Indian Railways

We have invested in the Indian Railways Timetable (Trains at a Glance - 30/- = 50c), a tome of 300 pages which not only gives you information on all the trains run by Indian Railways, but also what is the content, quantity and cost of each meal served on their trains, who is liable for discounts on their tickets, how much tickets cost, where to find wildlife in India and lots of other interesting information. Manel has read and inwardly digested all this book has to offer and so discovered that if you plan to travel further than 500km, you can break your journey en route for 48 hours. Hence our stop here, Rajahmundry, a medium-sized town halfway up the east coast. We arrived here on Monday having travelled overnight. It is not a town that receives many (if any) tourists and so most people stare at us unashamedly. Yesterday we visited the Iskcon temple, the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, a pastel extravaganza, and then wandered around the busy market and a really very exclusive jewellers just because it was there. Such exquisite things! There are a lot of people in this region, including many women, with shaved heads, which is surprising to see after the long, long hair and plaits of Kerala. In Tirupathi, a town near here, pilgrims sacrifice their hair at the Venkataswara Temple. Their hair later ends up in American and Japanese wigs.

We're all moving at a slower pace. This morning we've left the girls in their room watching cable TV, something they haven't done since before Madagascar. Poor Ella is recovering from a bit of a fright this morning ... a small cockroach was lurking in her straw and ended up in her mouth .... nasty!

Tonight we move on again. This time to Bhubaneswar, 'the city of temples', in Orissa where there are over 500 of the original 7000 temples still standing. The girls are thrilled.

Varem comprar l'Indian Railways Timetable (Trains at a Glance - 30/- = 50c), un volum d'unes 300 pagines que no tan sols t'informa dels horaris de tots els trens a l'India, si no que a mes detalla el contingut, les cantitats i els preus dels menjars que serveixen als trens indis, qui te dret a descomptes, el preu de cada tipus de bitllet per a cada distancia, on trobar animals salvatges i santuaris per animals al pais i molta mes informacio interessant. En Manel la va estudiar tota i va descobrir que en viatges de mes de 500 quilometres es pot fer una parada de dos dies i per aixo ara som a Rajah Mundry, una ciutat petita a mig cami de la costa est. Hi varem arribar el dilluns despres de viatjar tota la nit. Com que no reben gaires, o cap, visitants occidentals, la gent s'ens queda mirant descaradament. Ahir varem visitar el temple d'Iskon de la Societat Internacional per a la Consciencia de Krishna, un lloc peculiar, i despres varem passejar per un mercat molt concorregut i una joieria molt exclusiva, ja que ens varen convidar a entrar-hi. Quines joies! en aquesta regio hi ha moltagent, incloent dones, que porten el cap afeitat, cosa que ens va sorprendre despres de disfrutar dels cabells llarguissims i llargues trenes, que porten a Kerala. A Tirupathi, un poble proper, els peregrins ofereixen el seus cabells en sacrifici al temple de Venkataswara. Els cabells acaben a America i el Japo en forma de perruques...

Avui anem mes a poc a poc. Aquest mati hem deixat les noies a la seva habitacio mirant la tele, cosa que no havien fet des d'abans d'anar a Madagascar, i a mes tenien satel.lit! Pobra Ella, aquest mati s'ha endut un bon ensurt quan ha trobat una petita cuca(ratxa) que hi havia en la palleta de la seva beguda dins la boca... ecs!

Aquest vespre agafem el tren de nou, anirem a Bhubaneswar, la ciutat dels temples, a Orissa, on queden 500 dels 7000 temples que hi havia. "les noies estan encantades".

Moolamattom, Kerala

Yesterday we visited Munnar, a town in the centre of the tea producing area of Kerala. We left early in order to avoid the heat and drove for about two and a half hours up into the mountains where the air was fresher and cooler. On the way we experienced, once again, Indian driving at its scariest ... passing the aftermath of a nasty head-on crash between two buses.

You know you have arrived at the tea plantations because the landscape changes and the hills are suddenly covered in a neat patchwork of bright green bushes as far as the eye can see. We stopped at the smartest hotel in town, as the woman we are staying with knows the owner, and had a buffet breakfast of curries, puris and, for the first time in a while, toast and jam. We then continued our tour and visited a dam and Echo Point where there are stalls selling tea (surprise, surprise), essential oils, cheap plastic toys, wooden trays and home-made chocolate. You could also have a ride on an elephant. On the road we had seen a working elephant dragging trees up a hillside. Mercy, our hostess, told us that in December the area is packed with tourists and the vendors do a roaring trade, but yesterday there were just a few "palid people" like us about. Back in town we tried masala tea (tea with spices) and wandered around the market. Another interesting day.

Our stay here in Moolamattom is coming to an end. On Sunday we move on and from then on will be almost constantly on the road until we get back home. Yet again we've met some lovely children whose company we really have enjoyed and yet again we have been shown enormous generosity and kindness by everybody living and working at the home.

Ahir varem visitar Munar, un poble de la zona on es produeix te a Kerala. Varem sortir aviat per evitar la calor i varem conduir durant dues hores i mitja cap a les muntanyes, on l'aire era mes fresc. Durant el viatge varem tornar a experimentar la perillosa manera de conduir de l'India i fins varem veure dos autobusos que havien tingut un greu xoc frontal.

Quan el paissatge canvia i tots els camps semblen ordenadament tapissats d'arbustos d'un verd brillant, saps que has arribat a la plantacio.Varem aturarnos al millor hotel del poble, ja que la dona que ens hi acompanyava coneix l'amo, i varem disfrutar d'un esmorzar amb curris, puris i per primera vegada en molt de temps, torrades amb mermelada. Despres varem seguri fins a "Echo Point" on hi havia paradetes venent te, olis essencials, joguines barates de plastic, plates de fusta i xocolata feta a casa. Tambe es podia pujar als elefants. Pel cami haviem vist n'haviem vist un treballant, arrossegant troncs. La nostra hosta, la Mercy, ens va dir que pel Desembre aquesta zona es plena de turistes i els venedors fan l'Agost, pero ahir nomes hi havia algunes persones "palides" com nosaltres. De tornada al poble varem provar el te massla (amb especies) i varem visitar el mercat local. Un altre dia interessant.

La nostra estada a Moolamattom ja s'acaba. El diumenge tornarem a viatjar i a partir d'aleshores, gairebe cada dia ens mourem de lloc, fins a la tornada a casa. Un altre cop hem tornat a coneixer canalla encantadora i hem disfrutat de la seva companyia, i un cop mes ens han acollit amb gran generositat i tothom que treballa i o viu a la llar ens ha tractat molt be.

Mumbai to Cochin

After almost a week in Mumbai, we have now moved south to Cochin in Kerala. The journey here by train was overnight and took 27 hours. Despite the length of the journey there was always plenty of activity going on around us. At each stop vendors got on selling delicious hot battered snacks, tea, newspapers, maps and there was a constant flow of staff from the ‘pantry’ carriage also carrying through similar things to eat. The carriage was divided into sections with acres of curtaining and velcro each containing two tier bunks, we travelled 2^nd class, with another bunk across the aisle. There was a very elegant 71-year old lady dressed in a sari sharing our section who chatted to us. It turned out that she was a former plastic surgeon who had studied in Edinburgh and who was on her way to Cochin to go scuba diving and snorkeling off a protected island with the Natural History Society of Bombay. I must admit that was not what I expected her to be doing.

When we awoke the landscape and vegetation had changed. We were now traveling through palm plantations and crossing picturesque, early morning river estuaries. The temperature had also gone up.

The train arrives in Ernakulam and from here we got a ferry across to Cochin– a lovely way to arrive in any city. After the energy of Mumbai, Cochin is a surprisingly slow–paced city. Yesterday we wandered through Jew Town where there are hundreds of antique shops aimed at the many tourists who visit here and then on down Bazaar Road which was busy with local people and where there are dozens of warehouses filled with sacks of spices and pulses and small shops selling essential oils.

Today we took a 'backwaters' tour. This involved driving, at breakneck speed, to a small jetty about 30km south where we boarded a houseboat. We then sailed along waterways, across a lake and around a group of islands, stopping off on one where we shown how they collect 'natural juice' from the flower of the coconut palm in ceramic bowls and where we were also shown some of the many spices that grow in this region such as cardamom, arrowroot and all spice, which is a plant not a mixture of spices as I'd always thought. After a really delicious lunch, we then set off in narrow boats through the backwaters, getting stuck on various occasions as the water level was so low, and this time we stopped in a village to see how they make coir string from coconut fibre. We saw a number of kingfishers as we travelled through this beautiful place.

Despres de gairebe una setmana a Mumbai, ara hem viatjat cap al sud, a Cochin (Kerala). El viatge en tren va durar mes d'un dia, 27 hores. Malgrat que fos llarg, al nostre voltat sempre hi havia molta activitat amb que distreure's.A cada parada colles de venedors pujaven al tren oferint-nos delicioses pastes acabades de fregir, te, mapes i diaris, i a mes sempre teniem el personal del vago restaurant "fent passadis" i constantment oferint-nos coses similars per menjar. El vago estava dividit en seccions amb kilometres de cortines i velcro i a cada seccio hi havia 4 llits disposats en dos nivells. Nosaltres viatjavem en segona classe hi hi havia una tercera "llitera" de costat al passadis. En aquesta part de la nostra seccio, hi havia una elegant senyora de 71 anys que vestia un sari i que va xerrar amb nosaltres. Mai hauriem endevinat que era una cirujana plastica retirada que havia estudiat a Edinburg i ara anava a a Cochin a bussejar en una illa protejida amb un grup de la Societat d'Historia Natural de Bombai.

Varem despertar en un nou paisatge amb vegetacio diferent de quan havien anat a dormir. Estavem travessant plantacions de palmeres i estuaris pintorescs i la temperatura havia pujat molts graus.

El tren arriba a Ernakulam i d'alla varem anar fins a Cochin en un ferry, una manera molt agradable d'arribar a la ciutat. Despres de tota l'activitat de Mumbai, Cochin es una ciutat sorprenentment lenta. Ahir varem passejar pel barri jueu on hi ha centenars d'anticuaris especialment dirigits al tots els turistes que hi passen, i despres per Bazaar Road, on hi ha molta gent de la zona i dotzenes de magatzems plens de sacs d'especies i llegums i petites botigues venent olis essencials.

Avui hem anat a fer una passejada en barca per les"backwaters". Aixo ha implicat anar en un autobus, a una velocitat exagerada, fins a un petit "amarre" uns 30km al sud de la ciutat, on hem pujat una casa-barca. D'alli hem anat per canals, travessant un llac i voltant varies illes, desembarcant en una d'elles on ens han ensenyat com recullen el "suc natural" de la flor de les palmeres cocoteres en unes olles de ceramica penjades de l'arbre, i tambe ens han mostrat varies de les especies que creixen a la regio, com el cardamo, l'"arrowroot" i el "allspice", que es una planta i no una barrejad'especies comhavia pensat sempre. Despres d'un delicios dinar, hem cntinuat la passejada en una barca estreta pels canals mes petits, quedant-nos encallats a la sorra varies vegades, ja que la marea era baixa, i aquest cophem desembarcat en un llogaret on fan corda amb les fibres del coco. Mentre descobriem aquest precios llloc hem vist diversos martins pescadors.