Category: India (Page 2 of 3)

Goa – Anjuna:Hippie tourism & the remaining beauty

December 13, 2015 / olaf / 0 Comments

In Anjuna I met Florian my former neighbor in Wiesbaden, we haven’t seen each other since 5 years and he happened to travel south India right now, perfect timing brotha!

First we explored the beach area, a lot of things happened in the last 5 years so we sat at one of the many beach side bars/restaurants and had a beer enjoying the ocean breeze and of course everywhere you’ll hear music on the beach, mostly goa trance as this kind of trance music originated right from this spot. Sometimes you’ll hear house or more chilled electro tunes, reggae sounds reached our ears too but it’s not that common, the faster electronic music seems to govern here, it must be bloody disturbing for the locals and we haven’t seen any on the beach same as hippie like looking people – they all live away from the beach if they’re still here, many went to different spots as Goa in our days is quite touristy, foreigners as well as Indians come to enjoy the comparably mild climate and the almighty ocean and they want to wander on the hippie trail to get a glimpse of what it was like back in the days, well it’s different now, we met some guys coming to Goa since 20+ years, at that time the beach was empty, no bars/restaurants the prices were cheap and the western people often not as nice as today, stealing food and other commodities from locals and fighting as they hadn’t had any money.

The beach is rocky, when I went into the warm waters the first time I hurt my shin bone, I didn’t see the big rock in the shady waters, this is all a result made by humans, sand was taken away from the beach for decades and used to bind with other meterials to build houses. This has stopped now – tourism is the most important income in Goa and they come for the beach! As a tourist you’ll feel it, shacks that sell clothes, sunglasses, and many more souvenirs can be found all along the back roads “Come look my shop”, “You promise you come tomorrow?!”, “Cheap price, only 100 rupees!” – the prices vary though, the slogans don’t ;). “Walking shop ladies” roam the beach during the day times selling jewellery and the light guy selling lasers, glowing sticks and other blinking stuff pop out at night, it’s a big business!

We even had a nice encounter with the police for smoking up on the northern hill during sunset, it was an awkward moment but it relaxed quite a bit as I calmly explained we don’t want any trouble and of course not want to be arrested we paid the baksheesh and went down to the beach, over there the police is paid by the restaurant owners so they don’t linger around and tourists are safe 😉

We enjoyed the easiness of life in Goa although it might not sound so.
One day we even rented a scooter and explored the beaches adject, Vagator, Calangute, Baga and Chapora none of them had the same look and feel as Anjuna, either they had no rocks or packed with all-inclusive tourists or they were a bit dirty, had no shade or sitting at the river mouth so you don’t want to swim in there… it felt like coming home when going back to “Our beach”

Whole Anjuna is a music festival, having 20+ bars/restaurants in any size, ranging from small wooden shacks to big 300+ people fitting concrete buildings, every spot is a stage, some more loud than the other, also some bigger festivals happen in between then the music won’t stop playing until the morning – usually the play until midnight. It’s nice to see and feel but after a week we just wanted to escape, the patterns were repeating and we had enough party, I knew that Agonda would be the antipode so we went, it just took 4 local buses and 5 hours to go 100 km further south…

Hampi – Golden rock city

December 7, 2015 / olaf / 1 Comment

After the glorious Hyderabad days I went to Hampi, getting back in the travel rhythm and exploring the old capital Vijayanagar founded by a Telugu prince in the 13 hundreds which became 3 centuries later one of the biggest Indian empires giving home to half a million people, times changed and the surreal landscape with its temples and boulders is a much quieter place now, tourists took over and rock climbers found a perfect playground.
Last time I’ve been here 9 month ago and stayed with Katja on the southern side of the river called Hampi Bazaar, a little busy village close to the temples, we explored the temples for one day and went away, that didn’t do justice to the otherworldly place! This time I wanted to see the other area north of the river called the island or Virupapur Gaddi, it’s more tranquil and close to some very fine bouldering sites with not that much temple tourism.
Siddhu and Chitra who’s wedding I attended in Hyderabad were born and grew up around here, so they know almost everything about the place and being on their honeymoon of course they came for a visit and booked me a small hut at Goan Corner, also Nivy and Lohit the other freshly married couple were there, what a nice surprise! Good times 🙂
When I arrived by bus I was still sleepy. Travelling in a night bus in India is an experience one need to make, it was not the first I took but I still prefer the train, much more calm and not that much disturbances during the night.
After the morning prayers with elephants also going for a wash in the slow currents, the ferry service was working and I could cross the Tungebhadra river to check in and have a rest. Lots of tourists again, I wasn’t used to it, hanging around mostly with Indians the last 3 weeks and now hiding in my room for some hours to adopt 🙂

I took it pretty chilled the first days, just relaxing and exploring the nearby rocks and watching the sunset. The next days I widened my circles, visiting hanuman (the monkey god) temple some 500 steps up on the Anjanadri hill. The temple itself is alright but the real star is the lookout, pretty much a 360 view over the valley with some of the most important temples across the river in sight – a perfect place for sunset, and of course meditation AUM!

Most convenient way to get around is renting a motorbike, first I was a bit afraid, but the automatic scooters are easy to handle, traffic is pretty calm, the drivers are super relaxed and everyone pays attention, so I took the bike to explore the area along the fresh water reservoir checking out random temples and around the river, pretty much every hill is climbable without rope and a bit of technique here, I found myself a nice spot to watch the Anegundi ferry crossing and the mellow lights across the rocks when the sun was about to set. Priceless!
I met a couple of nice people during my stay in Goan corner we even got our ears professionally cleaned by a guy who does it for 35 years, felt a bit strange and hurt just a bit, he operates with small metal tools, oil and cotton wool, some ears were dirtier then others, it’s a bit yukky watching him “digging” but the feeling afterwards was amazing, I could hear much more high sounds than before. With Justin from the states I spend a day driving to Gangavathi and later for a relaxing swim in the splendid waters of the reservoir – no there are no crocodiles! A good day with interesting talks, maybe see you around Dresden one time, the Elbsandsteingebirge is also a mystical place!

There was also a small party at night in the rocks with music, bonfire and a lot of bouldering, half of the group was German and the music felt like back home, travellers always go back to their roots but I want to progress…

The golden rocks were treating me so nice this time and I know there is so much more to explore, so who knows I might be back one day!

Hyderabadi weddings and parties

November 22, 2015 / olaf / 0 Comments

After diwali night the wedding season in india is starting this year, everyone was holding back as an important river festival called pushkar also took place before and it’s not a good habit to marry during that time, also you don’t want any rain – a lot of parties happening outside.
A typical indian wedding has multiple celebrations where friends and family get together for praying, drinking, talking and eating. The dinner happens to be quite late, and after you eat, usually you stop drinking and soon after leave the place. To still keep on drinking during the evening and to satisfy the starving stomach snacks are available, at the proper cocktail and wedding parties waiters walking around with plates, serving deliciously spiced little pieces of chicken, paneer or veges with different kinds of dips. At the other pre wedding parties food is either way ordered and shared among the group, or at bigger happenings bbq will be available.

The first wedding I attended was Nivy’s and Lohit’s we stayed among palace like buildings with lots of space, hundreds of people. Beautiful sarees in different bright colours were worn by the ladies. Men wear kurtas, suits or other formal/traditional indian clothes. Julian a friend from berlin who arrived just in time was also dressed in a nice kurta that made him perfectly blend in.
For Chitra’s & Siddhu wedding Bene and Stefan more friends from germany joined, we all were dressed in kurtas that day following the indian style. The rituals were similar here, the clothes as beautiful but the setting was different, next to a lake and the stage was just golden, supported with the beautiful sarees and shining jewellery it felt royal! Hurray to the good times guys!
In india the bride buys the groom, the ladies family will end up of paying for all of the glorious parties and also a dauri, something like a wedding gift, will be handed over to the groom, this can be anything from small jewelry to big houses, whatever they can afford.
The wedding ritual is pretty set but timing depends on various aspects like the star constellation or the moon phase. it goes on for hours, bride and groom sit while hindu priests guide through the steps of prayer all is happening at a nice stage guided by some traditional music surrounded by the closest friends and family members. You will just get a chance to talk to the freshly married couple in the end when all official stuff is done. It’s a hard day for them, lots of smiling and shaking hands receiving the best wishes and staying relaxed is not easy.
Once married in india you better think twice if you want to break up after some years and go through all of all the preliminary steps, parties and rituals again…
No alcohol will be served during the official wedding celebrations, smoking is banned too, so you have to go a bit away from the crowds when longing for a tabaco infusion…
Big buffets are available and everybody is eating with the right hand, holding the plate in the left while standing, so much good food and the deserts are killer too 🙂

There is a lot of drinking in Hyderabad! When no wedding related celebrations was scheduled we went to private rooftops or houses to hang out with friends drinking a beer, or two 😉 listening to music and just having a good time. So we even went up on a hospital’s roof, chait is a doctor and of course he’s living on top of the building with his family!
Or some other interesting private homes in jubilee hills, rewarding with nice views, sweet music and more interesting people to talk to.
Good times, not the healthiest but you gotta go with the flow and the pace of the city.
Clubs play a big role in hyderabadi lifestyle too, fancy and a bit expensive places with different music ranging from edm sounds to mass compatible electronic music and even psy trance. Changes between the different styles happen quite fast so it’s a bit distracting as you feel the dj is not that experienced going from one hard break to the next, on the other hand everyone got to listen the music they like during the night, well most of the clubs close round 3 and 4 and you get kicked out, different to the berlin clubbing scene…

Hyderabad – a modern indian metropolis

November 17, 2015 / olaf / 0 Comments

Driving through the city, you’ll see the metro being build, huge concrete pillars in the middle of the road, construction sites everywhere, the place is growing in a massive pace the last decade. it’s a big IT hub with microsoft and google having their indian head offices in a district called hitec city, oh yeah!
but the biggest industry here is pharmaceuticals. a huge office building that was about to be finished when i arrived in town was opened couple of days ago, you can almost feel the speed of construction and within that velocity the heart of the city beats, usual indian traffic, worse on rush hours. of course you want to minimize the time spend in traffic and maximize the chill.

Going south to the old city the district of charminar with it’s 4 pillar landmark bearing the same name and it’s maze like bazaar all around is buzzing. you can easily get lost in the small alleys with thousands of gem traders or go crazy with traffic. somehow a big anti-pole to the northern and western parts of the city which feels more modern with nice shops, big malls and some park areas.
Another touristic highlight i saw is golconda fort. It is erected on a hill so I finally got to see the massive size of the metropolis, hundreds of houses till the haze meets the horizon, some mosques, a couple of hills and some green spots in between. the fort itself is half part in ruins but still a nice place to spend a couple of hours.

With julian, a friend from berlin we went to check out the big buddha in hussain sagar lake, interesting story is that during the transport to a small island in the lake, the statue fell from the boat into the water. it took years to lift it up again and erect it at it’s foreseen base as the required boats and machines first needed to be build to recover the massive granite rock it was chiseled from.

Hyderabad – Diwali night

November 11, 2015 / olaf / 0 Comments

After a 7 hour layover in Delhi and a short stroll around the ruins of qutb minar and it’s adject archeological park i found myself in another huge indian city with muslim history: Hyderabad.

This summer i met Shabarish in berlin, a good friend of Bene. He invited me to visit his hometown once I’m in india, so here I am and I got taken in the group as if I’d be livin’ here for ages.
Not that much touristy tings to do, instead we went from rooftop to rooftop, from bars to restaurants, from private houses to clubs and from weddings to parties. A lot of things happened the last weeks…

My first encounter to roof top parties in the city was Diwali night, one of the brightest and most important hindu festivals celebrated all over the country. during the day prayers will be held in the family, the entrance doors will be kept open to welcome Lakshmi the goddess of wealth and prosperity. When the sun goes down a storm of fireworks, crackers, howlers and deafening blasts of hydrogen bombs sweep through town – lasting for 6 hours easily. Spending/loosing money on that night and the following days is considered auspicious as it means good luck, so we played poker 🙂
the fireworks are 10 times more intense as on German new year celebrations, but as i was told the intensity already decreased in recent years, with air pollution being a major issue on that night.

Even at night when the sounds level of the outside black powder rage was ceasing i still could hear the sounds in my ear, good night and happy diwali!

Indian buses and the nepali petrol run

October 12, 2015 / olaf / 0 Comments

From gorakhpur i took a local bus to sunauli, the town at the border to nepal, ride was supposed to take 3 hours, but as it happens with local buses, they leave when full, so all seats are taken and a couple of people standing in the aisle when we left and the bus will stop every minute or two to pick up people on the road, all of them were cramped in the aisle, you can actually fit a lot of people in there.

In india 3 people operating the bus, the driver, the conductor – selling you a ticket once you’re in the bus and the shouter, always hanging in the open door, shouting directions and getting people in the already overloaded bus…but that ride did pass and after a few police checkpoints with hundreds of trucks waiting we arrived at the border, immigration was straight forward and police was friendly so i went further to get a bus directly to pokhara the second biggest tourist town in nepal. the bus supposed to be a comfy one with adjustable seats – hell yeah!

When the bus arrived it didn’t seam so comfy, seats were not to be adjusted and no freedom for leg movement. i saw people carrying jerry cans on top and also in the bus, making the bus smell as you pass a gas station.

Just a bit of explanation, the nepali government just agreed on the new constitution but india doesn’t like that as the country on the subcontinent wants to build more roads to supply the small landlocked country so they get more gas, petrol and food from india, but actually they want to be independant and they don’t like the indians, thats why they also have their own time zone which is +15 min compared to indian time. So india imposed a petrol and gas ban to nepal, as the road to tibet is damaged because of the earthquake in april, no chinese truck can bring the valuable goods to nepal, the small country depends on the big one and india is playing it’s poker with it, on the head of the people!

So a lot of nepalis go with a bus to the indian border and get fuel in small amounts taking it back with the bus, nepali roads are not in a good condition so of course the cans shift, nepali busses are more cramped with people then the indian one’s so people need to step over the cans and the fuel will leak as it did on our ride, the fumes were horrible the aisle was literally soaked with fuel, luckily i had a window seat so every minute or so i put my nose out the get some fresh air, i used my headscarf my colleagues gave my to cover my nose but it didn’t help, bad fumes everywhere, the ride was supposed to last 11 hours, after one i already had enough, but as it always goes in the travel life i thought to myself:

THIS TOO WILL PASS

There were two stops along the way, i spoke with a couple nepalis some of them excused and felt sorry i had such a bad start, it always gets worse before it get’s better…of course we needed to stop on the way as a couple of cans on the roof were leaking and fuel was spread on the street, i wasn’t afraid of fire or explosions, it was the fumes that bugged me! i even managed to sleep for 30 min in the end of the trip with triple folded blanket above my head headscarf and open window. the locals must have thought “Ah look at the foreigner so weak can’t take much”, or they were jealous for me having the cover, i don’t know but none smiled much during the trip.

We arrived 4 am and the cab driver showed me the kilometer long cue of cars all waiting for petrol! crazy times we’re livin’ in!

I had a brilliant sleep in a clean and comfy bed, but everything was smelling like petrol so big wash!
Pokhara is great but getting here was an unforgettable trip!

The image doesn’t do justice to the situation i described but here we go that’s the fully cramped petrol bus

Gorakhpur – dirty ol’ town

October 11, 2015 / olaf / 0 Comments

So I went with a train from varanassi to gorakhpur in the afternoon and arrived late at night, the town is mainly a transportation hub, not that much to see and it also felt like that when i got off the train, hundreds of people laying on the ground just in and near the train station waiting for their train as they couldn’t afford a hotel, most of them already sleeping.

the town feels dirty and the nice hotels were already full so i went to another one and got a room, for a night it’ll do, there were bugs and the room was not clean but hey last night in india, it will get better for sure 🙂

Varanassi and Kashi Vishwanath

October 11, 2015 / olaf / 0 Comments

the city is devoted to shiva the hindu god of destruction, but destruction also means recreation, a lot of temples can be found devoted to several gods in hindu mythology, hanuman, ganesha, brahma, vishnu, parvati, all can be found here within a minutes walk.

but the main pilgrimage temple is “Kashi Vishwanath”, if you wanna know more about it’s history and some images click the link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kashi_Vishwanath_Temple
i went with the son of the guesthouse owners as he knew the way and comes here almost every day, i heared about the door policies, the bouncer are police men though 🙂 lot of people told me when they ask you if you believe in hindu religion just say yes and your in.

my friend was asking me on our way if i’m muslim because of the beard but i explained…soon after we saw a lane of people and they already got in cue to enter the temple, we went further along the cue, hundreds of people pushing their bodies either one or the other way, it’s not that easy to follow my young friends steps. when we arrived at the door we went further, removed our shoes and put them aside in a locker of his friends shop – no money as the guys knew each other.

no passport, no cell phone not even a lighter is allowed inside, as if you were going to an airport security check the police standing in front of the gate is checking the people, we just went in cue as i’m a tourist and my indian friend did the talking, bam, inside – that was easy 🙂

another cue of people, we went further again, most of them already prepared with small pots or flowers and candles and other devotions. then we went 5 steps up in that open room, and old man was sitting on a chair, his back facing the long cue or people, another man inside telling me to sit down, my friend was talking to them, then the old man was asking me “You coming from?” i replied smiling “Germany” a questioned look in the face and also in the face of my friend. the man asked again and now i understood correctly “Believe hindu religion”, i said “Yes I do like Shiva and now I came to see his place and speak to the lord”. He did something with his hands looked at the other guy, suddenly a young guy appeared with a loud voice and my friend started the talking, sound as if they were arguing but after 5 min with my passport in the hand of the older guy he wrote down my details and handed it back to me. so that was not that easy anymore, on my own i would have to leave now…

so we went again to the cue but it was a matter of minutes until we entered the famous compound and finally saw the roof with 800 kg pure gold on it. another 2 min in line we entered the main hall where i had 5 sec to speak to the lord, then i was pushed away from the others behind me, of course it’s mass processing over here.

we then went to a quieter temple in the compound with beautiful decorations and just a few people, you could actually see shrines of different gods displayed at one side and people praying, we took our time and let go. after a certain while we pushed ours against the new arriving bodies to get out of the temple complex, what a powerful experience.

i again stepped in cow shit on the way back, a clear sign that i have to do what i had originally planned, i’ll go to the ganga to wash – just my feet up to the calves but still i felt the stream.

My spirit rose again!

p.s. I didn’t mention my friends name as he told me so, usually tourists are not allowed to enter and nobody should know that he was the one taking me in.
Thanks again my friend! OM 🙂

p.p.s. if you want to know more about the symbol next to the cow in the header image of the article check that link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lingam

i got run over by a cow!!!

October 9, 2015 / olaf / 0 Comments

as i was just making my way to the market through the narrow lanes as it happened a motorcycle was parked to the right at a wall of a house, a cow just made it’s way towards me, leaving no space in between the wall of the opposite house, so we’re talking 1,50 m width of the small alley.
when cows walk they nod their heads left and right taking each step after another, slowly. so i was not that sure whether to stand on the right or the left to let the cow pass the obstacle so i could proceed, a couple of people already in the back waiting for the cow to pass and i was the first one in line.
all of a sudden the cow lowered his head and started to run towards me with his horns directly targeting my guts!!!
within a glimpse of i second i needed to react and i did consciously, i stepped back and used both of my hands to push it’s head towards the right, made a step forward with my left leg and passed the cow, people were laughing behind me but i was happy to dissolve that moment so easily.
Now when i think about it, it all goes bag to the bagua zhang course i had in berlin, we trained defensive movements to eliminate sudden attacks in no time!

i’m still alive and so is the cow 🙂

check that picture here, so you see how narrow the alley are, the scooter could not pass the cow as there was not enough space

An early morning stroll along the shores of the ganga

October 9, 2015 / olaf / 0 Comments

Every morning the holy river will be awaken by hundreds of people all along the shore, they pray, sing or play music, others take a bath in the brownish waters.

So i got up at 5 to walk upstream away from the main tourist drags, its still dark outside, hardly anyone is up, still some people sleeping at the concrete stairs above the water, many stairs you can find in the city, big and small, long and wide. only a few boatmen are up already asking “Boat? Sir?”, “Cheapest, Sir!” with a smiling “No thank you” i went on, across the small burning ghat which is mainly a crematorium, you won’t see a lot of people burned outside hardly anyone is in visible range, in the distance i see fire burn, it’s still dark outside, voices are dragged by the wind along the fire, after i passed the last big set of stairs it gets really muddy, not even 2 month ago in monsoon time the river level was high up, hardly any of the stairs were above the water, so now all the dirt will be slowly removed for tourist season starting december. that bit however was not cleaned and a small stream of water running across made that area hard to cross.

the fire i saw in the distance is an open covered temple like building with people sitting underneath praying and around them big candles burn, not far away a small stage is located with peaceful music playing – just the right thing to start the day with a beautiful sun rise and a lot of spirituality, next to the river people praying and meditating, sadhus posing for pictures, believers bathing extensively and others just enjoying the moment, a normal start of the day in the holiest of the cities

in the evening the river is put to sleep with classical indian music more boat rides and a lot of singing for a few hours until the morning sun arises for another time…