Today India... sleeps. Or, supposedly celebrates its Constitution, but the city seems rather quiet for the moment. I'm seeing preparations and set-up for a celebration or two. There were men in their snazziest suits and women in their most beautiful saris outside the National Mint. Mostly though, I think people are relaxing.
Yesterday, Sunday, was also a rather slow day. Traffic was strangely nonexistent. The taxi drivers were mostly asleep in their cabs - their bare feet dangling out the open side doors. Hundreds and hundreds of young boys played cricket in streets throughout the city. I strolled over to the Churchgate train station, hoping to reserve a ticket to Ahmadabad. I was told, rather brusquely, by an agitated ticket window operator that I should "go zee-sst!" Which I later interpreted to mean "go to CST - Chattrapati Shinvajji Terminus." So, today I'm going to try once again to reserve a ticket out of this city.
Despite my better judgment, I bought another book yesterday. Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children. It's a very good read, so far, but it means more weight in my pack. I might have to lose something to compensate... maybe my hair product or my aftershave balm? Why did I bring either of those things to India? They seem so totally useless.
Oh, I had a nice chat with an Australian bloke this morning. In typical white-man-in-India fashion he had on a hammer and sickle t-shirt and shorts. Friendly chap, though. We talked about the various types of train tickets to be had. His outfit was less obnoxious than the American I saw yesterday in a Gandhi shirt, shorts, and flip flops. It must be intensely amusing for the locals.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Day Two
I really don't understand how this city functions. The thousands of taxi cabs are like bumper cars. The traffic lights are few, and where they are to be found they are largely ignored. Sanitation is... severely lacking. I cannot even find a store to buy soap. In fact, I have yet to see any soap in India.
Basically, I figured a city this populous would have to have some similarities to Western cities - i.e. Rome or Barcelona. Those were the two comparisons I had in my mind before I arrived. I imagined Rome with more pollution and poverty and a little less order. Such a comparison cannot be made. Mumbai is unique. It is a sprawling, crawling mass of humanity with seemingly little regard for organization.
I'm going out in search of food. And, maybe a new hotel.
Basically, I figured a city this populous would have to have some similarities to Western cities - i.e. Rome or Barcelona. Those were the two comparisons I had in my mind before I arrived. I imagined Rome with more pollution and poverty and a little less order. Such a comparison cannot be made. Mumbai is unique. It is a sprawling, crawling mass of humanity with seemingly little regard for organization.
I'm going out in search of food. And, maybe a new hotel.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Mumbai
This place is twice as dirty, three times as polluted and immeasurably more impoverished than I anticipated. And, my expectations were already pretty low. I am overwhelmed. It's partly the jet lag that has me feeling down, but this is certainly the most difficult experience of my life.
The flights were relatively uneventful. I had to go through special security in Frankfurt due to the Mp3 player Monica bought me. One would think the Krauts had never seen one. They actually ended up doing a chemical test on it before they allowed me to pass. I actually appreciated it because it gave me something to do during my seven hour layover.
My flight to Mumbai was delayed slightly, causing me to arrive at three o'clock in the morning, local time. (By the way, India is 10 1/2 hours ahead of Indiana. The half hour is referred to as Indian "stretch" time.) So, in the middle of the night I arrived in a city more populous than Australia. I had some difficultly getting a hotel, despite using the airport's reservation desk. Everyone is trying to rip me off. I'm white, therefore I'm basically wearing a sign that says I am rich and ignorant. Thankfully, even getting ripped off 25 rupees here and 50 rupees there means I have still wasted less than 2 dollars.
The 45 minute taxi ride to my hotel was... enlightening. Maybe revelatory is the word. I watched from the window with both a broken heart and a sense of morbid fascination. The slums are immense. Beyond immense. They give new meaning to squalor. More yet, beyond the millions living in the Dharavi slums (the largest slums in Asia) there were thousands sleeping homeless on the street. Literally, on the street, because all of the benches and building overhangs were already taken. I found the homeless population when I lived in Washington DC heartbreaking, but this is something altogether different. Imagine driving past women and babies - young children sleeping on the same street as rabid dogs. The sulphurous cloud of pollution hanging everywhere, coupled with the stench of human and animal waste. I am not exaggerating.
I felt guilty, but I couldn't help but hope that my hotel was in some clean, Western quarter of the city. A place with plenty of white people where I might feel safer. Such was not to be. My taxi stopped at the Sea Lord hotel (no sea view). I had intended to stay at the marginally nicer Sea Palace hotel, but there was some confusion at the airport. Still, I have a quasi cleanish room with a working (cold) shower and an inner lock for my door. I'm paying an exhorbitant lodging fee (by Indian standards) of about 1700 rupees a night - about 25 dollars a night.
Well, I hope everyone back home is well. You are all in my thoughts.
The flights were relatively uneventful. I had to go through special security in Frankfurt due to the Mp3 player Monica bought me. One would think the Krauts had never seen one. They actually ended up doing a chemical test on it before they allowed me to pass. I actually appreciated it because it gave me something to do during my seven hour layover.
My flight to Mumbai was delayed slightly, causing me to arrive at three o'clock in the morning, local time. (By the way, India is 10 1/2 hours ahead of Indiana. The half hour is referred to as Indian "stretch" time.) So, in the middle of the night I arrived in a city more populous than Australia. I had some difficultly getting a hotel, despite using the airport's reservation desk. Everyone is trying to rip me off. I'm white, therefore I'm basically wearing a sign that says I am rich and ignorant. Thankfully, even getting ripped off 25 rupees here and 50 rupees there means I have still wasted less than 2 dollars.
The 45 minute taxi ride to my hotel was... enlightening. Maybe revelatory is the word. I watched from the window with both a broken heart and a sense of morbid fascination. The slums are immense. Beyond immense. They give new meaning to squalor. More yet, beyond the millions living in the Dharavi slums (the largest slums in Asia) there were thousands sleeping homeless on the street. Literally, on the street, because all of the benches and building overhangs were already taken. I found the homeless population when I lived in Washington DC heartbreaking, but this is something altogether different. Imagine driving past women and babies - young children sleeping on the same street as rabid dogs. The sulphurous cloud of pollution hanging everywhere, coupled with the stench of human and animal waste. I am not exaggerating.
I felt guilty, but I couldn't help but hope that my hotel was in some clean, Western quarter of the city. A place with plenty of white people where I might feel safer. Such was not to be. My taxi stopped at the Sea Lord hotel (no sea view). I had intended to stay at the marginally nicer Sea Palace hotel, but there was some confusion at the airport. Still, I have a quasi cleanish room with a working (cold) shower and an inner lock for my door. I'm paying an exhorbitant lodging fee (by Indian standards) of about 1700 rupees a night - about 25 dollars a night.
Well, I hope everyone back home is well. You are all in my thoughts.
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Namasté
Greetings! Namasté is a way to say "hello" in hindi. This will be my blog for the duration of my Asian travels. I plan to spend the majority of my time in India, but I also hope to see Singapore and maybe even Vietnam before I return stateside. I have a one-way ticket to Mumbai, and I do not plan on returning until I burn through the majority of my cash. I estimate this will take somewhere between 2 and 7 months. Yippee.
I have received a number of questions about this trip (you all seem to think me nutty), and I would like to address the question I have received incessantly - why India? My reasons are many, but chiefly I chose India because travel there is cheap, English is widely spoken, and there are a billion people to meet (literally). Also, the social scientist in me is fascinated by a country in such a period of rapid transition - economically, culturally and ecologically. Does that satiate your curiosity? I doubt it, but it will have to do for the moment.
Moving on, I fly out on January 20th. It now occurs to me that I am leaving on Inauguration Day, and it saddens me that I will only enjoy a few brief hours of the new Obama presidency. It's a funny thing to wait so long for the end of the Bush era (error) and then not stick around to gloat and bask in Obama's glory, as I was intending. Still, I am certain I will follow U.S. political news from abroad.
Alrighty, that is enough for tonight. I will post once more before I leave.
I have received a number of questions about this trip (you all seem to think me nutty), and I would like to address the question I have received incessantly - why India? My reasons are many, but chiefly I chose India because travel there is cheap, English is widely spoken, and there are a billion people to meet (literally). Also, the social scientist in me is fascinated by a country in such a period of rapid transition - economically, culturally and ecologically. Does that satiate your curiosity? I doubt it, but it will have to do for the moment.
Moving on, I fly out on January 20th. It now occurs to me that I am leaving on Inauguration Day, and it saddens me that I will only enjoy a few brief hours of the new Obama presidency. It's a funny thing to wait so long for the end of the Bush era (error) and then not stick around to gloat and bask in Obama's glory, as I was intending. Still, I am certain I will follow U.S. political news from abroad.
Alrighty, that is enough for tonight. I will post once more before I leave.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
