Monday, March 28, 2016

From India with love


Don't worry, we didn't run into one of these. :)

As the days ticked by our enjoyment of cycling in India continued to increase. The roads were quiet, the scenery picturesque, the people smiley and the food continued to cause us no problems. All the things we were warned against have continued to be nonexistent. Though the heat increased we enjoyed our pedal into the Bandipur Tiger Preserve. We were stopped at the entrance gate by a khaki wearing park worker who pantomimed in broken English that bicycles were not allowed in the park. So before you say it...YES, we checked about cycling in this area and the limited info we found said that it 'should be' ok to ride in the park. Since there were only limited roads in the area we didn't have options to get to our warmshowers host place inside the park. We luckily had the number for Santosh, our host, and he talked to the guard and we found out that only a month prior they had closed the road to cyclists due to recent elephant 'altercations'.  We therefore hitched a ride on a small motor taxi for the few km to get to the hosts place. (So here is the latest info on cycling in Bandipur  Tiger Preserve...it is NOT presently allowed to cycle through the park.  This info may change but I based on what we saw, namely quite a few wild elephants with calves, which are the most dangerous, they probably won't change the rule any time soon). 

 
Riding into Bandipur, a baby elephant that we photographed by the road.
 
We arrived as the heat of the day hit its zenith to the home of our host.  One of the most amazing locales either of us had ever seen...not hyperbole...it was like being in an African Safari.  Arid landscape with endless views and sounds consisting of wild birds and elephants. The sunsets and sunrises along with the wonderful host cottage and serene surroundings made for an experience that made our already wonderful Indian travels even better. 

  


We literally did little more than eat, nap, read and stretch our tired muscles, preparing for what awaited.  But first e had to tear ourselves away from our host, which he almost convinced us to stay but we knew we were running out of time on our visa and some big days were ahead.

  
Minding the goat herds on the way to Ooty, bend 1 of 36 on the way to Ooty.  Ugh.


It was only 60 km to our next stop, the hill station of Ooty, a welcome break from the heat, but it as also one of the toughest single days of riding in almost 8 months. We gained 2000 meters (>6000ft) in about 20km (about 12 miles)!  Needless to say that there was more than a bit of pushing, sweating and cursing on our way up. We love worth all the pain however Ooty is a treat. An old town built by the English in order to escape the heat.  We stayed a few nights and even spent an evening watching a movie in a historic restore movie house for the equivalent of 50 cents.  

  
Tea fields on the way out of Ooty

The ride out of Ooty started out as an another amazing ride coasting downhill through emerald green tea plantations and small bustling villages. Our enjoymeant was short lived, however, for as we descended through steep hairpin s-turns the heat and humidity began to rise (as we were promised) until at the bottom we were in an unbearable steam bath, the likes we had not felt since we had left Indonesia so many months back. To top this off we found ourselves in the extremely congested city of Coombiatore with noise, traffic, and aggressive drivers like we had not experienced as yet in India. We both looked at each other and wondered if maybe we had been in a pretend India and now it was time to enter the real one? Luckily, to our pleasure,  after fighting for an hour down clogged one way streets and tiny alleys we burst out on the other side and the roads slowly mellowed and we were back cycling in a more chill India. Due to the combination of the heat and waining desire (if we are to be honest) we decided to jump a train to take us the last 70km from Thiassur to the port city of Kochi.  Though it took us the usual patience, commitment and luck (i.e. a friendly local guy that helped interpret and ultimately shove us onto the correct train) we Indian public transit system did not beat us and for a whopping 30cents per ticket, including our bikes, we coasted into our final Indians destination.  



 In Kochi we checked into another converted YMCA and then proceeded to visit a local bike shop owner that we met on warmshowers who helped us get the bikes back in slightly better working order, thanks Abraham and the mechanic at The Bike Store (8 months of continuous touring has left them wounded but not dead yet).  
  
Kochi fishing nets, beautiful old architecture on the water.

The rest of the time was spent taking water taxis around to the old city of Kochi which was once the most important Dutch port in western India. The final evening I popped into one of the corner barber shops and for the penny pinching total of $2 USD I received a haircut (a really good one), head massage, and straight razor shave and had a milk tea and cake at the next corner. Once  again southern India and its destinations were a pleasure the likes of which we began realizing, as our departure time loomed, we would truly miss much more than we could have imagined when we were planning this trip. We want to take this moment to thank all those that made our time in India a surprising highlight of our travels and placed this vast subcontinent at the top of our list of destinations that require a second visit in the future.

One last kingfisher...


Everything I thought I knew about India I learned from Hollywood

  


Chiara and I couldn't have been more wrong about the who, what, and why's of India. Granted we had been getting accounts of cyclists that had mostly traversed the north central parts of the country and we had based the majority of our knowledge of the country from Indian Jones and the Temple of Doom, but so what, this vast subcontinent can't be that diverse, right?  Team assumption strikes again, however this time the surprises could not be more pleasant or welcome.  

After our short hiatus for my birthday we got back on the bikes and left Bangalore early. It took 2+ hrs of cycling in pretty heavy traffic to escape the sprawl that has become the Indian IT headquarters. Once out, however, the roads quickly became some of the nicest that we have ridden this far in the tour, surprise number one.  The traffic rapidly subsides once you are out of any inhabited areas to consist of an occasional bus, a few cars (usually full of families traveling and who are excited to slow down and wave or take your photo, the occasional tractor or ox drawn wagon. In fact the largest obstacles are the almost endless number of lounging, complainant cows that dot the roads , the ubiquitous Hindu Holy Cow. Our first day ended in a wonderful surprise. We were headed toward Mysore, where we had been told we would find a more peaceful and spiritual India full of yogis and palaces. Not that we didn't eventually find this well know destination but we first had, what has become the type of experience that this tour has enabled us. We were waved down along the highway in the afternoon by a car who's inhabitants subsequently invited us to come and stay at there organic farm.  Tilak and his family at Nanda Organic Farm could not have been a more amazing oasis for us.  A serene, peaceful place surrounded by small hills and open space. Presently consisting of mostly chickens and banana trees, the farm was far from a bustling enterprise. It was the venture of a family that was tired of the busy city life and was making a transition. As well, Tilak and his father were regular practitioners of the ancient practices of yoga and we were welcomed to join him to learn about Pranayama (breathing exercises) and meditation. We relished this opportunity and spent 2 nights with the family sharing amazing home cooked local cuisine, wandering the lands, discussing the subtleties of India, learning the practice of organic farming and practicing meditation. We can't thank the family enough this opportunity to share and learn from them and can only hope (as we have reiterated  so many times on this journey) that we get the opportunity to repay them at some time in the future. 


  
A lovely mosque on the way out of Bangalore,calm traffic-free roads 


  
Sunset with the cattle herds next to crocodile-infested waters, our wonderful hosts at Nanda farms

We found Mysore mildly anticlimactic aft this experience and in fact if it weren't for our wonderfully warm and welcoming Warmshower hosts we may have not stayed more than the night. But as it turned out our enthusiastic and open hosts made our time more about present day interpersonal relationship then any ancient practices. We enjoyed 2 nights with Myuk and his housemates. We wandered and Mysore but as is usual in the cities, even the small ones, traffic made moving around a challenge and the heat had started making itself a factor.  

  
Entrance to Mysore palace, hosts and a lovely couch surfer we stayed with in Mysore


I guess this as good a place as any to start describing those aspects of India that have surprised us most.  For starters the weather.  Though we understand that India's size and location give it distinct climatic zones and ranging from frigid mountains to tropical lowlands our prevailing bias led us to expect our time being more akin to the weather we experienced in SE Asia. However the hot, sticky humid air is only a subset of ever changing microclimates that cover the country. We, based on our travel regions have been in much more arid regions, generally hot in the day and but pleasantly cool in the evenings. Great for sleeping and enjoying early morning rides. Next, the food and water have been clean, simple dishes both prevailant, inexpensive, and without the GI upset we were all but promised prior to our arrival. In fact, we both had much worse troubles in our time spent in Nepal the we have had in India thus far. Not to say that there are no possibilities for concern and that precautions should not be or are not taken (seeing us use our Steripen to clean the water after filling our bottles often leads to some of the most obscure looks) but we both have felt at ease with the general cleanliness of the south of India.  The roads have also been a welcome surprise. We have finally found some solace in the cycling here as most roads, outside the cities, are relatively quiet and even the passing vehicles seem patient and willing to pass without the need to blare their horns or feel the need to run us off the road.  Finally the people have not presented as the mass swarms we expected or experienced briefly in Nepal. They are inquisitive, no doubt, and often can't help themselves from ringing our bells or touching the leather saddles but nowhere have they yet inundated us enmasse and their polite questioning about our land of origin and our professions (we are not certain if these ar of extreme interest or simply the English that they feel most comfortably asking) have been enjoyable to answer and often led to pleasant conversation at a roadside tea stall. 

Back to the tour we left Mysore behind and started heading in a meandering path to the west to visit a site called the Golden Temple.  This village is the largest established Tibetan Buddhist enclaves in India. They were granted the one by India when they became refugees escaping persecution by the Chinese government. The site was beautifully peaceful and the visitors ranged from local Indians (mostly Hindu) to westerner travelers (mostly Christian one would guess), to local and foreign Muslims some dressed in full burka. The juxtaposition of these groups with the robed Buddhist monks made for a beautiful amalgamation.  It was the picture of hope that all these groups can and should be present and coexisting in close proximity, sharing in each other's culture and knowledge and not persecuting and looking to harm the other. Maybe...

   
Buddhist monks marching to worship in the courtyard at the golden temple, a diverse crowd at the temple


 We then road south to another Warmshower host in the village of Kutta.  This hill village was squarely placed amongst thousands of acres of coffee and tea plantations.  Our hosts were a local doctor and his brother, Arjun and Nakul.  The ride in in the area was peaceful and the sweetness of the coffee blossoms filled the fresh air with a magnificent aroma that we wish could follow us all the way back home. Though offered to stay another day we realized our time was growing short to make it to our port of exit, so we headed out for our next stop, the wildlife sanctuary of Bandipur. 


Riding through the coffee plantations in Coorg on our way to Bandipur

Sunday, March 13, 2016

40 years- The abridged version



So Chiara and I decided that we were a bit too road weary at the 7+ month mark to take on a large chunk of southern India by bicycle. At the advice of our magnificent hosts in Bangalore we decided to take a train a bit north to the small village of Hampi, the home of a magnificent ruins of an early kingdom of India that is spread out over an amazing, rocky, dusty, yet lush landscape, a landscape that is completely unique from anything I have seen.  Imagine dropping a lazy river/tropical banana plantation into the middle of Joshua Tree National Park and that will begin to inform the stark beauty of this place Chiara and I had never knew existed prior to our arrival. 

  
    
Pictures from Hampi

After wandering happily for two days through the ruins we hopped another train and stopped over in, what is for most westerners, just a place you change trains on your way to somewhere else, the town of Hubli. Thanks to another awesome warmshowers host named Vivitt and his family we had a fantastic one night stay and were exposed to some amazing culture. He took us to the national Indian flag making factory, I know what your thinking, beacuse we also were feeling 'O...K, sure. We don't have any other plans.'  But what we discovered could not have been further from our expectations.  On the grounds of a big government funded textile factory we found amongst somewhat dilapidated buildings, women of all ages working hand powered 'machines' that took raw cotton, from local fields, and through spinning, looming, dying, and sewing they made beautiful products ranging from the beforementioned national flags to clothing, wraps, and blankets.  The place is as it was 50+ years ago when it was founded if not a little worse for the wear.  Many of the families live on the grounds and their children can be educated for free there also.  It was like truly finding that diamond in the rough that every traveler hopes to stumble upon...a timeless treasure of disappearing arts and crafts being kept alive by a few. We felt so lucky to have been able to share this place and time.  

 
  
The material production center in Hubli, they make the cotton clothing popularized by Ghandi, they are also the only place that can make Indian flags in the country



We finshed our mini vacation within our vast travel year by taking a final bus to Gokarna, a wonderful little beach town historically known as a holy site with many temples overlooking the ocean and a spot for local Indians to take a nice weekend getaway. More recently a smattering of westerners, such as us, have started visiting as an alternative to the busy, touristy beaches slightly to the north. They vary from 'banana hammock' wearing Europeans to dreaded new-age types of All ages. Posters proclaiming daily yoga, reiki, meditation, and Ayurvedic healing were all around.  The vibe was relaxing and chill. No overbearing touters yelling at you to buy their bangles and bobbles (there actually were many stalls but they all were reserved and took our 'no thank yous' for an answer).  All this leads me back to truly why I started write this post...40 years and counting.  While spending a few nice, quiet nights in this beach town with Chiara I passed my 40th birthday with no fanfare or celebration sitting on some rocks watching the sunset over the ocean with the woman I plan to spend the rest of my life beside.  We talked, we took pictures, we walked, we planned and we laughed.  

  

 
  In and around this quiet 'mini-break' I was finishing a session of yoga on the beach when I blissfully turned my head to the right a caught a glimpse, no more like 'full frontal' view of a local Indian man squatting maybe 50 meters away, bare-assed and relieving himself on the sand.  This was followed only 50 meters to his side by another gentleman facing me, urinating.   Still with a big smile on my face all I could think was, 'ha...what if those new age hippies caught a glimpse of this on their 'enlightened' beach!?'  I smiled once more to myself and jumped into the waves.  So content and not sure why? What I began to realize was, I am really, really happy. I have great family, great friends, a great partner and a great life.  Unlike my younger years of searching for that perfect place and the perfect situation to effect my life, I don't need this place, as nice as it is (with or without the beach evacuation) or any other to bring me joy.  I all at once I loved these people for being who they were, that is normal Indians whose nation, we found from our hosts, has a serious dearth of per capita toilets all while being a world nuclear power nation, and who often must relieve themselves wherever they are due to lack of good alternatives.  Along with them I had to also accept the shoeless, ragged clothes dread heads walking around with their smart phones and the loud, demanding western travelers who get upset every time things are not 'up to their standards'.  Don't get me wrong, India, at times, could test the patience of the most zen individuals,  but what I am getting at is my world is not better because I live in this place or that, it is better because I am content and know and accept myself.  Now I have loads of flaws and things left to learn, that is what this amazing journey has taught me.  But no longer am I feeling lost, adrift in a foreign world hoping to find the 'right place' that will cause it all to make sense.  I feel attached to all these places and people we have visited as well as the place I call home.  I feel like a teacher and a student, an adult and a child, someone finally ready to accept all the love and beauty of the people and things that surrounds him everyday.  

So finally to end this oration and move forward into the next 40 years of discovery I want to say a simple Thank You to all of you reading this blog and following Chiara and my adventure. To those that have been by my side, through good and bad, all these years. To mom, dad, my sister and to my amazing nieces and nephew for always making me smile. To my friends past, present and those that I have yet to meet. And to my present partner and future wife (yup...Chiara and I are getting married in August!), I can only hope I have brought a small bit of the joy to your lives that you have brought to mine. 

Friday, March 4, 2016

Same same...but different



WTF?! About all we can say after our experience leaving Nepal for India. After such a pleasureable experience meeting and staying with our Warmshower hosts James and Julia in Kathmandu we were off our game a bit when we arrived at the Kathmandu International airport for our easy, or supposed easy flight to India. What we learned is that in this region things are never easy, even when they are. For starters we arrived at the airport after a pleasant pedal from the hosts' home. Thinking we had plenty of time we packed the bikes (in record time I might add as we have become quite proficient at this point in the trip) and entered the chaotic old building representing the terminal. We thought everything was fine until we tried to pay for bikes (which always incur an excessive luggage charge even though they are foldable and bagged). They were not able to accept a card as payment, no worries, the ATM was right around the corner. Think again, as then first of our seemingly endless array of troubles started. As is usual there must have been a power outage and none of the ATMs were functional. We didn't have nearly the money needed to cover the cost. Negotiating started and we came up with a compromise that we would pay half the cost now, which we had in USD and the other half in Delhi where we would get our connection. By this point we went from early to just on time, or we thought, as for some inexplicable reason they made last call as I was waiting in the endless 'Men' security line as Chiara breezed through the  nonexistent 'Woman' security check (see 'Only men travel in Nepal'). Instant karma for all those public restroom lines I  am sure. We hustled to the plane,we boarded, and we were off a full 15 minutes ahead of schedule, without even a hint of explanation. OK?!...at least we and the bikes made it and we thought the worst was behind us but upon landing in Delhi we found out, after painstaking inquiries (info booths just don't exist) that we needed to take all our luggage from here to the Domestic terminal which was a 15 minute bus ride down the road and to top it off we were now running late as Chiara had to spend in excess of 20 minutes at immigration while 5 adult, trained 'professionals' worked at figuring out how to fingerprint scan a person missing the tip of a finger. It would have been comical if it weren't so ridiculous. We had at this point figured we were going to miss our connection flight to Bangalore but we might as well make the journey to the domestic terminal and find out our options. We arrived and after tussling and arguing about how we were to move the bikes and bags without a trolley, that were banned from the elevators ?!? we went to the ticket counter and the nice woman said that there was no reason why we would not make our flight. We were confused until we looked at their clock and compared it to ours...15 minutes behind!? Um, what type of wormhole did we pass through anyway? She told us to proceed straight to check-in as we did and found them accommodating even though we were still worried we would be cutting it close. Our last surprise came when we found out the flight had been delayed 30 minutes, a message we could not receive as we had not had the time to get a SIM card in the international airport because we were worried we were late so we did have a working phone to get flight alerts and as I stated prior, info booths are all but non-existent...dizzying to say the least. We made it to the loading area with minutes to spare, I got some money from an ATM, after waiting behind a gentleman who was doing god-knows-what for at least 5 minutes in front of me, bought some airport sandwiches (our first taste of authentic Indian cuisine) and we boarded for the last leg of this endless journey. 

  
  
The difficult finger, game night in Bangalore at Rahul and Rahdika's great house,
A oft-ignored message on the street, amazing Bangalore bookstore

Thank goodness our arrival to Bangalore made up for all of this days mayhem. Though being late in the evening we called Rahul, our Warmshower host who ordered us an Uber taxi (at his suggestion, apparently the airport taxis charge 2-3X the rates for the same trip) and we made the 30 minute journey to their home where we were welcomed warmly with a cold beer and eager ears allowing the inevitable venting that comes with a travel day such as ours.