Thrissur
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| Somewhere in a nice park in the middle of Thrissur, after a few sip on this fresh water... |
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| Those white cars are the taxis, rickshaws are cheaper so I never used these taxis. |
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| Beautiful church, one of a few in Thrissur. I went in a payed a bit, was almost quiet (there is always noizes in India!) |
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| That looks good at this point, day one was not to good. Pretty much all healed at this point. |
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| A few days after my mini scooter accident! This is the only part that is still causing me a bit of pain at this point. |
Kannur
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| Jody and Jeffrey, getting shade from the warm sun... Indian style! (the indians do this not to get tanned) |
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| A camel, downtown Kannur!!! I pet it!!! |
Mysore
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| The Palace entrence |
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| The other entrence... not as nice, but where we can actually go in. |
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| Temple on the Palace property |
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| Sun going down behind the palace |
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| They wanted a picutre with me, which mom took, so I asked to take one of them! |
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| Decorated for the festival, not sure if it is lit like this all year round or not. Still it is nice! Behind this, a big fair like, with games and rides and lots of stuff to buy! |
Back in time... these were actually taken before Thrissur
Kovalam
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| Would you like a coconut? |
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| Shirt matches the wall, can I take a pic? |
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| Cooking on the beach, was great food! |
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| You like a tam tam Sir, cheap price, just for you. No, I'm still travelling for a few months... it is solide and light. I don't play drum. It's ok, give as gift. |
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| Vendeur de sandale qui me dit, get good sandals, you have cheap plastic ones, lather is more comfy. He so doesn't know that I have paid good money for the croc sandals and that they are soooo comfy! |
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| Petit sentier derrière le village de Kovalam |
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| Kovalam |
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| Varkola |
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| Varkola |
I forgot to mention an interesting moment in Thrissur, at one point as I was having a walk I saw an elephant near the temple so I went to see it. There was four elephant being taken care of there and the men taking care of them invited me to get closer and to take pictures, which I did. After a few moments there, as I was about to leave, I realized that I was being watch by a group of student boys, on a day trip to the temple, the same way I was looking at the elephant. When I started to head out, they were all there, in the exit staring at me. As I headed there way they got all exited:”Hello Sir! Where are you from? What’s your name?” So I talked with them for a few second and asked if I could take a picture. They were even more excited that I was interested and wanted a picture, they were all trying to squeeze in where I was pointing the camera. Then when I said thanks and by, one of them wanted to shake my hand, which I did gladly, and that has started the chain of handshakes, quite a surreal moment. This fascination with tourists, white people, not quite sure where it comes from. I did ask a few times, trying to understand, but no one really seems to be able to tell me.
So back to me leaving for Kannur, quick train ride, again sitting by the door, I just love it. It is not safe, no one would ever let us do that in Canada, so I am enjoying it here. Watching the scenery of landscapes change and go by, it makes hours go by like minutes, it really makes me feel like I am a world traveler. I’m again so thankful for this great opportunity that I have now.
Kannur, another non touristic town, by the ocean, I’m heading to Jeffrey’s place where he has rented a room in a big house with a few other people that he is studying with. He is there for one month to study ayurveda, ayurvedic massage and yoga. It is a cute house, where I will be sleeping on his couch the first night and then will find my own place. When I get there he tells me to get ready for a party, we are going to a house party given by the two owners of the school where he is studying. Very nice house, great food, a few Indians but also people from all over that came to study ayurveda. Interesting people for sure, we eat, chit chated and danced. Now the dancing part was the most interesting of my evening. When they suggested we could dance I was not expecting that we would all gather in a room in front of a tv, watching and dancing to Indian music videos. First, most if not all of Indian music videos are from movies. And both men and women love to watch them over and over, and learn the dance move, like the teenage girls do in Canada. So we ended watching the Indians replicating the videos, and calling out the next song. Instead of changing CDs, they changed the DVDs that went on for a good hour. After which our taxi (one big mini van for the group) came and got us to bring us back to our respective place. We were 16 in the van, it had 9 places, so you can imagine the sitting, squeezed and pilled up. Regurlar Indian style transportation, I loved it!
The next day, Jeffrey, Jody, one of his friend and I spent the day in town and then took a bus to a town about 15km away to go see a traditional performance in a big temple. It is a ceremony where Lord Shiva, one of their many Gods, his asked to come and “visit” the temple, then the priest that has invoked him is thought to have his power for a few moments – something like that – and so people gather around him after the performance for a blessing. Everyone pushes and makes their way to the middle, to the priest to get blessed. So we did it too. It was an interesting moment, this big man, wearing makeup from head to toe, and a special outfit, some sort of a mask, says something like – go on, be your true self, be blessed, live a good life. You bow your head has he says this with one hand on your head, after of course making a donation. Then when I lifted my head he looked at me intensely for a second, then it was time for the next person’s turn. Intense moment I got to admit, nothing life changing, yet I had not expected it to be such a eye to eye contact, like he saw into me for a few second, hard to put in words. Anyway, it was a good look. It left me meditative for a few minutes, sitting there waiting for Jody and Jeffrey to make their way to the priest and out of the crowd.
We rented a beautiful room in that little town for that night and headed back to Kannur the next day. I stayed in bed most of that day, my cold was really bad, I was feverish and thought it would be the best thing to do. That night I had dinner with them, then made my way back to the room. About an hour later they came to my room with medicine, and healthy snacks. Jody robed my back with a muscle pain relief balm, my head with something like vicks and Jeffrey put his ayurvedic skills at play by choosing some amla fruits in honey. Filled in vitamin C and much more. The next day I was feeling better. Don’t know if it was the medicine or the TLC, or both, I was thankful.
The next day I was leaving for Mysore in the evening, so I spent the day at the beach with Jody, then went for food, a nap, and on the bus. I got to Mysore at 4am, got a rickshaw to a cheap hotel that cost me too much, but was not in a position to negotiate at this hour.
Mysore is a very beautiful city, it has been a city of tourist since tourists have been coming to India. It has many festivals, many temples and a great palace. I spent only one full day there but have enjoyed it. I went to a festival, some sort of a fair, with rides, games and lots of stall selling all sorts of souvenirs. They even had a replica of the Taj Mahal, which was pretty big and impressive. I was offered to go to a “coffee shop”, like in Amsterdam, it is legal they say. Of course I didn’t go, and I still don’t know if it is really legal or not, but it is not as if I wanted to chance it, plus, there would not have been any fun visiting a place like that alone. The next day I was on the train, back to Bangalore.
Returning to Bangalore, after three months, kind of feel like full circle, starting to feel the end of India soon, not sure how I feel about it. Christmas is around the corner, so I decide to treat myself to a nice room, nothing to fancy, just more comfy and with hot water. After so many weeks of cheap room, cold shower, anything clean and hot shower feels like a Christmas gift. I spent two nights there, sleeping a lot, meditating a little, reading a lot, and shopping for jeans to be ready for the cold of the north of India. I had left with long pants which I left behind me since it was so warm, the wait in my backpack was way too much and I never needed them. So now I have to find a nice pair of jeans, cheap, yet that I like. What a mission is a city where shopping is a sport. I could write a full post on shopping. I ask for a loose fit, not black, not pale, with a little funkiness to it, like not to plan. They say here, try these. I come out of there showing them it is tight on my legs, not what I want. Indian likes tight pants that show their ass, their legs and their package. And compare to most of them, I got big legs. So I ask if they have a model that is not tight fit, to which, of course, I get a yes. They hand me a pair of a bigger size, so now my legs can breathe but my waist is to lose. Perfect for you Sir! Not what I’m looking for! I have these Sir, you will like these. They are black! Perfect color Sir, black is nice. Always the same thing, over and over the similar scenario repeats. I got so good, that by the tenth store I could find it myself. You have to understand that in India it is rare to find a store like ours, where you can browse yourself through the stuff, you always need the help of a salesman. And they just expect you to buy, even if it is not what you are looking for. Incredible India it is. So I found the perfect pair, of course I am a good shopper, after a full day of doing mostly that. And since I am getting good at this, I got them to a good price, and they have a touch of orange on them!!!
On Christmas eve I spent the day with Sandeep, who I had met earlier in my trip. We just wondered around town, but with a mini mission, I wanted to get a palm reading. They are available everywhere in India, astrologers they call them. He said he never gotten one, that it could be fun. We both went in there taking it lightly and being amused by it. So we drove on his motor bike around town until we saw a sing, and walked in there. It was 101Rs, about 2$, for the reading that Sandeep would have to translate for me since the guy didn’t speak English. So it was in a mini space, where all the walls were covered by huge posters, or rather frames of various gods. He had a pile of reference book beside him and a pad of paper in front of him. He was dress in a nice suite, dress shirt and all. Not what I expected, but felt… professional. He asked for my date of birth, time of birth, and my full name. From that he consulted two of his books and took some notes. Then he looked at my hand and again took some notes. Then he started the reading. It was really interesting. He didn’t say much about the future, per say, but he said some true stuff. He said I will always have money coming my way, but I like to spend, so I will never be rich, but it will keep coming. Luck is on my side, always have been and will remain. Health is also good, and I have a great big hart to love and help everyone around me. Once I like someone, they are my friend, I am ready to do anything for them. Everything is good and positive… but my love life! He sees separation. If anything goes wrong in my life it will be because of love, because of a break up. He also said be careful around cars, accident are prone to happen with cars. Nothing serious, but he sees accidents. To which I started laughing out loud, with all the mini accidents I had up to now, plus the scooter one just a few days ago. He also said that I would be travelling a lot, but I will always return home.
The next morning I was off to the airport to fly to Delhi, not liking the feeling of departure, which feels like I am getting closer to leave India. I have to say I am really excited about going to Varanassi, and also to Thailand, but I still don’t like the feeling of my India travel getting near the end. It’s funny, before I came here I used to say, so many countries in the world, why visit the same one twice. Now I am convinced I will come back to India.
Delhi, I arrived at the airport with no guide book, so I had no clues about this city, didn’t know where to stay, which part was good, which part was cheap, nothing. So I took a bus to downtown… well, I guess that request didn’t work. So I said, New Delhi, thinking it would be the modern part of town, the nice part of town. Which is kind of that, but it is also the part of town that has no real soul, it is a bit grayish and dull… at least from what I saw.
So after two nights in New Delhi I have moved in the market area of Old Delhi, wow! I love it!
Well, this is enough for today… more to come soon.
Namastee my friends,
Metta,
Love you!
X
And Merry Xmas a bit late, and all the best for the coming year!!!
