INDIA 3

24th FEB. 2007 PADMANABHAPURAM to CAPE COMORIN

Today has to be shortest drive ever- 40km’s! We arrived at the Cape and drove to sunset point where we decided to stay. We had a look about town and the huge statue of Thiruvalluvar (a Tamil poet) then returned to our chosen spot before the “sunset rush”. A large number of people turn up to watch the sun set at India’s most southerly point, where the Bay of Bengal meets the Indian Ocean and the Arabian sea, but everyone was really polite and left after saying hello. Again we were treated to a quiet and undisturbed sleep.

25th FEB. 2007 CAPE COMORIN to VEMBAR

Today was rather strange. We tried to follow the coast road as much as possible, sometimes this was hard, and ended up at Nadarwari. This fishing village has a very unexpected surprise for any visitors– a boat/plane church, very, very odd, but we had great fun with the local children and one little boy was delighted to discover, after he saw us posing for a “titanic” photo, that my name was Rose. I almost lied when he asked if Dave was called Jack. We carried on stopping at various other fishing villages. Almost every village had been affected by the tsunami and, as with every other disaster area we have passed through, we were shocked to see how little progress has been made. We saw brand new churches but no houses, foundations that were laid very quickly after the disaster but no further work done, and houses that were built for the homeless that have never been used due to “procedure problems.” We reached Tuticorin and turned to follow the coast– it was a bad road but, just before Vembar, we were rewarded with a gorgeous bush camp spot.

KOCHI CHINESE FISHING NETS KOVALAM BEACH PADMANABHAPURAM WATER TANK

SOME

GREAT

BUSH

CAMP

SPOTS

26th FEB. 2007 VEMBAR to PAMBAN ISLAND

The road improved and we stopped off to get some shopping at Ramanathapuram before continuing to the lovely Gandi bridge. Suddenly the scenery was completely different—vivid blue sea, white beaches and islands. It was beautiful. There are tolls on this road, just be careful with what you pay. We got stung for 60Rs, which is the price a bus should pay, we handed over our money before checking the price. We phoned our friends to warn them so they snuck through behind a truck for free before catching up with us in Rameswaram, which is a rather grotty town, where we drove toward Sri Lanka in a quest to see just how far we could get. We got to the end of the road, where we had to pay 10Rs to proceed the last 10km’s in a taxi truck. Of course, they opened the barrier and we shot off in Nessie before they could stop us. We couldn’t have stopped even if we wanted too as the sand was seriously thick at this point, and stopping would have meant digging out. We drove as far as we could but after 8km’s we were faced with having to either drive through the sea or back into thick sand that would have meant constantly digging out and using the sand ladders. We knew we’d made the right decision when we saw the local “truck” driving through the sea to get to us. It was my first time driving on a beach and through thick sand- it was great fun. Dave took over and drove back to the barrier where we then headed back toward Kothandaraswamy temple and a green field we had seen earlier, tucked amongst pine trees and right on the beach. Some local fishermen came along to have a look and say hello so Rose got a cold apple out of the fridge and sliced it into pieces, giving each fisherman a bit. They all stood and looked. None seemed to know what an apple was. After some sniffing and debating the eldest man announced that he thought it was an apple and suddenly everyone was slurping and munching enthusiastically. Apples in India are an exotic fruit and very expensive -one apple is the equivalent to a days wage for a fisherman -they could never afford to buy one. Everyone set off with huge smiles. It was when darkness fell that we heard this strange chanting sound coming from the beach, curious, we set off to see what was going on and spent the next 2 hours watching the fishermen pulling huge drag nets in, chanting and singing to maintain the rhythm of their tug of war. With a full moon and no artificial light for miles, it was a magical experience that we didn’t want to spoil by taking photo’s. The only negative to this place were the flies– we actually thought we were back in Australia at one point! Make sure you keep all your doors shut and sit it out ‘til dusk when they miraculously disappear.

27th FEB. 2007 PAMBAN ISLAND to MADURAI

Another easy drive today on good roads to Madurai and we were allowed to set up in the grounds of the Taj hotel. We spent some time wandering around the huge Hindu temples. The guys had to wear dhoti’s to get in and we were very lucky to witness deities being carried out. Each one had to weigh over one ton and any man that was within shouting distance was ordered to help.

We found an excellent food shop: Shoppers shop on Town Hall road.

1st MAR. 2007 MADURAI to KODAIKANAL

We said goodbye to our friends and set off toward the hill station. We’ve really enjoyed travelling with another vehicle– you can bounce the crowds from one to the other giving each couple a little personal space amidst all the attention. The roads were quiet, the scenery lovely and on the way we came round a corner to find two men with 8 foot metal poles pierced through their cheeks! It’s a Hindu practice of showing thanks to the gods. Amazing. We arrived at the lovely town of Kodaikanal, the only American hill station, and had a drive around looking at the sights: Pillar Rocks, suicide point etc. We found a place to spend the night on the lake front. There is a security guard nearby for an exclusive international school ensuring we had a fantastic quiet night.

2nd MAR. 2007 KODAIKANAL to MUDUMALAI

For the first time in weeks we had to get into our sleeping bags last night– it was really cold! The tent was also soaking wet from condensation in the morning, so we sat watching the kingfishers catching breakfast whilst waiting for the tent to dry. By 9am we were on the road and after a very twisty road we were back into crazy traffic. From Coimbatore the traffic disappeared and we drove through tea plantations on our way to Ooty- a famous tea town that has some lovely old Victorian architecture. We pushed on to the River view resort We were forced to buy bottled water as we are starting to feel rather unwell with all the salty water we’ve been drinking. Since entering Tamil Nadu we have been unable to source fresh water to fill up with– all water is salty in varying degrees. This has to be the quietest place we have found in India. It was a fantastic nights sleep.

3rd MAR. 2007 MUDMALAI to MYSORE

We had a quick walk along the bamboo river bed beside our campsite before leaving and had only driven 3 km’s when we saw a sign marked “bearmountain” on our left– we decided to have a look and found countless lodges and hotels there as well as several good bushcamp sites. It was just as we were admiring the bush camp spots that a wild elephant appeared in the road in front of us! Mmm, maybe that’s why bush camping in this area wouldn’t be such a clever move. We stopped so as not to upset him any further and, once he escaped into the undergrowth, we carried on to Mudmalai National Park which was only a further 5 km’s drive. Unlike other Indian National Parks, this one actually is FREE and allows you to drive through in your own vehicle. GREAT. We saw lots of deer, monkeys and met a couple of cheeky domesticated elephants with their young ones walking along the road. One of the adult females snuck up on us as we were photographing the babies and promptly stuck her trunk through our window searching for food. We had to drive off with her trunk curled around the gear stick to get away. Rose was covered in elephant saliva and dust. We laughed about it at the time, but these elephants did not have a mahout with them and the situation could easily have turned nasty. Not the cleverest thing we’ve done!

Mudmalai Park takes you out of Tamil Nadu state and you drive straight into Bandipur National Park in Karnataka state, which is also free! We arrived in Mysore and,after finding the KTDC to be totally unsuitable to stay at, we had a look about the lovely palace before driving out to Somnathpur temple, (a lovely temple built in 1268 and beautifully maintained). Driving back toward Mysore we found the KSTDC Hotel Mayura River View - A very quiet spot just off a busy road and right by a crocodile river.

4th MAR. 2007 MYSORE to BELUR

We stopped at Namdrolling Monastery, home to the lovely Golden Temple and Tibetan settlements near Madikeri, before driving on through the wonderfully fragrant flowering coffee plantations. We booked into the KSTDC Hotel Mayura Velapuri at Belur before going to look around the fantastic temple in town, the only Hoysala temple that still holds daily ceremonies. The shrine was lovely.

5th MAR. 2007 BELUR to HAMPI

We drove the short distance to Halebid and visited the beautiful and highly decorated temple, which was well worth a visit, before hitting the Bangalore to Mumbai highway. Of course– it was hell, full of trucks and buses screaming toward us on our fast lane of the dual carriageway and really busy. We got off as quickly as possible and took the back roads toward Hampi, with lots of wrong directions, dodgy roads and crop thrashing, we finally made it and booked into the KSTDC Mayura Bhuvaneshwari. We’ve noticed that our fuel gauge has been dropping really quickly and suspect that our last two top ups in Madurai and Mysore have been short. Sods! Another lesson learnt. We spent the afternoon relaxing and did our sightseeing the following day. The ruins of the ancient capital city are scattered amidst a boulder strewn landscape that is beautiful. We had a great day exploring.

7th MAR. 2007 HAMPI to AGONDA BEACH

We took the road to Hubli then onto Ankola before turning north for Agonda. We only mention this because we have heard reports of other overlanders having an epic and being unable to drive over 15km’s an hour! Don’t know which route they took, but ours was good. Hubli was full of police when we passed through because everyone was out celebrating Holi, the entire towns population seemed to be multi coloured! It took 6 hours of assertive driving to reach the beach and we were delighted to find some of our pals still there. We spent the next 4 nights on the beach and our battery kept it’s charge no problem. Guess the run from Hampi topped it up enough.

11th MAR. 2007 family holiday

Dave’s family have flown over for a holiday to visit us– so we are closing the diary until we set off for Chennai.

CAPE COMORIN NADARWARI “CHURCH” Sri Lanka this way PAMBAN ISLAND

Dave being shown how

to wear a dhoti

Where did I put that potty?

Madurai temples

How’s that for body piercing?!

SUPERB

OVER-NIGHT

STOP

Our first wild elephant encounter Mother and toddlers day out Aren’t they sweet? Mum tried to rob us whilst

the “kids” distracted us!

NEXT COUNTRY

INDIA 3

20th MAR. 2007 CANDOLIM to AGONDA

We had great plans of leaving at the same time as Dave’s family but waved goodbye to them and promptly went back to bed! The decision was then made that we would have a more leisurely day and only drive as far as Jog falls– we got to Agonda and stopped.

I ask you, could you drive past Agonda beach and NOT stop for the night? We had the place to ourselves, not counting our cupboard raiding cow, toilet cleaning pig and friendly beach dog- it was bliss.

21st MAR. 2007 AGONDA to TIPTUR

We dragged ourselves away from the beach and drove the surprisingly good and quiet road to Tiptur where we found a PWD who not only let us set up in their grounds but let us use the bathroom for free. We gave them 50Rs as a thank you. It was a heartbreakingly noisy night after the peace of Agonda.

22nd MAR. 2007 TIPTUR to MAMALLAPURAM

We left at 7am and it took an age to get through the awful Bangalore traffic. Things became so bad with the suicide buses that we actually stopped to buy raw eggs to throw at them. Sods law, armed with eggs, we never came across another bad bus driver but we will let them “ripen” in the sun so we are armed and ready for the road to Chennai!! We eventually arrived in Mamallapuram and met up with our friends at the Mahabs Hotel.

25th MAR. 2007 CHENNAI

We drove to the city and parked at the Youth hostel. The following day we went to visit Mr Kumar and were amazed when he said we could bring the vehicles tomorrow to load them into the container! We booked into the Himalaya hotel, booked our flights with Malaysia airlines- £91 per person, and flew at 10pm the following night.

TOP TIP: Chennai airport is dire, few shops, less cafes, no internet and access is denied until 3 hours before your flight. Don’t bother to turn up early!!

BUDGET COMMENTS: We spent a fortune in India, visited every tourist site, stayed in hotels, drove unbelievable mileage, called home almost every day and enjoyed some expensive meals. Most overlanders drive straight to Agonda, park up for 2 months and only spent £150 a month inc. 2 beers and an evening meal out every night. We wanted to see a lot and must confess that it was worth every penny in entrance fees and fuel. The only things that we have not included in our budget are the phone calls home, 4 very expensive meals, the hotel costs in Agra, the boat trip in Kerala and, of course, our family holiday.

Everyone talks about India’s beggars, filth and poverty so you are well prepared and therefore not so shocked when you first see them. Here are some other things that people don’t warn you about and that shocked/surprised the hell out of us:

The caste system: it is almost a form of racism and it made us extremely uncomfortable. Ironically it’s the lower castes that can be the nicest people as some of the higher castes are educated enough to be arrogant but not mannerly, making them poor company.

The open sewers: huge stinking stagnant bubbling bodies of sewage that are found everywhere. From water tanks in town centres (Bikaner was the worst), to large canals of the stuff ( just outside Amritsar )- the smell is indescribable.

Naked bums: it’s something nobody talks about, yet every day you will be faced with seeing men and children naked from the waist down shitting in the street in full view. Modesty is a concept that has not reached a number of people in India. There is no escaping it. All we can recommend is that you do not walk down a beach until high tide has cleaned it and do not set off anywhere before 9am, by this time the pigs have moved in to clean up the streets.

Body fluids: okay, I know we’ve already mentioned some but, trust us, there is a lot more to be faced in India specifically: spit, vomit and snot. Your vehicle is going to be covered in the stuff. You overtake a bus or taxi and it’s guaranteed someone will either be vomiting or spitting out of the window. The north of India is particularly bad, there is brown spit all over beautiful historical sites, streets and walls. Get used to it.

The driving: the further south you go the higher the standards of driving. By the time you reach south Tamil Nadu drivers are as good and bad as any other country in the world. Apart from the bus drivers, whose union strength ensures they are above the law.

Personal space: let’s be honest, you are not going to have any. As one Indian friend explained; “ An Indian will be as offended by being given personal space as you will be by being given none!” How very true.

Staring: ever wondered how an animal at the zoo feels? Just come here and find out first hand! We completely understand people being curious but PLEASE smile back when we smile or return our Namaste. Don’t just stand staring slack jawed for 30minutes- IT’S RUDE!!!

Noise: it’s beyond belief. Weddings can last ‘til 4am, the temples start singing at 5am and the churches at 7am– all with huge loud speakers. Then the traffic starts honking their horns at 7am and the hotel car park security guard blows his whistle ALL night. Finding somewhere quiet is very, very rare.

Photo’s: you will be endlessly approached by groups of young men and couples asking to take a photo of you standing with them. Very sweet but odd.

MYSORE PALACE Golden Temple NAMDROLLING Stone chariot HAMPI

GOAN CHURCH

BELUR TEMPLE

Buy all your

toiletries, medicines and mossie spray before you leave India,

as Malaysia is very expensive for all these products

THOUGHTS ON INDIA: We’ve made it sound like hell on earth with that huge list haven’t we? I mean, why on earth would you want to come to somewhere so awful? Not only have we met some wonderful people but just look at our photo’s. Can you ever imagine being treated to so many amazing sights in any other country in the world? Or witnessing a subtle change in food, dress and dialect just by driving 100km’s? Where else could you drive round a corner and be met by a man who’s face is pierced with an 8 foot metal rod OR stand on a moon lit beach watching fishermen pull in their nets whilst singing and chanting? It truly is an incredible country that has endlessly rewarded us with what will probably be some of the most memorable experiences of our trip.

Love it and loathe it -you absolutely MUST experience it. INDIA.

HIGHLIGHTS:

Rajasthan: See the first India page for the “best of” list.

Kerala: For the fantastic festivals and theyyam.

Southern Tamil Nadu: For pleasant driving and probably the friendliest, most mannerly people in India. No staring!

Karnataka: Some lovely temples, parks and beaches.

Madhya Pradesh: Great tiger spotting and lots to see.

Maharashtra: Great cities, lovely caves and Tarkarli beach.

The food: Without doubt the best food in the world. We turned veggie it was sooo good!

DISAPPOINTMENTS: Mcleod Ganj, Pushkar, Varanasi and North Goa.

FUEL: Readily available. Costs 34.8Rs per litre. We have had no problems with the diesel but it is known to be diluted with kerosene. Reliance is reputed to sell the best quality diesel. Always check the meter on the pump before filling up and make sure it’s a computerised pump.

SHOPPING: surprisingly India is not the easiest place to find certain foods. Pasteurised milk, tins of tuna, cheese and tinned kidney beans to name but a few. We have listed supermarkets when we have found them, otherwise you have to search through corner shops.

WATER: watch out for bottled water- check the bottom of the bottle as well as the seal. Fresh water to top up your water tank is almost impossible to find in the far south of India- so you are going to have to buy bottled water to drink.

ROADS: we have driven some of our worst roads in India, quality ranges from motorway to corrugated track. Madhya Pradesh region is well know to have the worst roads in India although there is evidence of some upgrading work.

POLICE: other than blowing whistles to move traffic on and escorting officials around, they are a complete waste of a uniform. If you need any help at all ask a military man, he is more likely to be educated to an English speaking standard and infinitely more friendly.

SAFETY: probably the most dangerous thing you can do in India is drive. We did have to use our pepper spray on some one, but we reckon that we were just very unlucky. See entry diary entry 12th DEC.

LANDY: there are no landy garages in India and parts are unavailable. There are a good selection of oils available to buy but we have heard stories of recycled oil being used, so check your cans carefully before you buy. We purchased 3rd party insurance for India and Nepal in Amritsar for £15 or $28.

CLOCKWISE:

Dave showing his magic tricks.

Crop thrashing—they want you to drive over it.

Gravel maker– we’re NOT joking!

Indian recycling team in action.

Bath time fun.

NEXT COUNTRY