Sunday, January 25, 2009

Hampi Pictures

The rivers in India are always a busy place with laundry, bathing and just general socializing.
We broke down for petro, had to get more to make it back to our guest house.

Look at the eyes on this kid, they were bright green.


I couldn't resist, had to break out a yoga move.
The Elephant Stables


The Queen's bath

Friday, January 23, 2009

Hampi, Karnataka, India

It has been a great week in India. I left Goa on Monday and headed inland to Hampi. This town is known for its amazing temples. Many dating back 400-500 years. I hung out this week with two new friends, Kate from Australia and Lukas from Austria. We were on the same bus from Goa to Hampi and then stayed at the same place, the Sai Plaza. It was affordable, good food and views of the temples from the eating area. I was together with Kate and Lukas for most of the week. We spent two days touring the temples, one of the days we hired a rickshaw to take us from one temple to another. On the last day of temple gazing, we came upon this one that had a great sitting area, I could just picture people sitting there and chatting over the past 500 years. We sat there for ages chatting, it was very quiet with only a few people around. The landscape in Hampi is very unique, someone in Goa told me it was like landing on the moon. It reminds me of the Matobos Hills in Southern Zimbabwe, scattered boulders everywhere. On Thursday (maybe Wednesday) I think it was we rented little mopeds. It reminded me of riding a lawn mower. It had very little power and maximum speed topped out at about 50kph. We were told at the beginning of the day that we had gas for about 75km. We were riding for many hours, and the odometer did not work, so it was hard to tell how far we had gone..... you know where this is leading.... on the way back, Lukas and Kate's moped died. He took mine and went to get gas, which wasn't much of a problem and we were soon on our way back to the guest house. It was a great day of wandering through 'small town' India. Although riding on the road was a bit of an obstacle course, we had to maneuver around, people, goats, cows, pigs, rickshaws, motorcycles, cars, the list just goes on and on, but it was a great day of fun. Yesterday I left Hampi, leaving Kate and Lukas behind and headed for Mangalore en route to Varkala in the south.

Thursday, January 15, 2009

Aranbol Beach, Goa, India

I have been in Aranbol, Goa for the past three days. It is on the western side of India on the Arabian Sea. I'm feeling kind of stuck here, I don't want to leave. I come up with a new excuse every day on why to stay another day. My excuse for not moving tomorrow - it's Friday and many people will be heading to other beaches and therefore I might not find any place to stay... that sounds reasonable doesn't it. Aranbol is great, it is a very 'festive' beach. Lots of music and entertainment all day and well into the evening. The water is amazing, I've been swimming at least three times every day. I have to fit the swimming into my rather hectic schedule of reading, walking the beach, massage, eating, yoga and napping. I have a rough life. I think I will head to the southern part of Goa on Monday and then on to southern India after that. I expect my 5- 6 weeks in India will be spent in the south.

I'm staying in a great little beach hut, and it is just a hut. Nothing but a bed, mosquito net and a fan. The temperatures have been really nice at night, not too hot.

I've been bumping into people that I've met along the way. Yesterday I was walking the street and bumped into a guy that was in my hostel in Mumbai. The strangest occurrence was when I arrived in Mumbai and bumped into a traveller that I stayed with in the rural parts of Uganda in Africa, what are the chances of meeting someone on another continent in among 16.4 million people.

When I was on my way here today to the Internet cafe, there were two guys doing tricks on the beach with a cow. Seriously, they had the cow decorated, and one of the guys was lying on the beach and the cow was standing on him with one leg, meanwhile the other guy was playing music. Only in Goa.


This is not the 'trick' cow, it was just lying in the sun on the beach. There are many of them all over the beach.


Friday, January 9, 2009

Mumbai, India

I have arrived safely in Mumbai. I got here at 3:00am, what an awful time to arrive in a new city. I waited in the airport until 6:30am before getting a taxi into the city. The drive in was interesting, even at 6:30 in the morning it was pretty busy with people and cars. The other noticeable thing is the abundance of smog, its making my allergies go crazy. I'm staying at a Salvation Army hostel in the Calaba area, it's right across the road from the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel. It's a great location, just a five minute walk to the water. Yesterday I took a boat out to Elephanta Island, it was a nine km ride. Elephanta Island is famous for its temples that are carved into the side of huge rock faces.



Here are a few photos courtesy of Google Images. I did take loads of pictures, just haven't uploaded them yet.

Today I had to make my way by foot to the train station. Again my sense of direction (or lack thereof) kept me wandering for a while. What was supposed to be a 20 minute walk turned into a hour and a bit. The process of buying a train ticket is in itself a little mesmerizing. First you find the reservations area in a very chaotic station with 1000's of people, then you have to find the name of the train you want (there are many) , then you have to go to a particular window (also many). Fortunately for me there was a 'foreign traveller' window. Yeah for that. Tomorrow I have to take a 7:10am train to Pune, about a four hour trip south of Mumbai. Apparently there is a 'gas strike', so I may end up walking it again tomorrow. I think my next trip I'm going to buy a GPS to keep me on track.

Saturday, January 3, 2009

Leaving Africa

It has been six months since I left Vancouver and my African leg of the journey is almost done. I have just four days left before heading to Mumbai, India. It has been an amazing six months. Here are some of the places I've visited:

Bulawayo, Zimbabwe
Tshelanyemba, Zimbawe
Francistown, Botswana,
Johannesburg, South Africa
Cape Town, SA
Mossel Bay, Knysna, Jeffrey's Bay, Port Elizabeth, Coffee Bay, Durban, Nelspruit, - South Africa
Mbanbane, Swazliland
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Stonetown, Zanzibar
Paje, Zanzibar
Moshi, Lake Manyara, Serengeti, Ngorogoro Crater, Arusha, Mwanza, -Tanzania
Kigali, Ruhengeri, Butari, Gisenye all in Rwanda
Kampala, Jinga, Kabale, Lake Bunyonyi - Uganda

As always Africa has a lot to teach you about yourself. Volunteering in both Zimbabwe and Rwanda has been amazing, I always need to settle down for a few weeks and unpack. Traveling to a new city every few days can be tiring. I know I will be returning to some of the places that I've spent time in since July.

Now comes India. I know this country will have challenges for me. I still haven't set out a firm itinerary, that will come. I fly into Mumbai on January 7. I hope to keep you all updated on here.