Monthly Archives: April 2013

Goa – need we say more?… Maybe…

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Goa’s Palolem beach at night

Goa, the holy mecca of Goa Psychedelic Trance music. The origin of it all. A small little state that was hill locked and inaccessible by land for the longest time was a Portuguese colony. Evidence of colonial rule is very evident through every corner and bend as we scootered around.

We stumble in at 4:30 in the morning. We love stumbling in when everything is closed because we like to get screwed in places to sleep. We stumble out of a sleeper bus. Max, our wonderful German friend that we’ve been leap frogging back and forth with already had our accommodation all sorted out for us. We trudge along a beach and shortly arrive in these simple wooden huts. We crash for the night and then wake up to see the beach front.

Ian spinning poi

The beaches are exactly as you romanticized in your dreams. White sand, blue ocean and thumping beats in the beach side restaurants. This was in Patnum. We were very very South Goa, where it was very quiet and no parties happen. If you’re searching for the parties, it’s advised to hit (world re-known) Anjuna beach and Vargator. Patnum is where you go when you have had too much partying for your life. You will find a lot of Europeans discussing “And that DJ should’ve played at “Hilltop” instead of Bar 9 the other night…” as they were apparently all connoisseurs  of North Goa party scene…

We wander over to the next beach about 2km away called Palolem with a beach that was completely littered with ocean view restaurants and just pumping beats away – including our favourite Gangnam Style. We spotted a place we’d like to move over to in Palolem with a livelier vibe. Let’s be honest, in Patnum if there’s any more excitement, a watching-paint-dry contest would break out.

Sunsets on beach

Palolem in contrast provided a bit more any music if you take your headphones off.
entertainment. 2 silent discos came by during our time there. By law, all open air parties must be shut down by 10pm. And as such, silent discos aren’t actually loud (by nature) and so was allow to carry on until 4am. Pretty early considering its reputation… If this is your first time hearing of a silent disco, picture this: A bunch of people in a venue. These said people are all wearing headphones. Listening to the same channels to the DJ’s spinning live. So really, there isn’t

The second silent disco a few days later, was in a more discreet location nestled in the midst of bars settled in a small bay between Patnum and Palolem beach just cresting over a flight of rocky stairs (that gets incredibly dangerous after dark) and just a shot over a wooden bridge (which gets just as dangerous). Perfect location. Headphone prices are 600 rupees, or 12 USD. Drinks extra.

Markets in Palolem

We enjoyed our small town party vibe in our new lodgings just set slightly behind the main beach in a place called “Brown Bread Coco Huts”. 8 rooms made a semi circle all facing into a common courtyard covered in hammocks under pineapple trees.

Just beyond our new lodging was Rahul’s Cooking class, which everyone was pretty excited to take part in. Learning how to cook Indian food. Yes, we will cook you our newly learnt Indian dishes when we see you guys next time. The funnest part of the whole cooking class, besides eating, is learning how to make cheese.

We’ll share you the secret when we meet you. Tee hee.

In the end, massive partying didn’t happen, nor did scuba diving. But it seemed like a much needed rest as many people were starting to fall ill. Keeping it low key in Goa wasn’t something we expected to do but ended up being quite necessary.

We stayed long enough. 4 nights in Palolem and 2 nights in Patnum. We’ve done all we could and gotten sick and better. We also had to start heading North to search colours that flew specially for this one time occasion every year – Holi.

Monkey gods and boulders

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Hampi
Boulders in Hampi

As much climbing as we’ve done, nothing prepared us for the limitless amount of boulders that Hampi provided. The bus ride in from Hospet (the closest big town to Hampi) provided us with a view with the extent of boulder problems that sniffed out.

We get off the bus and tried to find our way to a pre-booked hostel called “Goan Corner”. The first few rickshaw drivers we met explained to us that “The Goan Corner is demolished” – Seriously? Demolished? It was hard to believe. In our Lonely Planet guide book, they explained that rickshaw drivers would say something like that and take you to a “better and cheaper hostel” for you and they get a commission for it.

We shrug it off and truck our way to the ferry to take us across the river where the Goan Corner supposedly was. We march around a huge rice paddy field to find at the end of the rainbow and found *drum roll* the Goan Corner.

Temples ruins and boulders

Our dear German friend Max (from our first stop, Mahabs) was already there. It was the first time we finally made a point to meet up during our travels, and was successful at it. All the other times, it has been bumping into him and moving on.

We settle in and work our way back over the river to see what we could see. And that we could see was – a lot of boulders and a massive temple sticking up from the middle of it. Hanuman, the monkey God, according to legend, sat on top of a hill and threw boulders all around the place.

We decided to meet up with a tour group that went around Hampi by bicycle. Not a bad idea, considering everything was bicycle distance apart. That and it was early enough in the morning that it was still cool enough to not sweat our asses off before the heat of the afternoon – reaching toward 36 degrees (dry heat luckily)

Tourism has used Hampi as a main income source. Every store is geared toward tourism in some way, wifi, guest house, restaurants, trinkets, clothing, etc. Infact, Hampi will get more touristic as it was recently recognized by the UN to become part of UNESCO. This incentive made the government destroy restaurants and hotels that were “illegally” ran (because they didn’t have a permit). And just 2 weeks before our arrival, they demolished a good part of the city.

Rice field outside our “Goan Corner”

So the rickshaw driver wasn’t exactly lying.

The government destroyed businesses. And it was very evident as we still saw the pile rubble of its former self. We’d imagine UNESCO to provide money to help support monuments and also the day to day life of the village locals. Instead the money is given and then used to demolish the businesses and leave the locals scrounging for jobs and food. The idea of preserving the monument has it’s downsides it would seem. The darker side of keeping UNESCO Heritage Sites alive apparently also means destroying livelihoods in this situation.

After spending some time in Hampi, we took a sleeper bus and headed to Goa. The epitome of South India.

To see more pictures of Hampi series click here

Running away from the heat

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Ooty Hill Stations
Tea plantations in Ooty

We retreated back into Tamil-Nadu, the first province we entered in the beginning of our India chapter. We retreated to higher grounds, running from the hell fire that’s scorching the plains before the humidity comes to bake it into a sauna. At 3,000 meters, the night air drops to a very comfortable 19 degrees. An inviting change after suffocating 34 degree nights at the bottom of the mountain.

Ooty is the highest hill station in India and one of the most popular. Hill station started with the British trying to find a way to escape the killing heat of the South Indian summers and found that the high mountains provided ample relieve. As already a retreat for the rich, this area is re-known as a tourist area, however, surprisingly not completely destroyed by tourism yet. (thank goodness)

As a British safe haven, it also doubles as their tea plantations. And over the years, this area transformed into a tea plantation capital of South India, only next to Darjeeling in the North.


GETTING THERE

Miniature train from Coonor to Ooty

Getting here wasn’t exactly a walk in the park from Kochin. We took a 5 hour train to a bus to another bus to another train. Our first train departed at 11 am and we got into the major city of Coimbatore. From Coimbatore train station, we found the bus that took us to the “New Bus Stand” at the edge of the city. From there, we found another bus that takes you to Ooty, but we got as far as “Coonor” Here, it was about 10pm at night. We had no choice but to stay the night here, as we have to catch another train in the morning to finally finish the leg of the trip to Ooty. Be fore warned, the bus ride is not very pleasant. Going up or down the mountain.

This said train leaves at 7:45 in the morning. This is the small miniature train that trucks up the mountain, stopping along several other stations. This last part of the journey took 3 hours to get up finally to the tea plantations. No where online could we find an update schedule of the trains. So we took a picture of the schedule for anyone to use. This is recent as of March 2013 from Coonor:

Train times from Coonor

More tea plantations!

We stayed at the YWCA near the horse race track. It was a nice clean facility, but the service and kitchen was absolutely horrendous. At any point in time, they only have 2 items from the menu. And it’s dal – or lentils. That or mixed vegetable curry. It doesn’t make for a very satisfying dinner. We ended up usually doing the 20 minute walk into the city and finding a place to eat there.

There are plenty of things to see in Ooty if you decide stay for awhile longer. Trekking is always popular, but we wanted to see the tea plantations. And that’s exactly what we saw. Tea plantations covered the hills beyond the reaches of the eyes. It’s very similar to rice paddy fields, the way the system is set up.

There was also a wildlife sanctuary that wasn’t very worth it. One new friend we met came up from that side of the mountain and saw more wildlife taking a bus through than we did renting a jeep specifically to go see animals. We counted a smashing 3 elephants, 2 of which were chained up. A handful of peacocks and 2 handful of monkeys. We didn’t think it was worth our money either. But that was our experience. A black panther was spotted a few weeks before we arrive. They do hide pretty well.

The only elephant that wasn’t chained up

After all that’s said and done, we have to brave the heat oncea gain. Hampi, here we come!

Forts, Martial arts and dances

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Fort Kochin
Kelari Payattu

Arriving in the heat of the afternoon the bus drops us off and we pick up a rickshaw driver to our guest house. Fort Kochin is filled with guest houses. A ferry ride away is Ernakulam where most people are dropped for the train station and bus. Fort Kochin, though, is where you want to be. It buries deep nasty secrets of old European feuds and battles over Indian grounds, including Jewish, Portuguese and Dutch settlements. Most of the fort now are just remnants of a conflicted past, but kept alive with names like “Bastion street” or “Rampart street” – inviting discussion of 16th European fort and city planning.


However, not all is lost to the times of history. Our guesthouse is 200 years old. We stayed at “Dream Catcher Guesthouse”. Although we wrote a review for it on Tripadvisor, it was under the scrutiny of the owner as he sat us down and read what we were writing on the review. So it’s not exactly truthful. Beware of “Dream Catcher Guesthouse” as the owner is businessman first, host second. Not to say it was a bad stay, but there was the very heavy money greedy vibe. He did also hook us up with tickets to the Kelari and Kathakali show.

Moving on, the Franciscan Church is 400 years old, the Jewish Synagogue is over 500 years old, and the city itself breathes off its colourful past. And in its past that currently struggles to live in modern times gives way to Kelari Payattu. This martial art is very special to South India, in Kerala State specifically and is the only remaining martial art form alive from over 5,000 years ago. Older than Chinese Shaolin Monk Kung Fu. In fact, this martial art is to believed the beginning and origin of all martial arts. We had the opportunity to see a very rare performance of Kelari Payattu.

Arm lock techiques

On a small stage and a smaller audience, these martial artists showed hand to hand combat, weapons, and pressure point techniques. They fly through the air demoing how to attack, parry, and counter while weaving and feinting each other. At the end of the show, Neil, our friend from Korea whom we met up in Kochin, went up to the stage and was shown a wrist lock technique.

The benefits of Kelari is known more widely through a different medium. Through it’s healing powers. As martial art masters have to know how to break down a body, they must also learn to rebuild the body when its hurt. And as such, the traditional medicine called “Ayurvedic” comes from the Kelari history of re-building the body after battles and hard training sessions. Ayurvedic medicine incredibly popular, well-known, and most widely used in India. This includes deep tissue massages, different oil baths, and lots of stretching. In fact, it’s believed that Yoga is a branch of Ayurvedic healing that found a different audience.

The power of ayurvedic shouldn’t be shrugged off as some laughable homeopathic treatment. More than 5000 years of recorded medical documentation provides its support. We have seen first hand evidence of the healing powers at work. The martial artists on stage have had a deep stab wound to his thigh from training. (They train with real weapons) He is perfectly fine now. And even more impressive, one of the other martial artists has had Polio and suffered from a walking inhibition. We clearly couldn’t tell, especially when he’s jumping around dodging attacks from a spear while throwing counter attacks with his swords. But when he stands still one leg is clearly more deformed than the other. But through Ayurvedic treatments, he can do more than the average human.

Kathakali dance

It seriously is a pity to see these martial artists pour their hearts out on stage show casing their life secrets and no one really knows of them. Ironically enough, everyone knows about the Kathakali dance, aka Indian Miming with percussion. It is a very over rated dance, if we could call it a dance. This traditional dance has 2 drums, a cymbal and a singer who narrates the story while the characters mime out their speeches. During the show, a few people walked out and saw several others covering their ears because of the percussions as the dancers stomp around and yell on stage. I think those people should’ve seen the Kelari martial art performance. They would’ve enjoyed it a lot more. After the show, we went for dinner. A night isn’t complete without a mandatory surprise thunderstorm to cool the night and call out the mosquitos. We ran back to our guest house.

For more pictures of our India trip, click here

The Eastern Venice

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Alleypey – Mar 8


Not-so-deeply buried in the backwaters of Kerala we dig ourselves out of the Ashram refreshed from Darshan and a short spiritual awakening. We head into the town of Alleypey to find the inlet to the famous backwaters of Kerala. “Eastern Venice” as it’s often referred to as sits lower than sea level. Fresh and salt water mixes through the canals and through its estuaries. They provide romantic get-a-ways with house boats where your hire a personal chef, driver, and porter to satisfy all your luxurious needs. Yes, rich people needs. Which we apparently are now.


We’re so rich, we hired out a canoe to paddle us around the whole day. If you’re to splurge, this place isn’t a bad idea. For a whole 14(USD) we got ourselves a full day paddle tour of the Kerala backwaters. This includes breakfast, lunch, and transportation. Relatively speaking, it is a little more expensive than most things in India, but what the heck, how often do you get to see rural village life in a pretty rare terrain (Backwaters). Our boat paddler expertly needled the canoe through the tightest twists and turns the canals have to offer. In some cases, the canals are only as wide as the canoe itself. 

We also tried a local specialty; coconut beer. At first it tasted sweet and flavourful. Toward the end of the bottle, it became chore to drink as the drink slowly evolved to a drink that makes you go “Blargh” after every swig.

After lunch, the paddler recruited Ian to help paddle the canoe back to Alleypey. A gruelling 30 minutes of paddling in the hot Indian sun with not much relief from the waters. As boats passed by, the passengers cheered Ian on paddling; we’re not sure why – maybe because it’s a rare thing to see the tourists doing a “local’s” job or they mistaken Ian for a Tibetan refugee and is now working in the backwaters.Whatever the reason, it’s a good thing Ian knows how to paddle. Not because anything went wrong but because he just knows how to paddle. And is now paddling. In hindsight, we probably should’ve haggled for a discount seeing as the tourists worked.


With the canoe trip concluding on the dock, the day isn’t complete without a mandatory soak of relief from the South Indian thunder showers. It puked rain for a good half hour before anyone dared to crawl out from their hiding holes to brave the remaining pitter patter. We covered our heads and ran back to our hotel, Lemon Dew.

Kerala backwaters, check – done.