Shan in Japan

Last few weeks have been busy zipping all over south of southern India.  I'm off to Sri Lanka today, so here is a quick summary.  After Goa, I went to Bangalore and took part in a beer sampling survey.  Indian beer is not the best, and the stuff they had in Bangalore 'winey beer' as it was called, was the worst beer I've ever tasted.  Gave low marks all round for that brew.  Put off by the winey beer, I made fast for Mysore which is famous for it's grand old palace and then up into the hill stations of Ooty.  The name sounded funny, so thought it would be worthwhile having a look.  At 2,400m above sea level, it was a pleasant cool temperature and freezing at night.  I walked through the tea plantations and sampled some of the local homemade chocolate.   The highlight was riding the 'Ooty tooty' train down the valley.  It was an old steam train that chugged and billowed out black smoke which turned the inside of your nostrils black.  First time experience on a steam train, so pretty happy with that.  Later I found myself way down south of Kerala in Trivandrum where I eagerly searched out the possibilities of getting a boat to Sri Lanka, but since the ceasefire in the north is no longer a ceasefire, ferry services have been cancelled.  Flying is the only way.  Headed up north a little to the lovely beach of Varkala.  Tried an Ayervedic massage and wasn't too impressed.  I was doused in oil and felt all greasy for two days.  The stuff wouldn't come off!  Saw an amazing Siva festival with 31 elephants marching around and also a Kathakali dance - I will put up some photos to explain later.

Thought it would be nice to see some wildlife, so went up into the Western Ghats to Periyar National Park.  Alas, the day I arrived they closed the park for 10days to count the animals so nobody else was allowed in.  Managed to find a guide who gave an illegal tour of the park at 6am.  Saw lots of birds, black monkeys and giant squirrels, but no tigers or elephants;-(

When I was in Angkor Wat, I learned about the Ramayana epic - a very famous Hindu story.  It took place in Ramaswaram, which is a town at the end of the peninsula that sticks out of the southern tip of India, and on a map, almost looks as if it is connected to Sri Lanka.   Great story about Lord Rama's wife, Sita, being kidnapped by the King of Lanka.  She rescued by Hanuman, a monkey warrior, along with Rama.  Well, that is just the basic jist of it.  This place has a great temple and Hindus from all over the country make a pilgrimage here.  Amazing looking holy men all gather to take a dip in the sea.  There were almost no other foreign tourists (I lost my lonely planet guide book back in Varkala).

Lastly I'm in Chennai to catch a plane to Sri Lanka.  I feel I have reached saturation point in travelling.  Since I was in Trivandrum, I've had Sri Lanka on mind and just want to get there, find a beach shack, get a board and go surfing for the next month - no moving about!   This will be the last stop of my Asia travels this time.  India is great, but definitely deserves more time than just one month.  My last night in Chennai was nice drinking with some Indian lads.  It was an early evening as they had to get home before their curfew of 9.30pm!  They were both 24 years old. OK - boarding time calls.  Will get some photos up when/if I find a fast internet connection. 

Sat down on Anjuna beach in Goa at about 6am after the bus ride from Pune.  Enjoyed a strong coffee in the company of a Hare Krishna devotee, a Welshman on acid and a stoned Canadian.  Yes, all walks of life converge on this beach for the Goa experience.  The beach itself is nothing spectacular, compared with Thailand's beaches, but the atmosphere is great.  They play good sounds all day long around the various beach shacks.  Food is brilliant.  It seems I've missed the full height of the beach party frenzy now that we are coming into February.  Nevertheless, the whole place is set up just to have a good time - no matter what state of mind you are in. 

With all this beach idleness, thought it would be a great opportunity to get some teeth pulled out.  After a traumatic experience in Bangkok getting my rightside wisdom extracted, my masochistic tendencies lured me to the dentist again for more needles, scalpels and drills.  Something I never want to, or never need to now that I have all 4 teeth out, endure again.  Today is market day - the biggest day of the week in Anjuna.  Vendors are selling all sorts of goodies, and extra bars and shows are set up for added entertainment.  It's good to see hippie culture still thrives strong here.  oh yeah, and there are cows everywhere.  Many of them tanning themselves on the beach or standing obstrusively on the road.  Love India! 

Arrived 3am in Mumbai airport after my Air India flight had a 'snag' as the captain described it while we waited on the tarmac for a few hours in Delhi.  As I exited the airport, there was a smell of burning rubber in the air.  In fact, everywhere I've been so far, the smells - both fragrant and pungent - really slap you in the face.

Mumbai (Bombay) was a beautiful place.  In the days of the Raj, the British really went to work on building some amazing places.  Just a few days was enough as its the most expensive place in India.  Caught a train to nearby city, Pune.  I met some other travellers in Thailand who had been here and recommended checking out the famous Osho Meditation resort or ashram.  Maybe I'm just too conservative or lacking spirituality or something, but after taking a tour of the place, I decided this was not the place for me.  It is hard to hold a straight face when listening to people raving on about their new age experiences;-) The ashram certainly is a beautiful sanctuary, but the rest of Pune is not so inviting.  I'll leave it to the hippies in their maroon coloured robes to seek enlightenment.  I'm off to Goa tonight.