trip to the mainland. The driver dropped us at our destination on Princess Street, the center of the budget hotels. Nothing is open and a few other travelers are hanging around. I wanted to book a room at the Elite, but the driver is trying to get me to book at another hotel, the Park Lane. (where he would probably get a commission). Around 7:30 things are slowing coming alive and I find that the Elite is full. I eventually get a room at the Park Lane and the English woman gets a room in a “home stay”.

Fort Cochin and Mattancherry are the main tourist attraction in the area for good reasons. Fort Conchin has very busy waterfront where they fish with huge canteliverd nets from 7:00 am to 6;00 pm. The nets, which require five people to maneuver them in and out of the water, were installed by the Chinese in the 15^th century.

A walking tour of Fort Conchin reveal the influence of the Dutch, Portuguese, and British. India’s oldest European church, St. Francis Church was built by the Portuguese Franciscan friars in1503. An imposing wooden gate surmounted by a gabled shaped top reminds one of the gabled houses in Holland. Policemen carrying sticks, look very much like the British officers.

The Mattancherry Palace and the Jewish Town are located on the east side of the island a few kilometers South of Fort Conchin. The palace was built by the Portuguese in 1555 and was presented to the raja of Cochin, Veera Kerala Varma. The main attraction today are the murals, some of the best in India, depicting scenes from Indian’s legends.

The Jewish town, called, Jew Town, features a synagogue built in 1568. The floor of the synagogue is covered with blue hand-painted tiles imported from China. The area around the synagogue is one of the center of Kochi’s spice trade. The air is filled with the pungent aromas of ginger, cardamom, cumin, turmeric, and cloves.

The highlight of my Fort Conchin visit is the Kathakali performance I attended the evening before my departuere from Kochi. Fort Conchin is the place to see a full performance.A Kathakali performance is the dramatised presentation of a play, based on the Hindu epics of the Ramayana, the Mahabhara and the Puranas.The classic themes are covered; good versus evil, war and peace, poverty and prosperity etc. Drummers accompany the actors, and singers vocalize the script. The performers tell the story through precise movements such hand gestures and facial expressions. The performance lasted 3 hours, part of it was taken by the performers preparing themselves for the oncoming show by meditation, very elaborate face painting, putting seed into their eyes to redden the white, Then, one performer demonstrated the numerous, hand motions, body motion, facial expressions (especially eyes and lips) used to convey the meanings and emotions. The rest of the time was taken by the play itself “The Killing of Baka”. There are three main characters. The good guy, Bhima, second and most powerful of the Pandava Princes (Pacha-green face), The victim, Brahmin, a member of the village community menaced by the demon Barka (Brahmin is yellod-faced with beard). The bad guy, Baka, a violent murderous forest-dwelling demon (red-face and bearded). The performance was fascinating, including the preliminaries, and the opportunities to step on the stage to take pictures while the actors were putting on their make-up. Not wanted to use flash I used ISO 1600, with 1/30 shutter speed and a wide open lens. I may eventually get to the point where I like digital photography!

Love and peace - henri

Trip to INDIA - 07 Mysore

MYSORE

31 January 2008

Dear Friends and Family

The 30 January I left went to the train station to catch the 11:00 am Express to Mysore. I had been told that I would board the train on Platform 6. During other trips I learned that in many countries the people will never admit that they cannot answer a question, they will rather make up an answer! One of the station attendant told me that my train would arrive at Platform 7? While I was waiting at platform 7, I young western woman showed up, approached me, asked me if I spoke English, and then told me that she did not have a ticket for the Express, had been told to simply go to Platform 8 (??) where she could get a ticket. With one hour to go I sent her back to the station with the suggestion that she should try to find some official to get a ticket without getting into a long line. She was sent to another widow where she could purchase a ticket without having to get into any line. This is the beauty of countries like India, you run into problem, but there is usually a solution (sometimes it is a matter of a little bit of money!). We considered what would happened if she would have boarded the train without a ticket? I would have like to see that! Anyway, as it turned out, we where in class A2 which is almost the most expensive (about $5.00 for a 2 hours trip!) and many seats where unoccupied. About 25 minutes into the trip the attendant showed up to check our tickets. I was shocked, the attendant was impeccably.dressed, with white pants, black jacket, white shirt, and tie. A few minutes later, another surprise, they brought us a cup of tomato soup and crackers. I was beginning to wonder if maybe we had left the country on a magic train. I barely got over my surprise when they brought us a meal, plain rice in one container, and rice with vegetables in another container, plus another cup of another soup! This is it for me, second class on the fastest train is the way to go. Unfortunately, sometimes, the bus is the only mean of transportation available between some destinations.

Mysore, named after the mythical Mahisuru, where the goddess Chamundi slew the demon Mahishasura has been ruled by the Wodeyars. In 1956, when the new sate was formed, the former maharaja was elected governor. One of the “must-see” site is the seat of the maharajas of Mysore, the Maharaja’s Palace. The present one, designed by an English architect Henry Irwin, was completed in 1912. The interior contains beautifully carved wooden doors, mosaic floors, wooden columns painted in somewhat gaudy colors, and awe-inspiring stained glass cupolas. Very appropriately, the main theme is the peacock, which I found appropriate as an emblem for such display.

The temple of the Goddess Chamundi is located on top of a mountain of the same name. A local bus will take you to the top, or one can choose to start at the foot of the mountain and climb the 1000 steps to the top. I wanted to climb the steps and I decided that I would see where people got off the bus close to the mountain. As it turned out nobody got off the bus until we reached the top, so much for that idea!. Aa a compromise I climb down the steps, which in my opinion is way short of the publicized 1000 steps. The views are great and the path goes near a famous 16 ft high Nandi (Shiva’s bull vehicule).carved out of solid rock. This Nandi is one of the largest in India and is a very popular pilgrimage destination. With the company of a western woman we walked all the way back to town.

To me the highlight of my Mysore visit was the very large Devaraja Fruit and Vegetable Market, a photographers’s paradise. The opportunities are plentiful but the partially covered market makes it a real challenge. I went back at different times of the day to get different lighting conditions. Walking in the market is a wonderful sensory experience. The displays are very carefully arranged to show the products are their bests. The dominating smell is a mixture of jasmine and other strong odors such as cilantro.

Feb 3, I took a night bus to Kochi (Cochin) which is made of several sections; mainland Ernakulam, the islands of Willington, Bolgatty and Gundu in the harbor, Fort Cochin and Mattancherry on the southern peninsula. Some of the areas are linked by bridges, all are linked by ferries. I chose to stay on Fort Cochin which is a more tranquil place, is right on the water, and has most of the interesting sights.

Love and peace - henri

Trip to INDIA - 06 BANGALORE and OTHER STUFF

BANGALORE and OTHER STUFF.

January 2008 Dear Friends and Family

I first experienced Bangalore from moving into an area that Lonely planet considers as “somewhat seedy”. This is the area close to the train station and the bus terminal. Usually these areas are located in some of the oldest areas of any cities. It sure is crowded, chaotic, and extremely busy. Today I walked to a different area called MG Road (for Mahatma Ghandi). This is the area where the government of India decided to move their Hi-Tech stuff. The area, close to a very nice park is full of newer buildings, expensive cars dealership, with more modern building being built. A different world indeed! I even found the “Starbuck-like Barista. This is the same coffee shop as in Mumbai where I was able to use Wi-Fi. Oddly, in the most Hi-Tech area in India, this coffee shop does not have Wi-FI?! I visited an interesting museum of technology which has extensive coverage of mechanical devices.

I could have left Bangalore of my place to visit but the lack of interesting sites gave me an opportunity to catch up with emails and blogs.

Some reflections on India and its people

In one hand, India is light-years behind as far as being a modern country, in the other end its has some the best University in the world. The entrance exams are extremely demanding (the people who do not make it can easily be accepted in one of the top US university). There are lots of people being employed in low-paying menial jobs. As an example, the grass around the temples is mowed by hand, by women using hand tools (sickle?). Everywhere you go (like a restaurant) there seem to be a lot of people just hanging around with no particular job to do. In the other hand, at the ticket office for the tourist sites, in the train station, and at the post office, they usually have only one or two windows open to serve very long line of people ?! Picking ones nose in public seems to be socially acceptable. The women are generally well dressed and seem to have an eye for beautiful things and color, but they do not mind being surrounded by trash, as they throw all the trash on the ground. This trash is usually picked up the next morning by women who sweep the trash in the middle of breath-choking clouds of dust.(many streets are unpaved).This made me consider the possible effects of somehow convincing the people of India to use trash cans instead of throwing everything on the ground, As an example, what would happen to all the roaming cows, goats, cats, dogs, pigs, etc, many of them feeding on the trash? Either, the people would have to take over the responsibility of feeding them, or they would die. A marvelous discovery about India is that you are almost certain to get very fresh fruits and vegetables in the restaurants. I have witnessed fresh vegetables and fruits delivered to restaurants each day. This is not too surprising considering the number of fruit and vegetable street vendors everywhere.(more about this later). I am somewhat puzzled by the fact that vegetarian restaurants do not serve beer?

Love and peace - henri