Richard's Travel Blog

The five of us, Sam, Ina, Surya, Ori and I started off up the beach to where the steps from the road come down. We climbed them, ran the gauntlet of taxi and rickshaw touts hoping for a fat fare to Gokarna, and headed up. At first the trail is fairly steep, basically well worn dirt and rocks not quite making a stairway on up over the saddle of the rocky point between Om Beach and Kudlee Beach. It’s not far to Kudlee, about 20-30 minutes, but it was good to get this climbing out of the way while we were fresh and it wasn’t very hot yet. After the top, it’s gentler downhill. You can stroll along, looking at your rocky footfalls for sure, and enjoying what’s around you. There are ordinary rocks, but a lot of it is black prous volcanic deposit. Young, tenth at least growth of deciduous woods are on both sides. You quickly approach Kudlee, which is crescent shaped, like Om. The rocky prominances aren’t as scenic. It’s a little less busy then Om.

Surya, Ina (supposedly working on her Sanskrit doctorate) and Ori like to smoke hash, as do at least half of the people on the beaches south of Gokarna. Surya knew the face of a guy, and we found him running a restaurant/bar/hut place, just called a “shack” here along the coast. In the typical warmth of a nascent deal, Surya and the guy called to each other, namaste’d, and patted each other on the shoulders as if they were long lost brothers. It was a shack like all the others, so we all enjoyed coconut shakes while the product was being sampled. I took a hit and a half. Woah, I’m not used to that anymore! It’s a good thing it took at least an hour for everybody to get what they wanted.

After our jovial departure from Kudlee, we headed over the saddle of the next hills between us and Gokarna. It was easier going. You could take a motorbike if you were experienced. It’s windswept and less wooded at the top. Gokarna and it’s beach come into view

The path between Gokarna and Kudlee are being prepared for tourism. Already there is a road to Om Beach and the new luxury resort set back in the Western Ghats (hill county) which are behind all the beaches. There are hundreds of seedlings planted, which I think will make that a nice walk even in the heat. Ina says they are some kind of tree, like the euclyptus, that has taken over parts of Isreal and become a nuisance. I think the Indians just want something there that needs no care, and don’t worry t all about things like that.

You get to Gokarna near the beach. The logical direction to go is up the main street leading away from the beach.

Again, don’t ask me why sometimes the print turned to blue.

Oh look. There are Sam and Ina on the left side of the road in the shade.

Anyway, having left Surya at Kudlee, it was the four of us left. We had different things to do. First Ori split off because he hadn’t gotten signed in at the police station yet, even though he’s been here a week. (You have to sign in at least with the hotel and even sometimes the internet places, complete with passport, all over India. It’s worse than the communist era East Bloc.) We three needed to get money. They needed to ask a travel office some stuff. Then Ina went off to make some phone calls. Sam and I went down a couple of bazaar streets.

The only thing we both needed was toothpaste. She wanted a Chinese Sony-knockoff MP4 player. I left her to wrangle with the vendor and went to get another book.

In Gokarna the scene is totally different than at the southern beaches. There are few tourists on the long beach and no obvious partying. It’s a very holy city to the Hindus. It’s said that if one merely views a particular lingum in one of the many temples, he/she will be spared further reincarnations. That’s a pretty fine blessing, if you ask me, for just doing this one thing. End of suffering on the cheap. I’m there. The trouble is non-HIndus aren’t allowed inside to see that one. While wandering back toward the trailhead where the bookstore is, I looked in a few temples where non-Hindus are allowed. Here’s a typical one.

I’ve been meaning to ask what the drying leaves are. They are strung up all over Gokarna.

After picking out a book, I happened out of the store just as Sam was coming down with her new MP-4 player ($27, with some effort). We had all agreed to meet up at an Indian restaurant at the end of the road at 2:30, though Ina didn’t show because she returned early via taxi because she was worried about her 6-7 week old puppy she picked up off the streets of Mysore, and has subsequently become way too attached to. (It’s a good thing she’s not a mom to a human.) We had a nice lunch at the table of a single woman traveller from Germany. Sam, who is Austrian, enjoyed speaking German with her. Ory came and went, trying to find anyone at the police station. He never did.

Then we took a fishing boat back. That was a nice ride, and only took about 20-30 minutes. After skidding up to near the water’s edge, we waded in, took our spots in the shade of our shack and went about killing the rest of yet another lazy afternoon at the beach.

That’s my place on Om Beach. It’s the hut beyond the mud wall of the building on the right of the picture. You don’t need much in the way of shelter here. There’s even a bedroll and light inside.

I was going to do something today. All I did was read and socialize. Tomorrow I’m going to Gokarna with a couple of friends. I need to go get some money and another book. They want to shop a little and talk to a travel shop about the best way to get to where they are going. Maybe I’ll do that too. I think I’m good for a few more days of this. I’m getting a  little stir crazy. But, oh, it wouldn’t be that hard to just hang out.

I’m starting to get an idea what i want to do. I’m going to  go to the hill country and do forests and tea plantations for a while. Then I’ll go to Mysore, where there are many interesting things. Then I think I’ll go to Kerala. It’s popular to go on cruises in the backwaters. I wonder how that wil be for me? I’ve cruised some pretty far back backwaters. After that, let’s see, it’ll be about mid-January. I’ll probably go around Tamil Nadu. I was talking to a couple of divers here who have been to the Andaman Islands. They say it’s as good as Sharm al Sheikh. That did it. I’m going. The water’s supposed to be perfectly clear in February. Then I think it’ll be a quick swing up the Ganges Plain via Varanasi, a stop in Agra for the Taj Mahal, and it’ll be time to go home.

But then again, maybe I’ll change my mind.

I don’t have any profound thoughts. I just thought I’d write something. Talk to you later….

Word was that this beach was isolated. Word was wrong. They built a road to near here last year, no doubt because there is a new posh resort up the hill. I sort of thought this was going to be the case. On the one hand, one year old Lonely Planets and the backpacker grapevine reported you had to take a bad dirt road or, better, take a boat to here. On the other, what top end tourist wants to get to their top end resort that way? Their legs would get wet getting into the boat, which would smell of the morning catch anyway. Or all their stuff would bounce around and get dusty on a bad road. Neither of those things would do at all. I THOUGHT there would be a paved road, and there is, a shiny new one lane blacktop. The boat guys look desperate, canvassing everyone who walks by if they want a ride. And the price is down to $3. They still get a few, some for the fun, some who don’t want to walk to the top of the hill where the road is, and some who want to go to the two beaches south of here where the road doesn’t extend.

Om Beach, two beaches south of Gokarna, Karnataka, is still not exactly Cancun. It’s the more popular of the two beaches you can get to by road, but has only about five places where you can rent one of many bamboo huts for a buck and a half or one of a few rooms with a bathroom and fan. There are probably about 100 people here along this mile stretch of beach. It feels just about right to me, though about half of them are long term stoners. I don’t see any real trouble. They switch to Indie mood music when it gets late, and the reggae doesn’t bother me during the day. Besides, there is one place that plays only new age stuff. I can read to that.

Here was the sunset out my front “door” tonight.

I know, I know. If you’ve seen one tropical sunset, you’ve seen ’em all. I just thought this space needed a photo. Om Beach is called that because from the rocky heights to the south it looks like Hindi for Om, with two big loops of beach to the right and the squiggles of the islands in the picture to the left.

Hmm, come to think of it, where are the top end tourists? They aren’t around here, at the far end of the beach. I walked back to the Namaste Cafe and Guesthouse near the end of the road today. A few of them looked like they had money. Maybe business is slow up on the hill. Or maybe they’re busy playing tennis or lounging around the pool. You’d think they’d come down, wouldn’t you? Oh well, doesn’t matter. I prefer the crowd with dreads more than the crowd with poodles anyway.

I’m not that busy, as you can imagine. I’m evening out my tan, swimming amd reading. there’s an Austrian gal her that doesn’t smoke, and we’ve been kind of talking, but she’s only 18 so there’s only so much we have to say to each other. There’s an Isreali here who is working on her doctorate in ancient Sanskrit poetry. She’s kind of fun, chirps like a chipmunk when she’s high. There are a fair number of Indians here. I’m told they only come on the weekends. They are the loud ones.

I don’t know how long I’ll stay, but it looks like I’ll have plenty of time and plenty of computer access. I should be able to write.

So, till then….

On the one hand, I feel like I need to “do” something, and on the other, I am really enjoying doing nothing. It’s slowly sinking in that I’m not that busy. There’s no way to see or appreciate or hate India to it’s fullest in only 6 months, anyway. So I’m splitting the difference, and going to another place on the coast tomorrow, Gokarna. It’s a Hindu holy city and is reputed to have great beaches too. the beaches are to the south. The only way to get to them, except over bad dirt tracks, is by fishing boats which are the de facto taxis. It doesn’t sound like there will be internet there. So, this may be the last you hear from me till I decide to leave there. That could be two days or two weeks.

I just finished a book (my third in as many days) caled “Holy Cow” by Sarah Mac Donald. People have sked me, “Why don’t you write a book about your travels.” If I was to write one, it might be something a lot like “Holy Cow”. This Australian woman went to India with her boyfriend, who is a news correspondent. She tells about her experiences there as a new visitor. It’s a riot and so right on. It’s a popular read here because all of us tourists can relate to her perceptions and opinions. I could write on and on about how it is here, what it’s like to travel around, and how India does things to your mind. It changes you, if you stay for any length of time. I recommend it to anyone who wants to see things in a way similar to the way I see them. She runs with a more well-heeled crowd than I do, but so much of what she did, thought and felt is like the average tourist’s.

Enjoy you holiday preparations, and I’ll talk to you later.

I’m trying to think. This may be the first time in my life that I’ve lounged around a resort area with nothing to do for so long. I’ve been to lots of dive places where there was lots of down time, but of course there was diving and related behavior for a couple of hours. I’ve been shorter times to resort areas. But I’ve been hanging out in Goa for, oh, what, 8-10 days? Something like that.

After Vagator in N. Goa, I went to a beach area called Benaulim, near Margao, and stayed there for about three days.  It was, as I expected, about what it’s generally like along this stretch of beaches. It’s a little less scenic than Vagator and the beaches north of it, but quieter. I did nothing but sit in the shade most of the time and read a book. I had a scooter there and rode around. That’s about it.

Then things slowed down. I came to Palolem. That was four days ago. I’ve read two books and, until today when they left, hung out with another Polish couple. I walk up and down the beach a little, swim a little, eat very well, knock back water all day and have a couple of beers in the evening, and that’s about it. I didn’t even get a scooter. Maybe I’ll go to another beach soon. Oh, decisions decisions. I don’t like anything right now more stressful than deciding what I want for lunch.

I’ve spent most of three months needing to “do” something, have a reason to move on. I’m looking forward to more interesting things, probably pretty soon, but it was becoming like too long in a great museum. I was becoming oversaturated and unappreciative. It’ll be time to go when the ability to have a lot of fun that way returns.

Meanwhile Goa is climbing, I think, on my list of places to winter. It’s real easy here, I’m telling you. Right on the beach, it’s barely India. You can escape dealing with the hardships and difficulties, not to mention observing the real hardships and difficulties Indians have. There is an extensive ex-pat community, so you can have all the contact with Westerners who aren’t fresh off the boat you want. Or you can meet the new people constantly coming through. There isn’t much to do, though. I wonder how it would feel after a few months. I guess there’s no reason to only stay put.

I kind of don’t think Palolem is where I’d like to stay a whole winter. The beach isn’t that clean, and it’s not quite a scenic as the north. This has a lot of development, that is, an almost endless string of beach shack restaurant/bars. There are other beaches close by that are quiet again. I think I still like the north better. It’s prettier and the beach is better, and I can go find the crowd if I want.

I’m trying to think. I’ve been told “that’s what you’re good at, Butch.”

Usually it’s best if I don’t go through that, I think. LOL.  I end up thinking too much about what I’m thinking. It’s a long story, but it’s not that good for me. That could be another problem with renting a place and staying for a while. I might drive myself crazy, if I haven’t already. Hard to tell from the inside.

I’m babbling.

Best wishes to you all.

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Goa is small state on the southwest coast of India. It was a Portuguese colony until 1962, and still retains much of it’s western flavor. There are lots of Catholics here, and the older buildings in the look like Portuguese architecture. It is even halfway prosperous, no doubt at least partially due to the strong tourist business. The capital, Panaji (or Panjim, as it’s usually called here) is the smallest capital city in India, and isn’t half bad.

Above Panjim is North Goa, and south of it is South Goa. I spent a day in Panjim, then did what virtually everybody does, I hit the beach. There is just about whatever you want in a bech scene. There are basically secluded ones, moderately secluded ones, and various grades of party scene. I’m staying in Vagator, which has no real party scene. It just has a few hundred yards of beach, with rocky headlands on either side. Here are the obligatory sunset scenes.

Those shots are from a couple hundred yards from my very nice, and cheap, guesthouse. It’s down a dirt lane, surrounded by coconut palms and garden. Here’s the backyard dining area. I’ve been mellowing out there in the morning with breakfast and chai.

It’s a tough life, I gotta tell you. This is about the first place I’ve been in India where I think any casual trveller would feel comfortable. Many people really do speak good Engish; it’s set up for tourists; there’s a wide variety of any kind of food; the roads are good; the traffic is light; a good room like mine costs $6/night; the international beach scene can be to your liking; the vendors don’t hawk their good too aggressively; the electricity is on 98% of the time. There are sit down toilets all over the place, and you don’t even need that all the time because nobody is complaining of traveller’s diarrhea. If you wat basically a town of tourists, you can go to Calangute/Baga. If you want a midrange scene, you can go just south of here to Anjuna. I went there this morning. It has many beach bars and restaurants, but it’s not too overpopuated. It is the first beach village I’ve been to where you have to run a gauntlet of dope dealing Kashmiris. It’s gotten to the point where when I see a Kashmiri, I figure he’s dealing. Anyway, that kind of goes with the territory here, especially as the peak tourist season approaches. Anjuna Beach is a couple of kilometers long, with a rocky shore at the ends. Here is the view north, toward my village on Vagator, where the shoreline is mostly rocky.

Speaking of rocky, I went to a night bazaar and food and entertainment extravaganza called the Arpuna Saturday Night Bazaar. It is THE thing to do if you travel to Goa. At least a couple of thousand people from near and far were there, mostly having a good old time. Old hiippis never die; they go to Goa and sell stuff tourists will like, get loaded, hang out at the coffee shops in Calangute, and get involved with all kinds of drama. The old guard is a little inbred. I heard all about it from an Australian woman I originally met in Leh, then again in Srinigar, who lives in Goa six months out of the year. We hooked up a couple of times. I also hooked up with a couple of German women at the bazaar and drank with them till 5. Omygod.

That was after I took my rented motorbike up to a beach about 25 km north of Vagator, called Hamal, and walked along it for at least a couple of miles. It’s got white sand, is at least 50 meters wide, light surf and a gentle slope into the wter. There are two clusters of beach bars and a lot of nothing.

I took about 10 dips on the way, and got sunburned, not to bad. As you can see, there are not too many people there.

I don’t kow how long I’ll stay here, maybe a couple more days. Then I think I’ll go to South Goa. They say it’s slower down there. After that, I think I’ll bag the beach scene and go the the forests nd tea plantations of southern Karnataka, back up in the ghats. It should be cooler again up there. At any rate, my next entry will probably be from South Goa.

Be well, all of you.

Hey, I’m on the verge of catching up on my blogging. I’m in Vagator, Goa, and it looks like this will be a good place to unwind, as if I’m under all that much stress.

Badami and the nearby sites are pretty interesting. You’ve seen loads of pictures of cave temples and archeological sites, so I’ll spare both of us this time around. In Badami itself, there are four cave temples, three of which are Hindu and one is Jain. They date from the 6th to the 8th centuries.

There’s nothing like being protected in the arms of the gods, especially if he’s got eight of them.

Anyway, you get the picture. The caves are full of these friezes. They are nothing spectacular, after you’ve seen Ajanta and Ellora.

Near Badami are Pattadakal and Aihole. There are ancient temple and city complexes there. Pattadakal is pretty big, as it was the capital of a Hindu kingdom from the 4th to the 7th centuries. Ailole is a temple complex. Mahakuta is a 16th-17th century temple. It’s still active.

You know what I might always remember. Badami had little tourist scene. In tourist ghettoes, you see a lot of bars. In regular India towns, you may have a bar or two,and a liquors store or two. Badami had the most Indian bars and liquor stores I’ve seen yet. Drinking is a big deal there. And I want to tell you, they don’t mess around. The heck with sipping. Those guys kill a half pint in 10 minutes. On the main drag there are about 10 bars, and they are packed, with turnover in 10 minutes. Boy howdy.

The ride to Goa was dreadful. Karnataka state is actually pretty rugged. The eastern part isin the western ghats (That means hills), and the westernpart winds down to the lush tropical plains of southern India. The road is being modernized toa narrow 2-lane road for about 50 km. So it’s construction and choppy dirt road the whole way. It took 10 hours in a government bus (Read: 40 yearold school bus). My sitting situation wasn’t the greatest. I made it, anyway. Now I’m kicking back. It’s what you do in Goa. I have a nice room in a guesthouse under the coconut palms, about 100 meters from the beach. It’s pretty, and well away from the party. I have a motorcycle, which is perfect for around here, as there is little traffic. I’ll write about it in a couple of days.

Meanwhile, my best to all….

What’s happening in Hampi are the remains of the capital of a Hindu kingdom in the 3rd-6th centuries, Vijayanagar. They sprawl out over many square kilometers. It reminds me of the Forum in Rome, though unfortunately is not so well preserved. Even more unfortunately, it’s pretty heavily restored. I wish they would at least mark the new stuff or the put-back-in-place stuff better. I’ve got a fair eye for that, but I don’t like spending my mental energy examining places in that way. There ought to be an “A” list and a “B” list for UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Hampi/Vijayanagar isn’t on a par with Luxor, the Forum or Angkor Wat. Yes, those places are in part restored also, but they’ve gone a little too far in Hampi. All that said, it is still quite impressive.

One good thing they did in Hampi is have an exhibition of before and after photos of many of the sites. The before pictures were taken in the 19th century, and the after pictures were taken in 1980-something. Here is an example.

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Here is some of the restoration work going on. I wish I had a good picture showing the size of the overall project. There is still a lot buried in the ground, like in Pompeii, or at least Pompeii 18 years ago when I last saw it.

It wasn’t all rubble and disintegrating. It has a few places that even held up. Here’s a temple and a ceremonial stone war chariot. The wheels used to turn on the stone axles until a few years ago, but so many tourists were turning the wheels it was actually making the hole in the wheel bigger. So they fixed them in place with a little cement.

Seeing these sites takes all day with a guide. He’s all yours for $8, plus rental of tw0 bicycles for 50 cents each. I know, 9 bucks, but there is so much to see and learn. My left knee hated that one speed bike, though. I’m just now getting over it, about 5 days later.

Hampi happens to be quite lovely. The river spreads out into different channels and the boulders make it look like a moonscape. I can see why this place was chosen as the capital. What a lot of places there are for hiding, attacking and sniping from behind boulders.

I just want to say, for the record, that Hampi is one of those few places where a tourist can walk down the street and not be badgered by shopkeepers, rickshaw guys, and the like. They ask once, and let it go. The beggars are as bad as anywhere, though. the modern village of Hampi practically exists because of tourism, yet the hassle factor is remarkably low. The jewelry guys, the clothes guys, the fabrics guys, the souvenir guys, all of them, ask once. Reminded me of Bundi. In fact, only the fruit and vegetable ladies give you an earful there.

Later, or more likely tomorrow, I’ll write about Badami and the places near to there. Then I’ll be all caught up.

Be well, all of you, and I hope you had Happy Thanksgivings.

It’s been a while since I’ve written because I haven’t been in a place with high speed internet connection, or in the case of Badami, no public internet access at all. I had hoped to write this one about Hyderabad from Hyderabad, but I didn’t have time in the last day and a half to go to the part of town with high speed connection. One might think that in “Cyberbad” good connection would be everywhere. Well, I’ll tell you what I think and what was confirmed by Indian and foreign aquaintances. The same thing that happened to Bangalore is about to happen to Hyderabad. That is, it’s about to get built out. When the expansion period is over, and they’re building the next high tech city north of Delhi, Hyderabad will freeze in place. Sure, there is more prosperity there, in general, but much of the city and it’s sister city next door, Secunderabad, is pretty much typical India. That would be alright, except people have such high expectations. On some level the demand for modernity will drive overextension of services. Bangalore is plagued with blackouts, overextended water demand and waste treatment, and otherwise strained infrastructure. It’s happening in Hyderabad, though Secunderabad is in better shape and more afluent. In fact, west of Secunderabad, n Banjara and Jubilee Hills, it’s actually the nicest I’ve seen in India. But as I say, most people are going to be left behind. They may want to have good internet connection, but they may very well not get it.

I always stay in the modest places, but where I stay is very far from being in slums. Here is outside my hotel.

It looks typical because it is. Hyderabad is mostly Muslem, and my area was largely Arab.

It’s funny how the Muslem world is so unanimously opposed to our war in Iraq. These posters are up all over. Now, I’m sure the opinions regarding Saddam vary, but to idealize this guy seems a little over the top. Oh well, my dad had a picture of George Bush up in his living room. People are funny.

So, there are a few things to see in Hyderabad. There’s a fort, of course.

There’s also a pretty cool complex of tombs of the Persian kings of the 15th and 16th centuries. It probably covers about 40 acres. That reminds me, many of the Muslems there are Shia. I wonder how many of them like the Saddam posters?

I don’t know what else to say about Hyderabad. In a way it was a bit dissappointing. I had hoped the future of India would look brighter with Hyderabad showing the way. It doesn’t, really. But then again, it is better. And better is better. As for it as a tourist town, it’s pretty good. There are a few things to do. I dunno. It’s okay.

The principle reason people go to Aurangabad is to see Ellora and Ajanta. Both are World Heritage Sites, and for good reason. Elephanta would have been less impressive. These are truly remarkable. They are caves and recesses in granite hillsides that Buddhists, Hindus and Jains carved out and painted from the 5th-11th centuries A.D.. The Buddhists were in there during their heyday in India in the 5th-7th, the Hindus mostly from the 7th-9th but for a couple of centuries more to some extent, and the Jains have a few caves until the 11th.

First I went to Ellora.

Bear in mind as you look through these pictures that none of the statues, friezes, pillars, facades, ceilings or anything are built up. They are all wittled down from the rocky hillside. This waterfall gushes and is very beautiful during the monsoon season.

Many of my inside pictures are blurred because it is dark or dimly lit. I took them with my shapshooter propped against something. this prayer hall was lit by an opening over the doorway and the doorway itself. It’s very intersting the way they make the ceiling look like it’s really arched construction, not just carved out that way.

Some of these pseudo-pillars still have good detail. Some of the pillars, especiall in Ajanta are even better preserved. This bunch of pics are still of Ellora.

This is from one of the more recent Jain caves. the next picture is of the hair of the woman on the left.

The single most important reason Ellora is a World Heritage Site is because of the following kailash, this temple which was reduced from granite hillside. It is the largest such kailash in the world. It’s Hindu, and dates from the 7th-9th centuries, taking 150 years to make.

I know many of you aren’t fascinated with antiquities but you’ll just have to live with this. I’m on a roll. Here are some shots of the inside. In the first one, you can see that not every square inch is carved. For me, that adds to the awareness of how it was made.

I wish it didn’t take so long to publish these pictures. You’d think the connection here in Cyberbad (Hyderabad) would be faster, but it isn’t really.

On to Ajanta…

Here are just a few of the things to see in there.

I know one thing. If I ever get enlightened it’ll be while I’m lying down.

Ajanta is also famous for it’s paintings inside. Again, it was too dark to do these justice, but I’m putting a couple on here anyway.

This is Prince Siddhartha before he left the palace to seek enlightenment.

Here he is some time after he decided asceticism wasn’t the way to salvation. You’ll just have to take my word for it that these are great in person. there was one picture of some ladies. One had on some pearls. After 1500 years, those pearls were so clear, so three dimensional, that I felt like I could go pick them up. I wasn’t allowed close enough to take a picture of this detail. You can only see it with a flashlight anyway.

There are actually a few other things to se around Arangabad. About the only photogenic thing is this tomb Aaurangazed built for his fourth wife. My guess is that she was his favorite. It’s called, here, the “mini-Taj Mahal”. The base, much of the inside and the dome are marble, while the walls are stone and plaster. The real Taj is all marble. This one doesn’t look fantastic up close, but it makes for a nice view from a distance.

Whew, that’s it for now. I’ve been in Hyderabad for a couple of days. I’m off to see some stuff. Until later….