hello all-

I made it back and now I'm busy adjusting to life back here in the states. More pictures to come.

Was I just in Tamil Nadu?

I'm alive! Sorry it's been so long since my last post, time seems to be moving rather quickly as we reach the final stages of the trip. Since leaving Puttaparthi, Beth and I have been bouncing from place to place as fast as possible trying to fit everything in before we fly home on the 17th.

After Puttaparthi, we jumped on a sleeper train to Kerala. The regular sleeper class that we had gotten used to was full, so we had to shell out for the swanky air conditioned upper class car. We were spoiled by the private bunks with closing curtains, and have been riding in this opulent colonialist style ever since.

Kerala was amazing, amazing. It's the southernmost state on the west coast, and the communist party has had a lot of success there in recent years, which has lead to a much higher standard of living than you see in the rest of India. Far fewer people living on the streets, and almost 100% literacy for men and women. That's pretty amazing considering that in a lot of India the literacy rate among women is down somewhere around 25%. On top of all that, Kerala is shockingly beautiful. When foreign tourists come to Kerala it's for the backwaters, a maze of lakes and rivers that runs along the coastline. The bigger waterways are dotted with small villages and communities that are only reachable from the water. Very pastoral, very charming, very very hot and humid.

Our first stop in Kerala was Kochi, a small and quiet yet touristy section of the the bigger Ernakulam. Kochi is the place to go for Kathakali, the ritual theater style of the area in which actors (always male) use carefully coordinated facial expressions and body movements as well as sign language and the occasional groan to tell stories from the Mahabarata. I love Kathakali so much that I want to devote my life to studying it. Sadly for me, the folks in Kerala already seem to know everything there is to know about their own ritual theater, and aren't looking for any whities to study it for them. None of my Kathakali pictures turned out very well, so I'll throw in one from the internet. After three nights and three Kathakali performances, Beth and I moved south to Alleppy, the launch site for houseboats on the backwaters. Renting a houseboat with a three person staff for a night on the backwaters was slightly out of the budget we've been keeping on this trip, but totally worth it. We had all of our meals (delicious south Indian food) prepared for us while we sat on deck watching the villages and palm trees go by. It's amazing that Beth and I still get along so well after two and a half months of never leaving each other's sight. The houseboat was relaxing, and if we'd had the money and the time I could have spent a week roaming the backwaters. Or wandering them, if you will.

After the houseboat, we reluctantly set out for Tamil Nadu. We rounded the southern tip of the sub-cont. by train and hopped off for a few days in Madurai. Madurai was just as hot as Kerala, but the lack of humidity gave our clothes (and skin) a chance to dry off. Madurai's main attraction is a giant Hindu temple complex dedicated to Shiva and one of his consorts, Meenakshi. Meenakshi, among other godly attributes, is known for having three boobs and fish eyes. Obviously, she was quite the catch. Every night at nine, the statues of Shiva and Meenakshi are carried to their bedroom in a procession and Meenakshi's nose ring is removed so it doesn't injure her husband while they go about their business. Beth and I stopped by at 9 to watch the procession, but couldn't get very close to the action as non-Hindus such as ourselves are barred from the inner chambers of the temple. We spent day two in Madurai at a really good Gandhi museum before hopping on a train to Chennai. Chennai (used to be Madras) went by in a blur. We took a the local bus a few hours away to a seaside temple in Mamallapuram.

After exploring the city a bit and eating the best Gulab Jamun of my life, we had a 28 hour train ride from Chennai to Calcutta, where we arrived yesterday. I've always thought of Calcutta as the last place I would ever want to visit in the entire world, so I was a little freaked out by the time we reached the train station. As it turns out, I can handle it. It's a little like I would imagine San Francisco to be after some kind of horrible disaster. So.. nice! Yesterday Beth and I successfully navigated the subway system. Now I can do anything.

Here's some pictures-
Ellora cave #16. Way back in Aurangabad. Archaeology!








The road leading out of Arambol in Goa.









Beach cows and soccer/football players in Arambol.








More Goa beach sunset.








Disneyland style gate by Sai Baba in Puttaparthi








Here's one of a Kathakali dancer from the Google image search..not mine, but it should give you an idea.
















Houseboats docking in Alleppy.








A very sweaty me on the houseboat.











The temple in Madurai.












The temple elephant gives me some love, also Madurai.








The shore temple in Mamallapuram.

Sai Baba!

Sai Ram! Beth and I left Goa and some unfortunate sea food (first vom attack of the trip) far far behind in search of some spiritual enlightenment at the ashram of Sai Baba here in Puttaparthi, near Bangalore. Here's the low down on Sai Baba incase you don't already know- He's 81 years old, five feet nothin' and he rocks an orange robe and an afro every day. His followers, and there's millions of them all over the world, think he's god. At the age of 14 he went into a trance and woke up a few days later saying he was the reincarnation of Shirdi Sai Baba, a lesser known Muslim/Hindu guru that had died 22 years earlier. He supposedly heals the sick and performs other miracles, mostly waving his hands and pulling objects out of the air. His specialty is producing holy ash from the air which he gives to followers, who then eat it or rub it on themselves in some infected area that needs healing.

We've been here 5 days now, and I'm not so convinced that this dude is god. We've been attending darshan, a mass blessing by his presence, where he gets driven around the prayer in an electric car before disappearing into a room for a while. People wait for hours in the crazy heat to see this and can't contain themselves when he's driven by, which I guess makes sense since they think he's god. Today must have been a very special darshan because instead of heading into the room straight away, he wheeled around the prayer hall (he's in a wheel chair since a nasty spill in 2002) and let everyone get a good look at him. People went nuts. Some people had to be contained. Beth and I wondered what was going on. We did a lot of looking at each other and shrugging. He talked more privately to a few people and at one point materialized a necklace for a little boy. Or he pulled it out of his sleeve, whatever you want to believe. He decided to hang with the crowd for a little while, and different groups performed devotional songs and skits for him which I guess are prepared for just such an occasion. My favorite part by far was when a marching band played that devotional classic "Show Me The Meaning of Being Lonely" by the Backstreet Boys. It was moving for sure. But it somehow failed at convincing me that this guy's god. We roll out on Monday, maybe I'll have changed my mind by then.

Other than the disappointment of not actually finding a living avatar of god, Puttaparthi is a great place to stay. The ashram is beautiful and people seem to be really friendly. Things are less expensive than in other parts of India, and there's even an organic foods store. We were greeted on day one by a really really friendly face from home which helped a lot. It was great to have such a hospitable welcoming committee who knew the area so well. We even got a home cooked lunch which made me miss home quite a bit.

Two months in, one month left...

The difference between wondering and wandering.

First, a note on the last entry. It has recently been brought to my attention, by Beth, that "wondering" and "wandering" are in fact two different words. I wonder how I got through 12 years of public school and two years at a real university without ever finding this out. Sorry. We weren't wondering around the streets of Mumbai, we were wandering. Or were we...

And now...

After our brush with Bollywood fame, Beth and I spent a few more cafe filled days in Mumbai, and one day at the nearby Elephanta Island, home of the first of a string of cave temples, which houses a giant three headed shiva sculpture. One of shiva's heads seems mad for some reason. Maybe it's the fact that his hair is made out of a writhing mass of snakes, or simply the fact that he's responsible for the destruction of the universe every 3.14 billion years. I don't know. I really liked Mumbai, but we were there just long enough that I was really really ready to hop on a 4am train for a 7 hour ride northeast to Aurangabad. Aurangabad was the staging area for two day trips to nearby cave temples of Ajanta and Ellora. It's been an archaeology-tastic few weeks. Apparently it doesn't matter how far away from my roots I get, Archaeology follows me like a fine at Blockbuster. The Ajanta caves, which we scoped out first are all Buddhist temples and monasteries cut into the side of a cliff overlooking a bend in the now dry river below. They were abandoned and forgotten for over 1,000 years until a team of British hunters found them while tracking a tiger. Thank you British colonialism! Not only did they re-discover the cave temples, but they got rid of that horrible wild-animal infestation in the area. Whew. Anyway, Ajanta is famous for it's paintings, which are lovely and actually quite well preserved, but hard to see as they're all inside caves which aren't lit up so as not to damage the paintings more.

Ellora, which we visited the next day is a collection of Buddhist, Jain, and Hundu cave temples. Apparently the idea really caught on in this area. The centerpiece of Ellora is the giant cave 16, for which the word cave is something of a misnomer. It's more like an open temple surrounded by rock face which has been carved as a copy of holy mountain Kailash, where Shiva and his wife Parvati shack up. It's supposed to be the largest monolithic structure in the world, carved out of the hillside from the top down. I'm impressed. I couldn't do it.

We happily left Aurangabad, not a great urban center of the world, on a overnight bus to Goa last Wednesday. Buses are hard to sleep on, but the seats are still a lot softer than most of the beds we've encountered here. I have a theory that the total lack of mattresses we've found here is responsible for the popularity of massage. I think it holds some water. Anyway, we rolled into Arambol Beach on Thursday morning planning to stay a few days and haven't left yet. Goa is wildly different than the rest of India. It's a tropical string of Beaches and home to a ton of ageing ex-pats, and most startling of all, it's Catholic. It reminds me a lot of Guatemala actually. Goa really belongs in Latin America. It just ended up in India somehow by mistake. I love it, but it's not the real India. There's something about spending all day everyday reading on the beach that makes it easy to stay. It's a much needed break from the craziness and stress of travel in India. Last night was our fifth beach sunset in a row. How will we convince ourselves to move on?

We'll do it somehow. There's still a ton of stuff to see. Here's a few pictures to catch you up. Sorry there's not more!
Ohhh no! Who is it? It's the camel I rode across the Great Thar Desert!







Jaswant Thada, a Maharajah's tomb in Jodhpur, Rajasthan








Jodhpur - the blue city in Rajasthan from the fort.








Our fave, the ghats and holy lake in Pushkar, Rajasthan.
Check it out- this is where Gandhi's ashes were spread after his funeral.

ahhhhhhhh!

I was in a real live Bollywood movie! Ahhhhhhh! It was so exciting! I said I'd do it, and I did and it was everything I hoped for and more. So Beth and I were extras in a party scene in the new Aishwarya Rai movie, and we kept getting picked to cross in front of the camera and such. Beth palled it up with one of the stars who then said he's like to show us around the city. We have famous Bollywood friends. I'm living the dream. This is a brag post.

I've had a lot of interest in Bollywood for a bit because of the whole getting a degree in film studies aspect of my life, so it was just such a dream to see the inside of a working Bollywood set. A lot different than I had imagined. Really really productive and fast paced compared to Hollywood. Now I understand how they are able to pump the movies out so fast. We were doing a scene that involved like 40 untrained extras who didn't speak the language of the crew, and they still finished the scene ahead of schedule. Amazing. I can't wait to see the finished movie. Beth and I will have to throw a screening party when we get it back at home.

Mumbai is amazing. I love it. It's got a such a different feel than the rest of India. We've been spending a lot of time just wondering around the streets seeing where we end up. Reading in parks and hanging out on the beach. It's great. We're not sure at this point if a week is going to be enough. I think we end up feeling that way about most of the places we stop for more than a few days. It gives me a lot of hope for the rest of the trip.

Bombay! or, Mumbai!

What up from Mumbai (aka Bombay as the British might call it).

We arrived here last night after a 24 hour train ride from Agra, home of the Taj Mahal. The Taj Mahal- pretty nice. I was hoping not to be underwhelmed by it after all the lifelong buildup, and it was just the opposite. It was amazing. Breathtaking. Not as big as I would have thought, but more beautiful in person. We only spent one day there, but I could have spent more. I'm a big fan.
The train ride was very... long. Very burpy and farty on the part of the other travelers, and generally stinky. At night I was rocked to sleep by the violent jerks of the train and soothed by a chorus of juicy snores. As usual, there was a lot of staring. Actually, I make it sound a lot worse than it was. It didn't seem like 24 hours, and it wasn't that bad. All the same, we were really really happy to be in Mumbai by the time we got here.

I've been warned a lot about the place, and I was expecting Mumbai to be like a hyped-up, more crowded Delhi, but we've actually found it to be relaxing. The air is a lot cleaner here and the neighborhood that we're staying in, Colaba, reminds me of London or maybe D.C. Very British indeed. It gets compared a lot to New York City, which I think is pretty fair. It's the technological center and a lot more modern than Delhi, but it's also home to Asia's largest slums. We'll be here for a little less than a week, then it's off to check out some cave temples. Better updates and pictures to come when I find a USB port.

Erica Out

Octopussy, Octopussy, Octopussy

Hello All.

Still in Rajasthan feeling like a richie rich with my car and driver. The number of bloated dead animals has dropped off quite a bit since we left Mandawa. (whew)

After Bikaner, we headed for Jaisalmer where we saw. . . another fort! No, it's true. This particular fort was larger than the forts of the past few days and had a village inside. I really don't know what to say about all these forts. I'm at a loss.

After we investigated the fort situation fully we took a jeep out into the desert where there were several camels and a matching number of little boys waiting to lead us out farther into said desert. So we rode some camels into the desert, slid around on some sand dunes (my first time in sand dunes! very exciting!) and camped out in huts to avoid the roving nocturnal desert cows.

I love camels. They stink, but they're really really calm and nice. They have eyelashes that they bat flirtaciously, and adorable squishy feet for the sand. Camels have quickly become my beast of burden of choice.

More cities in Rajasthan, more forts, a few amazing temples. Today we're in Udaipur, which people keep telling me is the most romantic city in Rajasthan. No romance here, but it's still a lovely city with some forts which I've been avoiding, and a palace on a lake. The movie Octopussy was filmed here, so everyone that lives here is really excited about that. They show it nightly at all of the cafes and cinemas. It's really strange having a lot of broken english conversations where the word octopussy gets thrown around. Unexpected. I ate the best food I've had since I've been here last night at a rooftop restaurant. Tomorrow: Pushkar, then we head to Jaipur, then Agra to see the Taj Mahal.

Oh, and check out that picture of me at the Rat Temple.. read about it in Beth's blog. It's a temple with a bunch of rats.. that about sums that up.