In search of Saraswati…

I’m fine. Thanks to everyone who inquired about my safety given the recent bombings in B’lore and the state of Gujarat. I really haven’t noticed the impact here in Mumbai (Bombay). I tend to think that because of India’s long history with terrorism and unjustifiable murders (especially those in the political arena), the event didn’t cause too much disruption or cause for angst across the country. Maybe I’m just oblivious to it all. I WAS out of contact with civilization from Friday to Monday. I was lucky to have a friend take me to Awas Beach, near Alibag/Alibaug, approx. 3 hours (driving time) south of Bombay.

From Friday to Monday we pretty much slept, ate, read, walked (when we could – the rain didn’t let up for long), drove (I also got a shot at driving – through flooded streets – lots of fun), and shopped for produce at the local markets (which included watching and photographing two chickens get slaughtered). The family that lived on the property as caretakers definitely took care of us. I was even treated to some cooking lessons and given the option to stay on to become the caretakers daughter. Albeit, she didn’t think I’d be able to find a husband in their village as she thought (ha ha) I was too educated. She did suggest that her daughter follow me up to Bombay and we try our luck together there. How true all of this was, I’ve no idea as I was relying on Dev as my translator and I wouldn’t put it past him to use some creative license ;-).

Visit www.flickr.com/libbyswan to see all my latest pics. Below is just a small selection, including a picture of the new Radisson in Alibag and our sweet caretakers.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 30th, 2008 at 3:10 am and is filed under Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.