Mumbai was a great place to recover from our crushed Kerala expectations. We flew "The Good Times" and arrived on a lovely Tuesday morning. After some cranky cabbie negotiations, we were soon our our way to the Taj Mahal Palace and Towers. I think I've been forever spoiled. When you start with one of the best hotels in town, how do you ever downgrade? Our rooms were on the 17th floor, overlooking the Gateway of India and the harbor - just beautiful.
We spent the afternoon wandering the Colaba Causeway and having a few beers and some snacks at Leopold's (Shantaram fans will recognize the famous bar from the novel). It's smaller than it seems in the book, but definitely a local expat hang-out and a great place to while away your afternoon. We even strolled through Sassoon docks where the fishing boats come in. This is high on my list of things that I would NOT have been doing without Kevin along, and it may have been the most odoriferous mile in Mumbai, but the waterfront was still pretty, with brightly colored boats and trucks pulling up with their loads of fish.
I have to pause here and say that, although this is probably not technically true, I felt as hot as I have ever been in my life in Mumbai. It's just steamy; you can't step outside without immediately feeling like a dim sum bun. We would practically dive through the revolving doors at the Taj each time we got back. Thankfully, the Taj has a great pool, so we were able to cool down every evening before tackling the trek to dinner. Our first night, we ate in the Taj at Wasabi by Morimoto, which is owned by Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto. The night we ate there, Chef Morimoto himself was in residence, supervising the making of our sushi. It's the first time that I've seen someone star-struck by a chef. We tried to get Kevin to ask for a photo, or "snap" as they say here, but our shy guy was having none of it.
Our second day in Mumbai was spent over breakfast buffet and on a ferry ride to Elephanta Island to see the cave temples. Being out on the water was a nice break from the closeness of the city. I think I lost half the water in my body on the way up to the cave temples, but they were beautiful (and cool) once we got there. It definitely whetted my appetite to go and see the cave temples at Ellora and Ajanta, which are UNESCO sites and supposedly phenomenal. By the time we got back to the Taj, we had our first travel casualty...Kevin got sick and was down for the count (about 24 hours). Do you still call it Delhi Belly in Mumbai? Shannon, Lauren and I entertained ourselves with dinner at Indigo in Colaba, and by a solid day of massages and sunning ourselves by the pool - life is rough all over.
We rounded out our Mumbai experience with dinner at Bademiya, a hoppin' street cafe in Colaba, and an evening of bootleg Bollywood in our hotel room. Little did I know that Shannon would sucker for the melodrama, action, and hot bods that is Bollywood - I've created an addict. With Kevin slowly rejoining the living, we packed up and headed for Udaipur, and the next leg of the adventure.
I've had my first visitors from home! Mad props to Kevin, Lauren and Shannon for trekking halfway around the world to see little ol' me. It was so great to have familiar faces around (and jokes, and harrassment). I took a week and a half off of work and we set out to see a fair chunk of India. This is the first of several installments of the Adventures of the Tin Amigos (3 amigos).
Kevin, Lauren and Shannon arrived on Sunday the 13th of April. Their first 48 hours in India were typical in that nothing happened exactly as it was planned to happen, and I had my first real face-to-face encounter with the vagaries of Indian travel. Their first day, we rented and rode an elephant, spent 5 hours at champagne brunch, made three trips to the airport to try and find their lost luggage, and went clothes (and bikini) shopping, in anticipation that their luggage wouldn't arrive (which it didn't).
The next morning, with four wardrobes cobbled together from my closet, the Janpath mini-market, and Ambiance Mall, we showed up at the New Delhi domestic terminal to catch our plane to Cochin for beach-going and houseboating. Here's something of the conversation I had as I tried to check us in for our flight: Jet Airways dude: "Ma'am, you've missed your flight; it left two hours early..." Me: "Umm....It's 6:30 am and no one notified us that the flight time changed...?" Jet Airways dude: "Go see the woman at the first desk and she will assist you." (I explain the situation to Jet Airways woman #1, she passes me to Jet Airways woman #2) Jet Airways woman #2: "Ma'am, the Cochin airport has been closed and your flight has been cancelled." Me: "Oh, ok. When will the airport re-open?" (I'm thinking 2-3 hours here) Jet Airways woman #2: "Ma'am, it will be closed for at least 2 or 3 months."
Our first well-laid plan bites the dust - BIG time. No Kerala for the Tin Amigos. We retreated to the guesthouse to regroup and plan. After some discussion, we booked the best hotel in Mumbai and made a plane reservation on Kingfisher airlines (yes, it's a beer and an airline - 'Flying the Good times') to go a day early, extending our stay to three nights. We then headed off to sightsee in Delhi - Humayun's tomb, Qutub Minar, a little shopping at Dilli Haat and Punjabi By Nature for dinner. Kevin and Lauren fell asleep sitting up as we drive home from dinner - T-r-o-o-p-e-r-s. The next day, Tuesday, we hop a mid-morning flight to Mumbai without incident, and without Tin Amigos' luggage - Yay Kingfisher! We love the Good Times! Boo British Airways baggage handling and American Airlines flight delays. And, yes Mom, I really do have enough clothes for four people.
So, if you read my blog semi-frequently, you've probably been wondering if I fell off of the face of the earth, or finally met my maker in an autorickshaw, or went AWOL somewhere deep in the Indian hinterland. None of these in fact occurred, but my best creative efforts have been a bit stunted by about five rounds of Delhi Belly. The only blog titles I could think of ran along the lines of, "Sick and Tired, of Being Sick and Tired," and who wants to read that? But, I'm getting back on the blogging bandwagon, and for those of you who like my ramblings, more content is coming soon to a theater near you. In short, in the past 6-8 weeks, I've:
earned myself the nickname "Petri" and developed an intimate understanding of the Indian antibiotic spectrum
explored three new cities (Mumbai, Udaipur, and Agra) and miles of countryside in between - I love a Rajasthani road trip!
hosted three friends from the US for a two-week, whirlwind tour of India
seen TIGERS!
had at least 3 boozy brunches
ridden an elephant (again)
bought enough kurti and chapals (sandals) to open my own store (as per our house staff - "Dad, did you tip them off - are they going to start calling me 'Imelda' too?...")
ridden the Delhi Metro - the most fun a girl can have for 6 rupees
and much, much more...
And so, I promise to get busy blogging very soon, and as you can see from the above, there's lots to talk about!
Being this far from home, one has a tendency to cleave to one's countrymen. So, when Geoff, one of the ex-pats from Hyderabad put out an invitation to go to Goa for the weekend, quite a troupe was rallied. I spend the last 10 days working from our office in Hyderabad, which put me even closer to Goa, so I decided to go along for the ride.
We flew to Goa on Friday night, headed for the town of Anjuna. From the airport, Anjuna is about an hour's drive outside of town, along the coast. Even the drive itself is beautiful. Stark white churches, remnants of the Portuguese influence in the area, stand out against the dark green of palm trees. The weather and flora are noticeably more tropical - there are plumeria trees, hibiscus bushes, and coconut palms. We arrived in Anjuna just past sunset and headed into town for dinner at the Oasis German bakery and cafe. In the end, there was a crew of about eleven of us for the weekend, with nothing on our agenda but beach, sun, sand, and having a good time.
On Saturday, we rented scooters and headed down to Anjuna beach for the day. The beach is a long strand of sand, cut into crescents by black rocks and wave breaks. At the edge of the sand, one little grass shack after another offers snacks, drinks, or bungalows for weary beach goers. We ambled our way to the end of the beach and parked ourselves in front of the "Happy Hours." Ronnie, Kelsey, Scott, and Geoff quickly joined up with some local kids playing soccer on the beach. Heather let herself be convinced to get a massage on the beach, and me, I sipped my fresh coconut juice and delved into Passage to India.
We stayed on the beach until sunset, enjoying the warm water and sunshine and then headed back to our hotel to get cleaned up. Heather and I walked to Ingo's Saturday Night Market. Getting there was a little scary - the roads are d-a-r-k in Goa. But, we arrived safely and without too many detours. In general, Goa is chock-a-block with Westerners, and Ingo's is a mecca for that crowd. There are food stalls for French, Italian, German, and Indian food, live music and tons of great stuff to buy. Heather had an avocado sandwich that mysteriously didn't have any avocados. I had a thin crust cheese pizza which was fantastic. Mmm mmm good. The price of goods, unfortunately, is also toward the tourist palate - definitely not local rates. However, there was still good stuff to be had and I was just glad that I now know the difference between a good price and a bad one. Heather and I bought some cleverly-designed backpacks from an Australian woman, I got a pair of gold yak-leather flip flops, and three necklaces made of sunset-colored chunky glass beads. Heather bought some fun skirts and a very cool pair of sandals. Replete with shopping satisfaction, we headed back to the hotel to rinse off and steam in our room. A very good day.
On Sunday morning, we were on Heather time and consequently got up early. It was beautiful out, so we headed back to Oasis for a breakfast of cheese omelettes and banana lassi, and then tooled around Anjuna and Mapusa on our scooter. Mad props to Ms. Heather for taking on the driver's role. I decided to stick to back-of-the-scooter driving. Goa traffic is awesome - we came around a bend on the scooter to find ourselves dodging about seven Yaks of varying sizes - Mooove over!
After our scooter tour, we met up with the entire crew back at Anjuna beach as they finished a late breakfast. We staked out a few beach umbrellas and settled down to enjoy our last few hours in Goa. Unlike the previous day, we had lots of company. There were quite a few little girls selling jewelry, offering to do mehndi, and generally wanting to chat with the foreigners. We succumbed to the offer of mehndi. The guys started it, oddly enough, with ethnic arm bands, and a huge dragon. Several of us girls were quick to follow with more traditional floral designs on our hands. The mehndi in Goa is black in color, whereas traditional mehndi is done with the reddish natural henna. Before I leave India, I'd like to try getting proper mehndi, but this was a great way to spend an afternoon on the beach.
Tanned and tired, we piled into a jeep for the ride back to the airport. Heather and Scott headed out to Delhi, and I went back to Hyderabad with the group from there. Goa was great fun - I think it will very shortly be unbearably hot, but we really enjoyed the beach and having a lazy weekend.
My lovely traveling companion was dying to get out of Delhi, so we headed to Chandigarh for the weekend of March 8th and 9th. We weren't entirely sure what there is to see in Chandigarh, save that the city is based on a Utopian design by a Frenchman named Le Corbusier, and Nek Chand's rock garden came highly recommended by my friend, Jim Blanke.
We caught an early Saturday morning Shatabdi Express train from New Delhi station to Chandigarh, rolling into town at about 11am or so. We didn't know it before we bought train tickets, but there was a big cricket tournament being played that weekend, and so most of the hotels were sold out. We made reservations at a small local hotel, but the locals that we talked to were dubious at best about its quality. So, mission no. 1, upon arrival, was to charm our way into the Taj.
Chandigarh is a planned community and was laid out on a grid, so they actually have traffic lights and a semblance of order on the streets. Thus, our autorickshaw ride into town from the station was less hair-raising than usual. We had the driver drop us across the street from the Taj, so as not to mess up our entrance into the hallowed halls. Upon inquiring about a room, we were informed that there were none. However, once we clarified that our spot on the waitlist was for 1 room, not two, oh and yes we work for Google, oh and yes there's a hotel full of cricket players that might not be opposed to two women checking in....and suddenly we found ourselves with a very nice room, and semi-VIP status. Let's just say that Megan loves living the Taj style in India, for reasons that will become manifest throughout this short history.
Well-settled and well-heeled, we headed into town for lunch. The lunch special was simple, but good, and we had nothing less than a wait staff of 10 serving just Heather and I. After lunch, we wandered through downtown Chandigarh a bit and did some shopping. Heather had forgotten her sunglasses, so we bought some very stylin' RayBans as back-ups --- tres chic. Chandigarh's street are almost eerily quiet, if you're used to India's usual, only slightly controlled chaos. It really wierded me out, I have to say. I've adopted the herd mentality enough to feel slightly bereft when I'm not hemmed in by bodies - this is probably pure survival instinct, but still, it's weird to notice the change in oneself. We were done with downtown Chandigarh pretty quickly and decided to head out to Nek Chand's famous rock garden.
The rock garden is a found-art-lover's paradise. Nek Chand was a public works employee who began collecting found objects and recycled building materials. With these, he built a labyrinthine garden, full of sculptures, mosaics, and water features. The closest thing I've ever seen to this is Parc Guell in Barcelona, but even that doesn't quite capture it. Nek Chand's work doesn't have the bold colors or polish of Gaudi's work, but it does have a very lovable, lived-in quality. When we were there, tons of Indian families were wandering through the maze of paths, tunnels, and buildings. Around each corner, something different surprises you. There are beautiful waterfalls and whimsical statues. Of course, being India, nothing is in perfect condition, but still it's quite a lot of fun. We wended our way through the various sections until we reached a center concourse that was filled with carnival games and music. There was a long arcade, hung with adult-sized swings, and a white camel providing gamboling rides through the courtyard. We availed ourselves of both. And can I just say - riding a camel is great! It's awkward, more than a little uncomfortable, slightly smelly, and just a whole hell of a lot of fun. For 80 INR, we trotted in a lazy loop, with one guy leading the camel and another one chasing us with my camera. We were giggling hard throughout, as we thumped along on the camel's back. It was one of those moments where we were just like, "screw it - we're going to be a spectacle anyway, so why not make it worth everyone's while to stare?" I should pause to note here that the single-most photographed object in the rock garden that day was Heather. She was stopped no less than 6 times for various enthusiastic Indians to take pictures with her. This is not the first time that it's happened, but it was certainly the most it's happened in any one place. I was thankful for being not-so-blond, and maybe not as cute, because I didn't get bugged in the slightest, and other than hanging around to make sure Heather didn't get molested, was able to truly enjoy the rock garden independently.
Hot, tired, and our sightseeing obligations met for the day, we decided to head back to the Taj to go for a swim in their lovely pool and get cleaned up for dinner. However, Heather decided that she hadn't had enough adventure for the day and elected to round out our Indian transportation portfolio with a bicycle rickshaw ride, her argument being that if you're going to ride in India's flimsiest form of transportation, Chandigarh, with at least some traffic rules being obeyed, is the place to do it. Oh yeah. The poor guy taking us weighed less than Heather, I think, but he was up to the task and in little or no time, we found ourselves back at the Taj. Not sure I'll repeat that experience, but it was fun and a pretty peaceful way to coast through Chandigarh.
We ended our day with a swim in the Taj's lovely pool. Luckily, I had the foresight (and the faith) to remind Heather to bring her swimsuit, so when the opportunity presented itself, we were ready. After a short swim, we got cleaned up and had a very nice dinner at the hotel's Indian restaurant. Murgh Malai is mmm, mmm, good. Our intention was to progress to a couple of drinks at the hotel bar, but we ended up being too pooped to pop, and headed to bed rather early.
On Sunday, we weighed our options - had we missed something eventful in Chandigarh? Did we have a moral responsibility to get out and sightsee some more? In the end, the draw of a nice cold pool and a complimentary bottle of wine won the day. We checked out of our room, set up shop poolside and had the place to ourselves. The day was going pretty well, with a chilled sauvignon blanc from Sula Vineyards to compliment our naan and tandoori chicken, a nice breeze and a wide open pool. But it was about to get so much better....
The cricket players came down for their workout, mid-afternoon. We were very shortly introduced to the majority of the Ahmedabad Rockets and a smattering of the Chandigarh Lions. Both teams are part of the recently-inaugurated Indian Cricket League (ICL), a professional cricket league that's drawing players from all over the world. It was great fun and they were all quite nice, and mostly serious about their workout, though not immune to some flirtatious networking, which was good. Who knows, maybe we'll get to see a match sometime? Heather and I were enjoying ourselves so much that we stayed a leeetle bit too long at the pool and nearly missed our train back to Delhi. We literally stepped off of the platform right as the train began to move, and tucked into our seats just in time. Whew! Our trip to Chandigarh was short and sweet, but oh so much fun.
Mumbai was a great place to recover from our crushed Kerala expectations. We flew "The Good Times" and arrived on a lovely Tuesday morning. After some cranky cabbie negotiations, we were soon our our way to the Taj Mahal Palace and Towers. I think I've been forever spoiled. When you start with one of the best hotels in town, how do you ever downgrade? Our rooms were on the 17th floor, overlooking the Gateway of India and the harbor - just beautiful.
