Day 06
We got up early and were greeted with stunning views of the surrounding hills. We were really getting into mountain country. I found a place that sold coffee in a near by town square. The square also functioned as the starting point for all the buses that traverse every road in India. They are called tourist buses but they are only filled with the locals and seems to be the main form of public transit. They shuttle between cities and every town has a bus area.
Once fueled and packed, we started our way the 20 remaining kilometers to Munnar.
The tea is grown on shrubs that cover the mountain sides. Each shrub has a small pathway around it making the mountains look like they are covered in green corn row braids. I urge you to google this area and see what I am talking about.
We stopped along the route and took some photos and video.
There was some more supplies we wanted to get after dining in Munnar so we decided to call it a short day and try to get a room somewhere. The only place left in the whole town, that we would consider staying at, was the Shamrock. It was out of the city, way up in the mountains. The place was incredible with a stunning view of the surrounding mountains.
Adam and Michael decided to stay in the room, watch the sunset and relax.
I headed into town to get some more clothes for the trip and update the blog if possible. I was able to outfit myself and get some souvenirs for home quite easily, although I suspect that the prices were a bit inflated for the tourists that were around. The prices were fixed too, so no getting them cheaper.
There was a huge protest throught the middle of this little town, with lots of flag waving and shouting. Turned out it was anti-American with shouts about Saddam Hussein and Islam. I found out later that Saddam had just be executed and people were upset. This region is Islamic and it explains some of the reaction we get when we tell people we are from the USA. They keep smiling, but you can see they are disappointed in their eyes. It usually stops the conversation too. As a result we started telling people we were from Canada. It keeps everyone happy and talking to us.
Anthony //
Tuesday, January 2, 2007
Day 05: We Hit The Road to Adimali
Day 05
We decided to head for the mountainous tea-growing area near Munnar. Little did we know just how difficult the driving was going to be getting up to and over the mountains.
The roads up are often barely 1-car width, leaving you with mountain on one side and a long drop on the other. These roads are used by every sort of vehicle, including rickshaw smashable buses and semi-trucks. These roads were sheer terror and left us worrying that we would be facing the same for the whole trip.
Frustratingly the new rickshaws shouldn't be taken above 30km/hour on their first 150 kilometers. The engine has to be broken in. There were scant few times when we could have gone that fast, but we would have liked to as we were already a day later in leaving then everyone else. We were hoping to make it someone nice for New Year's Eve.
We stopped for lunch in the small town of Vernalenlam and met Shakkir Jameel. He asked if we wanted to see his mosque and jumped at the chance. Following him around the corner, we parked our autorickshaws into a small alley full of scooters and bikes.
He told us the rickshaws and gear would be safe and asked us to follow him. This was the one and only time we have left the equipment unattended but we were sure they would be fine here.
Going around the side of the mosque you could hear the passionate, rhythmic preaching of the speaker at the podium at the front of the mosque. It turns out he is quite famous in India. The sides were all open and we could see wall to wall, hundreds of men and boys kneeling and facing the speaker. We were led down a narrow path along side of the mosque and instructed to put our shoes and socks along with everyone else's scattered about. The sidewalk was on fire for our westernized pampered feet. We went into the back of the mosque into a big room where everyone was washing their feet. There was a large, square, tiled fountain in the middle of the room that you drew a pitcher of water from. Standing on the grating that surrounded the fountain, we watched our feet. There were taps along the wall that you could wash your face and hands from.
After our cleansing, we were led to the front of the room which had all the over flow from the main chamber in it. We knelt and faced the open doorway and the speaker. He spoke from what was about 40 minutes in a non-stop, intense manner. His statements appeared to rhyme in a sing-song whay that is typical of some other preaching styles.
When he concluded, we were asked to sit on the stairs on the side and everyone else got into rows. There was a series of prayers with much bowing, kneeling and placing the hands and forehead on the ground.
Our host then took us to his house nearby for lunch with his friend Vady Salam.
His home was occupied by 8 of his family members and roughly resembled something you might see in the desert south west. It was an adobe like structure with open widows and high, wood beamed ceilings. It was very simple, but pretty large.
Our host was a little embarassed it seemed because they weren't going to eat with us as it was a day of fasting.
We had some difficulty explaining why we couldn't drink their water if it wasn't boiled. We were urged that the well was "clean" although a glance in it caused Adam's face to lose most of it color. Our host's brother knew a bit more English and we were able to convince them that even clean water is different from what our bodies were used to and that our doctors told us we couldn't drink non-boiled water.
They settled on making us tea and we waited for the lunch preparation in their living room. There was much discussion about Islam and the United States. They were really curious if we thought all Islamic people were terrorists and why we would vote for George Bush. We explained at great length thatjust because we live in a democratic nation that votes for it's president, not everyone in the US voted for him. Their own country operates the same way so they understood, but were wondering what sort of person would vote for him. They were adamant that something should be done and that it was the responsibility of the people in the US to protest and vote the bad people out of office.
Lunch was rice, also called "meals", beef curry, spicy plaintains and vegetables, and fresh yogurt. They also brought us some fruit, but we politely declined since we didn't peel it ourselves. The whole microbe thing can be combursome.
After a long good by full of urges to visit again when we have more time and photos taken with every member of the family, we headed on and begin the roadway up to tea country.
Driving all the remainder of our daylight, we made it to just 20 kilometers shy of Munnar and decided to stop in Adimali.
The hotel options were scant and got a room in a truck stop hotel. It was pretty rustic, with large roaches in our bathroom, but it was the best of all the ones we looked at. It had 3 beds and an overhead fan. We were satisfied.
We had some refreshments in the bar downstairs and made some calls home.
After we went for a little walk and ended up coming upon a huge New Year's festival. There was a ferris wheel and rows of food vendors in a large field between buildings. A hugh stage was set up that had comedic theaterical performances going on. The action was broadcast on various screens about the area. The performance was was I can only imagine vaudvile was like in its heyday. It was amazing to behold. The Adimali Festival was full of thousands of people milling in every direction. We decided to go back to the room and get all the gear.
We set up for a shot just off to the side of the stage. The appearance of the light and camera drew a massive crowd. It was our first experience trying to photograph around lots of people. It turned out amazingly well altough we learned that once the test polaroid appears, people go insane clamoring for their own photo. We had a hard time explaining that we only had a limited amount of polaroids and the photos we were taking otherwise were digital. The biggest mistake was giving the test photo away. We won't do that again.
Returning to the room, triumphant from our shoot, we found the whole place gated and closed up. This looked really, really bad. We had nothing but thousands upon thousands of dollars worth of photography equipment and were on a dark, deserted road, late into the evening with no place to go. Even our rickshaws were in a locked court yard.
Rattling the gate luckily brought out a angry, half naked worker who sleeps out back of the courtyard. He was able to wake someone else to let us in.
Crisis averted.
Anthony //
We decided to head for the mountainous tea-growing area near Munnar. Little did we know just how difficult the driving was going to be getting up to and over the mountains.
The roads up are often barely 1-car width, leaving you with mountain on one side and a long drop on the other. These roads are used by every sort of vehicle, including rickshaw smashable buses and semi-trucks. These roads were sheer terror and left us worrying that we would be facing the same for the whole trip.
Frustratingly the new rickshaws shouldn't be taken above 30km/hour on their first 150 kilometers. The engine has to be broken in. There were scant few times when we could have gone that fast, but we would have liked to as we were already a day later in leaving then everyone else. We were hoping to make it someone nice for New Year's Eve.
We stopped for lunch in the small town of Vernalenlam and met Shakkir Jameel. He asked if we wanted to see his mosque and jumped at the chance. Following him around the corner, we parked our autorickshaws into a small alley full of scooters and bikes.
He told us the rickshaws and gear would be safe and asked us to follow him. This was the one and only time we have left the equipment unattended but we were sure they would be fine here.
Going around the side of the mosque you could hear the passionate, rhythmic preaching of the speaker at the podium at the front of the mosque. It turns out he is quite famous in India. The sides were all open and we could see wall to wall, hundreds of men and boys kneeling and facing the speaker. We were led down a narrow path along side of the mosque and instructed to put our shoes and socks along with everyone else's scattered about. The sidewalk was on fire for our westernized pampered feet. We went into the back of the mosque into a big room where everyone was washing their feet. There was a large, square, tiled fountain in the middle of the room that you drew a pitcher of water from. Standing on the grating that surrounded the fountain, we watched our feet. There were taps along the wall that you could wash your face and hands from.
After our cleansing, we were led to the front of the room which had all the over flow from the main chamber in it. We knelt and faced the open doorway and the speaker. He spoke from what was about 40 minutes in a non-stop, intense manner. His statements appeared to rhyme in a sing-song whay that is typical of some other preaching styles.
When he concluded, we were asked to sit on the stairs on the side and everyone else got into rows. There was a series of prayers with much bowing, kneeling and placing the hands and forehead on the ground.
Our host then took us to his house nearby for lunch with his friend Vady Salam.
His home was occupied by 8 of his family members and roughly resembled something you might see in the desert south west. It was an adobe like structure with open widows and high, wood beamed ceilings. It was very simple, but pretty large.
Our host was a little embarassed it seemed because they weren't going to eat with us as it was a day of fasting.
We had some difficulty explaining why we couldn't drink their water if it wasn't boiled. We were urged that the well was "clean" although a glance in it caused Adam's face to lose most of it color. Our host's brother knew a bit more English and we were able to convince them that even clean water is different from what our bodies were used to and that our doctors told us we couldn't drink non-boiled water.
They settled on making us tea and we waited for the lunch preparation in their living room. There was much discussion about Islam and the United States. They were really curious if we thought all Islamic people were terrorists and why we would vote for George Bush. We explained at great length thatjust because we live in a democratic nation that votes for it's president, not everyone in the US voted for him. Their own country operates the same way so they understood, but were wondering what sort of person would vote for him. They were adamant that something should be done and that it was the responsibility of the people in the US to protest and vote the bad people out of office.
Lunch was rice, also called "meals", beef curry, spicy plaintains and vegetables, and fresh yogurt. They also brought us some fruit, but we politely declined since we didn't peel it ourselves. The whole microbe thing can be combursome.
After a long good by full of urges to visit again when we have more time and photos taken with every member of the family, we headed on and begin the roadway up to tea country.
Driving all the remainder of our daylight, we made it to just 20 kilometers shy of Munnar and decided to stop in Adimali.
The hotel options were scant and got a room in a truck stop hotel. It was pretty rustic, with large roaches in our bathroom, but it was the best of all the ones we looked at. It had 3 beds and an overhead fan. We were satisfied.
We had some refreshments in the bar downstairs and made some calls home.
After we went for a little walk and ended up coming upon a huge New Year's festival. There was a ferris wheel and rows of food vendors in a large field between buildings. A hugh stage was set up that had comedic theaterical performances going on. The action was broadcast on various screens about the area. The performance was was I can only imagine vaudvile was like in its heyday. It was amazing to behold. The Adimali Festival was full of thousands of people milling in every direction. We decided to go back to the room and get all the gear.
We set up for a shot just off to the side of the stage. The appearance of the light and camera drew a massive crowd. It was our first experience trying to photograph around lots of people. It turned out amazingly well altough we learned that once the test polaroid appears, people go insane clamoring for their own photo. We had a hard time explaining that we only had a limited amount of polaroids and the photos we were taking otherwise were digital. The biggest mistake was giving the test photo away. We won't do that again.
Returning to the room, triumphant from our shoot, we found the whole place gated and closed up. This looked really, really bad. We had nothing but thousands upon thousands of dollars worth of photography equipment and were on a dark, deserted road, late into the evening with no place to go. Even our rickshaws were in a locked court yard.
Rattling the gate luckily brought out a angry, half naked worker who sleeps out back of the courtyard. He was able to wake someone else to let us in.
Crisis averted.
Anthony //
Elephant shit, Nerve Gas and Eunichs...
Elephant shit:
while barreling down a rocky path in our 3 wheel gas tank in the middle of one of south India's largest nature preserves, imagine my surprise when not 5 minutes after posing the question, "is that elephant shit?", do we have to slow down to let a real life wild elephant cross the broken path in front of us. Now I'm no Steve Irwin and I can barley tell monkey dung from a rabbit turd but folks, I can now confidently say that there is no mistaking a pile of elephant shit. What may you ask crosses ones mind while passing an elephant in what must look to him like a giant can of 'chicken of the sea tuna' careening by? some of you might have fond memories of feeding peanuts to a giant snout from the safety of a zoo railing. Some of you still may well-up watching with baited breath as dumbo falls inches from the circus floor. And even some of you may still have calluses on your ass from in what retrospectively was determined to be a poorly made decision to go for a ride on one in that game farm a few years ago...As for me...I had flashbacks to a show I caught only the day earlier in a somewhat westernized hotel in Munnar called 'ELEPHANT RAGE'! That's right- national geographic did a whole hour on the new phenomenon of elephant rage- complete with stomach turning recreations of these mammoth beasts tearing whole villages to shreds. (cue close up of elephant eye crying) Needless to say I was somewhat terrified when 10 seconds later we pass the spot where the elephant crossed only to find that he had disappeared, camouflaged into the foliage not 20 feet from the road. May I remind you that this is a 10 ton beast of at least 15 feet!? I immediately starting making plans for the next national geographic special 'ELEPHANT SNEAK ATTACK!' thankfully this elephant was not sneaky nor rageful and so let us pass without incident. I only hope we are equally lucky next time.
Nerve Gas:
apparently Indians have determined that in small doses nerve gas is harmless to humans yet can choke a swarm of mosquitos in less than 5 minutes. This being the case in just about every room we've crashed in there is a vile of nerve gas plugged into the wall socket slowly swallowing mosquitoes-i guess..
so now we are left with the decision to risk malaria or a slowly palsying left eye. I flip a coin.
so far I'm 3 out of 4 for a wandering left eye. (can someone please do some research on nerve gas and its effects on humans please? I'd be oh so grateful)
And oh yeah.. I think a Eunich peed in our rickshaw.
-from pontecherri, the Indian Riveria-
Adam
while barreling down a rocky path in our 3 wheel gas tank in the middle of one of south India's largest nature preserves, imagine my surprise when not 5 minutes after posing the question, "is that elephant shit?", do we have to slow down to let a real life wild elephant cross the broken path in front of us. Now I'm no Steve Irwin and I can barley tell monkey dung from a rabbit turd but folks, I can now confidently say that there is no mistaking a pile of elephant shit. What may you ask crosses ones mind while passing an elephant in what must look to him like a giant can of 'chicken of the sea tuna' careening by? some of you might have fond memories of feeding peanuts to a giant snout from the safety of a zoo railing. Some of you still may well-up watching with baited breath as dumbo falls inches from the circus floor. And even some of you may still have calluses on your ass from in what retrospectively was determined to be a poorly made decision to go for a ride on one in that game farm a few years ago...As for me...I had flashbacks to a show I caught only the day earlier in a somewhat westernized hotel in Munnar called 'ELEPHANT RAGE'! That's right- national geographic did a whole hour on the new phenomenon of elephant rage- complete with stomach turning recreations of these mammoth beasts tearing whole villages to shreds. (cue close up of elephant eye crying) Needless to say I was somewhat terrified when 10 seconds later we pass the spot where the elephant crossed only to find that he had disappeared, camouflaged into the foliage not 20 feet from the road. May I remind you that this is a 10 ton beast of at least 15 feet!? I immediately starting making plans for the next national geographic special 'ELEPHANT SNEAK ATTACK!' thankfully this elephant was not sneaky nor rageful and so let us pass without incident. I only hope we are equally lucky next time.
Nerve Gas:
apparently Indians have determined that in small doses nerve gas is harmless to humans yet can choke a swarm of mosquitos in less than 5 minutes. This being the case in just about every room we've crashed in there is a vile of nerve gas plugged into the wall socket slowly swallowing mosquitoes-i guess..
so now we are left with the decision to risk malaria or a slowly palsying left eye. I flip a coin.
so far I'm 3 out of 4 for a wandering left eye. (can someone please do some research on nerve gas and its effects on humans please? I'd be oh so grateful)
And oh yeah.. I think a Eunich peed in our rickshaw.
-from pontecherri, the Indian Riveria-
Adam
Indian Universal Truths
1 Week's Worth of Insight
There are some "truths" about India. At least the southern half that we've traversed. India is such a completely foreign experience for us that it was at once overpowering. Every fundamental detail in the day to day living is different from our regular lives. Sure if you are staying at a tourist resort and getting shuttled around in a nice Range Rover, you aren't too far off from your familiar world. That's not what we are doing. Driving an autorickshaw, the poorman's cab, and staying in working class or poor towns is another thing all together. Living and traveling this way, you are at once overwhelmed with what you see, hear, touch, taste and most importantly - smell. After some days of it, you become numb to the small details, as say, monkey's picking through your hotel trash or a family of 5 on a moped. You begin to see patterns in the chaos. The sweeping changes from region to region fall away from your perception and the Indian Universal Truths appear.
1) Everyone "Bobbles"
I don't know if there is a culturally correct term for the side to side, fluid "bobble" that you see on man, woman and child. The smallest child seems to perfect the technique before they can do much else on their own. The "bobble" defies definition but can be thought of as a modifier and physical representation of the bobbler's state of mind. It frosts the cake of whatever the bobbler is expressing or feeling.
If the person is waving hello or goodbye and smiling - the enthusiastic "bobble" means, "Look, I'm so happy my head is waving too."
If in response to a question in English and accompanied by a downward look or shy smile - it means, "I have no idea what this foreign jibberish is, maybe this person will go way."
If it comes with a half-hearted reply to a request, it means "I am going to stall because I don't want to do what this person is asking of me" or "I'd rather not admit that I don't know where the post office is, so I'll just say 1 kilometer that way."
2) There Are No Sidewalks In India
Sure in the cities there are some things that you might at first think are sidewalks. They are hardly used as they are actually only brief covers over the open sewer running along both sides of every road. They often occur only in front of a shop and often then only in front of the doorway. Outside of the larger towns, these small ramps are sometimes only plywood keeping you up out of a village worth of waste.
As a result, if you are a mobile creature or object, you must use the roadway. There are few rules to moving around the streets both in cities and the countryside. You should try to stay towards the left, but the concept of "left" is really arguable. Who's left are we talking about anyway? Also there is no minimum or maximum speed. Obviously if you are an ox cart loaded with a 50 foot tower of bamboo you aren't going to go as fast as a TATA SUV (trust me, it's a car brand here). Likewise barefooted pilgrims on the 38th kilometer of their journey can't really get along like a bus loaded to the roof. Of course, if you get tired, you should just lay down. The road is a fine place for people or animals to sleep or conduct whatever business is needed. Also size equals right-of-way. If you are big, just honk and move where you desire. Everyone else will fall out of the way. If you are in a hurry, don't bother honking. Also everyone knows that headlights are for flashing at someone coming straight for you. Don't bother to keep them on the rest of the time. You'll probably just drain your battery.
Things we've seen on the roadway: people walking, people sleeping, people relieving themselves, buses, trucks, SUVs, Jeeps, auto rickshaws, mopeds, motorcycles, bicycles, ox carts, herds of goats, chickens, monkeys, water buffalo, elephants, cows, dogs, cats, mongooses, pigs, oxen, quail, bald eagles, and cats. Bikes, mopeds or pull carts might be loaded with crates of live ducks, plastic jugs, live chickens tied by their feet, hay, bamboo, or an extended family.
3) Holding It In Is Bad
If you are on the road in India and you feel the need to expel something from your body - solid or liquid, regardless of orifice - you should just get it out. Immediately. Right were you are standing.
Some people attempt to direct their "leavings" in the general direction of the open sewer, but this is not universally followed and in no way required. Certainly this doesn't apply to animals or children.
There are some things to consider in some cases. Really only to increase the "effect" of your "release".
For instance, if you are the 227th person on a 40 capacity bus and the bumpy ride in the overhead compartment has left you nauseous, you will need to open a window to get to the roadway. Just prior to vomiting, consider if there is an autorickshaw passing your bus at that moment. It would be quite impressive to actually "hit" the rickshaw and may help to settle your stomach and make you feel better. This takes some skill to accomplish though, so don't feel bad if you miss on the first try. Of the 4 attempts we've had this past week, only 1 has been successful.
4)Mountains of Roadside Trash are Neutral Zones.
There is a widely accepted rule that if you are picking through the trash looking for a snack or settling down for a nap, everyone is equal. Past grievances must be put aside. Monkeys can graze with dogs and cats. Ox can nibble with people sleeping. Pigs can root around next to goats or crows and nary a look should be given.
5) If It Burns, Burn It.
The proper way to dispose of something is to toss it from your person. Eventually everything flung about will gather naturally in to great heaps every few feet or in the open sewer. Periodically someone should scoop out the chunks in the sewer and load them on top of the trash hills. Every other pile of refuse should be on fire. Especially if they are composed of plastic bottles, fecal matter, old tires and styrofoam, as most are.
6) Living Things Can't Really Be Owned
Sure that herd of goats is "yours", but really that is just legal semantics. All animals should be roaming free. Chickens, cows, goats, dogs, cats, oxen, water buffalo, etc. will fend for themselves. Just let them run about and periodically check in on them. A piece of rope around thier neck means they they are a domestic animal "belonging" to someone and only need to be given a small berth. If there is no rope, you should stay a good biting or goring distance away. This applies to the city as much as the countryside. If your goats wander onto a 4 lane highway or into a busy urban intersection, people will move out of the way. Don't worry. Sure you can have an ox in your apartment complex. He'll sleep out front on the street next to the dogs, chickens and goats.
This is some of what we've learned so far. More Indian Universal Truths will emerge, we're sure. This is only week 1 after all.
Anthony //
There are some "truths" about India. At least the southern half that we've traversed. India is such a completely foreign experience for us that it was at once overpowering. Every fundamental detail in the day to day living is different from our regular lives. Sure if you are staying at a tourist resort and getting shuttled around in a nice Range Rover, you aren't too far off from your familiar world. That's not what we are doing. Driving an autorickshaw, the poorman's cab, and staying in working class or poor towns is another thing all together. Living and traveling this way, you are at once overwhelmed with what you see, hear, touch, taste and most importantly - smell. After some days of it, you become numb to the small details, as say, monkey's picking through your hotel trash or a family of 5 on a moped. You begin to see patterns in the chaos. The sweeping changes from region to region fall away from your perception and the Indian Universal Truths appear.
1) Everyone "Bobbles"
I don't know if there is a culturally correct term for the side to side, fluid "bobble" that you see on man, woman and child. The smallest child seems to perfect the technique before they can do much else on their own. The "bobble" defies definition but can be thought of as a modifier and physical representation of the bobbler's state of mind. It frosts the cake of whatever the bobbler is expressing or feeling.
If the person is waving hello or goodbye and smiling - the enthusiastic "bobble" means, "Look, I'm so happy my head is waving too."
If in response to a question in English and accompanied by a downward look or shy smile - it means, "I have no idea what this foreign jibberish is, maybe this person will go way."
If it comes with a half-hearted reply to a request, it means "I am going to stall because I don't want to do what this person is asking of me" or "I'd rather not admit that I don't know where the post office is, so I'll just say 1 kilometer that way."
2) There Are No Sidewalks In India
Sure in the cities there are some things that you might at first think are sidewalks. They are hardly used as they are actually only brief covers over the open sewer running along both sides of every road. They often occur only in front of a shop and often then only in front of the doorway. Outside of the larger towns, these small ramps are sometimes only plywood keeping you up out of a village worth of waste.
As a result, if you are a mobile creature or object, you must use the roadway. There are few rules to moving around the streets both in cities and the countryside. You should try to stay towards the left, but the concept of "left" is really arguable. Who's left are we talking about anyway? Also there is no minimum or maximum speed. Obviously if you are an ox cart loaded with a 50 foot tower of bamboo you aren't going to go as fast as a TATA SUV (trust me, it's a car brand here). Likewise barefooted pilgrims on the 38th kilometer of their journey can't really get along like a bus loaded to the roof. Of course, if you get tired, you should just lay down. The road is a fine place for people or animals to sleep or conduct whatever business is needed. Also size equals right-of-way. If you are big, just honk and move where you desire. Everyone else will fall out of the way. If you are in a hurry, don't bother honking. Also everyone knows that headlights are for flashing at someone coming straight for you. Don't bother to keep them on the rest of the time. You'll probably just drain your battery.
Things we've seen on the roadway: people walking, people sleeping, people relieving themselves, buses, trucks, SUVs, Jeeps, auto rickshaws, mopeds, motorcycles, bicycles, ox carts, herds of goats, chickens, monkeys, water buffalo, elephants, cows, dogs, cats, mongooses, pigs, oxen, quail, bald eagles, and cats. Bikes, mopeds or pull carts might be loaded with crates of live ducks, plastic jugs, live chickens tied by their feet, hay, bamboo, or an extended family.
3) Holding It In Is Bad
If you are on the road in India and you feel the need to expel something from your body - solid or liquid, regardless of orifice - you should just get it out. Immediately. Right were you are standing.
Some people attempt to direct their "leavings" in the general direction of the open sewer, but this is not universally followed and in no way required. Certainly this doesn't apply to animals or children.
There are some things to consider in some cases. Really only to increase the "effect" of your "release".
For instance, if you are the 227th person on a 40 capacity bus and the bumpy ride in the overhead compartment has left you nauseous, you will need to open a window to get to the roadway. Just prior to vomiting, consider if there is an autorickshaw passing your bus at that moment. It would be quite impressive to actually "hit" the rickshaw and may help to settle your stomach and make you feel better. This takes some skill to accomplish though, so don't feel bad if you miss on the first try. Of the 4 attempts we've had this past week, only 1 has been successful.
4)Mountains of Roadside Trash are Neutral Zones.
There is a widely accepted rule that if you are picking through the trash looking for a snack or settling down for a nap, everyone is equal. Past grievances must be put aside. Monkeys can graze with dogs and cats. Ox can nibble with people sleeping. Pigs can root around next to goats or crows and nary a look should be given.
5) If It Burns, Burn It.
The proper way to dispose of something is to toss it from your person. Eventually everything flung about will gather naturally in to great heaps every few feet or in the open sewer. Periodically someone should scoop out the chunks in the sewer and load them on top of the trash hills. Every other pile of refuse should be on fire. Especially if they are composed of plastic bottles, fecal matter, old tires and styrofoam, as most are.
6) Living Things Can't Really Be Owned
Sure that herd of goats is "yours", but really that is just legal semantics. All animals should be roaming free. Chickens, cows, goats, dogs, cats, oxen, water buffalo, etc. will fend for themselves. Just let them run about and periodically check in on them. A piece of rope around thier neck means they they are a domestic animal "belonging" to someone and only need to be given a small berth. If there is no rope, you should stay a good biting or goring distance away. This applies to the city as much as the countryside. If your goats wander onto a 4 lane highway or into a busy urban intersection, people will move out of the way. Don't worry. Sure you can have an ox in your apartment complex. He'll sleep out front on the street next to the dogs, chickens and goats.
This is some of what we've learned so far. More Indian Universal Truths will emerge, we're sure. This is only week 1 after all.
Anthony //
Saturday, December 30, 2006
*quick note
Just quickly between catching up with writing about all our adventures. It's the 30th and we are in Munnar. Google it. It's incredible. I'll go into more later.
We probably aren't going to check our email since the internet cafes are all computer virus havens. We don't want to put in our passwords. Please forward this blog link on to everyone you might think would care.
Thanks.
Good Korma.
We probably aren't going to check our email since the internet cafes are all computer virus havens. We don't want to put in our passwords. Please forward this blog link on to everyone you might think would care.
Thanks.
Good Korma.
Day 04: Sobering Realizations
Day 04:
We arrived in Kochi pretty strung out, but excited to finally be starting this madness. We were going to just make it to the hotel were everyone was meeting to pick up their Rickshaws. We didn't know how we were going to start the rally today as we felt like walking dead.
The cab ride to Fort Kochi from the airport made us all consider taking religion more seriously. There seemed to me no way in hell 3 naive Americans were ever going to survive 20 feet of Indian roadway.
The Indian people are some of the friendliest people I have ever met, until they get into a vehicle. The roads are complete and utter chaos. There are stray dogs everywhere. Cows, monkeys, cats, people on bicycle-looking, cobbled-together creations, hauling 4,000 bananas - all zigzaging around like drunken Aeroflot stewardesses. Add to that zillions of auto rickshaws, trucks, buses 10 times past capacity, not to mention the herds of people walking in the streets - and you have terror incarnate. We felt defeated. Real, childlike fear at what lay ahead.
We got to the hotel and made it to the school grounds were the rickshaws were. Almost everyone was there already. Noticeable absent was Team Rajastan Raiders (Nathan McClain's team), who oddly enough we bumped into at the airport bag claim in Kochi. Everyone was painting their Rickshaws and covering them with stickers. Everyone seemed a little nervous and very excited.
We painted one of our Rickshaws and left the other one pristine for photos.
The team from Sweden gave us the idea of trying to buy a roof rack. We have lots of gear. More then can fit into the Rickshaws easily. We walked around a bit and found an autorickshaw cabbie with a rack on this vehicle. With some sign language he offered to buy it right off him. He motioned us to hop in and took us on a ride through the side streets of Kochi. We wondered if we had made the right decision.
He took us to his house where he had another autorickshaw on blocks with a rack he was willing to sell. His 'house' was a series of shacks, up a narrow dirt track with chickens, goats and cats milling about along with crowds of kids playing. This was our first up close interaction with the locals on their home turf. Boys came up and gawked at us while the women shyly peaked out of doorways. We were a serious novelty. The first of almost non-stop reactions from people all over India.
We drove our now "pimped-out" rickshaw back to the school, with only a little help from our new richshaw driver friend. It is a bit hard to not stall out and scary when something is hurtling it's way towards you.
At this point we decided that attempting the roads out of town would be suicide. We needed supplies, more practice driving, and a good night's rest. That's exactly what we did.
The hotel where we picked up our info packet was booked solid but they were able to get us a room down the road a bit. It was a modest room with 2 single beds and a "mattress" they brought in for the floor.
Bathrooms in India have a large bucket with a small plastic pitcher in lew of toilet paper. Luckily we are packing our own as we have no idea what we are supposed to do with the pitcher. We do know that whatever is done is accomplished with the left hand by the locals. As a result, everyone appears to be right-handed when it comes to just about any other things requiring hands.
Anthony //
Day 3-4: Arrival!
Day 03:
We made it to Delhi and got through customs. We'd missed our driver the night before that was supposed to take us to the hotel that we also missed. We'd missed out flight to Kochi and were in the market for another. Now that we were in the country officially we could get flights domestically. India Air is the best airline hands down. Real plates. 4-star meals. Friendly people. Lots of them, everywhere, looking to make your life pleasant. I which they would open a branch in Chicago.
Although we were sad to have to return to Mombai, the domestic terminal was completely different then the international. Everyone says that the first thing you notice about India is the smell. They are so right. But it wasn't quite the way we'd all heard it. We actually smelled Mombai in the air when the plane depressurized 15 minutes before landing. Mombai smells like a house fire. A house full of trash, tires, and maybe a rancid cow - all burning. Everywhere is burning trash, smoke, and smog. It is a volatile mixture that threatens to make you choke at every breath.
The traffic was truly harrowing. We were scared. How were we going to negotiate these roads? We took comfort in the fact that our travels would be bringing us back to Mombai.
We had to spend the night as there was no flights to Kochi. It was sad that our 4th day was going to begin and we weren't even 'there' yet. On top of it we were going to miss the kick off party the night before the race. So be it.
Anthony //
We made it to Delhi and got through customs. We'd missed our driver the night before that was supposed to take us to the hotel that we also missed. We'd missed out flight to Kochi and were in the market for another. Now that we were in the country officially we could get flights domestically. India Air is the best airline hands down. Real plates. 4-star meals. Friendly people. Lots of them, everywhere, looking to make your life pleasant. I which they would open a branch in Chicago.
Although we were sad to have to return to Mombai, the domestic terminal was completely different then the international. Everyone says that the first thing you notice about India is the smell. They are so right. But it wasn't quite the way we'd all heard it. We actually smelled Mombai in the air when the plane depressurized 15 minutes before landing. Mombai smells like a house fire. A house full of trash, tires, and maybe a rancid cow - all burning. Everywhere is burning trash, smoke, and smog. It is a volatile mixture that threatens to make you choke at every breath.
The traffic was truly harrowing. We were scared. How were we going to negotiate these roads? We took comfort in the fact that our travels would be bringing us back to Mombai.
We had to spend the night as there was no flights to Kochi. It was sad that our 4th day was going to begin and we weren't even 'there' yet. On top of it we were going to miss the kick off party the night before the race. So be it.
Anthony //
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