The search for a home cooked meal goes on.....

The 10 hour sleeper bus wasn’t as bad as I had heard in the end despite my Delhi belly being in full force at the time and nearly falling off the top bunk when the bus driver decided to do an abrupt stop. I finally arrived at the beautiful sandy beaches of Gokarna. I probably didn’t quite deserve an extended stay here but I couldn’t resist the relaxed atmosphere, evening runs barefoot along the beach and the yoga and meditation course that I had booked myself on. My yoga teacher is amazing, I use to get frustrated with my pathetic attempts at yoga but having practiced the correct breathing and relaxation techniques, I’m realizing its true value and the fact that it has helped to ‘calm’ my mind because by nature, my mind has the tendency to go into overdrive anyway. This is especially true when you are traveling alone, it can actually be constant and you find yourself mulling over dull or useless thoughts over and over again.

I was also able to reflect on my traveling style in Gokarna. I realized that I wanted to try and get off the ‘beaten track’ more. Let’s be honest, as beautiful as the beaches are, it really could be just another beach resort anywhere in the world. So after much socializing with fellow travelers, I’m keen to hang out with the locals again especially for another helping of traditional home cooked food. I’ve had lots of tasty street and local food so far but nothing beats a traditional home cooked meal cooked with tender loving care. So today I went into town and tried to pawn my labour in exchange for an invite to dinner. So far, I’ve been given a banana leaf, lots of free cups of chai and an invite to a fish supper tomorrow which I can’t make because I’m leaving the next day! I’m gutted because he said his wife makes this really good rice dish which is only local to South India.

I also promised myself that I wouldn’t buy any tat on my travels but I’ve broken my promise and have kitted myself out with too many pairs of ali baba trousers and a bongo drum to the credit of the super sales people here. I’ll probably spend tonight on the beach pretending to play the drums just because I have bought it. Maybe, I’ll play it with my friend, the looniest-hippy-in-India who by chance ended up here too even though he said he was moving onto another town. It’s not just me that thinks he’s a loon another person confirmed this too and I confessed to him that I had secretly chuckled to myself when I saw that he too had befriended him.

So tomorrow, I’m heading back up North which will be a welcome relief because it is getting way too hot down South, plus I’ve struggled to sleep in my beach hut for the last couple of nights because my room mate Mr White-rat-the-same-size-as-my-forearm keeps disturbing me with his constant nibbling at night. I’m too tired to care and when I mention it to the guy on ‘reception’, he gives me a look that says ‘What’s new?’ so I guess I have no choice but to let my room mate reside for free.

Also I am seriously missing meat. Cows are like dogs in India, thy wander all over the joint, every time I see a cow, I can’t help thinking what a juicy steak it would make, the last decent piece of meat I ate was that home cooked meal and even that piece of chicken was just the size of a satsuma. Give me MEAT!

Cycling, hippys and Delhi belly in Hampi

I should have buns of steel now. I’ve spent the last four days cycling (with a bike with no brakes), climbing hills or swimming in Hampi which has offered the most stunning natural scenery that I have seen in India so far. There are temples dotted everywhere on top of hills made up by large boulders that appear  like they have been artistically placed by a giant human. Surrounding the hills are endless fields of  banana or coconut tress, rice paddies, lakes and streams.  I also got to nip into the nearby village and even wash some sari’s in the lake with the women. All the while I was thinking, thank God for washing machines! Chuck the clothes in, come back an hour later and done! But not in some parts of India, women can spend hours washing clothes. Actually, they generally seem to do all of the the hard labour, from farming, cleaning, cooking to raising the children. Next time I moan about trains being late to work in London, just send me to a village in India for a reality check. 

Whilst a fellow traveler and I were taking pictures in one of the temples, we saw a colourful tree and thought that it would make a nice picture and so we climbed all over it snapping away. Next thing you know, a local is shouting at us to get off because the tree is God! Oh no, we had just stood all over God! Needless to say, which had a chuckle or two about our ignorance.

Every day has been a blast in Hampi, although today I was finally was struck down by my first bout of the Delhi belly. This was extra annoying as it was my last sight seeing day in Hampi and I had this great itinerary planned and then as soon as I was three quarters of a way up one of the highest hills in Hampi, I felt my stomach turn. So the next three hours was spent with me sprawled across a boulder holding my stomach and trying to hatch a plan to call a rescue service. I was so tired, I wouldn’t have cared if I rolled down the side of a boulder to be ravaged by the monkeys. Luckily sympathetic  tourists offered me water (yes, I didn’t take any with me even though it was 35+ degrees coz I thought I was hard) and I managed to muster up the energy to crawl back to my guest house.

So I’ve met some great people again in Hampi, some Liverpudlians which reminded me of home with their British sense of humour and I guess it was also only a matter of time before I hung out with a hippie or two but I got talking to India’s looniest hippy and was stuck listening to stories about the energy from the sun, stars and blah blah blah for hours on end. My listening to my iPod and reading a book was still not an obvious enough hint for him that he left me no choice but for me to tell him to vamoose in the end and he still took half an hour to leave my porch! (Oh my God! He is calling me right now in this internet café and he’s telling me that he just missed his bus to the next town. Please no).  

I’m off to Gokarna tomorrow which is about 2 hours south of Goa and will be taking the sleeper bus there. This 11 hour trip should be fun.

Temples and home-cooked meals in Madurai

I take all my slagging off of the Indian railway back. Some of my best nights sleep has been on the train as it rocked me to sleep like a baby. I realised that I had had such a tough first journey because I had travelled on ‘cattle’ class. It’s now AC (air-con) all the way! I have to give India serious credit for their railway system, you can get anywhere for as cheap as chips, you simply hop on the train at night and you wake up the next day and you’re there.

I’m now in Bangalore for the day as a stop over to Hampi. There is not much to do here but it’s a welcome relief from all the chaos of the other cities. I’ve just spent 2 hours in the local beauty salon because after several days of trains and sight seeing, my feet were hard and covered in mozzie bites and my face was peeling from a constant beating by the sun. I am so dark now; I can pretty much pass as a local. After the best facial, pedicure and manicure I’ve ever had; I’m feeling 100% again despite not having showered for the last 2 days and wearing the same clothes from the constant travelling. I’ll be walking around town in my pyjama-like clothes again until I reach my hotel tomorrow, at least I’ll have nicely manicured hands and feet!

So I spent the last few days in Madurai to visit one of the oldest temples in South India and it was simply breath taking. The temple is covered in thousands of intricate statues of the Hindu Gods in all the colours of the rainbow. I’ve seen many sights in my time and this one is now ranked right up there, especially as the temple was literally behind my hotel and could be seen in its full glory by just looking out of the window.

I also got chatting to a local shopkeeper originally from Kashmir (North India) who had tried to sell me some carpets. He invited me over for dinner (no funny business), so I was treated to a proper home cooked meal of chicken and sagg with rice and I even perfected the art of eating curry and rice with my hands (although I’ll still take a pair of chopsticks any day). Before the sauce use to slither down my arm but now I can eat as elegantly as any Indian lady. They say the food is meant to taste better when you eat with your hands because you’re using another sense - touch. But I’m not convinced yet; I’m concentrating so hard on not making a mess that I’m not appreciating the food as much. The next day, my new pal invited me back for lunch, so like a true ponce I went back for seconds of chicken and cauliflower, equally tasty. I bought him some Indian sweets to thank him for his hospitality of course. People in India are so friendly to tourists; they are really chatty and are super helpful with directions. I’ve been offered food, assistance and much more. I am so going to be a much nicer person to tourists when I’m back.

Tomorrow, I’ll be arriving in Hampi which is meant to be a must-see sight of India, I’ve made a friend or two so might hook up for some company. I’m enjoying my own company and meeting new people because you can do and be whatever you please, although I have to say I am missing general every day chit chat and gossiping with my friends and family.

Motorbikes, coconut alcohol and Hatha yoga on the beach

I’ve now met and hung out with some really interesting people in the last couple of days. On my first night in Kochi, I went drinking with some local dudes which was fun because I really needed a drink. In India, I’ve noticed that the bars are full of men, so I am the only female in the bar and end up annoying the bar manager as he has to escort me to the ladies every time I need to use the bathroom because it is upstairs and it is always locked because there are never any females. Anyway, one of guys that I am drinking with offered to show me around town the next day, so I thought ‘Why not?’ since hanging out with the locals give you the benefit of doing things that you perhaps wouldn’t get to do on your own. I got to operate a massive fishing net with the local fishermen (called the Chinese fishing nets), paddle a small fishing canoe and generally get off the beaten track.

Thing is, all this time I’m thinking that we are just hanging out as mates until he takes me to a really nice beach to watch the sunset (also really nice) but when we go to have dinner, he takes out his little hamper of ice, drinks, candles and all that and I’m thinking, hmmm, this setting is a bit too romantic for my liking. So when he picks a flower and tries to put it in my hair, I realise ‘Now’s about a good time to do a Cinderella’. I nicely tell him that its time to go home and before I know it, he’s sulking like a big baby! He then tells me that he’s really upset with me because he planned this whole day as a date and the next day he wants me to hang out with his family! Stupid female traveler got duped into a date! But this time, I had no friend to pretend call me to say that a family member had just been taken into hospital. Needless to say, the journey home was a little awkward and quiet. That’ll teach me to be so naïve.

But equally with that experience of the little misunderstanding, I got also meet someone that would teach me the basics of yoga and meditation and show me how to practice my breathing. I actually did my first head stand pose on the beach (yep, that famous one that Geri Halliwell was pictured doing back in her skinny yoga days) but with some help of course. This guy had just spent 2 months in an ashram and had also qualified as a yoga teacher. I spent about an hour practicing yoga with him on the beach and I don’t think I have ever experienced being so chilled from breathing and stretching. I’m converted now, when I go back to London, I’m going to practice Hatha yoga. I also got to ride on his motorbike through the winding roads that are beautifully lined with tall coconut trees and feel my hair flapping in the wind. I have to say, quiet a few of the lone travelers that I have met so far are super chilled and open minded, seems like people generally come to India for some spiritual awakening or have experienced it whilst being here.

Now the food, South Indian food is teamed with other flavors such as coconut. I think I prefer South Indian food over North Indian food. The food is lighter so the curries are less oily and not so thick, they use lots of seafood such as king fish and pomfret and I seen whole prawns bigger then the size of my hand which is just tasty! On top of that, the coconut alcohol is actually pretty good but is only about 3 or 4% so it’s pretty harmless.

So tonight, I’m back on the night train for 12 hours heading south towards Madurai to visit a temple and then having spoken to a few travelers, I’ll be heading back up north to Hampi to spend 3 or 4 days there.

The crazy ass Indian railway to Kochi

After sitting like a battery farmed chicken on the Indian Railway for 27 hours, I’ve convinced myself that I’m justified in taking the plane back up north for the extra ₤50 for the sake of my sanity. I boarded as fresh as a daisy and arrived in Kochi (Kerala) looking like I had been dragged the whole way here through the jungle. I was covered in sweat and various dust and dirt (probably shit) particles which stuck to me like glue. I’m not knocking the Indian railway system, I’d definitely recommend it for over night journeys, heck I even got to hang out of the door for a bit and chill with the locals who said they would pray for me to get married. But would I do another full 24 hours? Really have to think long and hard about that one.

Despite the agony of sitting in a sauna and then sleeping in a freezer at night, I got to see the landscape from Mumbai transform into the lush tropical vegetation that is Kochi, now I remembered why I had chosen to spend a month in India. Kochi is amazing so far, the heat here is pretty intense but the pace of life and the people are so much more relaxed compared to Mumbai. Mumbai was like London in its crowdedness but with the added humidity, the continuous wafting of various smells interchanging between food, burning incense and sewage. On top of this, you’re also dodging the cars and taxis as well as the people.

So a monkey also attempted to mug me when I was high up on some hill in Mumbai. Literally. I was enjoying a tranquil stroll after visiting my first temple and before I knew it, a monkey popped out of the trees and squared up to me and stared me out with its evil eyes. I was actually scared (even though he only came up to my knees) but it was proper aggressive as it tried to bully me for my bottle of water. I didn’t scream though, first instinct was to turn my back to it and it worked, even though I thought I was risking it jumping on my back and beating me to a pulp. I hate monkeys now; they are all little mofos, even though I am the year of the monkey.

I’m finally more accustomed to the climate and food now and I’m going to book some trips to see some villagers tomorrow. I’m then going to head further south to Madurai to see some ancient temples (boo hoo another train journey but at night, that’s OK). After that, I’m probably going to go to Goa and chill with some hippies. But right now, I really need a beer after that crazy ass ride and to chat to some travelers just to have a much needed rant.

Settling into Mumbai madness

I don't think I have ever been so shaky getting on a plane before but my mind was going at 100mph when the scale of what I was doing was finally dawning on me whilst I waited at Gatwick airport. Anyhow, there was no turning back and I landed in hot, humid and over-congested Mumbai the next day totally jet lagged. Hmmm...Mumbai, I haven’t seen many tourists 'so far and again, I think I'm the only Chinese person in India, so I'm thinking that Mumbai is a likely stop gap to better destinations. I checked into my budget accommodation and I'm slowly easing myself into what would be my lifestyle over the next four months - communal showers, hovering over toilets (although I think I'll be an expert at this in no time) and quickly locating the nearest pharmacy to buy bog roll.

Nothing too exciting yet, although I made my first local Goan 'friend' on the first day and he introduced me to masala dosa which is this gorgeous fried pancake with a potato filling and curry dip for less than 50p and went on to explain some useful traveling tips. He was then less friendly when I told him I was married and didn’t fancy going halves on a bag of ganja and monging out in the park with him. Haha! So I made my excuses and left. That would be my first taste of having to learn to keep my wits about me since I'm still convinced that I'm the only Chinese female (and person) in India.

Good news is that I bought my first train ticket today and I'm setting off to Kerala to take a tour on some boats in the jungle (it really is more visually interesting than how I am describing it). I thought that it was quite an achievement even though it took two hours to do (30 minutes to locate the stand and then 1 hour to wait and to stay patient because when it got to my turn, the assistant then said he was going on lunch) because let me tell you, India runs on ‘Indian timings' so patience is a virtue here. So I'm looking forward to cramming myself on the busiest train on the planet with the rest of the locals with my fat backpack and then spending the next 25 hours on the sleeper train taking in the breathtaking scenery that is Kerala.

What have I learnt so far? The 'real' average price of everything from water to bog roll and taxi rates to realising that Indian tea is the best. Oh, another plus is that it is so hot here, that I'm not hungry, so all those beer calories that I accumulated over the last 6 months will finally vanish away as I transform into a size 0! Yes!