Pictures And Words

After 4 months of not writing, even totally neglecting emails I finally feel like writing again. I think something jarred my mind a bit which made writing not so appealing. I think it has to do with my sudden passion for juggling, and then a huge passion for drawing swept me up, I have been totally neglecting my computer. Anyway, today I felt like spending some time on it, sorting out some of the photos from the last 4 months and writing a post finally.

I met my parents in Mumbai not long after the last time I did a proper post. It’s great to be with people on their first time in India, similar to the way its great to watch your favorite film with somone that hasn’t seen it, in the hope that you will be able to share something that you love. India hit my parents in typical way, the taxi had to change a flat tire, from a bald one to another bald one. The taxi driver scared my father with his wild and usual driving, and the filth caught both of my parents attention, but I think they both quickly got used to it, as they did with the beggars after seeing that despite looking very dirty they also mostly looked quite happy.

It was great to travel with my parents, and they handled it fine, absolutly no problems, I never really thought there would be, they had concerns but i’m sure they now admit that there was no need to be concerned. Traveling really is easy if you just take it day by day, hour by hour, minute by minute. What may seem like a big task or journey at first is easily tackled bit by bit, as are all things in life.

Me and my folks went for a tour around Mumbai, seeing the muslim market area, catching a boat to Elephanta island to see some old buddist temples, and on one day walking in a random direction and ending up having a great day filled with many sights. Including the docks where they bring the fish in, and then ending up in a poor part of town and finding out that despite being terribly poor they all seemed very happy with life. I think my parents really enjoyed Mumbai, its not surprising really, its an old city filled with much history from many cultures.

All these boats were just off the coast of Mumbai, the very same ocean that the terrorists sailed on in from the previous year and turned Mumbai into a war zone. We were heading to Elephanta island here, it was interesting to see the boats appear out of the fog (possibly just pollution). And that monkey was on Elephanta island. Most monkeys in tourist areas know the goodness to be had at the bottom of coke cans, and they know the joys to be found in plastic bags, grabbing them whenever they can.

This is the Chor Bazar area, which translates to Theives market, due to a story about Queen victoria rocking up in India with her fave violin only to end up getting it stolen and then it appeared for sale shortly after at this market. The market was great, a real sight to see, goats everwhere and many things for sale. Almost all the shops had their own goat at the front, not sure why really, its the muslim area and they eat goats so many they are all gonna be for eating.

The sunset across the bay from Chowpatty beach, the beach where the terrorists came in on.

That big building in the left photo is the Taj hotel, one of the main targets of the terrorists. And that big archway on the right is the gateway to India, where some royals from England came in for the first time. I wrote about this before if you check my other posts from India, from 3 years ago or something I think!

There’s my pops looking in an antique shop, and him saying no to a beggar. We did give to beggars, just its not possible to give to all, and there are arguments to not give to them at all, something about encouraging that type of lifestyle when they could go to the free schools and get an education and find a proper job.

So after Mumbai we caught the train to Karnataka, the state just below Goa. In Karnataka we headed for Gokarna, a very sleepy seaside village that is also a pilgramage sight for Hindu’s, due to the coast being the shape of a cows ear. I had been here before so I knew my way around, not that it was possible to get lost as its such a small place. We spent a few days in the main town and then moved to another beach called Om beach, there we stayed in very basic beach huts for a few days and swam in the sea everyday. I’m sure my parents had a great time there, its so picturesque and relaxing.

After Gokarna we went to Goa, the least Indian place we went to really. My parents noted that its all very false there, I think this is a feature of many holiday resort area’s. The tourists indirectly carve out little havens all over the world, having the locals cater to their tastes. This suits the locals and the tourists very well, and in many cases something new is created from the mixture of local and foriegn. In Arambol where we stayed in Goa there was a strong spiritual side to it all, and we landed right in the middle of it as soon as we got there. We were told that a place called Magic Park was a good place to stay, so we headed right there. The rooms were a little expensive, but they were nice rooms. However on looking around after checking in we realised it was a very spiritual place, lots of leaflets offering to save our souls in various ways, reiki, holisitic healing, crystals, meditation, yoga and so on. There was something going on every night. My parents wern’t to happy to be staying there, and nor was I. So we found another guesthouse with free rooms and then went to Magic Park and checked out even before we spent one night there, the owner, a nervy looking Austrian guy looked bothered but said he couldn’t do anything to stop us, he said it was highly iregular! I was very glad to get out of there. Im at odds with all that spiritual stuff, for a start its all business really, each particular miracle cure that promises to be able to save you from all negative feelings and turn your body into a power house that will carry you to greater and greater hights comes with a price, some of them really quite a hefty price. Only a few of them have a basis in science, namely Yoga and meditation. My advice is be wary of any trinkets, decoration or other props, including homeopathy. Crystals are very common. Most of the cures and things will instill a feeling of well being simply because someone is, at that time caring for you, offering you advice and telling you that you will feel ok, its the placebo effect which is well documented and does work! However the mention of the placebo effect to the purveyors of this spiritual mumbo jumbo illicts a look of disgust, a suspension of critical thinking ensues, it turns into mind games with no desire to get to the truth of the matter, us logical types get accused of always wanting to find answers and the truth, whats wrong with just believing im asked! I could go on and on with this subject but I wont, anyone wishing to discuss this topic though I will gladly hear what you have to say.

In Goa we ate steak, chicken, fish, shark, prawns and heinz beans, not together of course. My parents shopped a lot as they did everywhere, can’t blame them though, everything is so cheap and there are many beautiful things to buy in India. So after a week in Goa my parents left. I was with them for three weeks and really enjoyed showing them around, my only regret is not being able to show them more, I think if I were to choose what to show them I wouldn’t have gone to Goa, its nice and everything, but there are much more interesting places to show them in India. Maybe next time hey!

When my parents left I decided to stay in Goa, a friend of mine was already there and from already having one friend there I was introduced to many other people, and suddenly I was with a big circle of friends and I stayed in Goa for two months! Over Christmas and New year. I went to many parties and made many many new friends, many of whom I will see again soon. I also met a handful of people from Manchester who came to Goa for a holiday, some people I hadn’t seen in about 5 years, they all asked where did I go. I also met Johanna from Norway who I traveled with some months previous in Indonesia, it was great to see her again! Its always great to see people again that I traveled with. She has a blog, and its here , I didn’t read it in a while, she did say she mentions me in it a lot so maybe check it out.

I neglected photography in Goa, as you can tell by the lack of photos from Goa here, I did take a few, nothing special though really. My time in Goa was spent socializing mainly, something I hadn’t done in a long time, were talking a few years since I had such a large social life. I also started playing the guitar again, my friend in Goa saw that I had some skill and decided to loan me a spare one he had, im so greatful for this and I played it everyday, and now I would love to travel with a guitar. I also started drawing a lot, and I still do. Also I juggled everyday. So my attention was taken up by a lot of things. I will put some drawings on my site soon, also I may film some juggling and put that online also.

Eventually I left Goa, heading to familiar Varanasi, it was quite sad saying goodbye to all my friends there, but many of them were planning to leave soon so it made sense for me to leave. It was getting hot there also. In Varanasi I was to meet an old friend who I was with in Thailand 4 years ago or so, I was really looking forward to seeing her again. Also also I was to meet another friend in Varanasi, my old friend Kaye, who I see now and then in India only lately it seems.

I met all my friend in Varanasi and then I found myself with lots of time to myself when they had left. This was great, since I didn’t have time to myself in a long time. I juggled and started to learn to paint and draw more. Lots of peace ensued.

In Varanasi a festival called Holi passed me by, i had seen this festival before a few years earlier so I knew to avoid it. It involved the Indian men getting drunk and stoned and groping female tourist’s and displaying violence to the male tourist’s. Really they are supposed to just throw colour (as shown in the photo) at each other, im sure many do just do that, but the alchol fueled indian male is an idiot, as are most alcohol fueled males and they can’t help displaying their animosity towards the tourists under the influence.

This is the aftermath of Holi, lots of stained floors and walls.

Here I struggled to get these street kids to not look at the camera whilst I took pictures, the top kid didn’t quite get it and couldn’t resist looking, makes for a nice photo though.

Some typical ghat life in Varanasi.

Another common sight in Varanasi is washing drying on the floor next to the river.

Varanasi’s main charm is the little alleyways that are full of life, looking up in these alleyways shows you many interesting sights.

A common hobby in Varanasi is flying kites, sometimes these kites get caught on the many wires above the streets, and then pidgeons get stuck in the kite strings, its a common sight to see hanging dead pidgeons.

An open doorway on one of the many alleyways gave way to this store room, to me it looks like a sight from the past, nothing really from modern life in there (apart from a plastic bag at the back, god damn you plastic bag! ruining everything!)

One of my favorite things to do in Varanasi is to feed monkeys from my window, always monkeys come to your window looking for handouts.

Some religious trinket sellers, these are all over Varanasi, it amazes me that they manage to do business, but they do! People always need to buy offerings for the gods.

In the muslim areas you can find the meat sellers, visiting these gives you reasons not to eat meat in India.

Goat in a coat number two! And corner cow.

More animals on the streets of Varanasi, you really do feel like your in full nature in Varanasi, its such an old city that nature has found its way back in more and more, adapting to the way of life there.

More of the street life. I miss those streets a lot, its one of the reasons I keep going back to Varanasi.

Some sights from the ghats (the areas next to the river).

Your lucky to see photos of this area, since I was on a boat I decided to snap a few pictures from here. Its the part of town where they burn bodies, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. If you try and take a picture from the area itself you will get into trouble with the local people (understandable really, since it is someone elses funeral). Each one of them fires is a body burning away. And all them people crowded together is a family carrying the recently deceased to the river to dip it before setting it ablaze. I wathced a few bodies reduce to ash whilst I was in Varanasi, always interesting to see. Its common to see an arm or a leg raise out of the fire as the heat causes the muscles and tendons to shrink. Once I saw an arm slowely raise up and then rotate as if the dead person were checking the time on their watch, then the stomach bursed and a jet of boiling hot stomach juice squirted out of the fire.

Near Varanasi there is a town called Saranath, its of religious importance to Buddhists and Jains (a king of hinduism). Buddah himself was supposed to have come to this area and meditated, or maybe he had a picnic or something, im not sure. All sorts of Buddhist are represented there now, Thais, Cambodians, Tibetans and so on. You can see some of them walking around that large Stupa in the second picture. The first picture is from a Jain temple. its a revered Jain monk meditating.

After a short while in Varanasi I had made friends with a guy from Russia called Sasha. He was practising Yoga and meditation in Varanasi near where we were staying. His English isn’t too good but its not that bad that it stops communication, we can at least discuss belief and my lack of it and his abundance of it. Its interesting to note that despite our beliefs being polar we live our lives in a similar way. It seems to be only the words we use that are different. Me and Sasha had many adventures in Varanasi, always willing to go for big walks around the city and check many new things out.

Here is Sasha with a wonky look and a dreamy look.

Me and Sasha in a rickshaw, and Sasha taking a picture of one of the many dead pidgeons.

We came across this sugar cane juice seller with an albino rabbit. When he turned the cane pressing machine on the rabbits eyes bulged out with fear in the most comical way, he didn’t run though, just looked very concerned.

One thing I love about India is the painted adverts, even a lot of the big companies like vodaphone and coke have painted adverts, seems like its more easier than to get people to put up paper adverts. The second picture is from a busy corner I like the look of.

There are so many amazing buildings in Varanasi, it seems like the whole city should be listed, it really is one of the most amazing cities to visit in the whole world.

Indian version of a morning milk delivery. And one of the many many passageways in Varanasi.

A look along the ghats, and a shot of the steps to show how steep some of them are, and all of hard concrete. Some of the steps go up a long way, it would be an awful accident if someone were to fall down them.

Some poo drying, they eat it you know…..not really, they use it for fuel. And some interesting garbage. As I was taking this picture a man told me to stop and to take pictures of the buildings instead, he just didn’t see the asthetic beauty of the discarded chillies did he.

Some wall paintings. The first is from a kids school me and Sasha went to, we got told to leave shortly after! I guess its only right, we did just walk on into the grounds of the school.

A good distance out of the city we found an area with many bee’s nests in the trees. The texture on the nests is actually the bees, all crawing over and around each other, I didn’t believe it at first but after a good look I realised that it was the bees.

The owner of our guesthouse kept pidgeons, for what I don’t know, maybe just pets. He would let them fly around each morning, they didn’t seem to enthusiastic about leaving their cage, they would fly around in a circle and come right back, only to have a stick waved at them to encourage them to fly a little more. And that second picture caused me and Sasha to laugh a lot, such a sad looking animal, the only thing we could do was laugh at the poor thing.

Some river life.

A very tiny spider on my pants. And doesn’t that look like a man inside that tree in the second picture?

Getting electricity from one side of the river to the other. And then getting it all throughout the city.

Every night that vehicle goes around the streets where it fits and sprays insecticide to kill the mosquitos, children run and play in the plumes of suspicious vapour. And that bus in the second picture was happily chugging along when it crunched into that barrier right next to us ripping it out of the ground and nearly knocking it down. They reversed, changed the obstructions on the roof and then drover off.

Lots of temples in Varanasi, and lots of vegetable sellers.

After a while Johanna came to Varanasi, along with her friend Maya who I also met in Goa, they came with a friend of ours from Luxemburg also, a guy called Ivo, and his daughter Kiyo. Them lot, me and Sasha went for a big walk out of town and came to this village where we got mobbed by all the village children, I juggled for them to their amazement.

This is Maya and Johanna having a break from walking around in all the sun. And that second picture is from a house in the village.

More people from the village, and check out that radio the woman has in the second picture, very old looking thing.

And thats it for photos for now. I’m no longer in Varanasi, as it was getting too hot there, so me and Sasha left for Rishikesh, a town situated also next to the Ganga river, but with the added bonus of it being at the foothills of the himalayas so the river is clean enough to swim in (not that people didn’t swim in Varanasi). We stayed in that town for a week, actually planning to stay longer but it was so busy there and also very hot. We caught the bus to Manali, actually it was two busses with a stop over in Shimla for one night. So now I am staying Vashisht, which is just 10 mins outside Manali, i’ve been here before and enjoyed it last time so im happy to be back here. Its great to see the Himalayas again.

This all seems very brief considering its been 4 months since I last wrote, I have lots to say but just don’t know how to get it out. My mind has cycled through many feelings lately. I wish to get more out of life than what im getting, here I feel like im always sitting on the surface, Indians see me for the money I can potentially give to them and not as a way to learn more about life, im inhibited by my lack of Hindi, the most common Indian language besides English. I know I will enjoy my remaining time here though, and Im happy that at the way I feel about traveling here now, it means that I won’t miss it too much when I leave. My Visa for India is up in July, then I will head into Nepal, a new country for me, I think I will enjoy it there. Then after a month or two in Nepal I really don’t know where I will go next, I have some good money behind me still so thats not a worry. I have been toying with the idea of going to America, to the states, there I will hitch around I think, finding cheap ways to live there, I really don’t want to live in hotels there as it will suck my money away too quickly, and living on the cheap sounds like a good adventure there. If I do this I will leave most of my things behind, like my camera and my computer, i’ll be happy to travel with juggling balls and drawing book.

Anways, sorry for the lack of communication for the last 4 months, I promise more posts in the near future, as I have lots of stories and photos. Also my father sent me some of his stories from India so I’ll put them up soon.

Look forward to hearing from everyone that reads this!!