Merry christmas

As I mentioned earlier, I spent my gift budget already and won't be getting you any presents or "something nice" from India. Partially the decision grew because of the sheer misery and poverty there and the fact that people are really struggling for even the basic needs like clean water and everyday food. It might sound a bit pious but buying some useless crap that looks nice for people who already have everything they need to live a good and happy life just didn't feel right after everything I saw back there.

So I bought a camel.

Technically I didn't buy it but our host at the camel safari, Mega, did. He was born in the desert of Rajastan some 37 years ago and has been doing camel safaris for seven years. He is illiterate but has managed to learn english by speaking with the tourists and gradually building up his vocabulary. All this time he has been working as just a driver for other people and making really lousy money from it as they really don't have a concept of minimum wage in India. His greatest dream was to found his own company to be finally able to support his family and truly work for himself but for that he needed a camel first. He is very experienced in the safari business and the whole experience was really great by all the food he made and all the stories he told. In addition to that he came through as a very humble and true person so the idea grew up on me during the night in the desert. We had been talking about the cost of living and the amount he makes and what it costs to buy a camel and it turned out that for him, a camel is about half a years gross salary. Of course he has to use that salary to support his family and himself so he had calculated that after three more years of saving he might be able to get one. For me the amount was something I might have spent on christmas gifts for my friends or during a bit more expensive night out. So I gave him quite likely the largest tip he has ever received on one condition: he has to buy a camel. So now he is the proud owner of Tikku (not sure how to spell it but you pronounce it like the finnish word for splinter). He is a three-year-old male and needs about a year of training and growing up before being fully able to do safaris and carry people and goods. After that he should have at least 6 or 7 years of mileage left so hopefully your christmas present this year has changed one persons life completely for the better.

Mega with a camel.

Be grateful of everything that you have got. If you are able to read this text, let alone actually own the computer you are reading this with, you are amongst the wealthiest people in the world.

Safe and sound

Okay, it has been two days in Finland now and according to my expectations, the temperature was exactly the same on the day of return as it was on the day of departure. Now it is freezing and there is even a patch of snow in the ground. So a somewhat white christmas.

The Mumbai airport (the 5th worst place to sleep in the world according to Sleeping in airports) was indeed a heavily air-conditioned airport with no comfortable seats to be found anywhere. So two hours of on/off sleep during my 14 hours waiting time combined with the joys of economy class flying resulted in a rather sleepless 48 hours. Eventually I did reach my home town and been mostly recovering ever since. It is apparently christmas if I look at the gifts and christmas foods but still I'm not feeling the christmas magic. But I guess the main thing is that I'm back home safely.

City life

Panaji is actually a nice, quiet little city. Not too many tourists and a lot of restaurants packed by locals. And if you thought restaurants in the beach were cheap, try here... A veg thali can be bought for 25Rs. Crazy.

I've also tried to have a soft landing to the western civilization and went to see a Hollywood movie
to a local theater. Not that there's anything wrong with Hindi as a language, but when people are speaking in English it makes the storyline amongst many other things that much clearer. And an interesting fact was that they played the Indian national anthem in the beginning of the movie and everyone was standing up. Not wanting to be disrespectful I jumped up also and for the duration of the song, the theater was interestingly calm. Funny, can't really see the same thing happening in Finland for example.

The duration of my stay in India can now be counted in hours rather than days. Sad in a sense but actually I'm quite glad to go home for a while.

Damn Vasco

Frustration. That's the word.

I arrived to Vasco as intended but it turned out that hiring a scooter was nearly impossible in that god-forsaken part of land they so adorably call a city. Only ones available were around 500Rs but after driving around with a similar one for less than 200Rs/day the offer didn't seem that tempting. So I walked back to the bus station and took a bus to Panjim. Or Panaji as they like to call it nowadays. Could have taken the direct one from Margao if I only would have known. But now I'm living in a fairly nice two twin-bed room in a nice area for 400Rs/night. The second most expensive accommodation so far the most expensive one being in Colva for 500Rs. But since euro is now around 66Rs instead of the 58 it was on the worst days of my trip I can splurge the rest of my rupees in peace.

Two days left. And today was the first time I felt like starting my trip back home. I guess it is true that all good things come to an end.

The last in line

Just another day in Southern Goa apart from the fact that I returned Holy Diver today and tomorrow I'll be taking the bus to Vasco Da Gama and hopefully rent a new scooter from there because spending one night in the city doesn't really appeal to me. Then I'll be off to strange highways and look for some accommodation, hopefully before the nightfall because normally I speed at night and that wouldn't be wise around here with angry machines and holy cows on the road. Well, I am maybe too careful on the subject and get cold feet quite easily but driving on the wrong side of the road isn't better in the dark - no matter what they're telling you. The speed bumps for example are virtually invisible when the sky and all the surroundings are black.

Key to the mystery.

Things worth missing

Now with under a week to go you start to wonder about all the things you will be missing when you get back. Here are some things listed in non-particular order:

Barbershops
1e for a haircut and 30c for a manual shave. Even though the quality of the services might vary, at least the shavings are consistent and the quality is around the mach-3 area. But when you can get 7 shaves for the price of a single razor blade you can't really complain. Especially since the feeling of someone else doing it for you is just awesome.

Food
It might be the thing here. Insanely good food at insanely cheap price. Just the cost of the main ingredient is often more expensive in Finland than the finished dish here. And also to be noted is the awesomeness of the ubiquitous vegetarian meals. I would have no problems whatsoever being a vegetarian here.

Weather
Have to admit it, 30+ degrees centigrade during the day and 20+ degrees by night really feels nice. Could definitely get used to this. Also it might be worth mentioning that I have succeeded on making this trip without any sunscreen or sunburns for that matter. Guess you can substitute use of sun-protection with sensible tanning.

Prices
One can truly feel like a millionaire here. Everything is really cheap by western standards. Sometimes while haggling on the market you present the salesperson with a seemingly ridiculously low price and after a while finding yourself buying it for the same sum. And they are making profit with that! Incredible. But I guess it is a clue that most commonly used note in the euro area (20e) is worth more than the most valuable note here (1000Rs). And don't even think about paying anything except 4 digit numbers with those, people just don't have that much change on them. And some are even reluctant to take those as they are only good for really big purchases.

Advertising

Apart from being glued to my TV on the night after the Mumbai terror attacks I haven't really watched that much TV while being here. But the times that I have opened the devils box of laziness it has been quite entertaining to see how they are advertising here. Of course the influence of Bollywood movies is one theme around which some ads are built on but seeing some branded items being sold is a bit confusing. For example they have an ad for Zeiss glasses where there is a guy in office, showing off his brand-watch and brand-shoes but when a girl looks in a really interested manner over the wall of his cubicle it just strikes to her that his glasses don't have any brand markings. "What's that on your eyes?" she says and loses her interested. In comes the Zeiss optics "With brand mark". (laser engraved logo in the specs). And some slogan in Hindi about style and brand.

I guess just the fact that something has a "brand" is enough to sell the product to gullible buyers here. Oh well, to each his own. It just strikes as a blatantly pathetic attempt to make your product seem better for no reason at all. But when you come down to it, that's what branding is all about. Advertisers in the west just try to be more subtle on the subject whereas the Indians just try to convince people that it actually is a brand.

Beware of the dogs

Those of you more familiar with my history with dogs understand that I'm not too fond of them. A well-raised and a familiar dog doesn't pose any threat but whenever I'm faced with a new dog it gives me some degree of uncertainty even if it would be a smiling white Westie straight out of a dog food commercial. Mainly I'm over my cynophobia originating from bad childhood experiences but I have to tell that being walked home at night by 20 or so stray dogs barking and growling at me does give me an unpleasant adrenaline rush. Yeah, shouldn't be walking on their territory after dawn but unfortunately there aren't any signs posted besides public roads marking the territories of different packs.

And the original inventor of the quote "dogs can smell fear" didn't make it any easier and those 500m seemed like the longest ones I've ever had to walk. Mainly it is the feeling of unpredictability about canines that creeps me out and having seen some dogs in the beach bleeding as a result of some territorial disputes didn't feel too reassuring either.

Made it safely back to the hotel room though but my hands were still shaking for a good half an hour after closing and latching the door behind me. And not five minutes after locking myself in I heard someone coming up the stairs and a dog right outside my door growling quite aggressively at him. Part of the staff probably and accustomed to dogs as he was he just said something and the dog calmed down but I would've probably been too afraid to pass the hound if it would have been there waiting for me.

Weirdest thing is that during the daytime they are really cuddly and cute and I wouldn't have any problems petting them.

(Cats on the other hand are at least honestly vicious and hostile most of the time so you know if it is okay to approach them or not. Personally I can't say the same thing about dogs).

But still I'd say that India is a safe place to be in. :)

Longing somewhere

I guess I have inherited the travel gene from my mother as I am already planning the next one even though the last one is still under way. Wilder dreams vary from tornado hunting in US to active volcanoes in remote parts of earth to more sensible culinary trips to Lebanon and middle east as well as the seemingly obvious travel route around southeast Asia touring around Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and Thailand combined with the trans-Siberian train ride and China.

But as nice it is on the move it is also nice to know that you will be getting home at some point. Not really homesick but indeed looking forward for a hot shower, sauna and clean bed linen. Probably 30% of the tan will be washed off after a proper bathing but during the past month or so I have rarely felt properly clean. But I guess it goes with the experience and staying in 5-star accommodations with luxuries like running hot water would just hinder the travel experience. It is a voluntary decision to leave most of the luxuries of modern life behind when you board the plane. And I can honestly say that it isn't the material things that you long for on the road and the only things you truly miss from your life back home are the people close to you. Hope you all are well.

Action stops at 10pm

Goa has definitely seen its glory days as a party central. The government has set a ban on amplified music after 10pm already in 2000 but it hasn't been enforced that strictly until recent years. Now the parties have faded and only a handful of places have music after late evening hours. In Palolem there is one bar that is open 24/7 and is playing music through the night but in a bearable background noise levels. For me this arrangement with the quite strict smoking ban added to that is somewhat pleasant though and it has sprung a fairly interesting for of parties: Headphone parties.

Idea is that you pay a relatively high 300Rs entrance fee plus give a 300Rs deposit to rent out wireless headphones that you can blast as loud as you like. Usually there are two or even three different DJs playing their own beats and you can choose by a flick of a switch whose melodies you want to dance to. Of course taking off your headphones and watching people dance in silence with their headphones on is somewhat amusing. But it seems that the local businesses are bound to find a way to bend the rules and the tourists seem happy to oblige.

The drug scene isn't as strong as it was almost two years ago because then it was almost impossible to sit at a beach restaurant without being offered hashish or something even more potent, usually by the serving staff. In Palolem it has been probably a week without anyone offering me anything but during the first days of my trip in the more touristic areas of Calangute it was about every 50m of walking that a cab driver, bystander or a shopkeeper was lowering his voice in an almost growling whisper about smoking something.

What is nice though is the fact that drug pushers take a polite no for an answer unlike the legit shopkeepers or jewelry sellers in the beaches. But usually ignoring them for half a minute drives them away, but when someone is pushing a card explaining his/her poverty in front of the book you are reading it is increasingly hard to just keep your cool. Acknowledging them in any way usually just means triple waiting time for them to buzz off.

Pictures

Achievement of the day:

getting a swimsuit!

After a few days of fever and sweating in my hotel room I managed to muster up enough energy to finally go and shop for some swimming gear as I - true to my habits - forgot my towel and bathing shorts on a balcony when I left to Mumbai at 4am. Anyway, the water is warm and the sun is much nicer at the beach than warming up the walls of your room.

I am thinking about dropping Kerala from my itinerary as the trains are quite booked and the main activities there would be either beach life (might as well stay here) or cruising around the backwaters on a houseboat (and be alone there? no thanks. Seems like an activity that has holding someone close written all over it). And frankly, already spending one full week riding trains is quite enough for a while even though the atmosphere generally is quite nice.

Might rent a scooter or a bike and explore the immediate surroundings instead. I think it will be at least half a year before seeing another glimpse of the sun like it is revealing itself every morning here.

Alive and well

Thanks for all who were inquiring about my state. Nice to know that there are people out there who care about my well-being. I´m well and was already out of harms way when things set off in Mumbai. Still, I stayed at Colaba area, two blocks away from the Taj Mahal Hotel and the gas station blown up beside Nariman house were on my way back to the hotel. And we sat at Leopold's just two weeks before.

Even though I would say that India is a really safe place to travel it is quite striking how present death and mortality can be. Of course being submerged to the Ganges as your final resting place is the most graceful ending to this life the locals can think of but still the image of a child's body washed ashore being devoured by a hound is quite well embedded to my memories. And even though cremation is a custom in my home country it is being done behind closed doors and away from the public eye. Therefore the presence of death and the constant reminder of our impermanency might be quite shocking and open your eyes in a different way. At least it gives perspective and when you are ill in your hotel room, struggling to go downstairs to get some more water it makes you feel quite alone at times. Even without any extra terrorist attacks.

I've had a little fever and some stirrups in my stomach but nothing major. Being woken up by the sound of a loud explosion and fireworks nearby did scare me a bit though during the night. Hard to believe me saying this, but is this really an appropriate time to be setting off fireworks? :)

Now back in Palolem, trying to get better and planning on the Kerala trip.

Taking a train in India

There are few things to take in to consideration:

Selecting the train
I strongly recommend that you get a hold of a copy of a booklet "Trains at a glance". It costs 35 rupees and is a great way to save a lot of money for not having to pay to a travel agent. You have to get the train number and station names from that book and although the information might be available elsewhere, this is by far the most convenient way. Available widely on the newsagents around train stations.

Booking a ticket
For trains leaving on the same day, contact the ticket office at the station. For future bookings there is usually a reservations office somewhere outside the train station.

First, get a piece of paper from the inquiry desk that is needed to make a booking. These are usually quite easy to find as they are required for all bookings. You need to fill the form beforehand with the date, train number, train name, arrival- and departure stations, class you are traveling in and also your home address. 2nd class sleeper is my recommendation for overnight trains as 3rd class might be a bit too rough and 1st class or 2nd class AC usually cost at least the double.

When you have filled out the form, there is most likely a swarm of locals surrounding the ticket booth and only thing separating it from a Slayer concert is the lack of loud music and a mosh-pit. So fight your way through to the ticket booth and pay up. At larger stations there are booths for "foreign tourists and freedom fighters" and there you might stumble upon a western-style queue.

If you are lucky you will get a confirmed seat but odds are that you will be placed on a waiting list for a seat.

Departure
If you have been put on a waiting list, the first thing to do is to check the printouts at the train platform. There you can see if you actually got a place on the train or not. Just look for your name or waiting list number and if there is a seat listed for you, you are all set to go.

If, on the other hand, you haven't got a place on the train you can't really do much about it than go to the ticket or reservations office and ask for a refund. Bribing the conductor was also suggested indirectly because somehow there usually are places that "can be arranged".

On the train
Thirsty? Hungry? No problem. The chai- and samosa-wallahs are constantly on the move and on every station there is a horde of people banging in to the cart selling chips, lassis, chai, chips, cookies, fresh fruit, packed lunches etc. There is also a possibility to order meals from the train staff (they will come asking for dinner/lunch/breafkast orders) but those vary greatly in quality. Price is quite cheap though, around 40Rs for a meal. Expect to pay 4-5Rs for a chai and 15Rs for a bottle of water. The difference isn't that great to the goods sold on the stands and some of the best chais I have had were on the train.

Quotas
There is a normal quota from which the locals and travel agents book their seats. There are also quotas for tourists and for emergencies. Tourist quota can be accessed from the tourist ticket office and tickets from the emergency quota can be bought on the same day, 4 hours before the departure. (My guess is that they print the lists then and if no one wants to pay the 200Rs or so extra you have to pay for the emergency quota, then they will give the remaining seats to the people on the waiting list).

In other words, we will continue the journey south tomorrow after paying for seats in the emergency quota. The rise of the cost on airfare tickets and the economic downturn has increased Indian Rails' ticket sales substantially and therefore the trains seem to be quite full (empiric observation backed by some statistics in local newspapers). The trains might be fully booked weeks beforehand so careful planning beforehand is recommended but most certainly not practiced.

Taj Mahal

There just aren't words to describe the beauty of it and the pictures don't do it any justice. Unbelievable. Especially taken into consideration that it is pretty much just an useless and exaggerated tomb stone.

But wonders of the world aside there isn't much to see in Agra. Train leaves towards south at around 5pm and will take some 30 hours to get back to Goa. Kerala is still a viable option but first I think I'll spend a few days at the beach after the two nights in a train. Not that there would be any problems sleeping there but the feeling of utter dirtiness is quite incredible even after just one night.

Oh, and in the light of the probably longest train trip of this tour my stomach has finally decided to protest the mostly vegetarian diet. I guess it is true that you can't survive India without having the Delhi Belly at some point.

Some pictures

Boat ride on Ganges

Burning ghat in Varanasi

My luxurious hotel room with ... a blanket.

Sand dunes in the desert

Having fun at the dunes

Sunset in desert.

Substituting Lariam

I am taking some anti-malarial medication, just in case. Had 2 pills of my previous Lariam prescription left back home, so starting the course wasn't a problem for me. Getting more of the medicine was, at least in Finland. I would have had to pay around 100e to a private doctor for writing me the prescription and around 40e/8 pills for the medicine. And since I needed more than that I would have had to buy 2 packs, so that would have been around 180e in total. Or over 10000Rs if converted to local currency.

In Margao I went to a pharmacy that was connected to a hospital with only my empty package of Lariam. They didn't have that but instead gave me a pack of Mefloc to examine. The ingredients are the same and you didn't need any prescription. I bought two packs of four and paid a bit over 300Rs for those. That's around 5e for the same ingredients they are selling in Finland for 40e.

I can't notice the difference, no more or less side-effects than with Lariam (only some weird dreams that I kind of enjoy in a twisted way) and I still haven't got malaria so no complaining there. But to anyone googling this I can tell that from my experience, getting a substitute for Lariam in India (or Goa to be exact) was a breeze. Mefloc is basically the same 250 mg of Mefloquine Hydrochloride than Lariam, only produced locally by Aristo Pharmaceuticals.

Still, keep in mind that anti-malarial medication like Lariam or Mefloc should be started a week before arriving to the danger-zone and thusly you shouldn't count on getting the drug in India alone. Malarone can be started a day before but on longer trips will become really expensive and there's also the hassle of having to take it every day compared to the weekly dosage of Mefloquine.

But spending 7,5e instead of 180e still sounds like a wise thing to do and what comes to forged medicine, at least it isn't trying to be a cheap copy of Lariam but the same drug under a different brand name. Roche doesn't have monopoly over India it seems.

Jaisalmer

We spent three nights in Jaisalmer, with one glorious night under the starry desert sky after a long day of camel-riding and eating great food prepared by our trip leader. Truly unforgettable and magnificent trip. Definitely on my to-do-again list. Just the sky during the night is reason enough for a new trip to India. Guess it's true that everyone falls in love in India, but for me it has just reinforced the feelings already there. I had just forgotten how much I love the stars when they are nowhere to be seen.

The hotel we were in was quite nice with the owner already fishing us out in the bus before arriving. The pamphlet seemed quite nice (although identical to another one we got later apart from the font and pictures) so we opted for the hassle-free option of free hotel delivery and after seeing the rooms (very nice) and heard the price (100Rs) we were sold. Of course the price benefit was negated in the price of the camel safari but since it was so easy and the luggage storage was provided and we had also a place for the night after the safari it was an easy decision to make. The hotel staff were very friendly from the start but turned out to be a bit too friendly in the end.

Everything was nice until the camel safari. Safari itself was incredibly good and I would recommend it to anyone in a heartbeat. The uncomfortable part started when the hotel staff (owner and some relative of his) decided to join us at the desert. They basically invited themselves and as if their intentions weren't have been clear before that, a little "manly discussion" while the girls were away made the whole situation quite repulsive even for me. At least I'm not comfortable talking about women like of pieces of meat in the lines of "you take the one in black shirt and I'll try the other one". Well, decided not to enjoy any more rhum they had brought with them and eventually after some not-so-nice word exchange we were finally able to go to sleep by ourselves. (Note to self: bring more clothes next time).

Coming back to the hotel wasn't as nice as our bags had been scrounged through and there were some food and local snus missing. Thankfully nothing important or valuable but still, the thought of the privacy breach was a lot worse. And coincidentally the hotel was booked full so the girls had to move to another hotel and I got a pretty rudimentary room without any furniture and a blanket for a bed. Well, no mosquitoes and a roof over my head so I was settled. Tired and a bit paranoid, had to sleep with my almost blindingly bright flashlight and military knife beside me but luckily didn't have to use them. But still a quite unpleasant night.

The following day we took a train to Jaipur and after doing the heroic deed of reserving our own train tickets we continued to Varanasi where we are now.

Here I have smelled burning human flesh, stepped in cow shit (well, not the first time on this trip), seen a dog feast on the flesh of a dead childs body and been on a boat ride in the Ganges. So yeah, memorable but not necessarily in the most pleasant way. Tomorrow to Agra and Taj Mahal.

PS. I spent all my christmas gift money, so not a lot of gifts or "something nice" coming to your already materially superfluous lives from me this season. Check back here in stead around christmas eve and see what your gift money got. :)

Still here

Now in Jaipur, the internet was crashed in whole Jaisalmer and I've also been on a camel safari so that's why no updates... Will write more shortly!

Note to self:

Never take a night bus in India.

Last night was one of the most sleep-deprived in my life and not at all in a good sense. The roads here just aren't designed to be compatible with sleeper buses and bouncy journey is almost guaranteed, at least in the back of the bus. Next night we will leave the beautiful (and package traveler filled) Udaipur behind and continue to Jaisalmer - on a night bus again. Not the preferred way to travel but unfortunately the only one available.

Maybe the second night will be easier because already I can tell that I'm really tired and fighting to stay awake until the bus leaves.

City of chances

After an exhausting wakeup to an alarm clock at 4am a few days ago I managed to wrangle myself up from bed and to the rickshaw that was waiting for me outside. Managed to forget my towel and bathing suit to the balcony because they weren't dry enough for packing. Well, I don't know what my French friend finally did with them but I'm sure they found a nice place in this world. (probably being eaten by a cow somewhere by now).

I was a bit suspicious when the little tuk-tuk curved in front of a tall building and the driver just assured me that this in fact is the train station. 100Rs exchanged hands for a 7 minute nighttime journey and I was ready for my 14 hours/400Rs train ride. Yes, the building turned out to be a train station and to to amazement of us all the train was actually quite on time. A few minutes doesn't count as being late anywhere outside Finland. Shared the cart with a German couple, two swedes, one single German backpacker and about 50 natives. Slept through most of the journey but wound up sharing a cab with the swedes to central Mumbai as the train ride ended at a remote stand from where - according to the taxi drivers who might have had their own agenda - there weren't any trains to the center. Bounced around different hostels, some full, others too expensive until we finally ended up in India Guest House which achieved quite a surprising importance later on.

After the train our minds were set on food, shower and sleeping so the dusty darkness of Mumbai wasn't really appealing to us. And after the initial shock and discomfort the town seemed a lot nicer having slept properly. Our room numbers were exactly the same as the dates of our departure in December, 14 and 21. A funny coincidence.

First thing on our to-do list was arranging train out from this busy and hectic city. Turned out to be quite an impossible mission on a few days notice so we took the bus instead. Leaving tomorrow for Udaipur, should be arriving early Saturday morning.

We bounced around the city and were picked up from the street by a local "talent hunter" (it seems that having a pale skin is considered to be a talent) who asked if we wanted to be in a Bollywood movie. Well, how can you refuse that if you can see the production set, be a part of the movie and get paid while doing it? Or actually we were mostly paid for the lost free time since our main activity was killing time. Was quite fun though and we made a few funny pictures as some western nurses/doctors. I wonder if it will be possible to get a DVD of that because I might just have half seconds of screen time with Kareena Kapoor.

But the true nature of the city being a place of chances and weird odds opened itself truly when I was reading Shantaram in my shabby hotel room. Turned out that Mr. Roberts had slept in the very same hotel upon his initial arrival to Mumbai. The walls, the toilets, the staff... It all matched. It was quite mind-boggling to realize that you had drifted by chance to a hotel room where an Australian fugitive turned professional writer fled after successfully arranging himself out of his homeland with a forged passport. And the mood was exactly the same.

Turned out that a local bar we visited was also later brought up in the book, so a certain surreality that has surrounded me ever since arriving here finally made its presence fully known to me. Such a wonderful and weird country. Ugly and beautiful, awful and wonderful smelling and everything in between. Makes you tired just trying to see everything going around you.

Well, should probably get sleeping because the Friday-Saturday night might not be quite as pleasant even though the overpriced bus is supposed to be fairly well equipped with beds and air conditioning.

And the air conditioners seem to only have one setting in here: full. Mostly resulting in a breezy 18-degree hell-hole where you really need an extra cover to keep yourself warm.

Map

I've added an interactive map to the right sidebar and from there you can see my travel route. I'll try to keep it updated so you can check from the google satellite pictures what it looks like and where I'm headed currently.

Weather has been consistently great in Goa, around 32 degrees centigrade during the day and around 22 at night.

No fair

Well, looks like the camel fair won't be a part of my travel this time. Looking forward to the camel safari though and frankly 50000 camels and 200000 people in a single festival area sounds more like smelly than attractive.

Train to Mumbai on Tuesday morning, leaves at 4.58 am. Sounds like an early wakeup but I'll be traveling in sleeper class. 400Rs for 13 hours train ride with your own bed. Not too shabby.

I've also gotten to know the local bookstore keeper quite well and after fixing his external CD writer with my trusty old Gerber it was true friendship instantly. :) He was quite shocked that similar service in Finland would probably have cost around 50e or 3000Rs. considering that the drive had cost 1000Rs. But had a nice time hanging around his house and his wife made great Chai.

Still considering making all the tea for the rest of my life to just milk and spicing it well...

On/Off-season

The hottest tourist season begins in November, at least around Goa. You can notice the starting by watching the action around beach shacks. Everywhere they are rebuilding and refurbishing shacks and new restaurants are opening almost daily with huge discounts and offers when the clubs are fighting for the just-arrived tourists. For me it is a good sign to get out of the beaches and head north. Yeah, Kerala will be at the end of the trip - depending on the schedules of course. I'm trying to get a train to Jaisalmer via Mumbai to do four-five day camel safari out in the desert. After that maybe to Pushkar to see the camel fair before heading to Agra and Varanasi.

The train tickets are a bit scarce but since the travel agencies can't book from the tourist quota, I guess I'll have to try my luck in Mumbai and see if they have some tickets available there. Otherwise it would have to wait a week and I'm really not eager to stay in the sun for that long. 10 days of settling in is quite enough.

I'm currently sharing my room with the french guy I met on the plane from Helsinki to Mumbai. 150Rs or 2,5e a night certainly doesn't put that much strain on my budget and you could live here with under 5 euros/day easily in a shared room. That is if you eat in restaurant every night, true penny-pinchers would probably manage with even less but that sounds a bit too spartan for my taste. Especially since you can get a good meal for 2 euros on a nice restaurant at the beach or good food in not-so-pleasing environment for around 1e.

And a cup of delicious chai costs 5Rs in a nice booth close to the entrance of the beach. A new addiction definitely.

Palolem beach is quite popular amongst western tourists but the atmosphere is something totally different than in Calangute for example. A really nice place, but Colva for example was a lot quieter beach with very little western tourists and lots of Indian people celebrating diwali. But the beaches of Goa seem to offer something for everyone. If it's raves and parties you are after, head north to Anjuna or Arambol, tourist hell would be in Calangute-Baga, Backpacker ghetto in Palolem and some more quiet beaches somewhere in the between. At least during the start of the season.

More than a thousand words...

Lone traveller

Well, I guess you really have to do some work to be actually travelling alone. There are lots of people going solo on a trip and usually you run into them in guesthouses and restaurants. So far I've gotten to know a new person every night being here and solitude shouldn't be something a traveller should fear because there is always company around you if you are in an area of where there has been a Lonely Planet published.

Arrived in Palolem and the beach is astonishingly beautiful but the downside is that other people have heard about it too. Lots of western tourists whereas in Colva there was just a handful of westerners and mostly natives out on a holiday, celebrating Diwali. Still a charming place and the atmosphere isn't as touristic even though the first thing to do was to get rid of seven "hello my friend, looking for room?" -possessors before I had even put my backpack on after climbing out of the bus. Bad first impression but it all settled down after getting rid of my stuff by dumping them in a nearby hostel room. Restaurants seem very tempting as so far the ones I've eaten in haven't lived up to the (high) expectations I've had. But for a main course under 2e I really shouldn't be complaining. Just haven't had any mind-boggling meals yet.

Staying now in a double room (it really is hard to find single ones) but the price is quite reasonable - 300 rupees or a bit under 5 euros per night haggled down from 500. So a months rent would be around 150e... :)

And seriously the best way to haggle was apparently the fact that I really was going to go and see other hostels as well. Still started out in a very strict and Finnish style stating the price I was willing to pay and never adjusting it. Because that's how we roll in the north. After walking out for the third time he agreed to the price. Hot water and all.

Oh well, time to go and check out the nutritional possibilities. Temperature steadily around 30 degrees centigrade, so all is well.

Traveller bubble

Traveller bubble is a phenomenon where you're just struck in an nice hotel near the beach, eating some familiar foods, washing it away with a Kingfisher and topping it off with some banana pancake while all your contacts with the locals are limited to cabdriver, waiter and the guesthouse owner. And in your own opinion you are experiencing new cultures and exploring the world when all that differentiates you from the normal package holidayists is the fact that you booked your own flight and live in a cheap-ass guesthouse pretending to be something special and different. A traveller.

The situation above kind of describes me quite well for the moment but I guess in Goa it is a bit hard to do anything else. At least it doesn't come as easily since the whole state seems to be geared up for the western tourists. At first I didn't mind the feeling but somehow I am able to actually feel guilt about settling down for a few days, getting my protective layer of suntan on and adjusting my internal clock from the jetlag. After all, this trip is supposed to be everything but performing things, making plans and using your time effectively. That is easy to achieve in normal day-to-day life, forgetting what day of the week it is isn't.

Of course the fear of just "lying around here for a while" becoming the main theme for the trip is a bit scary but so what... My trip, my money, my time. Aren't I actually supposed to do whatever feels good instead of planning my weekly schedule in advance and not feel pressure to do and experience more so that I would have more things to tell at home. Amazing how the performance-oriented society really bothers one even though the fundamental part of going was to get away from it all. I'll be damned if I won't have other opportunities to do similar trips during my life so why should I stress over seeing loads of things on my first backpacking trip?

Many independent travel guides recommend spending at least a week just shaking the rhythm of everyday rat race from your shoulders. After three days with 50 or so coming I guess I really shouldn't be worried about my performance as a traveller. But still I'm feeling guilty for being idle. Twisted are the ways of my brain.

Colva

Definitely more secluded and not very crowded. Nice breaches (or a 10km stretch of white sand and palm trees to be exact) and space to breathe. Going to stay here for a few nights. Staying again in a 500Rs double room, this time right next to the beach but no running hot water. Not that I would be needing any, but still. Quite a good deal even though the cheapest accomodations are around 200Rs/night. But since one euro is currently 62-64 rupees, paying 500Rs or around 8 euros a night isn't that bad. Of course sharing that room would make the accomodation dirt-cheap but I guess that's just something you have to bear when travelling alone.

My Lonely Planet is only for the Goa region so the step of crossing the county lines is a bit harder but I think I'll be able to make it. Not that there wouldn't be tons of stuff to see and countless waves to surf but somehow a week on the beach sounds quite enough to get the trip started. Next up in Goa would probably be Palolem or some other beach more south.

The buses from Calangute to Colva cost me a little under 1e. 15Rs to Panjim, 22Rs to Magao, 8Rs to the Magao City, 10Rs to Colva beach. Took me a few hours but the atmosphere was nice and the buses well ventilated. But public transport = a bargain.

Arrival

I arrived safely to my destination and because of some overbooking scheme I was upgraded to business class on my flight from Hesinki to Mumbai. Very nice and those lie-flat seats are actually a really good reason to invest the extra money if you need to sleep.

I met also a fellow traveller from France who was going to spend 4 months in India. Well, I would still like to think that seven weeks is plenty enough. Anyway, arrival at Mumbai was at 4:30 am and the connecting flight wasn't until 2:50 pm. So between trying to sleep in one of the worst airports to sleep at (check sleepinginairports.com if you don't take my word for it) and waiting for the check-in to start i ran across a nice finnish couple who I ended up sharing a taxi with. Destination: Calangute.

Yes, the most touristic and "awful" place to go and get your canary islands vibe on... But still, sharing the cab fare three ways was tempting and the company was good so I took a hostel near their hotel (paid 500 rs per night for a double room, he was asking for 600, Marshall guest house, quite clean and nice, though the sheets weren't exactly clean and sterile looking). Well, after having some Kingfishers at the beach we headed back to our respective rooms and slept the night through. I'm continuing today to Colva, hoping to shake the worst effects of tourism from my feet and find some peace.

I took until second day to be offered some hashish. Frankly I'm surprised because last time the waiters were selling it in the beach shacks as well. Just like asking if you'd like to have another beer.

But I'm here, alive and well, still not sick. :)

Last minute panicing

Just remember: if you have passport, visa and money, you will be all right. Everything else is arrangeable.

Hours till departure: 7.

Packing

I don't know if the last days before leaving are supposed to be this way but it seems that every five minutes you think of something new that absolutely has to be done before you leave. Of course packing is one of the most obvious but there are just so many things... Forms to be filled, arrangements to be made and people to see (yeah, there usually are some people going to miss you at least a bit so it's nice to see them before you go). Obviously you shouldn't arrange your farewell party on the night before moving all of your stuff, but common sense is a scarce resource when it comes to planning ahead. At least for me.

Maybe that is why I still have so much to do before my plane leaves at 5pm tomorr... oh wait, it's already past midnight.

Hours till departure: 17.

Reason for leaving

People have asked me "why are you leaving?" Of course exploring, having time for myself, seeing the world etc. are all very good reasons but if I had to point out one single reason, it would be this:



Days till departure: 2

Alone

There is always some dispute over should you go alone or in a group. Of course the safety of having people that you know around you is a big plus in addition to usually saving a bunch of money on lodging. Being able to share all the experiences in real time with someone is also quite nice but you have to realize that you will be spending x amount of weeks/months together and most likely it will not be all fun and games. A good way to measure - and in worst case end - a friendship or a relationship.

For me it was quite clear: since there is no one that would be able to go with me I'll have to do it alone. And who knows, maybe a few weeks on my own, isolated from the normal life might actually do me some good.

Well, taken in to consideration that I will mostly be staying in hostels or guesthouses I won't be that alone in there. Of course solitude can be found should it come to that but for the most part it will probably be quite crowded at least in the Goa region. At least late November to December when the season really hits. More thought on the subject to come if I know myself.

Days till departure: 5

Jabs and pills

First thing of concern: are my vaccinations up-to-date? I've been to India once before for two weeks about one and a half years ago. For that trip I had taken two Twinrix shots, but of course missed the third booster shot 6 months after the first one. Thankfully it is possible to just get the booster shot after longer period of time and get the same protection so I should be set with it now. At least according to my doctor. No word from GlaxoSmithKline when I inquired about it.

I also had to renew my polio shot and get medication for malaria as I intend to do a bit more extreme stuff than just stay in luxury hotels under the mosquito net and hang around at the beach. I'm going with Lariam on the latter as it is quite inexpensive compared to Malarone and I didn't get any notable side-effects the last time apart from a little more dreaming activity (an effect that I actually kind of like since normally I don't remember 99% of my dreams).

Medical things are now taken care of and I've already started taking Lariam as you must begin the course one week prior getting to the malaria zone. If you are looking for last-minute protection, Malarone is started one day before so it's not totally lost yet.

Doxycycline would also have been an option, but due to the risk of getting photothermaditis (burned skin that is) quite easily under that medication was kind of a turn-off. And there has been reports of some forms of malaria being quite resistant against that drug and therefore at least the finnish national public health institute has upgraded their recommendation to Lariam or Malarone when in northern Goa. Better to be safe than sorry.

The start

Within one week I should be happily in Goa, India. For 7 weeks.

I booked the tickets just two week ago so you might describe the trip to be a bit extempore, but I have been dreaming of going away from the rainy and cold fall of Finland for quite a long now. And since I had the chance to go and no other obligations right now I decided to fulfill this short-lived dream of mine.

My flight will be to and from Goa, but I should have enough time to get bored staying still and travel around India during my stay there. At least that is the plan and such must-sees as Taj Mahal and Varanasi are of course on the list, but Kerala sounds quite tempting as well. I'm not on too tight schedule or don't have too much planned forward, just a hostel for the few first nights in Anjuna, from where it might be nice to hike southwards all the way to Palolem during the first week(s). From there maybe a train to Kerala... We'll see.

I will be updating this blog whenever i get the chance on the road. Not stressing about it too much though since the purpose of the trip is getting to know a little bit more about the culture, indulge in the awesome local cooking and basically just be away from wet snow blowing horizontally in the darkness of Helsinki.