There are some things that are universal, like kids waving at trains and a smile that sparks up a good conversation. Travelling from Bangalore to Cochin today in the second class carriage I saw probably the most beautiful landscape I've ever seen. This was the India of my imagination; rice fields that go on forever with local villagers slaving away in the hot sun, rocky rivers where the women are washing their saris, rolling hills stretching into the distance and music filling the train carriage as a man sings and plays the tambourine sublimely.
Bangalore was a hectic, fast-moving city where I had a couple of objectives (to try for a visa extension and change my flight) and I spent much of yesterday traipsing around in the blazing heat settling now and then in one of the many coffee places for a break. The attempt to extend my visa was mercilessly brief as they told me I have about 99% chance of being refused even if I got o the home office in Delhi and therefore the flight chnge was off. I was staying in a youth hostel sharing a room with a group of Keralan students and a Sikh and a guy from Uttar Pradesh who work in Bangalore. As usual with young Indian men they were full of energy, questions and huge smiles and I got little sleep, especially on the second night when the UP chap came back drunk and threw up all over the place and fell asleep in his own mess. My rucksack got some of the shrapnel but my stuff got away mostly unscathed. I was left a little dejected and thought that I'd probably have to come home at the end of the month which may still be a possibility, but I'm banking on going to Nepal when my visa runs out to get a new one.
The couple of days after leaving Goa, I spent in Hampi, a stunning boulder-strewn paradise in the heart of Karnataka with a beautiful river running through it and a sprawl of ancient ruins and temples that you could spend weeks wandering around. The stars at night there were crystal clear and I got into the Indian breakfast which consists of Puris, Idlies and chutney (look them up if you're not sure - it's delicious). Now I'm in Cochin where I arrived at sunset and took a ferry across the harbour to the fort area. The Keralan people seem much more relaxed and calm than the people in the north and there's not so much staring and gawking the further south I get.
Will spend a day here enjoying some fish and soaking up the Portuguese, Dutch and Jewish architecture before moving on to Kollam for a backwater cruise and a stay in Amma's ashram. She's a living saint who has become famous for her hugs.
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