Bombay, visite touristique: Gateway of India, Hotel Taj et Elephanta Island

Jeudi 12 Janvier, après avoir marché dans le centre de Bombay la veille, nous partons faire les points les plus touristiques, là où tout touriste venant à Bombay se doit de passer. Le ciel est bleu, la journée promet d'être belle. Marche en direction du sud et les yeux en l'air, comme ces touristes visitant Paris. On a souvent tendance à oublier de regarder les bâtiments quand on habite un endroit, et ceux qui lèvent la tête ont une grande chance d'être de passage...

Jolie place avec bâtiment en rond, comme on pourrait voir à Londres. Ici au coin la boutique Hermes.

Passant devant et n'ayant pas encore petit-dejeuné, impossible de ne pas s'arrêter dans cette boulangerie belge appelée "Le Pain Quotidien" et qui a très bien compris le business à faire avec ces petits pains et croissants à la française, des prix hallucinants pour l'Inde! En même temps on est juste en face de l'Hotel Taj, avec toutes les boutiques de luxe aux alentours... c'est un peu notre Champs Elysées...

Rrrrrrrrrrrrr! Baguette!!!!!!!!!

Et voilà la traditionnelle et incontournable pose devant le Taj. Des dizaines (centaines?) de photographes avec petite imprimante sur batterie posée dans un coin se ruent pour prendre les touristes en photo, et à chaque fois nous leur montrons notre appareil... car ils ont tous le même. :)

Hello, Mumbai

We took the 8am bus from Arambol to Pernem and we arrived an hour before the train. We had breakfast at the train station and there was just one couple with a snack shop selling food in the area. The man sold us the best bhaji we had in Goa, and it was only 20 rupees with bread included!

We arrived in Mumbai at 9:30 in the evening. Looking for a place to stay was a nightmare, especially since some dodgy characters prowl the streets telling us all the places are full. There was, in particular, a pesky old guy sporting a walrus moustache in a butler uniform who would not leave us alone.

Another reason it was so hard to find a place in Mumbai was the ridiculous prices. One hotel in front of Victoria Terminus gave us a discount which we noticed they didn't give anyone else... was our mojo working again? Well, once you see the room you might not think so, but in our defense, this is the best 1,100 Rs can buy in Mumbai...

It's a mouse hole! But it had TV, airconditioning, butler service, and towels. We just had to share the bathroom with Punjabi businessmen staying overnight and endure someone with a sinus problem. Otherwise, it was paradise. If i stretch my arms and legs, I could reach both ends of the room. There was no room for our bags so we stepped over them and had to move them over every time we had to open the door... Otherwise, it's paradise. For the same price we had a "football stadium" in Kolkata.

The Northern Beaches (and the Theft of Nicely-Broken-In Birkenstocks)

On our last full day with the Royal Enfield, we went to Mandrem and Morjim to check out the other beaches.

Mandrem was such a big contrast from Arambol. It is quiet, there was just one souvenir stall and there were very few beach huts. They are a tad more expensive, but these were made in better taste and looked more secure that the ones we were shown in Arambol. 

The wind was really strong that day, and where there were no little ponds and creeks, the sand would fly  so we had a beach sandstorm.

There was a big sandbar and lots of puddles and creeks on the wide, grey beach. The wind made ripples on the water.

It was so quiet and relaxing the people would doze off on the sand.

It's so cheesy! A Hallmark Card moment we couldn't resist :)

Take a good look at one of the posts on this hut... it's alive!

Henri and the Royal Enfield that burned him and put a hole in his shorts... but he still loves it.

Gone, Going, Goa on an Enfield

We had a lot of ground to cover, all the historic sights on the northern beaches up til sunset, and check our Goan nightlife to-do list all in one day.

First was the old Portuguese fort in Vagator...

With stunning views of Vagator Beach and the forest nearby.

This used to be one of the secret locations of Vagator's notorious rave parties.

Now it's under constant surveilance by the police, and the parties have shifted... someplace else.

Then we went to Anjuna, hippie headquarters since the 70s.

Let's Goa (F*cking dead monkey and the remains of a saint)

Going from Hampi to Goa was perhaps the hardest, most hard core trip we ever did. The sleeper bus to Goa  usually goes for 600 rs, but to be a tyrant, the lone bus operator sells the tickets for 700 just for the season. The tourist agent in French Travels was a nice old man who tried to book us on the sleeper bus that day; but we were not keen on taking it because it's too expensive (the reviews on Trip Advisor were bad too) and besides, there were no seats left. So instead, he gave us advice on how to go to Goa by taking local buses and how to chill out while doing it. He told us a story when he missed the sleeper and he lost his wallet but got home anyway. He's so cool! If you are ever in Virupapur Gaddi, seek his advice, he'll give you an honest opinion.

So, at 1pm we rode the ferry from Virupapur Gaddi to Hampi (where a punk girl told us to go to Arambol in Goa) then took a bus to Hospet (where a saddhu farmer who spoke good english gave us advice on train possibilities)... 

From there we took the long bus ride to Hubli (there was a big traffic jam, but the view at sunset of the dam was spectacular; then Henri saw a dead monkey... he tells the story best in person, so if you ever see us, DEMAND that he tells the story of the "f*cking dead monkey on the chair." He told his mom the story and she thought he was high - it's THAT weird)...

In Hubli, we had dinner at the place recommended by the old gentleman at French Travels, a place with a hyper waiter, good food, and chilled beer...

We were there from 10 till 12, then took a bus to Panaji in Goa. The road was as bad as we heard, we slipped and slid from our seats and Henri and I kept changing positions because the bus was trying to murder us... our one consolation was, at least we were not in sleeper beds. At 5 in the morning, we took another bus to Mapusa, which was the place where we could get a bus to Arambol at the northern tip of Goa.

It was great to see Goa at sunrise from the bus. We were hungry but for a moment, all that was forgotten. It's as green as Kerala, and as clean. We felt like we were out of India again.

We found a place to stay at 8am, slept for a long time to make up for the torture we endured for 16 hours. But guess how much the trip cost us? 491 Rs for two persons versus 1,400 Rs if we took the sleeper bus. The Israeli guy Henri made friends with in Goa found out we were doing the local bus circuit and he was impressed that we didn't do it the spoiled brat way... but he had no idea how heroic it really was :)

So here we are at last at Arambol beach, time to reward ourselves with cocktails on the beach, international cuisine, and long walks without anybody asking where we are from and what we are doing in India. Freedom!

Hampi Ruins (where toilet violence ends with a visit to the police)

Henri promised he will write the post for this one... while we're waiting, enjoy the pictures! It was a nice, cloud-free day!

Bon, comme Marj me met à défaut, je vais exécuter ce que la mère fouettard me tanne de faire et écrire ce post, comme si il fallait me forcer... non mais! C'est juste une question de trouver le bon moment. Et quand elle me demande à minuit et que je suis presque endormi ou le matin avant le petit-dej, je répond non à chaque fois, mais je pense que c'est normal. (Henri Dumont, that is NOT true and YOU KNOW IT!!! - marj) Voilà, comptes réglés. Bref...

Donc, ce jour de visite des ruines de Hampi commence vers 10h au lieu de 8h, mais comme chaque jour à Hampi, nous avons du mal à nous réveiller tôt, pris par la fatigue des jours (ou semaines) précédents. Nous voilà partis sur la mobylette pour le village d'à côté, Anegundi, seul endroit où il y a eu un pont fût un temps qui a été détruit soit disant par l'UNESCO qui veut éviter le développement commercial dans un rayon de 5km autour de leurs sites classés. On veut bien, mais cela fait un bon business pour les gens responsables du bateau faisant la traversée de la rivière... 20Rs par personne + 20Rs pour un 2 roues. En tout, ils mettent 6 motos sur le bateau + 10 à 15 personnes, pas très rassurant mais la traversée est courte. De l'autre côté se trouvent tous les sites à visiter.

Le premier site est Vitthala Temple, le mieux conservé de tous avec une grande allée entourée de colonnes pour y parvenir. On a l'impression d'être dans la Rome Antique.

Sur les 2km séparant le parking obligatoire et le temple, quelques petits temples et ce réservoir d'eau ayant servit aux offrandes = Ghat = comme à Varanasi et comme à chaque endroit où il y a un bord de rivière ou un point d'eau.

Après 20 ou 30min de marche (2 ou 3km), et en plein soleil sous une chaleur accablante, nous arrivons enfin au temple. Le ciel est bleu pur, pas un nuage!

Ce temple a de belles sculptures bien conservées, en voilà une au dessus de l'entrée principale.

Mais l'intérêt principal de ce temple se trouve juste derrière la porte principale, il s'agit d'un chariot en pierre!

Hampi New Year

Had the worst bus ride so far, there were things biting me in the back and I didn't know if they were mosquitoes or bed bugs :( 

From Mysore we went to Hospet, the main junction going to Hampi. We arrived at 6:45am and the bus going to the old city arrived at 7am. My jaw dropped as we entered Hampi; bright yellow rays of the sun brought to life the grand but crumbling arched gateway as rickshaw drivers scrambled to get to our bus first. We saw the tops of old temples and markets, while gypsies lined the road with jewelry, figurines and souvenir t-shirts.

The guest houses had raised prices to exorbitant amounts so Henri went to the opposite side of the river, to Virupapur Gaddi, where backpackers have created a vibrant new city with beach huts and lounge restaurants.

Lakshmi the holy elephant takes her morning bath.

There is no bridge between Hampi and Virupapur Gaddi allegedly because Unesco had the bridge destroyed to limit the progress coming from tourism and therefore preserve the ruins... but that's bullshit because people with cars and bikes can go to Virupapur Gaddi from Hospet and pollute the ruins on the way here. They can't even build a foot bridge for backpackers who are not the source of pollution? We think it's to make money because there are two motor ferries that charge 15 and 20 rupees to take people and motorbikes across the river. Heck, they even charge bags! People are making a lot of money out of this inconveniece, and nobody's saying a word.

While Henri searched for a place to stay, I stayed in Hampi with the bags. I had made friends with the young gypsy girls and they gave me white kakra flowers to adorn my hair. They introduced their groovy grandparents who were selling lamani (gypsy) wares on the street.

A Sight for Mysore Eyes

We arrived in the late afternoon at Mysore, but lost no time in exploring the city. The hotels were all full and expensive, overpriced for what they are. But we luckily found a manager who gave us a (gasp!) 400Rs reduction! 

Sunset in front of Mysore Palace.

The sunsets in this region, Karnataka, are breathtaking...

.

There were a lot of touts in front of the palace, promising incense, oils and weed. We ignored them as best we could, but one very insistent guy (who seemed drunk) was so offended when we asked him to shut up and go away that he started screaming at us: "INDIA IS MY COUNTRYYYYY! I WALK WHERE I WAAAANT!!!!" Well, he had a point... And for the first time ever, I think Henri was genuinely scared and pushed me to go the other way. The dude was a different level of pagal (crazy).

January 14 - Day 100

We are really behind on the blog right now. In reality, we are now in Aurangabad. We arrived, freezing, around 4am and slept at the train station until 7am. We got a place to stay very early in the morning, with a soft bed, big windows, a mountain view and satellite TV... worlds apart from our Mumbai hotel, a picture that would startle and amaze you soon, when we have the chance to upload that chapter of the trip.

To celebrate this very special occasion, our hundredth day in India, we watched movies and slept and read the newspaper until we felt like we were at home again. Of course, the city has its nice sights and pilgrimage sites, but after the tortuous 99 days on the road, it was a treat to spend a Saturday like everyone else :)

It would have been great to reach Ahmedabad today because it's the city's famous kite festival... but we couldn't pass up the chance to see Ellora, the rock-cut wonder of the ancient world, which we'll visit tomorrow.

Perhaps to make us feel less regretful about missing the kite festival, the sky rewarded us with a nice sunset studded with warring kites :)

A special thought to the nice people we met along the way, a defiant middle finger to the a-holes, and big thanks for the strange and difficult things we went through that helped us learn more about the world and about ourselves. The world is a wonderful, beautiful teacher.

Christmas Ooty

Après une nuit glaciale le soir du 24 Décembre, il a dû faire entre 3 et 7 degrés dehors et la chambre n'avait pas de chauffage (à quoi çà sert quand il fait froid 2 mois dans l'année?), nous sommes partis le Dimanche 25 Décembre pour un tour en minibus, comme de bons touristes qui n'ont pas envie de réfléchir.

Marj ne se sentait pas au top de sa forme mais nous sommes tout de même partis vers 9h30. Le temps de récupérer d'autres touristes, essentiellement indiens, et nous nous sommes arrêtés dans 4 endroits sur la route de la réserve naturelle à 70km de Ooty.

1er arrêt, une "forêt" de pin, d'après eux, mais il y a avait un bout de colline avec une centaine de pins et cela nous a paru étrange de s'arrêter pour des pins. Sauf qu'ici, ils se s'arrêtent pas devant une forêt de bambous ou d'arbre à coco car ce sont des arbres comme nos pins. :)

2ème arrêt, nous avons monté une colline pour admirer ce pont de vue qui a servi dans de nombreux films ("filim" avec l'accent indien) indiens, surtout des Tollywood, l'équivalent des Bollywod mais au Tamil Nadu.

3ème arrêt, les waterfalls. Un petit lac avec les chutes d'eau, je suis très fier de cette photo où seulement 3 personnes apparaissent au loin, car à chaque arrêt il y a beaucoup de monde, beaucoup de voitures et de bus, plein de touristes qui font le même trajet pour voir ces "attractions" de la région de Ooty.

Shake Your Ooty (On Xmas Eve!)

Going to the hill station of Ooty was an uphill battle, literally and figuratively.

First, because we were in Munnar in Kerala and Ooty is in Tamil Nadu. The two states are at oods with each other because of the dam and protesters allegedly attack buses. We saw it in the news. Another reason is that we needed to go to Mettupalayam first via Coimbatore, then pray that we can get a seat at the toy train at Mettupalayam going to Ooty. The train has been booked solid since October, and we took tickets anyway because we were told at the reservation counter in Munnar that people do get lucky sometimes and get on the train at the last minute. 

Well, the string of events that followed could make the weak break down and cry, but two and a half months in India had made us stronger... or maybe just stubborn about doing things the hardcore backpacker way :) 

The bus we needed for Coimbatore at 6:30 am didn't arrive and we took option 2, which is a bus to the next town (Udumalpet) that left at 8:30am. From there, we had to take a bus to Coimbatore, but it was a challenge to simply get out of the bus because a tide of people was pushing its way into the bus even before we could go out!

Henri and other foreigners passed all the tourist backpacks through the front window instead, because there was no way we could get our bags through the door anymore!

On the bus to Udumalpet, we met Prince, who had a meeting in Coimbatore and decided to help us maneouver the challenging world of buses in Tamil Nadu. The trip out of Munnar was beautiful, and the scenery changed dramatically from eucalyptus and sandalwood trees to cacti and trees that reminded us of the african savanna. Prince told us sometimes elephants and tigers pass through the highway because it's a protected forest. Someone should protect them from the crazy bus drivers. 

From Udumalpet, he joined us to find the bus to Coimbatore and from there, he took a bus with us to the new bus station where we could catch a bus to Mettupalayam. He didn't have to, but he felt obliged to help us, probably because we didn't look like tough-as-nails backpackers :)

We spent the night at Mettupalayam and the next day we were at the train station at 6:30am for the toy train, just like the ticket guy at Munnar told us. But, HOLD ON! 

When we got there, there were about 20 foreigners milling around anxiously. There was a guy with his daughter who looked desperate, and his daughter looked like she knew there was very little chance left for her to get on the cool train. I was nervous and Henri was starting to think we should go and get a bus instead.

Munnar

Munnar is THE place we would return to if we ever have the good luck to return to India. It is green and clean and beautiful. 

Munnar is 1,500 meters from sea level, so even though we are still in the south of India, it's quite cold. When we woke up, the windows were misted up and it was foggy outside, we had steam coming out of our mouths when we breathed. Such a big change from where we were just a day before!

The view outside our room at sunrise.

The market just outside our door.

In the center of town, there are three hills. One is for Mount Carmel Church (shout out to my mommy!)

Alleppey to Munnar (December 18-20)

Just a quick flip through the next 2 days in Alleppey...

We had heard about Amma, "The Hugging Mother", and wondered if we could see her at the ashram in Amritapuri, south of Alleppey. Ralph was supposed to go with a guy he met at the beach; but Faisal warned him to avoid that guy, so Ralph went with us instead.

It was a long trip, we had 2 bus changes.

When we arrived, two Americans pushing a cart of trash bins gave us directions. We told them we are only there for the day, and they said they thought they would only be there for a day and ended up staying for years... meanwhile, I was thinking, "shoot, I didn't bring extra clothes."

Ashram temple.