Munnar

What a change of pace and weather I've just had! I traveled from Alleppey to Kottayam by ferry and then took a bus to Munnar. This 'hill station' is at 1500m, and we are very close to the highest point in India, I think 2600m...I have no idea how high that is, but it took us 5 hours to get from the ocean, at a steady climb, here. And what a ride that was, the bus driver was a former Indy car driver, I'm sure. There's a torrential downpour, thunder, lightening, the whole bit, and we are bobbing and weaving all through traffic up this 2 lane, crazy, windy road, hugging the mountain wall one minute and breaking off asphalt on the cliff side the next minute. Of course I'm seated, again, at the front right across from the driver. About 3 hours in, while my toes are curled around the bar in front of me to prevent me from eating windshield, the driver turns to me with a rag and says 'clean'. Which means I'm to pry my clenched butt cheeks off the seat, actually lean forward and de-fog the side mirror and window. Is he insane?! For the love. But you know, when you have that seat, there is some responsibility...so I take a deep breath and lean forward.

I do get a chance to enjoy the scenery on the drive and it is stunning! Tea and cardamon plantations everywhere, they've planted tea like napa is planted with grapes. The bushes are tightly packed with teeny tiny rows between for the pickers to walk and they undulate with the contours of the landscape. I feel like climbing up onto the bushes and barrel-rolling down, just like when you were a kid!

It's finally cool. I dont' know if I've mentioned, but the stifiling heat/humidity has been a little ridiculous. However, for the first time since I've been in India, I wore my fleece the other night. Lovely...there's actually FOG in the morning, and it cools down at night. Definitely my kind of place!

I'm having so much fun and I've met so many fantastic people that I've decided to extend my trip in India for a week, so more to come....

The Backwaters

I've just come off the backwaters in Kerela and it was absolutely stunning. The Backwaters is a maze of rivers/channels/lakes that wind through the towns of Alleppy, Kottayam & Kollam. One of the girls I've met, Sue,and I decided to do a punted canoe ride, instead of the houseboat, and we got to travel through channels that are only accessable by small boat. The ride was amazing...the scenery is so lush, it's like what I picture the Amazon to be like, but without the anacondas and piranhas. We went through villages, women harvesting rice & washing clothing at the river's edge, kids swimming and every now and then we would surprise a bather :) The ride was very peaceful and relaxing and I really got a feel for village life. Our guide took us to his village and we met his family, we drank right out of a coconut and shared mangos. It's all been surreal.

Random tid-bit: The men in Kerela all wear sarongs, but instead of having them long, they take the ends of the cloth at the bottom, bring them up and wrap it around their waists, the effect is like a mini-skirt. So all you see is Indian men with their little legs sticking out of a skirt LOL - and of course, they're constantly adjusting it so you never know what kind of show you're going to get.

Varkala part 2

I am having an fantastic time here! I've met up with a few travelers, one from California, 2 from England, and a few from Sweden. This is exactly the sort of traveling I thought and hoped I would encounter in India! It's been so much fun, and everyone is in the same travel mode as i am. We took the local bus into town yesterday b/c we heard that there was a festival with elephants. The bus is crazy, you just flag it down and hope that it slows down enough for you to jump on (and off). The parade was interesting. There were tons of people in the street and floats with giant hindu gods driving by. We got to the elephant part and it was so sad to see them chained like they were that we couldn't watch all 51 go by so we headed back to the beach for a sunset beer.

Tomorrow 6 of us are going to do the houseboat trip through the backwaters. I'm so glad, b/c I wouldn't have gone on my own, but just opted for the touristy day trip. So now we'll get to see village life along the rivers, which should be very cool. This has really been a highlight of my trip to India and I'm so bummed that it's coming to an end next week! But I am definitely coming back to tour more of the South.

Varkala

I flew to Trivandrum yesterday which is in Kerala...my ticket said leaving Goa at 1:45 and arriving at 6:40 and I'm thinking: is it really that far, have I misjudged the distance? Well no. We stopped like 4 TIMES, for the love. My whole day was take offs and landings.
Anyway, I finally made it to Varkala which is about 45km north. The area I'm in is called North Cliff and it's just that...there is a foot path that goes along the cliff where the hotels, restaurants, shops & yoga studios are and then it's a really steep long climb down the cliff to the beach.
Today I signed up for some yoga classes and I had an aruvedyic massage. It was not what I was expecting. The table was carved wood, no padding, no towel, no soft music playing, no ambiance. But, you know, this is what it's all about, so I'm down. The massage was not very relaxing, needless to say. I also had a scalp massage, which involves warm oil drizzled across your forehead for 45 minutes. I'm a little skeptical, plus, all that oil is going right into my hair and hot water is not a given. But again, I tough it out. Well the oil is BURNING, and I'm trying to tell her that it's too hot and she's just drizzling away, finally, I'm practically to the door and she's like, too hot, madame? UGH - That lasted about 10 minutes too long, I think I'll stick to yoga.
I'm going to stay here for 5-6 days and just chillax on the beach in between yoga classes. I haven't had any physical activity in a month, so we'll see how this goes :)

Goa

Why didn't I come here first?! Goa is absolutely beautiful! Tropical, beach-y, hot...everything that I love. I've been in South Goa for 3 days, it's more mellow and chill-axed than the North. If you've ever heard anything about Goa it's usually related to the crazy partying, which happens in the North. In the South it's mostly Indian families that come for the weekend, so it's pretty quiet.

Six of us came down on Saturday for the club opening. Three of them designed the club and were doing the event management for the opening. I guess it was kind of a big deal b/c South Goa doesn't have any clubs much the less a night life, so there were belly dancers, scantily clad ladies welcoming guests, a DJ from Bombay, even an Indian celebrity! I think the media was there so I'll be sure to save the front page paper w/ my picture.

Today I've taken the bus, actually 2 buses, to the North and I'm going to spend 2 days here before heading to Kerela. The bus was an experience...There's no time table, they just leave when the bus is full. It cost me 30Rs, which isn't even a $1, so I'm not complaining.

The beach town I'm at is called Baga...most of the hippies hang out in Anjuna which is further north and that's where the drug scene is big. I guess it's gotten out of hand and there are rumors that the police are corrupt (surprising? not really) and that the Russian mafia is somehow involved. On Wednesday's there's a big flea market in Anjuna, I can only imagine what's being sold :) I'll let you know what I find.

Bombay-Pune-Lonavla

i decided not to stay in Bombay but I flew there from Udaipur on my way to Pune. To tell you the truth, I'm glad I didn't stay, b/c I got enough of Bombay on the drive from the airport to the train station which goes right through town. It's wall to wall taxis, buildings and people. 2/3 of the population live in slums...does anyone know the population of Bombay? suffice it to say that it's A LOT. You know, I've read the word 'squalor', but the meaning comes to life when you see how these people live. Corrigated metal, tarps and rocks form the walls and roofs of shacks that are strung together for miles. Garbage burns in piles 4 feet high and 30 feet long right where children are running around half naked, relieving themselves in the same spot they're playing in. It's unreal to see the conditions these people live it.

I would give my skin, if I thought it would help.

But Bombay is resilient and these people have come from villages where they are worse off (if you can believe it). They've come to Bombay for a chance that something positive will happen...that their lives will be transformed...and if anything is going to happen, it will happen in Bombay.

I hopped on a train from Bombay to Pune. The train station was a scene! 15 trains, 40 windows to buy tickets to all over the country. And you have to stand in a particular line depending on where you're heading - for the love. Where are the directions? I must have looked particularly pathetic, b/c a man came up to me and asked if I wanted help. Well, knowing that I'm a target (tourist, female, traveling alone - hello), I said no, I'm fine, I'll figure this out. He must have seen the look on my face b/c he proceeded to tell me that he wasn't there to scam me and that he's waiting for a friend and he genuinely wanted to help and see to it that I have a good experience in India. So I very cautiously followed this man and what do you know, he didn't scam me and he really did want to help. He helped me with my ticket and showed me where the train was and then he said good bye. And I was skeptical!

I spent 4 days in Pune with family friends. It was so nice to just chill. OH, I almost forgot to tell you this new word I heard: chillaxing. LOVE IT! Ok, so I'm chillaxing in Pune (say poona) regrouping for my 3 weeks in South India. We take a trip to Lonavla which is a hill station 90 min from Pune to visit family. The next thing you know, I've been invited to Goa for a club opening on Monday. Well I politely decline b/c I'm heading to Kerela, but they insist - so much so that they cancel my flight to kerela, purchase me a ticket to goa and pay for my hotel. So here I am in Goa, funny how things work out.

Udaipur

To the dismay of my new family in the desert, I finally left and headed to the lake town of Udaipur. They really wanted me to stay and celebrate Holi on March 21 - which is the festival when everyone throws (powdered or liquid) color in the air and you come out looking like a clown. But I couldn't do a week in the desert...so I'm headed for the ocean.

You'll know Udaipur from the James Bond movie, Octopussy. Definitely go out and rent it. Almost every hotel/restaurant/bar has a daily showing of the movie - but being the 007 buff that I am, I have seen the movie at least 7 times. The town is very cute, with lots of winding roads around the lake. At sunset, I went to a roof top terrace and ordered a beer, but this place doesn't have a license, so they brought it out in a teapot!

Tomorrow I'm flying to Mumbai and then taking the train to Pune. I'll stay a few days w/ mom's friend and enjoy some home cooking and some family love before setting off to Goa.