Summing up Diu

Diu was a retreat that was very much needed. The food was good, the booze was incredible cheap ($1 for 40 oz's at 8.6% Alch.), a maze of caves, and pristine beaches. The island is packed with all kinds of characters of all ages and nationalities, all looking to kick back and escape the chaos of India.

Since the island is so small, everyone gets to know each other very well and very quickly. My core pose was Gary, Jack, and Reto. Gary is a 65 year old ex-pat/Anarchist who lives in Darjeeling during the summer and Diu during the winter. He's lived all over the world and loves his reefer. Jack is a 22 year old Brit that's been working with an NGO here in India teaching kids circus performance. He even taught ME how to juggle! By the end of the trip everyone we would be hanging out with on the beach was juggling thanks to Jack. Reto is a 26 year old Swiss that has been biking though Europe and is now working his way through India. The four of us made for a pretty interesting group.

Diu was seven days of relaxation, good eats, and good peeps. Everyday, my only goal was to do one activity a day aside from sitting on the beach so I explored the fort, tunneled through the caves, climbed 40 ft vines/roots, read two books, and of course, cruised around on my Hero Honda Splendor+. At night we would all kick back with a few drinks and of course lots of food. I ate baby shark and ice cream nearly everyday MMMMMMMM MM!

Before I knew it, everyone was slowly moving on their next destination and I had to leave for Mumbai on a 22 hour bus ride.

My First Indian Theater Experience

My 40hr trip to Diu ended up not being so bad. Mama-Ji packed me a goodbye dinner of palak paneer, rice and dried fruit and nut paratha. I would feel the consequences this meal later. I also happened to run into a woman I had recognized in Bundi who was going to Diu as well so I had a buddy.

The only bad/funny things that happened began with almost getting on the wrong train. I saw Ahmedabad on the train but didn't see where it was coming from so I bolted on only to be stopped by an Indian man I was talking to. He noticed it was the wrong train and saved me a lot of grief. Next, since I had an Taktal (emergency) ticket, my seats were bound to be terrible. I ended up having a small size sleeper bed directly next to the bathrooms so I was getting the wonderful aroma of stale piss and shit on night. On top of it all, a family got on the train at 3 am to find that they were booked for our cabin and every seat was occupied. Aside from the arguing and movement that I could not avoid hearing, one of the daughters has some mental disability and was screaming the entire time. It took them almost a hour to settle down and settle in. By this time I was wide awake and restless.

When we finally got into Ahmedabad, we were able to get some food, drop off our bags, and finally walk around. We tagged up with a Polish girl who was also waiting for her next train that evening. Everywhere we went, we found to be closed so our options were limited. I decided my new mission as to find an English theater and see Avatar.

I have been wanted to see a movie in India because I heard its a trip, and it was. The first showing we could see was sold out and the girls decided they didn't want to wait to till the next showing, so I stuck around and saw the film on my own. First of all Avatar was EPIC! I loved it! My Indian theater experience began when I had to check my bag in and then before entering the theater, I had my choice of cheese, salt, or chat masala popcorn; I chose cheese. Seats in the Indian theaters are comfortable, recline back very far, and there is assigned seating which every theater should endorse. Throughout the film, I could hear kids talking, adults answering their cell phones and talking, and occasionally someone would yell something out and everyone would laugh and cheer. This behavior would get you thrown out in the States. About half way through they had an intermission and everyone left which I thought was very interesting. During the intermission the brand Vicco aired about 8 commercials for their products of skin creams and tooth pastes. I sat there laughing to myself the entire time.

After the film I went back to the train station to grab a small bite and boarded for Veravala. I took a Nyquil this time to ensure myself a good sleep. Unfortunately, I didn't realize this wasn't a very long overnight train so when I woke at 4am and I was unbelievably groggy and disoriented. From there I took a 3 1/2 hr bus to Diu where the next week presented nothing but beaches, seafood, and motorcycle cruising.

Seeing Life and Death in Bundi

Its been 9 day's in Bundi and I can finally leave. My plan's for Goa have become an expensive or impossible mission so I have decided to head to a small beach town on the Northwest coast called Diu. I want to point out my last few experiences in Bundi.

First, I took one last cooking class to learn stuffed tomato masala. As I was eating on the rooftop I was handed a stick. The man spoke no English but I understand the word for monkey - Langun. So I was sitting there with a spoon in one hand, and a big bamboo stick in the other, guarding my meal while eating. Since I was holding a, nothing came close to me, but the moment I put the stick down I heard hissing and screaming. A monkey had been hiding on the ledge in back of me and saw his window to run in and grab my naan. It all happened so fast where he ran down the ledge, jumped onto my table, snatched the naan, looked at me, snarled then ran off eating and looking at me. Like he was saying, "Thats right....you my bitch!" I was so embarrassed and now a little less full.

Next, I had to most interesting walk back to my guest house. First, there was a woman squatting off to the side of the road talk to a friend when a dog came up and pissed on her back. It was so hard not to laugh because I saw it all from 10ft away. The second thing that happened was mix of life and death. Just when I had arrived in Bundi a Bitch gave birth to 3 puppies. Throughout my stay I would pass by them every day as they were either sleeping, playing or feeding outside their home. Today as I walked past, I noticed on had died. Everyone had abandoned it and was left on the doorstep covered in flies while laying in a pool of excrement. After observing this heart wrenching site, I saw something that would cheer me up and make me stop in my tracks. As I turned the corner to get back to my guesthouse, I saw two wild hogs mating in a pile of shit and garbage. This all didn't seem strange to me because you see this amongst all types of animals everywhere in India. What made me stop and watch was that the female had her face greedily stuffed in a pile of food and garbage. She was chomping away while getting it from behind. Who says wild hogs don't know how to multi-task?!

So that was my last day in Bundi. I left at 5pm to catch a train to Ahmedabad, then Ahmedabad to Veravala, then a Bus from Veravala to Diu. This trip to Diu will take ONLY 40 hours.

Me and My Hero

Today was probably my best day in Bundi yet. After a cooking class for lunch, I got back on the Hero Honda Splendor and rode off into the country side on my own. The destination, Rameshwaresh: a dried up waterfall that has one of the most famous Shiva temples in the region. Little did I know, today was a "Shiva day," meaning everyone who worships Shiva travels here from near and far to make Puja on this special site.

I arrived to find myself in the middle of a complete mob scene where locals have set up a small market of kitchen goods, jewelery, various fried foods and chai on the sides of the main path. Being the only foreigner in the entire complex, I was attracting all sorts of stoned faced stares from the local on goers. Once past the market, I climbed the steps leading to the infamous Shiva Temple of Rameshwaresh. I wasn't as impressed with the actual temple as I was the scene going on. I removed my shoes to find that inside there were people throwing seeds, flowers, and sweets around the floor as offerings, while others are cramming into a small enclosure to touch the Shiva idol, and of course you have the poorest of the poor begging at the entrance and exit. Just beyond the enclosure is a small platform with a rather large fire pit. People were walking clockwise around the pit while throwing in their offerings and blessing. Most people we crowded around for the warmth or to just be hypnotized by the flames and billowing black smoke.

After scrapping all the seeds, flowers and sweets off my feet I walked out of the temple grounds to waterfall. Down the steps I passed dozens of monkeys, which now scare the hell out of me after my Taragarh episode. Fortunately these monkey appeared rather harmless and just wanted some food. Once past the monkey's, I entered into a clearing where a large greenish pool of water has collected at the base of the waterfall. This water is now a holy bathing pool. Hindu's ceremoniously scrub and dunk their heads three times before gathering to talk and air dry. Many people after bathing walked up a trail to the right of the waterfall wall where you can find a set of ladders leading to the top. As I was heading up, everyone was heading down so when I got to the top I was completely alone. The scene was surreal and looked like the filming grounds for King Kong with massive rock formations, exotic plants, ancient wall paintings and a Shiva sculpture. I wanted to venture in further but a monkey fight broke out 20ft-30ft away from me and I nearly crapped my pants. I heard sounds that I thought could never some from a monkey; screaming, hissing, and even roaring. I ran to the top of the ladder where some boys were coming up. I warned them not to go around the corner because some Langun (monkeys) were fighting. One boy dismissed my claim and went around, only to come running back with his eyes wide open and jaw dropped. We all had a good laugh while watching the monkey leave and run up the walls of the cliff side.

As I was preparing to leave the main gate, I was stopped by some men that kept pointing from me to this old man and back while talking in Hindi. I couldn't understand anything but "yes?" So I said "yes" back and the old man jumped on the back of my bike. I seem to had just volunteered to give this man a ride into town. Everyone around was laughing, but I don't think at me, just with me. When I dropped the man off he said happy said Danyabad, (thank you) and next thing I knew, two boys my age were already situating themselves on the back of my bike. Three of us were crammed onto the small Hero Honda. This is not an uncommon site as I've seen up to SIX people fit on these bikes! Now I was really laughing and everyone was cheering in Hindi. So I set off to Bundi with my two new passengers. The only bad thing that happened on the ride was when I didn't see a speed bump and accelerated into in. We all groaned as we got our balls crushed. I dropped them at one of the gates near the South Eastern wall of the city and proceeded back to my guest house to take in all that had just happened today on my solo adventure.

A Bundi Birthday for "ILAY 24"

First of all thank you to those who wished me a happy birthday, I really appreciate the love.

My birthday was great and I spent the first half of the day relaxing and learning to cook Malay Paneer; fried cheese balls in a thick masala sauce. The second half was spent riding a motorcycle through the surrounding Bundi region. I rented a Hero Honda while my Israeli friend Ophir rented a TVS scooter (the funniest looking bike I've ever seen). We set out first to explore the lake area and chill in some gardens. After we found a deserted site of Cenotaphs (tombs) which house the corpses of all the past Maharaja's (Kings) of Bundi. All the carvings were spectacular and full of detailed stories of love, battle, and worship. As we were heading back to the guest house, we notice a massive set of staircases that led up over a hill. We were intrigued so we pulled over to climb the steps to the unknown. It turned out to lead us to a powder blue temple just over the top of the hill. It was very peaceful. Monkeys, dogs, and goats were roaming the complex while inside, locals sang, prayed, and played drums. When we began to head down, we were approached by kids that had found plastic bottles that they turned into sleds. They would sit on them and slide down the concrete railing on the steps like a massive slide. We spent the rest of the ride just getting lost in the farm lands and cruising down single lane roads enclosed by tree's. It was a beautiful ride and super relaxing.

When we returned to the guest house, Mama-Ji was very excited to tell me she had bought me a cake and was about to begin making rice pudding, goya (a guava chutney), and paratha (vegetable pancakes) and she wanted me to help. While we were cooking in Mama-Ji's kitchen Vijay, the other chef, was in his kitchen preparing a Thali (small buffet) of dishes for the Birthday feast. I was very lucky to have a full guest house packed with great people from all over the world to celebrate with. When dinner was finished we made a fire in the garden and drank some beers and rum to close out the night. Just before bed Mama-Ji broke out the cake which had written on the top, "Happy Birthday ILAY, 24." Everyone busted out laughing while Mama-Ji blushed and said" Oh?! What happened?" She was so embarrassed about the spelling error but quickly got over it. The cake tasted like soap which was not exactly enjoyable but the effort made it all ok.

So all in all, a great and special birthday in Bundi.

Mama-Ji, I'm Little "Little Bit"

I began the day by booking an early flight out of India to join Richy for New Years in Thailand. This doesn't upset me much at all because I really can not wait to get back to Thailand. Not that India hasn't treated me well, which it has, but I am so excited to explore the South of Thailand.

After booking my flight I wondered around the town for a bit and got to have my second cooking class. For lunch I made Masala Dosa which is more or less an India burrito. A crispy home made wrap from rice, milk, and lentil, filled with potatoes in masala sauce. MMMMMM MM! It came out great!

After my culinary excursion, I got on skype to talk to Richy about a guy he met in Bundi back in 2004 New Years. The guys name is Goro Kala. Richy told me he got picked up in the vegetable market between the Ranji-ki-boauri and the Sadar Bazaar gate where barbers have set up shops under a tree. I went to Ranji-ki-baouri and no one was there so I went up to the gate where the barbers are. I began by taking photos of men getting their beards shaved and then casually asked the man next to me if he knows a guy named Goro Kala. His eyes lit up as he yelled "I'M GORO! I AM GORO KALA!!" I couldn't believe it, he was right where Richy told me he would be.

Goro told me to hop on his bike and he took me around town and to his friends rice mill. Here I got to see how the rice is prepared after harvest. This was very insightful and fun. We left the rice mill so Gorocould take me to one of his farms where I got to try some herbs, vegetables, and fruits while walking around and learning about his crops.

After the farm tour, he took me to the house of a Bundi celebrity named Kukki. Goro and I parted ways at Kukki's house and he told me that when I speak to Richy, I must tell him, "little bit." He wouldn't tell me why. Anyhow, Kukki is an Archaeologist that has discovered almost 100 ancient wall paintings, fossils, and archaeological sites in the Rajasthan area. Some of the sites date back over 2,000 years! Kukki really wore me out by spending the following hour talking about himself and his accomplishments, not letting me talk, and even worse, not letting me leave. I finally was able to get away and walked home to call Richy and tell him what happened. When I said "little bit" to him he laughed and told me that was a nick-name that this woman who runs a guest house with her daughters gave him. It turns out, that I'm staying in that guesthouse and taking cooking classes with that woman, Mama-ji. When I got back to the guesthouse, I scoured the old guest books for Richy's entry back in January 2004 and it just happened to be the first page I opened. I showed Mama-ji the entry and a photo and all the memories came back. When it clicked, I said, "Mama-ji, I'm Little "Little Bit"!" she laughed and began to tell me all about Big "Little Bit." They named Richy "Little Bit" because he would always come there to eat and when Mama-ji kept coming over with more food, he couldn't resist and would always say, "little bit." And so became the nick-name.

After this trip down memory lane, Mama-ji and I went to the kitchen for my next cooking class. Here I learned to make Palak Paneer (spinach and cheese), Onion Naan, and Plain Naan. This dish as usual, came out amazing.

So after another eventful day, I retired for the next big day to follow.

A "Solid" Day in Bundi

Well this day began with a delicious breakfast of toast and coffee and my first "solid" bowel movement in 3 weeks. I was so happy to see my body returning to normal.

After eating in the company of some other backpackers staying in my guesthouse, we all decided to venture out of city by hiring an Auto Rickshaw to take us to the Bimlhat waterfall. We packed 4 of us into the rickshaw and set off for an hour long ride through farms, villages, and dusty open roads. We arrived a the top of the waterfall where we could walk to the very edge and sit with out legs dangling hundreds of feet off the ground. It was really nice to be in the presence of such as massive waterfall that hasn't been overtaken by tourism. We walked through the river at the top of the waterfall so we could get to a staircase leading down to the base. On the way down we all stopped to make Puja (prayer) at the Shiva Temple and then sat at the base to enjoy the scene. When we returned to the top and crossed the river again, one woman named Inga fall in. This was hilarious because its pretty hard to fall there. But she manages to do it.

When we got back, I got to take my first Indian cooking class. I learned the wondrously rich and heavy dish of Malai Kofta. So good and surprisingly easy to make. This dish has fried potato balls set in a thick masala sauce and garnished with cilantro and frozen cream. MMMMMMM!!!! MM! This would be the first of many cooking classes to come.

Bundi and Some Monkey Business

I arrived in Bundi at 4:15 am and was quickly shuttled to my guest house where the staff, having been woken up unnecessarily early, was still more than helpful and showed me to my room.

I woke at 10:30am, had breakfast and immediately began to wander around the city. I decided to explore the most famous sites first, which I usually save for last, and ended up getting the shit scared out of me. This is why I shouldn't break routines.

First I stopped in the palace and and quickly made my way though. Once I had my fill I excitedly moved on to the Taragarh; a massive fort overlooking the palace and city. The path up was really sketchy and had places where the path completely disappears. This was only slightly alarming. The other red flag was that there wasn't a single soul in sight and every now and then a bird would jump out of a tree and fly away or monkey would run across the path behind me. I walked the rest of the way up with stones in each hand, just in case.

When I got to the top I realized there was still no one around. This made for an eerie like ghost ruin. I was now getting increasingly uncomfortable. I then got even more uncomfortable when I stepped a thorn as big as my pinkey and it went right through my sandal and into my heal. This happened repeatedly over the next hour roaming the sight. All aside, I still managed to talk myself into going into the abandoned buildings to climb into the dark stair cases and explore. Atop one of the towers, I figured I should read up on the site. The second sentence makes it clear that this is not a place to roam alone and if you feel so daring to take that risk, you must be armed with at least a sturdy stick. Why? Because the site is swarming with packs of monkeys! Now I'm totally bugging out. I scurry to find some kind of stick or shaft and end up stumbling upon a flimsy, fallen branch covered in thorns. I smoothed the stick out with a rock and pointed the tip. This thing was completely useless but it looked intimidating. So I figured now would be a good time to get the hell out of here. As I made my out of the site, the path was blocked off at every turn by packs of monkeys, they came out of no where. They weren't showing any signs of aggression or anything but were still intimidating given the circumstances. After realizing they are blocking the ONLY way down, I had to man up and walk through them....alone....sacred out of my wits. Fortunately, the monkeys were just as afraid of me as I was of them and they scattered as I got half way through. This sent all the hairs on my body straight up.

When I got down I was greeted by some locals who knew exactly what I went through. We then all sat laughing, attempting to talk, and picking the remaining thorns out of my Chacos.

Feeling the Love in Udaipur

I've been in Udaipur now about 5 days now and its been a different type of adventure than what I'm used to. This place has been filled with sightseeing, chilling on rooftops, and an amazing wedding. Udaipur is mainly known as the most romantic city in India for its floating palaces in the Pichola lake, the beautiful architecture of rose, cream, and honeysuckle, as well as being completely surrounded by mountains. Udaipur was initially put on the map from the James Bond film Octopussy. Every guesthouse here shows the movie at 7pm every night of the week. I feel so bad for them considering this is the single worse Bond flick ever.

So Piyush had taken me, to wedding a week ago but it was only to go there for eating and meeting his friends. This time I would experience a wedding in a different light. We started the day with the engagement party which was just eating, sitting around, and talking. At this party was where I got my nick name, Acha Gora, meaning the special white man. This seemed to fit since I was the only westerner at the party. All the women kept telling me I'm going to have to dance well at the wedding tonight. They were excited to see a white man dance like and Indian.

Later that evening we were to reconvene for the pre-wedding ceremony. Since I dont have any dress clothes, Pyuish brought me a silk Kurta which hung nearly to my knees. This along with the beard made me look like a true Muslim. Anyhow, the wedding begins with a large procession where the groom is marched through the streets. He is dressed in traditional wedding attire which consists of an elaborate turban, decorative robes, jewelry, and a golden sword. He mounts a horse and is guided through the streets by a massive crowd of people dancing in the streets while a band marches in front blaring wedding songs, traditional Rajasthani songs, and some bollywood hits. While we marched and danced, people are also setting off fireworks and spraying silly string and flowers all over each other. There was a lot of love in the air. I was constantly being pulled into the dancing pits with kids and the other men. In the US my dancing is shit but here in India its spot on. You just have to shake a lot and wave your hands. Just doing this make you look like a pro. At one point we got held up and a woman in the streets decided to get into the scene. She was probably around 65-70 years old and she was the best dancer we saw all night. This was where I took the opportunity to jump into her cleared circle and dance with her. Everyone got a good laugh and she was so blushing with embarrassment and happiness (I think). Along the way we even gathered a few more westerners to join the fun. This was great for me too because I had more people to talk to and now the Indian's had other people to stare at.

Once at the wedding grounds, the bride and groom go through some traditional rituals and then sit on a stage for hours while everyone comes up to take photos with them. After the photo's we feasted on all different types of curries, breads, and sweets. We all stood eating off of the same plates and feeding each other. By 12am I had had my fill and didn't want to stick around for next 4 hours of the official marriage. Slowly everyone but the immediate family drifted off and made their way back home.

It was an amazing night and I got to truly immerse myself in an amazing Indian tradition.

Blog-spotting on Mysterious Universe

So if you have been up to date with my postings, you would have read about my encounter with the podcast Mysterious Universe and their episode on the Dibbuk Box that I listened to in the Sam Desert. Well they read my post and mentioned me on the show. Check it out in the link below.

Episode 213, you can stream or download from the site or your iTunes. You can listen to the entire episode or fast forward to 1:28:00 to hear my section.

http://mysteriousuniverse.org/

Wedding, Cows, and Billiards, OH MY!

Since coming to India, my schedule has changes almost daily. I surprisingly returned to have spent the last 4 days back in Jodhpur where I have been hanging with my buddy Piyush and his friends. When I got into Jodhpur, Piyush said I was just in time because a family friend was getting married that night and I was going to be his guest. So I got to experience my first Indian wedding. This was pretty funny because I was the only foreigner there and everyone was staring at me. We ate a lot of food, I met a lot of Piyush's family and friends, and to top it off, I got to get on stage with the bride and groom to take photos. I was invited to the next three days of wedding ceremonies but I had had my fill.

Next I asked Piyush to take me to do something that normal tourist don't get to do and he said he has just the thing. I woke early to meet Piyush and four of his friends at 7am. We all hopped on motorcycles and left the old city. After about a 25 minute drive through villages on roads, we arrived at our destination. This place was the largest Cow Rehabilitation Center in Rajastan where they house over 2,000 cows and we were there to feed them. First we all got a tour of the facilities and got to see all the blind cows/bulls, the amputee's, the really sick cows that were getting operated on that day, and of course the rehabilitated cows. After the tour, we all hoped into the back of a tractors trailer and were pulled up a mountain passing all the stalls. As we drove by, we would throw the feed out into the flocking crowds of cattle. This was surprising a lot more fun than I expected. After the feeding we all went to a famous garden to walk around and enjoy some chai and snacks.

Another highlight from the past few days was playing pool today. They play a very different type of billiards here where the table is almost twice as big and there are 20 balls. 15 red's (1point), 1 yellow (3 points), 1 brown (4 points), 1 blue (5 points), 1 pink (6 points), and 1 black (7 points). In order to shoot one of the colored balls(any of the non-red), you need to sink a red first. The game was kinda tricky and I'm not even going to bother explaining the rest but it was a great time. I lost every game by one ball. These guys could shoot.

Tomorrow I buy some antiques, have a traditional home cooked meal from one of Piyush's friends, and then I head to Udaipur. Stay tuned.

A Night with Uncle Sam

Our second day of the camel safari was yet another battle of endurance. Seeing that I got little to no sleep the night before from the Dibbuk Box and waking up with a soreness in my legs that seemed like I was beaten with a hammer, the following hours were to be very trying.

We ended up riding for about 6 hours. Stopping intermittently at villages along the way to the next patch of dunes. The villages were great and we were swarmed with children all wanting chocolate and pens ("school pen" they would say). At each village we went to the local store and bought a bag of candy to hand out to the kids. This was both funny and chaotic because the kids went crazy for sweets. We had to get the adults to help us line them up so we can evenly pass them out. The kids were grateful and made for fun stops.

When we finished riding, Katharina and her mother stayed an extra night and day while I was to return back to Jaisalmer. I was picked up just outside the dunes by my guest house owner, his cousin and this crazy guy named Sam, everyone here calls him Uncle.

Sam is probably around 65 years old , balding, with a massive white beard. Now an ex-army Lieutenant Colonel, he has been living in India for the last 14 years as a freelance journalist. We spent the night on the roof of our guesthouse eating chicken curry, salad, and chapati along with a bottle of rum and pack of beedies. I always enjoy sitting down with a more experienced individual and hearing about their adventures and personal opinions on life in general. Sam was was just that, very enlightening and certainly had a lot to say. We talked of life, death, and of course, India. I now understand to take India as a flow and not try and carve your own path. Being a solo traveler, this is kinda tough but I'm going to try my hardest.