After various insignificant attempts at putting up my photos on this website i quit and found an easier way, facebook!
click on the links below to see our smiling faces on different parts of our trip:
the night before the flight
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=4718&l=b4cdb
&id=504954798
Delhi
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=4719&l=cfe01
&id=504954798
Agra
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=4720&l=ce7b4
&id=504954798
various indian cities
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=4721&l=d9865
&id=504954798
Bangalore so far...
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=4722&l=65f15
&id=504954798
hope you like them!
Friday, 21 September 2007
Leaving Mumbai chumps, arriving to luxury though
We left Mumbai on Imodium, after having paid our taxi driver to take us to the central station, only for him to take us to the wrong side of town and the wrong terminal. Before I forget to mention, the reason that there is two names for Mumbai/New Delhi is as follows, the coast was initially colonized by the portugese who named it beautiful bay ‘bom baih’ (sorry for the spelling, portugese is a crazy language). When the british came, they changed it to the more sensibly named
Anyways, our anal side allowed for the auto rickshaw (three wheeled contraption that manages not to crash into anything despite the drivers refusing to care about the presence of anything, ANYTHING ELSE on the road) driver’s mistake, and we were fine to get on the right train in the right train station.
The journey from Mumbai to Pune is a couple of hours and is supposed to be one of the most beautiful landscapes in
We arrived at Pune station and some good friends of singoalla’s family came and picked us up. They were so nice to us, we could only say ‘thank you’ over and over again as they put us in a very nice hotel, showed us around the city, cooked for us and bought us many unmerited colourful gifts. I found it very interesting to talk to the father of the house, who was happy to talk about philosophical concepts and the philosophy attached to the various religions of
Some people might take that the wrong way though. You could, and some do, just take this as a way to ignore or dismiss the suffering around you. The point is that you acknowledge and work towards alleviating suffering, but at the same time you think positively, not in constant anguish about the suffering of people because this won’t help people and would make you a very depressing person to be around. You ain’t ever getting rid of my dialectical materialist side, ya get me.
Who cares about any of this anyway, I have colourful traditional clothing now! Oh, I was also continuously sick whilst here too, having at one point to rush into the most disgusting public toilet you could imagine. Thank god it existed.
On the topic of god, I also forget to mention something that hit me from the beginning of my journey here. This is probably the most religious and spiritual place I have been too. And yeah, I know, a lot of you atheists out there would probably be horrified to hear that. But I don’t frown on it here. The festivals are beautiful to behold, the statues of gods are equally dazzling and ornate, whilst most of the values and the morality that Hinduism espouses are both positive and deeply meaningful. Maybe we have been really lucky on our trip so far, but most of the people we have had the pleasure of properly meeting and talking to have refreshingly been upright, descent humanitarian people. Despite what many atheists may believe, a lot of the positive values we hold in the west are derived from the teachings of Christianity and provides us with our ‘non religious’ moral compass. In a way, the more atheistic we’ve become, the more nialistic we have too. Nothing matters to people growing up anymore, status and drugs matter. The baby has been thrown out with the bathwater in this respect.
That’s enough talking about what everybody knows already, just one last thing. Got a new phone number yesterday so you can phone me (not after 7pm british time though) or text me on 0091 990 274 0486. I would much appreciate your greetings.
Much love, Carlos.
Saturday, 8 September 2007
The beauty of Agra and arriving at Mumbai/Bombay
Well, I can’t remember where I left off, but I’m pretty sure that I didn’t talk about the Taj Mahal, so here goes. It is the most amazing building I have ever had the experience of seeing in my whole life. It is more than a building really. It seems as if it floats when you first see it, it isn’t real. It is so beautifully white and shines in the sun. cliché, cliché, cliché I know, but its true! Its like, when you first see Bucking palace you build a picture in your head about what it looks like and then a bitterly disappointed. Or when you see Windsor castle for the first time and you think it looks nice, but are not overawed by it. With the Taj Mahal it’s different, it is actually the most beautiful man made thing I have ever seen. The building was made as a symbol of love to the wife of the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan 400 years ago. It is a tomb to honor her after her death, and also contains the body of the emperor.
The structure is made purely from white marble, everything from the steps, to the finely carved walls, to the caskets that hold the bodies, are all made of marble. It is situated high above a river, and is built in such a way that when you look at it from the front, you can see nothing behind it but blue sky. Two dark red almost identical mosques stand symmetrically alongside it, whilst an ornate arch precedes it leading towards the entrance to the place. Really, it is really worth going to visit the country just to see it, it is very special.
Ok, we also did the going around the city and looking at the other tourist attractions stuff, which is also very much worth it, although an all day trip can be very exhausting (at least it was for me, I had to carry a small towel and constantly drank water all day long.)
I was also lucky enough to meet my good friend achin in New Delhi, where we ate Pan and drove around the city, seeing a beautiful temple belonging to the bahai religion, called the lotus temple (which is also breathe taking). There are so many beautiful buildings in this country which dwarf the architecture of Britain .
That being said, at least I don’t get ill in Britain every time I drink or eat something liquid based. I am officially ill. And it hit me the day before we were to travel to Mumbai. So Imodium in hand, we made the trip to the train station for the overnight trip. We were air conditioned to the ears! It was great! The food was good and the toilets weren’t filthy. It was nice (but pricey) to travel first class.
When we arrived in Mumbai I immediately liked it more than New Delhi . It doesn’t smell as much, it looks nicer, its not as crowded, and its on the coast so you’ve got the sea breeze too. Being the romantic type I took singoalla on a horse and carriage ride through the city, it was a silver plaited chariot so it looked quite funny and extravagant, and many people were either amused, wished us luck or scowled as they tried to drive past us to get home. We also went to see a bollywood film last night which was really funny, though we didn’t understand a thing. We knew it was about the Indian women’s hockey team being trained up to become world champions though. Its strange when you start to think about things like nationalism and cultural phenomena. Mobile phones are such a luxury everywhere, but 60 million people own them in India . They take them to the cinema and leave them on so that when people make a phone call to them they can answer. Funny no? we’ve go the same thing though, I remember when I went to college and people used to take out their mobile phones and put them on the table during class to let everybody see what make they had. Status symbol frenzy. Anyways the film was highly nationalistic. There is a push over here to really emphasise the greatness of India , emphasise unity, emphasis economic growth. This country’s elite really wants to compete with the rest of asia , but at the same time it doesn’t want to recognize the problems of poverty they engender.
Ok people, I must go, singoalla and I send our love. Be cool, carlos
The structure is made purely from white marble, everything from the steps, to the finely carved walls, to the caskets that hold the bodies, are all made of marble. It is situated high above a river, and is built in such a way that when you look at it from the front, you can see nothing behind it but blue sky. Two dark red almost identical mosques stand symmetrically alongside it, whilst an ornate arch precedes it leading towards the entrance to the place. Really, it is really worth going to visit the country just to see it, it is very special.
Ok, we also did the going around the city and looking at the other tourist attractions stuff, which is also very much worth it, although an all day trip can be very exhausting (at least it was for me, I had to carry a small towel and constantly drank water all day long.)
I was also lucky enough to meet my good friend achin in New Delhi, where we ate Pan and drove around the city, seeing a beautiful temple belonging to the bahai religion, called the lotus temple (which is also breathe taking). There are so many beautiful buildings in this country which dwarf the architecture of Britain .
That being said, at least I don’t get ill in Britain every time I drink or eat something liquid based. I am officially ill. And it hit me the day before we were to travel to Mumbai. So Imodium in hand, we made the trip to the train station for the overnight trip. We were air conditioned to the ears! It was great! The food was good and the toilets weren’t filthy. It was nice (but pricey) to travel first class.
When we arrived in Mumbai I immediately liked it more than New Delhi . It doesn’t smell as much, it looks nicer, its not as crowded, and its on the coast so you’ve got the sea breeze too. Being the romantic type I took singoalla on a horse and carriage ride through the city, it was a silver plaited chariot so it looked quite funny and extravagant, and many people were either amused, wished us luck or scowled as they tried to drive past us to get home. We also went to see a bollywood film last night which was really funny, though we didn’t understand a thing. We knew it was about the Indian women’s hockey team being trained up to become world champions though. Its strange when you start to think about things like nationalism and cultural phenomena. Mobile phones are such a luxury everywhere, but 60 million people own them in India . They take them to the cinema and leave them on so that when people make a phone call to them they can answer. Funny no? we’ve go the same thing though, I remember when I went to college and people used to take out their mobile phones and put them on the table during class to let everybody see what make they had. Status symbol frenzy. Anyways the film was highly nationalistic. There is a push over here to really emphasise the greatness of India , emphasise unity, emphasis economic growth. This country’s elite really wants to compete with the rest of asia , but at the same time it doesn’t want to recognize the problems of poverty they engender.
Ok people, I must go, singoalla and I send our love. Be cool, carlos
the arrival.
to those i care for the most,
i miss you all. its been an emotionally and physically draining days, but it has all been worth it. years work and 6 months planning now concentrated in rupees and curries and vishnu and krishnas and papa gees!
it was very sad to leave britain, with all the emotions, frustrations and drunkeness the night before. te quiero muchisimo mama y te extrano tanto. i wish you were all seeing what i am seeing. As you may know, i took the flight on saturday at 8.45pm and arrived at 10am the next morning. the flight was comfortable and the food was great (curry!), i spent most of the time not believing i was on the way here.
when we arrived it was not as burning hot as i had expected. it is very humid though, so i started sweating almost immediately. i have to say though, people told me about the smell that hits you when you come out of the airport, and what i experienced is not far from the truth. it's not enough to make you wretch, but still it is a smell that takes time to get used to and can make you slightly naucious to begin with. looking around as we travelled (chauffeur driven) to our friends house, we saw the rickshaws, cars and some children and mothers begging on the streets.
it is clear that the poverty is centred around the darker population. i think our host has guarded us from seeing the worst of it, as we have so far been to nice places, but it is clear that a division exists. we are lucky enough to be staying with a wealthy and very hospitable family in the south of New Delhi, were we have been given our own room and have been fed generously. Our host is a very spiritual man, and has already shown us a beautiful Hare Krishna monastry near his house.
Our first day in Delhi involved sleeping, eating, a little shopping and going to see a traditional dance performance from
Orisa (province of India) as well as live music from Rajhastan (tabla, singer, flute, other percussion instruments) both commemorating Krishna's birth (by way of gross comparison, Krishna is like the Hindu Jesus, he is the incarnation of Vishnu on earth, born of a woman come to spread the word of god on earth. he is blue and has a girlfriend, he is also a cheeky child). the festivities were beautiful and the night altogether was very entertaining, relaxing. i am just happy to finally be travelling with Singoalla. i am also happy to say that i am yet to become sick (knock on wood) and this is because of Singoalla's dilligent medical regime of pills and anti water rants.
i have to run, time to sight see, but we think of you all, family and friends. love Carlos and Singoalla.
i miss you all. its been an emotionally and physically draining days, but it has all been worth it. years work and 6 months planning now concentrated in rupees and curries and vishnu and krishnas and papa gees!
it was very sad to leave britain, with all the emotions, frustrations and drunkeness the night before. te quiero muchisimo mama y te extrano tanto. i wish you were all seeing what i am seeing. As you may know, i took the flight on saturday at 8.45pm and arrived at 10am the next morning. the flight was comfortable and the food was great (curry!), i spent most of the time not believing i was on the way here.
when we arrived it was not as burning hot as i had expected. it is very humid though, so i started sweating almost immediately. i have to say though, people told me about the smell that hits you when you come out of the airport, and what i experienced is not far from the truth. it's not enough to make you wretch, but still it is a smell that takes time to get used to and can make you slightly naucious to begin with. looking around as we travelled (chauffeur driven) to our friends house, we saw the rickshaws, cars and some children and mothers begging on the streets.
it is clear that the poverty is centred around the darker population. i think our host has guarded us from seeing the worst of it, as we have so far been to nice places, but it is clear that a division exists. we are lucky enough to be staying with a wealthy and very hospitable family in the south of New Delhi, were we have been given our own room and have been fed generously. Our host is a very spiritual man, and has already shown us a beautiful Hare Krishna monastry near his house.
Our first day in Delhi involved sleeping, eating, a little shopping and going to see a traditional dance performance from
Orisa (province of India) as well as live music from Rajhastan (tabla, singer, flute, other percussion instruments) both commemorating Krishna's birth (by way of gross comparison, Krishna is like the Hindu Jesus, he is the incarnation of Vishnu on earth, born of a woman come to spread the word of god on earth. he is blue and has a girlfriend, he is also a cheeky child). the festivities were beautiful and the night altogether was very entertaining, relaxing. i am just happy to finally be travelling with Singoalla. i am also happy to say that i am yet to become sick (knock on wood) and this is because of Singoalla's dilligent medical regime of pills and anti water rants.i have to run, time to sight see, but we think of you all, family and friends. love Carlos and Singoalla.
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