On with the journey!

Just when you thought that this blog was well and truly dead...we're back again! The photos and stories from our trip to India stalled at Mysore...the final leg took in a couple of hours in Bangalore (that was enough!), then to the ruins of Hampi and onwards to the Lobo family home in Goa, before flying to and then out of New Delhi towards Istanbul. We'll come back to the Hampi photos in the next blog and cut straight to Goa and our final days in Delhi...so, on with the story...

After another long train journey from Hampi to Margao, we finally got off at the Vasco train station and quickly found a pre-paid taxi to the village of Parra, where my great-grandfather's home still remains. I was so eager about showing Andrew around Goa and the family home, that I could hardly contain my growing excitement. The trip from Vasco to Parra should have taken approximately an hour and I was counting on arriving during daylight. However, just to ensure that our plans were not in my hands at all, we soon discovered that our elderly taxi driver was not only half-blind but that he insisted in driving in fourth gear at an average speed of 30 kilometres an hour. Never has my patience been so sorely tested! However, it was when he decided to enter a roundabout in the opposite direction just so he could get to a fuel station, that we all had merciless thoughts of ditching the poor chap and jumping into the driver's seat ourselves! Nevertheless, we grit our teeth, resigned ourselves to our fate and continued to wind through unknown roads in the hands of a man who really should not have been in charge of a vehicle. As the twilight turned to night, I began to worry that I wouldn't be able to navigate our way to the house, but suddenly, the road I was looking for appeared, and all the familiar landmarks from many childhood holidays to Goa came flooding back. We arrived well after dark and my sister and parents came out to greet us. It was such a delight to be back, five years after my last visit with Astrid. After a light supper, we all fell thankfully into bed and woke to a beautiful morning. The next day, never tiring of the sights and smells of Indian markets, we made our way to Mapusa, the main market area about 10 kilometres from Parra.

Spices for sale at the Mapusa markets

A woman selling her wares at the markets

We only remained in Goa for four days before flying to New Delhi and in that time we managed a couple of trips to Mapusa, a visit to Calangute (a very touristy beachside spot) where my aunt from Geneva was staying for a few weeks and generally just lazed about and relaxed in anticipation of the next stage of our journey.

The view from the front balcony of the Parra house

Relaxing on the balcony at the front of the house

Afternoons were often spent with a book and some snacks gazing out on the view and rocking away slowly!

When we were little, my Dad always used to show us this vision of hell painted on a wall at the local Catholic church in Parra, in the hope that it would inspire good behaviour forevermore!

A plaque at the church in memory of my great-grandparents on my father's side

The back of the house (but also the main entrance)

Andrew testing out the old scooter that my Grandad used to ride well into his 100th year! He took Viv for a spin down the road to drop her off at a bus stand!

Testing his skills at cleaving a coconut!

And enjoying the fruits of his labours!

The dining room

The large central hall with 20 foot high ceilings and four main bedrooms coming off from here

Calangute beach, which suprisingly continues to attract many overseas tourists (they obviously haven't seen Australian beaches) and locals alike

The breaking of the fellowship on 31st December...we won't be all together again until after August when Astrid returns at last!

In New Delhi, we managed to meet up with my Uncle Bernard from Geneva and his sister, Muriel, who were on their way to Goa too. It was lovely to meet Muriel, who is also a Baha'i and works for the Baha'i International Community in Geneva.

Accomodation in the centre of New Delhi is very expensive even for 'hotels' such as this one that we managed to find...complete with a tree growing through the bathroom!

Our hotel was somewhere in here!

On our way back from Haifa and Istanbul, we had one more day in Delhi for some last minute shopping. We passed this sign, shook our heads in wonderment and hurried on! Farewell strange and crazy land!

Kochi to Mysore...more photo and stories

From Kollam, we made our way up the coast towards Kochi...finally a journey that didn't take all day. Kochi turned out to be something of a tale of two cities - touristy, unsettling, infuriating Fort Cochin and bustling, friendly, spirited mainland Ernakulam.

This chap invited Christian over for a friendly chat as we wandered around near the Chinese fishing nets at Fort Cochin. Slightly inebriated, he asked for his photo to be taken, and as soon as the deed had been perfomed, he demanded a small sum of money from Chris! He may not catch many fish, but I imagine a fair few unsuspecting tourists have fallen foul of his net!

One of Astrid's many beautiful photos. Dolls for sale at a market stall on the waterfront.

Another Astrid shot...colourful lanterns at another stall.

And another of Astrid's photos - the cantilevered fishing nets that dot the water's edge at Fort Cochin

After leaving Kochi, we made our way towards Kalpetta for our Indian wildlife adventure. Arriving at the tourist information office at the stated opening time, we waited for half an hour to see someone and then spent another two hours trying to work out how we could possibly get into the park, with the added dilemma of our car permit being about to expire. In the end, we had our adventure, despite the bungling beauracracy!

We passed through some lovely areas on the way to Bandipur, that really made us feel like we were at last in the real India - the rural villages where life goes on at the most casual of paces!

The vehicle we toured the park in was rather noisy, but luckily the animals seemed pretty used to it!

A familiar roadside sight almost everywhere in India

The very large and impressive Maharaja's Palace in Mysore. We spent an afternoon here and were really taken with the sheer size and beauty of the place on the interior. Everywhere we looked we saw ornately carved wooden doors, beautiful paintings and sculptures (no photos allowed of course!)

On our last night with Rajendren, we treated him to a meal out and bought him a large box of sweets to take home to his family...needless to say, we were very sad to bid him farewell, but glad that he would be able to make it back to his family in time for Christmas!

We spent a fun day wandering the markets in Mysore on our last day. Here, Astrid & Shanks are hearing all about the process used to make the famed sandalwood oil of Mysore.

Bangles anyone?

Many children still work in the market stalls every day, with no thought given to their education. These children would have been primary-school aged. Seeing these children made us reflect on the vast inequalities that still persist between the developing and the developed worlds.

Another lovely child at his stall selling limes, red onions and potatoes.

This boy was eager to share with us the tricks and techniques of incense making, and chased us down a few times until we came to his stall! It is certainly a struggle to survive for many families and there are no options but for the entire family to work all day doing anything possible to make that extra few rupees.

Another young lad selling marigolds, used to make garlands and for offerings at holy temples

Astrid having a design applied to her hand using the coloured tikka powders, seen in the background. No charge this time, just the usual hard sell!

One night as we were walking back to our hotel, we came across a group of kids playing cricket in a dusty alleyway. Shanks and Christian were quick to replace the rock that they were using for a cricket ball with a couple of tennis balls. Astrid and I sat and chatted with the younger children, while Shanks and Christian took another caning at the hands of the youngsters!

Maybe the current Indian selectors need to scout around Mysore to inject some new blood into an ailing side! I think Australia can stick with McGrath and Lee though!

More photos from Kodai to Kollam

OK, we're back on the road again! After leaving Trichy fairly early in the morning, we prepared ourselves for another day in the car as we headed towards the hill station of Kodaikanal. After a peaceful 3 days in Kodaikanal, we were back in the car once more for what ended up almost becoming the roadtrip from hell! You may remember our earlier blog about this adventure...we ended up having to stay overnight in Kovalam, as the 300 kilometre trip turned into a never-ending journey of mammoth proportions. Just a few more photos from Kodai and Kollam now...

A brief stop on the way up to Kodaikanal provided an opportunity to feed the monkeys...

And one even managed to jump in the car with us for the rest of the journey!

Kodaikanal was very cold and we stopped at our favourite eating spot for a ginger chai and bhajias (potato & onion mix deep fried in a spicy batter) at least twice a day!

Check out the size of these cooking pots! A small village we passed on our two-hour walk to Pillar Rocks.

The bike that rode itself!

At this restaurant in Kodai we were invited into the kitchen to learn about the different methods of making the traditional Indian breads - roti, chapati and naan.

We got into the habit of packing up any leftover food we had and buying extra rotis to give to any beggars that approached us. One night we still had some food left over so we put it outside in the cold (no fridges in the hotel of course!). The following morning we were wryly amused to see what had become of our well-intentioned offering!

The Indian method of cooling down a boiling hot glass of chai!

Another very satisfied customer. Shanks regularly consumed a couple of these massive dosas in one sitting!

No wonder the restaurant staff were so happy!

A view of Kodaikanal from our breakfast spot at our hotel.

Scenery on the drive from Kodai to Kollam

All smiles aboard our canal experience of Kollam

At roughly 3km an hour, our leisurely cruise through the winding canals was one of the most relaxing experiences we had during our travels

Onlookers!

A typical village dwelling on the embankment of the canals

Fishing on the river

A quick tour of some gardens with spice plants and tropical fruits and our three hour tour was over.