Follow the Sun

Just one of the interesting things that I’ve seen in India so far is how they wrap packages to be mailed.  First they tape it all up, not in a box, just whatever the bundle is that you’re shipping and then wrap that in newspaper and tape that together.  Next they wrap the whole package in linen and sew up the edges.  The final step is for the packager to wax seal the corner seams.

 I have pictures of that and I know I’ve been promising them for a while now, but please continue to be patient.

I spent all last week in Hyderabad, a very large city, hanging out with a guy from Ireland.  It was nice to have the company and to be able to share the expenses of autorickshaw rides and such…especially when the sightseeing you want to see is a good distance away.

What I found interesting about hanging out with a man is that I ceased to exist for the most part.  Anytime we would ask for directions or go into a restaraunt, all communication would be directed at him.  At breakfast yesterday the waiter wouldn’t even look in my direction and almost didn’t take my order.  I was completly invisible.  Only problem was that my traveling companion’s pronunciation was horrible so he had to keep directing the attention to me so that whoever we were talking to could understand us.

 I’m now in Goa…the beach resort town…where hippies have been gathering since they started traveling to India.  I plan on resting here for a bit.  I caught a bit of a cold in Hyderabad (congestion, fever) that I think may have to do with all of the air pollution.  So where better to recover than at the beach?

Well, it’s been a little over a week now and I’ve been hestitating to update this blog.  Why?  Because I’ve been cranky as hell.  At first I thought it was because I was failing as a traveler.  I was getting so pissed off at how often I’d been cheated…couldn’t stand being stared at one more time…the smells are noxious in some places…getting peeked in on while showering…finding someone sleeping in my berth on an overnight train ride…having to say no at every turn…Mumbai and Nasik have to go down as the most polluted cities I’ve ever visited in my life.  Aurangabad saw some street urchins trying to steal the sunglasses off of my face and an unscrupulous hotel propietor. 

So now for the good…the lovely ladies at the sari shop in Nasik, Mr. Nasir in Aurangabad (best autorickshaw ride around), the trains, finding out that it can take up to 7 months to produce a hand woven silk sari, the people of Hyderabad, the rock cut caves (I’ll have pictures up soon, hopefully) that for the most part took 150 years to produce (at least in Ellora), the many nice people I’ve met along the way…and figuring out that my crankyness is not due to failing as a traveler but is a combonation of culture shock, jetlag, PMS, and a cold that finally hit.

Just a quick note to say that i've arrived.  I've been in Mumbai for almost 2 days and tomorrow I leave for Nasik. Mumbai is everything you've ever heard about it...and I don't want to go into all of the cliches that ... [Continue reading this entry]