Sunday 25 May 2014

India trip, February 2014

A bit belated I know, but thought people might be interested in reading all about my adventures in India - a week-long trip (as a mixture of work and play) to Bangalore and Mumbai, which happened at the end of February 2014.  Here is our joint diary…

Friday 21 February 2014
A fairly quiet day, preparing and packing.  Fortunately I had actually packed most things the day before, so was able to spend much of the day just checking everything and doing little chores ready for the following morning.  We had a relaxing evening eating curry and watching ‘The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel’ to get us in the mood for what lay ahead.

Saturday 22 February
I didn’t sleep awfully well, suffering from insomnia from about 5 am, but perhaps that was always inevitable given the approaching trip.  Still, I felt fine by breakfast and, after the usual rush getting everything finally together, we left around 10:30 am. 

Traffic was light and we arrived at Heathrow soon after 11 am, waiting while Tony dropped off the car and then checking in without hassle.  We were all relived to find the suitcases were well under the weight limit.  Passing through security was uneventful, if slightly embarrassing as we were told to jump the queue, and after a bit of shopping we had our picnic in the airport lounge.  At the due time, we walked to the departure gate via the tube/metro; this was actually quite impressive, and we worked out later that the tube runs under the tarmac to a separate building, containing holding gate C.  The lounge was fairly empty when we arrived but filled up rapidly, and we had a quick chat to the Imperial people as they arrived.  When told, we were ushered through the barrier, again with some embarrassment at jumping the queue, and were amused to be sat with all the hostesses and pilots for our flight.  We learnt from them that our plane was delayed, slightly worryingly because they had to get a new/spare one out of the hanger.  However, eventually we boarded without incident and took off about an hour late. The flight was long but uneventful.  The meal – chicken tikka with rice and bean salad – was actually quite good and we passed the time watching movies or dozing.  Breakfast several hours later was less pleasant, consisting of a full English breakfast with some truly nasty scrambled eggs.

Sunday 23 February
We landed around 5:30 am local time (5 ½ hours ahead of GMT), and were hurried through the airport by two helpful men who, again, embarrassingly made us jump all the queues.  After a long wait at baggage for Tony’s suitcase to arrive – which it eventually did – we joined the others and found the cars waiting for us, after getting our rupees. 

The weather outside was cooler than expected, with a grey and misty start to the day which soon burned off as the sun come up.  It was light as we drove away from the airport, and we had our first view of India – actually remarkable similar to driving into Accra, the capital of Ghana, with numerous billboards, construction sites and either developing or derelict tower blocks.  The drive took about 40 minutes and was a suitably scary experience, but we arrived safely and turned into the guarded campus which was quiet and green and peaceful.  The guesthouse was a functional building, and our room (or rather mini-apartment) was basic but spacious and perfectly adequate for our needs – big double bed with ensuite bathroom, then a small kitchen and actually a second bedroom and bathroom which we didn’t use.  All rooms had a large ceiling fan, making it nicely cool as by now outside was already warming up.  We also had a nice little balcony at the front.  We had a brief breakfast in the visitor centre dining room – although we weren’t really hungry – after which the Tony and Judi left us in search of their hotel.

After a much needed sleep, we had a simple but good lunch of dahl, rice and chapattis, and then we left the others to be nerdy with their laptops while we went for a walk through campus.  This was lovely, with the now very hot sun nicely shaded by tall trees.  The place was fairly busy, and we passed numerous people on motorbikes or rickshaws, as well as several people just chatting outside their homes – which varied from lavish houses to much more run down apartments and shacks.  As I suspect will be a continuing theme, the juxtaposition of very rich and very poor side-by-side was evident and stark.  The university buildings in between were also a mixture of rundown buildings next to ultra modern glass blocks.  After a nice stroll, and watching some monkeys scavenging in the dust bins, we returned to the room and spent a pleasant afternoon reading our books on the balcony and writing this.

Monkeys scavenging on campus
We had agreed to meet the others at 7 pm and find somewhere for dinner.  However, at the agreed time we learnt that we were meeting at 8 pm instead, so to kill some time we went on a beer finding mission.  This proved to be quite exciting and perhaps, in retrospect, unwise.  Upon leaving the serenity of the campus, we were faced with a manic street of non-stop cars (all hooting at once), motorbikes, tuk-tuks and bicycles – and the odd dog or ten.  The pavements were almost non-existent or were massive broken slabs of bricks, and were also strewn with vendors selling coconuts, clothes and earthenware pots.  The shops were what I would imagine a blend of UK and Africa would be like, if possible, with glass fronted shops selling familiar brand names of shoes and clothes next door to open fronted shacks and stalls selling food, fruit or trinkets.

After walking around a bit and narrowly avoiding being hit by tuk-tuks, we found an open-fronted liqueur shack and bought some beer.  We returned to the peace of the campus (not before we’d mistakenly tried to enter the hospital on our way back!) to realise we didn’t have a bottle opener.  After several attempts involved keys, a lighter and the table, we finally opened a beer and sat on the balcony until it was time to meet.  At 8pm we were met and taken by one of the Indians in our group just around the corner, to the nearest place she knew of that served beer (she clearly knew all about the English).  We had a really good meal of selected curries and dahls, before returning to our room for a much needed early night.

Monday 24 February
After a horribly early start, and not a huge amount of sleep (due to a combination of jet lag, unfamiliar bird noises and what we thought was a monkey outside our window) we had a good Indian breakfast (as well as an omelette for Amy) and were driven across the campus to the meeting room.  This, unfortunately, was on the first floor, but we had lots of helpers so no problem.  The meeting was long, but fortunately the room was well air conditioned by fans and there was a regular supply of very sweet coffee and various snacks.

Lunch was remarkably good, outside under a red tent and consisting of a clear soup followed by various dahls and chapattis.  The meeting continued, and finally ended late at 7 pm.  We were given a short while to ourselves back at the guest house, before being picked up again and driven to another nearby restaurant.  This was much smarter than the previous night and very good, although we possibly ate too much of the starter as things just kept arriving – chicken, fish, pork, sweetcorn etc.  The meal as excellent and the number of speeches became slightly silly as people drank more and more beer or Indian wine – or both.  Finally, we were driven back to the campus and fell into bed.

Tuesday 25 February
After another early start but another good breakfast, we returned to the meeting and passed another long day talking about work.  Lunch again was good, and the day finished a little earlier, at 6 pm.  After a short rest and another beer on the balcony, we were again taken by car to another nearby restaurant, this time open air and on the rooftop of a tall building.  For us British, it was quite incredible to be sat outside during the evening in February - the temperature was cool, as the heat and humidity of the day slowly dissipated by a gentle wind - but very comfortable.  Apparently Bangalore is known as “the ventilated city”, because it’s relatively high elevation (roughly 900 m above sea level) means there is usually a cooling breeze and so it is less stuffy than other Indian cities.  The view was impressive and the meal very good, and we were slightly wiser this time to save room for a variety of curries.  Again felt a bit sorry for Andy, who insisted on sticking to a vegetarian diet and therefore missed out on a lot, in my opinion.  His rationale, probably completely correct, was that this was the only way to avoid becoming ill - on the other hand, I ate meat on several occasions, and was perfectly fine.  After a good meal and quite late finish, we were driven home.

Wednesday 26 February
Another early start and a breakfast of paratha and yoghurt, after which we were once again driven to the meeting.  The day was much sunnier than the previous.  The meeting only lasted for the morning, so finally at around midday we said our goodbyes and left the group, who were all returning home the following morning.

We returned to the guesthouse, and had a slight panic as Tony and Judi’s taxi driver struggled to find us.  They did eventually however, and once packed we all piled into one car (which was a bit of a squash) and were driven to the airport.

We always knew the domestic flight to Mumbai would be the most challenging, and indeed it was.  After a long argument at check-in, during which several supervisors had to be summoned, we finally persuaded them to let us keep the chair all the way to the door.  Getting through security was also a picnic, as they wanted to take away the chair and scan it separately.  Eventually security were satisfied, and we were allowed through with just enough time to wait in the departure lounge.  At the due time, we boarded the plane, which was smaller than I would’ve liked, and the chair was taken away with the promise that it would be returned upon arrival.  The flight was mostly uneventful, despite some turbulence in the middle, and to our surprise we were served some food (chicken tikka).  We landed without incident and, surprisingly, were met by my chair.

Walking out of the domestic terminal, once we had collected our bags from a carousel heaving with people, was everything the books had described – hot, humid, loud and crowded.  The heat, even at 6 pm, was like a blanket, and we struggled to get a pre-paid taxi.  In retrospect, this was a mistake.  We were shown to the oldest, smallest and crappiest car I’ve ever seen, and somehow managed to get everything in, with bags and pieces of chair lashed to the roof with bits of string.  The driver was helpful but surly, as were several other boys who then demanded, quite aggressively, a tip.  First schoolboy error of Mumbai.

Once we had satisfied them, off we drove in a scary and extremely hot and humid hour and a half ride of heavy traffic.  Looking back, I’m pleased we did it that way as it was quite authentic, but at the time it was hot, sticky and long.  At every traffic stop, which was virtually all the time, the driver would jump out to re-tie the roof or boot.  The car itself was knackered, and I am still amazed it made the journey.  Despite being dark, the streets either side were everything I had expected – slums, extreme poverty but at the same time brightly covered fairy lights and music everywhere.  With our windows open (to get at least some air) and turning away numerous sellers walking down the road, the smells were intense – traffic, sweat and sewage.  From reading this, it sounds horrendous - but it really, really wasn’t.  After a slow journey, we arrived at the hotel and experienced the full contrast that only India shows – from poverty stricken streets to an extremely posh hotel – one of the smartest I’ve been in.  We instantly felt under-dressed to the extreme.  The cars parking outside the lobby went limo, limo, our shitty taxi, limo.  Amid smartly dressed men in black tie and women in evening dress, and immaculate doormen (dressed in full Indian/Raj uniform), we literally fell out of our taxi, dripping in sweat and looking a complete mess.  No-one seemed to mind however and we checked in with no problem.  The rooms were lovely, not massive but very comfortable and with all the usual luxuries.  It was nearing 10 pm by this point, so after a quick refresh, we popped down to one of the several bars and had a light snack (albeit extortionately priced by anyone’s, let alone Indian, standards) and fell into bed, exhausted.
 
Our hotel, the Trident

Thursday 27 February
Although the room was comfortable and extremely luxurious, by far the best thing about it was the view that we saw properly first thing in the morning.  From out of our 32nd floor window, we looked out over the whole of Back Bay, following the Queen’s Necklace up towards Malabar Hill, with clear blue sea and tiny fishing boats.  Early in the morning it was still hazy but that burnt off as soon as the sun came up. 

Gateway of India
After a good breakfast of both Indian and continental food – made more exciting by a very angry man shouting about something when we arrived – we left the hotel and walked for about half hour towards the Gateway of India.  The sun by this time was hot, but there was plenty of shade from many large trees - meaning one minute we would be in intense heat and the next pleasantly cool.  The roads and pavements were better than in Bangalore, but the constant speed of cars and motorbikes made it an exciting walk at times.  We found the Gateway, an impressive structure resembling a little the Arc de Triomphe (only more Indian), and joined the crowds of tourists in taking photos.  Like everyone else, we were constantly hounded by people selling pictures or other tat, as well as a group of monks who gave us a blessing – but then, of course, wanted money for it.  After a quick stroll along the harbour side and past numerous boats, small ships and expensive yachts, we walked back inland and found Leopald’s, the café and favourite place mentioned in the book ‘Shantaram’.  It was a lively, busy place and perfectly as described, and we enjoyed a lassi and a beer along with everyone else.  The road outside was covered with market sellers and, after buying some clothing, we had another long and hot walk to the main train station, the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST, formerly Victoria Terminus (VT)).  This was an impressive Victorian building and a popular site among tourists.  We carried on walking in a big loop back to our hotel, stopping for a quick coconut water before reaching the beach surrounding the bay.  Before reaching the sea however, we stopped for lunch in a nearby restaurant, enjoying a quick snack of various vegetarian curries.  After a short walk back to the hotel, along the fairly smelly beach front in the afternoon heat, we spent a relaxing afternoon sitting by the pool in the outside area of our hotel.

Leopold's
Chhhatrapati Shivaji Terminus

After a good rest, and a drink in our room watching the sunset, we walked out to find a restaurant recommended by the hotel as traditionally south Indian.  This was amazing – very busy and excellent food, including Thali and non-stop endless vegetarian curries.  Far too much, but all excellent.  Stuffed, we returned to the hotel along fairly busy streets, including a small funfair, and went to bed after a really good day.



Friday 28 February
Crawford Market
We awoke to another bright hot day and, after another excellent breakfast, we again walked out, this time heading north towards the Crawford Market. 

This was quite a long walk, along some rather scary main roads, and we survived, just, working our way along narrow streets - all stuffed with tiny shops, stalls and open air stores, selling a variety of things from electrical appliances to fresh fruit to lingerie - and finally reaching the large covered market.  This wasn’t as busy or hectic as we had expected, and it was certainly quieter than the African market we had experienced in Kumasi.  It was still large, however, with a bewildering choice of stalls selling spices, vegetables and clothing.  There was also a large animal stall, selling everything from chickens (presumably meant to be eaten) to cats, dogs and birds (presumably meant as pets).  We spent an interesting hour or so browsing, and after buying a load of spices and looking at the various birds in cages, we left the market and started the long walk home.  We went the same way as the day before, this time stopping at a row of food stalls and trying some excellent street food - bread, and a tomato and lentil based bhaji.  It was packed with people, most of whom (perhaps unsurprisingly) had never seen a party such as ours, least of all braving street food, so we received a fair amount of attention while we ate, perched on the side of the pavement.

After that brief intermission, we carried on walking, stopping for a beer almost opposite where had had lunch the day before.  The bar, named Gaylord, also looked like a nice restaurant, so we booked a table for later.  We spent another pleasant afternoon back at the hotel, sitting around the pool in a surprisingly strong wind and deciding not to swim because of the breeze.  We also looked around the hotel’s shopping mall, buying a couple more scarfs and pashminas.  The mall was quite different to the ones at home, being a long narrow corridor with each shop hidden away and a man in the doorway trying to entice you in. Some were quite pushy.  

After a final drink in our room watching the sunset, we walked back along the beach to the bar from before and had an excellent meal inside – various veggie dishes and a superb Goan fish curry.  After a good evening, where we perhaps didn’t eat quite as much as the one before, we strolled back along the now very busy promenade that was crowded with other tourists and people out for the evening.

Saturday 1 March
The last day, and yet another long flight awaited, so spirits (at least mine) were not high.  After quite an early start and a quick bit of packing, we went down for our final Indian breakfast - Indian for me, and more westernised for the others.  Breakfast was lovely, with me having a Masala Dosa and Judi and Amy having boiled eggs.  Have to say, we were all quite impressed when the waiter produced another boiled egg from under each egg holder.

After breakfast we did a final bit of packing, before loading up our taxi ready to leave by 10 am.  We had asked the hotel to arrange a car this time, so waiting for us outside was a large, modern, air-conditioned people carrier – nowhere near as exciting as the journey to the hotel, but much easier and less scary.  Dramatically different to our taxi to the hotel, we were relieved not to have to tie anything to the roof, nor worry about the taxi breaking down.  Traffic to the airport was heavy but not as bad as 2 nights ago, and it was really the first time we had fully seen the slums, having driven into Mumbai in the darkness.  The slums appeared much more civilised and organised than images we see about Indian slums (mostly at school).

The drive was thankfully uneventful and we arrived at the airport in good time, getting to check-in within the hour.  Thankfully the check-in through security was considerably easier than it had been at Bangalore, and we were quickly through to departures.  We’d all saved some money to spend getting some last-minute gifts and tat, however we soon realised there were only about 2 shops that would take our rupees (the rest trading in dollars).  Basing ourselves in these shops, I bought some bits and bobs and Amy got a few scarves and a little elephant statue.  Shopping complete, we headed to the street food café for a quick bite to eat.  This in itself was a bit of a fight, with the airport café staff clearly used to stroppy tourists and were therefore stroppy themselves.  After several attempts at getting food, we finally succeeded.  After a lot of waiting and running out of different meals, I ended up with a mystery meal and Amy had her final samosa.  With full stomachs, we started the hike to the plane.  The queue onto the plane was quite difficult, due to everyone trying to pile in.  However, we finally got to our seats.

The flight itself was long but uneventful, and we passed the time reading, eating, dozing or watching a movie.  After a smooth takeoff, we were offered a drink and then a meal of (what I think was meant to be) roast chicken, so slowly getting us adapted to Western food again.  It was a bit of a let-down, being my first non-Indian meal in almost 3 weeks, so was remarkably bland and dull.  But it was edible, at least.  Whilst long and dull, the plane journey was fairly smooth, and having watched a film and played with the entertainment system, we were then offered another meal - which, this time, was somewhat hard to identify, just being described as ‘Chinese chicken’.  I think it was chicken in a sort of sweet and sour sauce. 

After food, and roughly 9 hours after leaving, we landed at Heathrow at around 6 pm local time, and were told it was 4°C outside.  As feared, walking out of the plan was very unpleasant - an average of 30oC in India to suddenly close to freezing.  But we survived.  Having located our bags, we then sent Tony off to find the car, whilst we braved sitting outside departures.  To our relief, it didn’t take too long for Tony to find us, and the drive home was very simple and stress-free (in comparison to all the driving we’d experienced in India).  Finally home, after a long day of travelling, began the dull task of unpacking.  Obviously we were all tired, but pleased that it had all gone so well.  Farewell Mumbai...







Sunday 12 January 2014

Out out on New Year's Eve

Happy New Year to all!

In the spirit of blogging, I thought I would jot down a few thoughts about a night out on New Year's Eve.  I should say at the outset that I am not (or at least wasn't until this year) a fan of New Year's Eve.  Quite the opposite in fact.  However, much to my continued disbelief, as midnight came and went this year I found myself in the middle of a rather trendy and extremely busy bar/club in the middle of Brighton, a little baffled as to how this had happened.

I have never been out on New Year's Eve before.  When I say out, I mean out out - I have been to lots of house parties, but never out out ie. "on the town".  However, when my friend said she would like to spend the evening with me and suggested going out, how could I possibly refuse?  My first thought was London, but in the end (for various reasons) decided on Brighton - my stomping ground during 8 years of university.

The question, then, was what to do and where to go.  Being a bit of a newbie when it comes to going out on New Year's Eve, I was mildly surprised by everyone's reaction when I told them I was going out in Brighton that evening: "Really???!!!".  I guess, in my naivete, it hadn't occurred to me that the city might be a tad busier than usual.  As it turned out, most people's surprise was unfounded - yes, it was busy, but I don't think much busier than a usual night out in Brighton.

My friend had suggested the theatre, which seemed like a good idea.  Looking at the listings of the Theatre Royal, I saw that 'Priscilla: Queen of the Desert' was on that night.  I'm not a massive fan of musicals, but she is, so why not?  What a good decision that was.

The show began at 7:45 PM, so we had an early dinner in a nearby Italian restaurant, Pinocchio's.  I hadn't been there for years, but it was as good as I remembered.  Naturally it was very busy, but we had an excellent meal of a couple of pasta dishes followed by an enormous ice cream.  It was clear that lots of other people were also theatregoers, because as the showtime approached a lot of people decided it was time to go.  Fortunately the restaurant were clearly used to this, and we made it into the theatre in good time.

 

The show was excellent.  Essentially it's a story about 3 Australian drag-Queens, who travel from Sydney to Alice Springs on a bus called Priscilla and obviously get into various awkward situations.  It was extremely funny, very irreverent towards Australians (despite being originally written by an Aussie) and probably as camp as its possible to get.  Virtually every (even slightly) camp and extravagant song you can think of was included - lots of ABBA, Elton John, Kylie and, of course, "It's Raining Men".  The audience was well into it, and a good proportion of people were also dressed in drag.  We weren't, however I don't think that spoiled the atmosphere and it was a thoroughly good show - and the perfect choice for New Year's Eve.  I had rather hoped it would be a good introduction to Brighton (with all its connotations) for my friend, and it certainly surpassed itself and all expectations.

The show ended around 10:30 PM, and we wandered passed several pubs which were all packed.  I had been unsure whether to book tickets into somewhere in advance or just hope to find somewhere, and in the end we did just that - a very modern bar/club, complete with metallic tables, purple fluorescent lighting, pounding music and an impressive cocktail bar.  It wasn't that busy when we arrived but it certainly filled up - although, as I said, I don't think it was excessively much busier than normal night out in the city.  The rest of the night is a slight blur, no doubt helped by lots of wine and numerous cocktails.  I remember midnight which, as usual, was a bit of a nonevent - there was a countdown of course, everyone cheered, and then almost immediately forgot about it and went on with a normal night out.  I have a vague memory of someone using the back of my chair as a pole to dance around/against, but she seemed happy so it didn't matter.

So, my first New Year's Eve out out.  Certainly a night to remember…