Ταξίδι…

INDIA: BORAS - NOTOS, KAI KAPOIA FAOUL... (English version below)

loipon... 3erw oti exw yposxe8ei fotogtrafies se ayto to blog se poly kosmo alla pros to paron no photos no cry... Den ftaiw egw pantws (monaxa)... To internet edw einain poly argo opote den mporw na anebasw kamia foto. Epishs exw 3exasei kai ton fortisth ths mhxanhs alla elpizw na mhn to eidate! parola ayta yparxei mpataria gia fotos opote an bre8ei kati kalytero se syndesh yposxomai na prospa8hsw. H8ela ayto to site na einai kyriws ena fotografiko hmerologio alla mias kai apeteixe ayto 8a sas e3istorhsw kapoia pragmata, elpizw na mhn sas peirazei. Epishs h anagkasthkh xrhsh twn greeklish 8a me kanei ligo pio ameso kai ka8hmerino apo to prohgoumeno post. Afi3h loipon sthn Bangalore meta apo 1 kourastiko ta3idi me 1 molis wra ypno. Topikh wra 11:50, oi germanoi kanan to 8ayma tous kai h Lufthansa einai sthn wra ths akoma kai sthn India! Swsta? Oooooxi... Dystyxws den yparxei eley8erh 8esh sto aerodromio kai prepei na perimenoume na fygei 1 aeroplano gia na parkaroume. To poso mikro htan to aerodromio to eida argotera. Na htan miso apo ths 8essalonikhs kai arketa pio palio? (toulaxiston fainotan pio palio) Gia magazia ekei mesa den to syzhtaw. Perimena kati parapanw dedomenou tou mege8ous ths polhs (gyrw sta 7 ekatommyria???) alla den einai kan h 3h h 4h megalyterh polh ths Indias an kai taxews anaptysomenh... Ema8a oti xtizoun kainourio aerodromio, na doume... Ftanw loipon kata ta mesanyxta topikh wra alla prepei na perimenw 4mish wres gia na ftasoun ta paidia!!! Martyrio, skeftomai... 3 atoma perimenoume stis afi3eis dipla apo ton xwro aposkeywn opou yparxoun1-2 touristika grafeia kai ayto einai olo. San na mhn ftanei ayto mas bgazoun kapoia stigmh e3w astynomikoi giati den eprepe leei na eimaste ekei(???). En tw meta3y exw arxisei na egklimatizomai sthn India mias kai 2-3 ta3itzides exoun hdh er8ei na mou prosferoun tis yphresies tous kai arnoumai. Ektos aytou h Monique, pou htan ekei prin ftasw kai efeyge 9 h wra to prwi(!!!) an kai molis 2h mera ekei mou kata8etei thn empeiria ths. Me kalh koubenta pernaei h wra erxontai kai oi pthsheis... Fysika me kana misawro ka8ysterhsh (opws mas eipe kai o ta3itzhs. British perimeneis??? Ftanei 4:35, dhladh kata tis 5 mallon!) Erxontai kai ta paidia! Xara megalh, poly kairo eixa na toys dw! Ton Sri ton perimenei hdh aytokinhto me thn mhtera tou kai thn melousa gynaika tou. Emeis mpainoume se 1 aspro (prosoxh, giati yparxoun kai ta kitrina) ta3i to opoio ypoti8etai 8a akolou8hsei ayto toy Sri. Loipon s'opoion paei popte sthn India proteinw mia bolta me aspro ta3i san kalosorisma (an kai prepei na pazarepsete arketa thn timh)! Den 8a pw tipota, alla h fatsa kai oi ekfraseis tou Peter sto mprostino ka8isma ka8ws kai oi prospa8eies mas me ton Graham na krath8oume apo ta gelia htan mnhmeiwdeis. Pera apo ton apisteyto tropo odhghshs pou kategrafei se videaki kinhtou, h xrhsh ths kornas einai ypoxrewtikh ka8e 10 deyterolepta! O Peter ta xreiasthke pantws kai gia mia stigmh nomizame oti eskypse gia na mhn blepei kai proseyxontan... Kaname la8os, ka8ws estelne mhnyma sto kinhto... Ola einai kala otan synantas filous kai oi wres pernan eyxarista. Liges wres ypnou monaxa, gia na exoume oloklhrh thn mera mprosta mas. Apo tis 7 to prwi mexri tis 12. Thn allh mera htan mia gioprth mias 8eas ths ygeias kai episkef8hkame toso to spiti tou Sri opou fagame ay8entiko indiko faghto (apisteyto) oso kai to spiti ths Anas, ths melousas kyrias Sri! To fai htan kaytera prasina fasolakia salata, ryzi kaytero me 3ysmata lemoniou kai mango an 8ymamai kala, kati san salata kai gia epidorpio mango mageiremeno me gala kai kati san thganhta perixymenh me liwmeno boutyro. To spiti tou Sri pio paradosiako, ths Anas me emfanestates dytikes epiroes pou deixnoun thn tash pou yparxei sthn India. Parola ayta h bolta kai oi metakinhseis sthn Bangalore einai apokalyptikes. Ka8e 5 deyterolepta 8es na bgaleis kai 1 fwtografia, ka8ws blepeis skhnika omorfa, asteia (kyriws me tis synh8eies odhghshs ayto), diaforetika, xrwmatista! Perasame apo ka8e eidous perioxes kai ektos apo kala spitia eidame kai kosmo pou emene se aytosxedies skhnes ftiagmenes apo rammena yfasmata! Telos pantwn, afoy eidame kai sta 2 spitia tis prosfores kai thn afierwsh sthn 8ea (bgazontas kai ta papoutsia mas) fygame ston kentriko dromo gia pswnia (h8ele na kanei kai o Sri) kai ka8isame sthn megalyterh alysida kafe pou protimane kai oi Indoi foithtes "Cafe coffee day". Htan mia poly kalh eykairia na gnwrisoume kai thn Ana h opoia einai sympa8ithkotath kai poly glykia. Kanoun ena poly kalo zeygari me ton Sri... Eytyxws... Apo thn allh einai kai deytera 3aderfia kai gnwrizontai sxedon apo panta!!! To brady eixe faghto sto pshlotero (h mallon deytero pshlotero) ktirio ths perioxhs, sto estiatorio tou 13ou orofou me thn wraia 8ea! Entelws dytiko styl me indikh chill-out mousikh, wraio periballon kai mpyra kingfisher! Poly kalh kai se mpoukalia twn "quart" (640 ml peripou). Hr8an kai 1 filos kai 1 filh ths Anas kai perasame ekplhktika. Niwsame oti fygamemolis to party anabe (h mousikh eixe hdh alla3ei se gnwsta kommatia ten queen inxs five young cannibals etc) alla ta 3hmerwmata eixame ta3idi gia Delhi enw o Sri den eixe koimh8ei ka8olou! Krima pantws... Ta 3hmerwmata loipon kai enw eixame synennoh8ei na fygoume stis 5 apo to spiti o odhgos afantos!!! Tous lew xalarwste edw einai India, 8a arghsei ligaki. Loipon fainetai pws to misawro ths ka8ysterhshs edw einai tarifa! Sto 2olepto panw anhsyxhsame oti 8a xaname thn pthsh kai katebainoume trexontas kai boutame (sthn kyrioleksia) se 1 "rickshaw". Einai ta trikykla pou exoun 8eseis pisw. Panw pou 3ekinousame blepoume kai to aytokinhto mas opote o Peter petaei kai thn 8eikh ataka "follow that car" kai to akolou8hsame mexri pou stamathse e3w apo to spiti mas! Eytyxws giati akoma 8a ta3ideyame gia aerodromio me thn taxythta pou phgainame... Twra eimai sto delhi kai mou teleiwnei kai o xronos. Eixame ena arketa plhres tour ths polhs alla den eimai kai toso xaroumenos pou mphkame s'ayto ton ry8mo tou tourista apo ekei pou o kosmos mas ebaze sta spitia tou kai pername mia pragmatikh geysh ths zwhs ekei. Ayrio feygoume gia Agra, na doume to Taj Mahal! Prepei na einai ekplhktikh empeiria. Ta a3io8eata tou Delhi ta eidame kai fwtografhsame. Prwsopika mallon mou arese pio poly to pio aplo, to mnhmeio tou Gandhi. Telos exw na pw oti h Indikh koultoura den einai kai toso makrya apo thn ellhnikh. Me liges meres edw exw arxisei na niw8w sto petsi mou kalytera giati apoteloume ayto pou mas legane sto sxoleio "stayrodromi anamesa sthn anatolh kai sthn dysh". Ekplhsomai poly ligotero apo tous dytikous mou filous toso apo thn megalh -einai alh8eia- kai trelh kinhsh, pernaw to dromo me kinhsh kai xwris fanaria paneykola, ta kornarismata an htan pio liga 8a htan OK pantws exw synh8hsei na akouw kornes ka8emera. Telos ama dw tainia bollywood opou sto telos pantreyonati, pragmatika "kati mou 8ymizei"... Ayta gia thn wra apo mena. Yposxomai otan mporesw perissoteres fotos, pio liga logia. Na exete oloi mia yperoxh mera, opote mporesw 8a sas 3anagrapsw!

Saturday, August 05, 2006

India; North, South and a few mishaps

Well, I know that I have promised to many people to upload photos in this blog, but for now, no photos no cry…

I have to say, it is not (only) my fault… Internet connexions here are very slow, so I cannot really upload any photo. Furthermore, I have forgotten my camera charger (but I hope that you did not read that!). In any case, there’s still battery for photos, so if I manage to get a better connexion I promise to try.

I wanted this to be rather a photoblog, but since this has failed I will try to put down some things in writing, I hope you don’t mind.

Arrival in Bangalore, after a tiring journey where I only got 1 hour of sleep. Local time is 11:50 pm; the Germans did it again and Lufthansa arrived on time even in India, right? Wrong! Unfortunately, there is no free parking spot in the airport and we have to wait for another plane to leave so we can land and park. Later on, I got to see exactly how small the airport was. It must have been half the size of Thessaloniki’s airport and quite older (or at least it looked so). No sign of airport shops either. I was expecting something a bit bigger given the size of the city (maybe around 7 million people?) but it is not even the 3^rd or 4^th biggest city in India, although it is up and coming. I heard that there is a new airport under construction; let’s see…

So, I have arrived around midnight (local time) but I have to wait 4 and a half hours for the guys to arrive! It’s going to be a torture, I am thinking. There are 3 of us waiting at the arrivals hall next to the luggage belts where there are a couple of tourist offices and nothing more. As if that were not enough, some police officers take us outside because, they say, we shouldn’t be there. Meanwhile my contact with the Indian culture has already started since 2 or 3 cab drivers come to offer me their services, which I kindly refuse. On top of that, Monique who was there before me and had to leave at 9 in the morning (!!!) was telling me about her 2-hour experience there.

With a nice chat, time flies and flights arrive… with about half an hour delay, needless to say (as the taxi driver told us “Are you waiting for the British flight? It is arriving at 4:35, which means maybe around 5”). The guys are here! A lot of joy, I had not seen them for a long time! A car is there for Sri already with his mom and his future wife. We are boarding a white cab (mind you, there are also the yellow ones) which is supposed to follow Sri’s car.

I have to say, I would recommend a ride with a white cab in guise of a welcome to anyone visiting India for the first time (although you have to bargain the price)! I am not going to spoil the surprise for you, but Petur’s facial expressions from the front seat as well as Graham’s and my efforts to not burst into laughter from the back seat were monumental. Apart from the driving itself (for which there is video evidence), it seems that blowing the horn every 10 seconds is mandatory! Petur apparently had enough since he was looking down so that he doesn’t see in front of him, or so we thought. For a moment we even thought that he was praying… Turns out we were wrong, since he was simply texting.

Everything is nice when you meet friends and time passes by pleasantly. We got a few hours of sleep (from 7:00 to 12:00) so that we can enjoy most of the day ahead. That day it was a day dedicated to a goddess of health and we visited first Sri’s home, where we ate some real (and really delicious) Indian food, and then Ana’s home, future Mrs Sri! The plates we had were; spicy green bean salad, spicy rice with lemon zest and mango if I remember correctly (?), another kind of salad and for dessert, mango cooked with milk and something like a pancake sprinkled with melted butter. Sri’s house seemed more traditional, while Ana’s had obvious western influences representative of the existing trend in India. In any case, strolling or moving around in Bangalore is a revelation. Every 5 seconds you want to take a photo since you come across many beautiful or funny sceneries (the latter related mostly to driving habits), different and colourful. We passed by all kinds of neighbourhoods and apart from nice houses we saw people living in self-made stitched tents.

Anyway, after watching in both houses the offerings to the goddess (taking off our shoes of course), we hit it for the main street to do some shopping (Sri wanted to do that too) and we sat down at the biggest coffee shop franchise in India “Cafe coffee day”. Indian students seem to appreciate it a lot. This was an excellent opportunity to get to know Ana who seems very nice and sweet. They form a nice couple with Sri. On the other hand, they are also second cousins and they know each other since forever!

In the evening, we had dinner on the highest (or rather the second highest) building of the area, in the restaurant of the 13^th floor featuring a gorgeous view. It was a western style restaurant with Indian chill-out music, nice ambience and Kingfisher beer! A very nice beer served in “quart” bottles (640ml approximately). Two friends of Ana’s joined us too and we had a great time. We felt that we left just as the party was about to start (the music had changed to famous songs by Queen, INXS, five young cannibals etc.) but we had a very early morning flight to Delhi while Sri hadn’t slept at all. It was a pity though…

Early in the morning, and while we had arranged to leave the house at 5:00, there was no sign of our driver whatsoever! I was telling to the guys “relax, don’t worry, he will be a bit late, this is India”. It seems that half an hour delay is the standard “tariff” here in India. However when we passed the 20’ mark, we started getting really worried that we would miss our flight. So we rushed downstairs and we (literally) dove in a rickshaw, Just as we departed, we saw our ride arriving and it was then that Petur threw the epic line “follow that car”. And we did so, till it arrived again in front of our apartment. Thank god, else we would have been still travelling to the airport, given the rickshaw’s speed.

Now I am in Delhi and I’m almost out of time (internet time). We had a quite complete tour of the city, but I am not really thrilled to get into my tourist clothes. Especially since before we were getting into peoples’ homes, getting a taste of Indian life and reality. From our sightseeing, I think I liked better Gandhi’s memorial, which was the simplest of all sites.

Concluding, I have to say that Indian culture is not so much further from the Greek one. After spending only a few days here, I have started feeling a bit under my skin what we were taught in history classes at school, about Greece being “the crossroads where East meets West”. I am much less surprised than my western friends by the crazy traffic, I can cross the busy streets without any traffic lights easily and I am used to hearing horns blowing in my everyday life, although it would be nice if there were fewer of them here. Finally, if I watch a Bollywood movie where they get married at the end it really rings a bell¹.

That’s it for now. I promise more photos and less words, when it will be possible.

Have an excellent day all of you, I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.

posted by Buffos @ 4:20 PM