Travelling Each Other Mad

If you haven’t already, take a look at our last update on India.

Meeting Up
Rupert writes
Time was pressing upon us, unfortunately, and it was time to leave sleepy Jaisalmer and begin our epic of an twenty six hour journey to Mumbai. Foolishly – because we never learn – we booked a twelve hour sleeper-bus to Ahmedabad for our first leg. Nothing pleases me more than knowing I’ll never put myself through another one of those body twisting, gut curling, marathons again (although this wasn’t to be our last sleeper-bus experience). Sleep is rarely an option. In fact the only real attraction that kept us coming back – and dragging my dad and sister with us once – was having our own private, curtain drawn space above the usual seating, which would have been dealt as a high card had it not been for the bum leaving the private abode on every corner and (there were many) sections of the road that had apparently been forgotten about since the road workers dusted off their hands with a job well done, leaving it very incomplete and certainly not well done.

We arrive in Ahmedabad with far too many hours to spare before the train arrives. Our desperate running about on the platform whilst an earlier train sits in the station threatening to leave for Mumbai leaves us even more exhausted and no closer to our destination after concluding we wouldn’t be able to catch the earlier train we’d originally turned down because we’d thought the bus would arrive late – as they often do – and so was left to freeze on the platform for a further four hours.

It was when we boarded the train and found our seats that we realised what a benefit paying triple the price for an air conditioned, reclining seat would have been. Not an iota of sleep was going to take place. Apart from the seats being rock hard and occupants squashed in like dogs in cages being taken from Laos to Vietnam for meat there was the rest of India hitching a ride for the nine hour journey. Our carriage was stuffed with people so much that whenever we stopped at stations people would hurl themselves out of the door and catch a breath of (fresher) air, and not jumping back on until the train had started to leave the station. Apart from those going home or to work there were the she-man looking spiritual people prodding people awake for money, the kid clapping his stones in song, the shoe shiner, the “Chai-Chai-Chai” man, the food vendors and the useless to anyone electric kids toy sellers.

Getting from the strain station to a hotel was made easy by meeting a bunch of cool characters on the train who had been working a bar at a private party in Ahmedabad and was heading back to Mumbai to start work that morning (and they couldn’t wait?!). One of the chaps guided us through the local suburban train system, paying for the tickets, then paying for a taxi to our hotel. It was quite extraordinary. He refused to accept any money, so after stopping by at the bar he was manager of and being given drinks, we spent and an absolute fortune at the affiliated restaurant to make up for it all.

The next day we met my dad and sister at the airport and took a ferry straight out of Mumbai and into the sticks of India. The trip included a bus ride to Alibag, so was long and bumpy and wore everyone out. We spent an uneventful day in Alibag before taking a large auto-rickshaw to our next point of call; Murud-Janjira.

Murud-Janjira

We chose this place for it’s close proximity and good beach. We were let down on the beach. It was there, but long, damp and reminded me very much of Western-Super-Mare back home. Although that didn’t stop the locals jumping in the sea, clothes and all.

Our time here was good none the less. After a night sampling a budget bed I thought was better than average, dad decided to splash out on a fancy two room cottage in the only luxury resort in the small village, just up the road. All food was room service, which made evenings pleasant. So that just left the days to be filled.

The infamous bottle of champagne dad brought all the way from the UK

We visited the local fort, that had been built on an island out at sea. Why a fort had been built on an island out at sea we couldn’t understand, and the useless guide – who’s only input over the tour was pointing at fallen sections of the structure and saying “animation”, “temple”, “flag” – was worthless for asking any questions past his name and how much we owed him.

Other days here were spent wondering through the untouched by tourism town, playing cards, and eating a great deal.

Despite it’s condition, it was still in use. Fantastic

Aurangabad
Arriving via Pune on an excruciatingly long and sleepless bus ride we searched, with the help of a handy auto-rickshaw driver, for hours trying to find a hotel that wasn’t full or brimming with grime, finally touching base at the badly run IRA Executive Hotel.

We left cave viewing for the following day and spent a day walking – and riding on rickshaws – around the uninspiring city of Aurangabad, taking in the markets and local sights.

The next day we went looking for the bus to the Ellora Caves but found instead a air conditioned car – thus surface the benefits of having dad around – to take us around for the day.

Here’s some pictures from the caves:

Whilst me and Laura ran from the mass of “picture please” Indian tourists swarming in, Fay was lacking experience and caught before she could make a get-away

It was sad to wave dad and Fay off, as the company and opportunity to show them around India was fantastic. We hope they enjoyed themselves – and it wasn’t too much for the senses – as much as we enjoyed having them around.

Anjuna, Goa
Laura writes
When we arrived in Anjuna I was just recovering from my third spout of food poisoning. Getting off the bus I stumbled maybe ten or twenty very strenuous steps before Rupert decided it was best to ditch me! Leaving me in a nearby roof-top cafe he went off to search for our home-to-be for a few days whilst I sat drinking freshly squeezed orange juice and reading the news paper ;o)

An hour and a half later this little red man returned. Sweaty, hot and exhausted. My amazing boyfriend had trekked for miles around in the blistering heat, finally finding us a gem of a room just back from the beach. Apparently everywhere was either massively over priced or fully booked due to the New Year creeping up in just a few days.

Rupert, I love you plenty!

After a few days there we decided to move to a rather plush guest-house called White Negro. It was fantastic. We had a lovely snuggley bed, walk in wardrobe, large and clean bathroom and beautiful garden restaurant. It was a little out of our price range, but we decided to just forget about the penny counting for a few days and enjoy the fun!

On Wednesday we went to the famous Wednesday Flea Market. I was in my element. Stall after stall after stall we marched our way through, wondering when on earth we could possibly reach the end. I still don’t think we managed a complete circuit! Crazy. Naturally I was much more enthusiastic about shopping than Rupert was, so leaving him to a fine book on the beach I went back again that afternoon for more bartering. However, it didn’t take long before Rupert was back there too…guess what I’d found? Of course he’d want to know about it…yes, a fold up didgeridoo. And did he buy it you ask yourself? Of course he did.

New year in Goa was a rather quiet one for us. Despite being in Goa, where I am sure many crazy parties were happening, we were obviously on the wrong beach. We had a nice meal, then an evening stroll and mid-night fireworks, but no-where was a party in sight. Never-the-less it was a lovely evening and romance was a different way to spend new year compared to our usual mid-night sweaty stomping!

Next Up On Travelling Each Other Mad
We’re now back in Thailand, so we’ll be up dating you all soon with our time back in the South of Thailand and our last few days that we’ve spent in Bangkok.

We’re off to Kanchanaburi tomorrow for several days before returning to Bangkok to depart to Australia!

Hope everyone is well! x

Tags: Before The Beginning, India, Mumbai, Travel, Travel

This entry was posted on Saturday, January 28th, 2006 at 10:35 pm and is filed under India, Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.