Gokarna

More than 24 hours and precisely 5 buses after leaving Mumbai, we are in Gokarna.  Sitting in buses is not too bad, but it isn't very comfortable, especially when the temperature is... whatever it is...  bloody blazing...  and the guy sleeping on the seats to your left seems to want to rest his head in your lap, and the guy sleeping on the floor to your left is determined to engage you in a nocturnal game of footsie.  This is not a complaint, this is just a statement of conditions.  But I am happy to be done with that leg of the trip.  It wouldn't have been so long, but we decided to skip Goa and go straight through, south, all the way to Gokarna.  Goa is supposedly beaches, tourists, and parties, whereas Gokarna has the beaches, but far fewer of the other two.  We spent the night last night in Gokarna town, but plan on walking a few kilometers south today to a beach, where we can set up our recently acquired hammocks and mosquito nets and hunker down for a few weeks.

Since we are planning on living on the beach for a while, in hammocks, replete in tattered clothing and straggly hair, we decided we are basically shipwrecked sailors.  So, in the interests of consistency, we purchased some rum.  Actually, I got an odd feeling yesterday, a sudden, powerful jones'ing for rum balls, so I decided we must make some with all haste.  What is the recipe for those magical little creations, Karen?  I mixed roughly equal parts flour, sugar, and rum.  I know they are supposed to be rolled in powdered sugar and refrigerated, but that is not possible for us.  The sugar available down here is only in very large crystals, so our rum balls did not form into balls very well, and ended up being really crunchy-- sort of more like rum dough balls with sugar crystal chips, but still quite good.  Hard to mess up those ingredients.  Anyway, now we have a bunch of leftover rum-- 750 ml for $2.50, it's a good thing there are no colleges around here-- and a beach just calling for us.  I can see blurry times wavering in the near future.

We finished off our time in Mumbai with a trip to Leopold's.  We honestly did it for Shantaram alone, because the place was way too expensive, but we had to do it-- had to order a beer, had to sit back and pretend we were the Mumbai mafia of the 80s, had to take a few posed pictures, just to show Olivia and Lynn and all the Whites.  You guys beat me to Shantaram, but I beat you to Leopold's!  Went to Chowpatty beach too...  The place we were staying in Mumbai is kitty-corner to the Taj Hotel, which was one of the bombing targets in the terrorist attacks of 2008.  They are still repairing the damage.  They recently caught another guy who was planning more bombings.  How is that for safety?  Safe enough.  Mumbai is crawling with people from all over the world, by the way.  And the streets are really wide!  At least in the Colaba, which was developed by the Brits, the streets are huge, double lane affairs with great, big sidewalks-- sidewalks as big, bigger, than many of the streets in Delhi, as well as just about every other city we have been to.  Walking on sidewalks: such a delicacy!  Loved it!  Of course, where it was possible, cars would drive up onto the sidewalk to park, and street sellers set up all over the place, so there was not as much room as those British folks planned, but it was actually possible, much of the time, to get from A to B without walking directly in the street.

My grandmother recently asked a few questions that need answered, and I am sure other people have things they would like to know about our experience, or about parts of India in general-- please feel free to comment with questions, and we will do our best to answer here.  I want to tell you people what India is like, but I am bad at being able to tell what aspects of India are left out of my jumbled writing, so let me know.  Now, to those questions...

Language.  Not really learning it.  Everyone speaks English, different parts of the country speak different local languages, learning materials are hard to come by, and I don't see myself needing/using Hindi in the future-- these are the reasons why I am not learning the language.  If I were to really pursue it, it would be as an intellectual challenge alone, and I have chosen to occupy myself intellectually through other avenues.  I had the luck to run across Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance in a book shop, which was on my list, so I am currently reading that.  


Josh and I are not separating, at least not for a while.  We are both interested in the same parts of this country
from this point forward, so it is likely that we will stay together.  


I am spending around $100 a week.  Roughly.  Some weeks are really good.  Some weeks are really, really bad.  Lose a wallet.  Buy an MP3 player.  Buy a guitar.  These things can really do damage to a budget.  On the whole, it is possible to live here for less than ten dollars a day, but it costs money to go places and do things, so we have been spending a bit more.


Grandma's final question:
How do you think it will change how you live
here compared to last year?

Good question, Gma.  For one, I will want to see you more often.  I think that perhaps this India trip's greatest impact upon me has been to reveal to me how powerfully I care about those people who I have forcibly removed myself from.  This means you, Grandma, and Grandpa, Mom and Dad, Drew and Tyler.  Others.  Don't go and write this off as homesickness-- this is personal realization.  Perhaps I have managed to grow up a bit.  I know that turning 20 gave me a lot to think about.  I know that I am still very young, still have my whole life ahead of me, and all that...  But I have also come to a different perspective in relationship to my childhood.  A childhood that is over.  A teenage life that is over.  I am now rather inescapably an adult, vaulting off of that cliff to whatever adventures await.  There is a significant portion of my life that is behind me now, and those big numbers-- you laugh, Grandma, I can hear you from here-- that big '20' staring up at me from the pages in my journal shook me up a bit, and perhaps-- don't take take this in a bad way, I am not being fatalistic here, I think-- but just perhaps, that '20' took me a decade closer to my grave.  It made me value my relationships more, I think, as I should.  So, to answer your question, I think one aspect of my life that will be different will be that I will more readily seek out and appreciate the time I spend with the people who are important to me.  I really do look forward to seeing you, grandma.  Did I mention that I love you? 

Other ways my life might be different, I cannot really predict.  I definitely have a new-found comfortability, and dare I say even aptitude (inherited from you, I am sure, grandma), for haggling.  I am not sure where that might be useful, but it may come in handy.  I look forward to cooking immensely-- I think I will be spending a lot more time cooking when I get home.  I used to enjoy cooking to some extent, but still considered it a bit of an imposition upon me to spend any great amount of time doing it.  I would say, now, that cooking can be very enjoyable, and that in some situations, the longer it takes, the better.  There is nothing like hanging out over food.

Other changes as well, I am sure.  For now, I am heading out to explore Gokarna a bit, and do things.  Josh is going to hop on now for a quick dealyo...

love chance!

And this is for Karen (from Josh).  You're a lifesaver!  Those extra batteries you gave me for my camera are great.  I was able to use my camera for 10 days in the desert without a single worry of it dying.  Thanks to you, I have an everlasting camera.  Thanks again.

Josh

Movie Stars and Explorers

We are still in Mumbai.  I am not sure how long we have been here... maybe it has been four nights now, maybe five, I have lost track.  I did not expect to be here at this point.  My first perceptions of Mumbai, having recently lost a wallet and struggling with a bacterial sickness, were not favorable.  I thought we might stay a few days, then move on.  But the scout from Bollywood said he could hook us up with a gig, so we stayed a little longer, and then we missed the gig, but got another that would require us to stay a bit longer still, and we managed to make that one-- five oclock last night until five oclock this morning-- which brings us to today, and the fact that I am currently running on about half an hour of sleep. 

During our days here in Mumbai we have:
-Taken a ferry to Elaphanta island, where, among other things, we...
   -Saw a roughly 20 foot tall stone bust of Shiva meditating, carved 1500ish years ago.
-Walked about, with aim and without (largely without)
-taken a double decker bus tour
-eaten a surprisingly large quantity of meat (chicken and mutton)
-failed to eat at Leopolds (of the Shantaram fame-- it is expensive, but we are splurging on it today)
-stayed in a dorm with lots of folks from all over the world and made some friends
-eaten three slices of white bread with jam and butter, one banana, one hard-boiled egg, and several mugs of chai every morning for breakfast
-mingled with the natives(?)
-and participated as extras in a Hindi film.  They paid us rs500 each.
-oh, and waded our way through a crazy fish market (apologies for any more weak adjectives from here on out...)

I am going to write a little more detail about the Hindi film because that seems like the exciting (sounding), new, unusual thing we have done recently.  I am really dragging here...  I have ten minutes left on this internet...  Let's see what this sedated mind can pull out for you folks.

K.  So, the green shirted man-- call him Jimmy-- was like, hey.  He came to the Salvation Army Red Shield House (the dorm where we are staying) and started throwing around brown little business cards... This is too much detail.  We will capitalize the next sentence to aid in the image of a mantage.  A DAY AND A HALF OF WALKING AROUN EATING THINGS, AND THEN 30 WHITE PEOPLE ON A BUS FOR AN HOUR AND A HALF ON THE WAY TO FILM CITY.  We lined up to get our costumes, drinking chai, as per usual...  I got a traditional sort of Maharaja tunic thing and tight pants, and josh got a business suit.  They wanted me to shave, I said no.  The guy tried to comb my hair a little, gave up, and told me I was ready to go.  STRANGELY DRESSED WHITE PEOPLE MOSY TOWARD BRIGHTLY LIT GRASSY AREA WHERE THERE IS OBVIOUSLY GOING TO BE A WEDDING BETWEEN A COUPLE OF THE RICHEST PEOPLE IN INDIA, BOTH IN MONEY AND WHITE FRIENDS (APPARENTLY IT ADDS A WORLDLY FLAIR, OR SOMETHING...).  GENERAL MILLING ABOUT.  Essentially, I sat around drinking chai for 9 hours because my hair bore too much resemblance to the wildest parts of the 60s and my beard bore too much resemblance to the wildest parts of a jungle.  Josh got to stand around and walk back and forth over and over again, take after take after take.  For the final shot, they deigned to allow me a spot, and I got to throw flower petals at the bride and groom with the rest of the crowd.  I did my best to throw them hard. 

Etc Etc.  End of story, Josh and I are famous, Josh more so, and everybody should watch the bollywood remake of Hollywood stepmom, or something, when it comes out, because the best seconds are Josh's, and the very best milliseconds, and micrometers on the screen no doubt, are mine. 

We might leave this city in a couple of days,
I need sleep,
I love you people,
CHance.

My wallet was stolen.

And I am not pleased.  I am bummed.  It had some money in it, and some cards, including my debit card.  Speaking of which, Mom, Dad, if you haven't checked your email yet, please do, and then please call Chase and try to get them to put a hold on my accounts..?  I hope this works out...  I don't know my account number, card number...  I am only moderately sure of the name on the card.  I think it is C Chance Campbell.  Good luck, folks-- things depend on you.

We were taking our jolly 24 hour bus ride, which was actually really uncomfortable, plus I was sick, and the "bed" was exactly 5 feet and 9 inches long, and rather narrow...  Here I am complaining.  Anyway, I woke up around dawn, and looked out the window for a bit, then looked at my pocket, which was unzipped, and no longer contained my little wallet.  So, I marshaled my scant energy and looked under all of the beds in the bus, and asked other fellows it they had seen it, which they had not.  It is gone for sure, now.  We made it to a salvation army dormitory place where we will be spending our nights, so that is good...  But my wallet is no longer with me.  It was black synthetic leather and duct tape, and it had a little key ring with a nifty little can-opener and a funny looking key, which is the type of key they use in India to lock things.  But now it is all gone.  Ah, no.

We are in Mumbai, though, which is a big deal.  Mumbai has some 16.4 million people living in it.  60% of these folks live in shantytowns and slums.  I guess I am not that bad off.

Alrighty then, goodbye.

Chance

Sasan Gir

The Lion!!!!

Girnar Hill, Junagadh

Actually, when I took this picture, we were already at the top of Girnar Hill (semi famous for the 10,000 stair climb to the summit).  We continued on from this position to that temple, which required climbing down quite far-- roughly 10-15 minutes, taking stairs two at a time-- and then climbing a whole new set of stairs.  If you look closely at the lower, right flank of that jut of rock, you can see the angular shape of a small walking area.  We climbed down there, then up to the temple, then down even further to a small temple area with free food, then back up again to the vantage point of this picture, where we could finally begin our two-hour decent (in the opposite direction from where the camera is pointing) down the mountain.

On our hotel, in Jodhpur

You can see, behind him, a tent pitched on the roof.  We stayed in one here.