India: Bangalore

Bangalore is a big city (8 million people) and the Indian center of IT. First thing I notice is the tuktuk drivers are even more agressive here. When we arrive at the hotel, the driver asks bluntly for more money than agreed upon. I refuse and quickly leave the cursing driver by going inside Tom's hotel. In my old Lonely Planet (2009), it's listed as a budget place, but today it has been converted to a luxerous establishment. Because it's my last stay, I agree on the high price.

So what to do in Bangalore? South of the center, there's a mosque, market, closed temple and loads of streets in bad condition. It's a bit more clean and organised as in Madurai, but still very hectic. Luckely there is a relaxing park surrounding the temple of the bull. I get my first bindi here and make it my quest to buy some stick-on-bindi's for my friends. After a looong search I find a shop and can continue to the Lal Bagh botanical gardens.

I walk and talk a little with a local software engineer and his daugther. He tells me about the corruption in many city departements, causing for example the bad state of the gardens. I also learn the lake is actually sewage water! Suddenly a violent downpour starts and I use my umberella to help people cross to a shelter. When it's over, the next destination is the very modern shopping district. This is really a different part of India, with all the big clothing and food chains. My main goal isn't shopping but the Abors Brewing Company for a couchsurfers meeting.

Couchsurfing isn't only surfing or hosting people, it's also a real community with regular events. Like bar meetings, crafting, making music, langue exchanges... Because of my tight shedule during this trip, I didn't search for couches. However I couldn't pass the opportunity to meet the big community in Bangalore. I find the bar and a very diverse group of about 20 couchsurfers. Half the people are foreigners, and the other half are Indians who have worked abroad. They all have some amazing stories, mostly about the culture differences. Then there's Raij, who worked in Belgium for a while and tells me about wild parties and his abundance of girlfriends. The bar closes at 11.30, and I can get a ride back to my hotel on Raij's bike. While I hold on for dear life, he speeds past potholes, tuktuks and red lights. We say our goodbyes and I wish him the best of luck with chosing the right girlfriend to settle down with.

My last day. I start with Cubbon Park which seems te be completely infested by crows and dogs. One of the landmark buildings is the library, which is in a dead end. When I go back, there is a loud scooter passing by. This startles 3 big sleeping dogs, who see me and start growling and approach. There is no way back. I try to walk past and ignore them, but the leader jumps to attack me. I shout 'NEE GODVERDOMME' and kick on the ground. These Dutch words confuse and stop him for one second. I walk away as quickly as I can while some Indians start shouting, further discouraging the dogs. This was one of the worst moments of the trip! If I had done anything differently I would've been severely bitten...

I make my way to Bangalore Castle. It's build in the same style as Windsor Castle and hosts a diverse collection of memorabilia from the English rulers. The articles pictures about elephant hunting are heartbreaking, and there are some gruesome trofees on display.

The only thing remaining on my to do list are some museums, the first one of which is the Indian technology center. The tuktuk driver is extremely annoying, trying to sell gas coupons, taking a detour to a souvenir shop, and finally dropping me of at the wrong place, the disappointing aeronautics museum in the other side of town... When I finally arrive at the right museum, it's closed... the reason is Diwali, the festival celebrating light's victory over darkness. This is also why kids have been throwing firecrackers all day. I do manage to visit some other museums, and then it's time to go back to the hotel for my taxi to the airport. The last hurdle is one of the main roads which I have to cross. There are no lights and the dense traffic just doesn't stop. So I breathe in and start crossing the street step by step. The cars honk but steer around me, after the longest minute of my life, I arrive at the other end and can breathe again.

It's evening and the taxi is taking me over the highway to the airport. I have a great overview of Bangalore. The Diwali celebrations are in full swing and everywhere I look there're fireworks. The perfect end of an unforgettable journey.

India: Kochi

Kochi is a small Indian city of 'only' 2 million inhabitants. The most interesting is the old fort area by the hands of the Portuguese and the Dutch. The fort is reachable by bridge or ferry (recommended!). Meanwhile you can see the polluted water covered with lotus flowers, one of India's national symbols (the flower that is).

The colonists brought Christianity with them, together with some very nice churches. In one of them, the St. Francis Church, Vasco Da Gama was buried for 15 years before being shipped back to Portugal. In the water I see strange wooden constructions. These are the Chinese fishing nets, an outdated technique requiring 4 people to lift.

Taking the busy market road, I see every imaginable product being hauled to trucks while goats are watching and blocking the traffic. The road ends at the Jewish quarter, including a synagoge and shops. Unintentionally funny signs want to lure me inside to buy something, but I carry on to the Dutch Palace. Don't let its unimpressive outside fool you, inside you'll find a wealth of beautiful murals, royal clothing and photographs.

Seeing all these fancy royal outfits makes me want to have one of my own. I go to Seematti, a huge clothing store. Every level has a different price range, with the cheapest garbs at the ground floor. Being a white guy but arriving all scruffy looking, the attendants don't know what think of me. But once they hear the word 'suit', everything changes and I'm sent up to the highest (4th) floor. With eight pampering salesmen around me, I try on a wide variety of suits. Very fun, but I cannot take them all, so I settle for one, which sets me back only 80 euros.

The next day, there's a visit to the Backwaters, a series of rivers and lakes surrounded by jungle. It's an unique environment, but not very exciting...  so I'm not really sad to leave in the afternoon to catch the train while my India and yoga loving companions continue the second part on an even smaller boat.

Indian Railways is one of the biggest companies of the world. 1,4 million employees, 115,000 km of tracks and 23 million daily passengers. Today, I'm one of them.

The train is PACKED. I took a sleeper ticket, but it's nothing like the night trains in Russia or Finland. The cabins contain 6 'beds' but are open. So a lot of regular passengers are standing inside talking and laughing and giving me spicy nuts. Some can speak a little English and start the typical conversation (which is always in this order: Where are you from? What do you do for work? What did you see in India?). The train stops a lot, which is really unpleasant because of the toilet in the neighbouring car. Only when the train moves the smell of urine is bearable. A few hours later, most passengers have gotten out and it's time to sleep. One guy accidentally wakes the grumpy monk in our cabin and apologises by giving him a massage. The 'beds' are very hard benches, without any linen. But I can sleep a few hours until the train sounds it's horn for some cows blocking the track. No more sleep after this, but soon I reach my final destination, Bangalore!

India: Kumily

Wanting to escape the busy city, I search the lonely planet for some nature. The Periyar National Park catches my eye and the next day I leave early to the bus stand. In Sri Lanka some buses had English destinations, here in India everything is in Sanskrit. After asking around I finnaly find the bus to Kumily. After 6 hours with the craziest driver ever (even worse than Sri Lanka), I arrive in the middle of the misty mountains. I get settled in the nice Green View Homestay and leave for some typical tourist activities. First, elephant riding! It's only when you stand next to one you realize how big they really are! The ride is enjoyable, but I feel a bit sorry for the animals, they have to do the same thing all day. And when the handler raises it's stick you feel the fear and know it has been trained by punishment.

I go back to the city for a traditional Kathakali dance. This isn't really a dance, but more like a theatrical performance, using mostly facial expressions and hand gestures. The show is one hour and contains an introduction and a small extract. The full play would take 5 hours, an impressive physical feat! I find myself so far back from western civilsation they don't give cutlery in the restaurant. Having observed the locals, I try to eat their way: with my hands. The result is very messy and feels sooo akward! I suggest you try it next time you eat rice at home.

The next day it's time for the real deal: the Periyar Tiger Reserve. There are many formula's. This time of the year, most visitors are from India and they just take the easy boat cruise. For me, the coolest option seemed a full day safari by jeep to reach different parts of the park, but I have to catch the bus in the afternoon. So I settle for a guided nature walk. The landscape is very diverse and some of the animals we see are squirrels, boars, frogs, dragonfly, parrots, herons, monkeys. The most exciting moment is when the guide spots very fresh elephant tracks. We follow it for while, but because it's a single one, it moves too quick to reach it. There are also tiger tracks, scratch marks and poo. According to the taste, it's two days old. In the park live about 25 tigers, but the chance to see them is almost zero, even during the special two day tiger tour. Before we departed, I got special socks and some tobacco powder. This proves very useful now, because after the last overgrown forest my shoes are filled with leeches. One of them managed to pass the powder and attach itself on my hip. I only notice the wound when I get home, it keeps bleeding until the next day and then becomes very nasty :(

Link to the complete gallery.

India: Madurai

When I first set foot on the Indian tarmac, a lot of feelings rush trough my head: excitement, happiness, curiosity but also some fear of the huge country with a bad reputation. They interrogate me for 20 minutes at the passport control. Meanwhile about half the passenger's bags have been marked with chalk and have to be opened for thorough inspection. It's definitely not easy to get in the country! (My visa papers also took a lot of administration and work to get). I've to wait a bit to get my hands on some rupees, because the ATM doesn't accept my card. I can convince a taxi driver anyway to take me to my hotel and to pay him later. The lift boy shows me my room and immediately turns on the TV, probably so I won't miss the last episode of Indian 'Thuis'.

I head out to find another ATM and to explore the city. It's OVERWHELMING. There is traffic everywhere, but no sidewalks, so everybody has to walk at the edge of the road while honking tuktuks and scooters race past. You also have to evade children, beggars, food stalls, garbage, cows... total chaos! For me at least, because for the 1,5 million people living here this is all completely normal. It's really fascinating, but walking around is very tiresome: it's not only busy but also very hot and smelly. In the evening I go trough the streets which are still packed with people to get to a local restaurant. I order rice and mushroom prepared in an unknown way but it's really good! While I'm eating the owner blesses his restaurant with incense, filling the whole place with smoke. Not enough smoke, because I see the cook cleaning bowls with his sarong, revealing they don't wear pants under it!

The next day, after a horrible breakfast of spicy potato lumps, I head out for the huge Hindu Meenakshi Amman Temple. After handing over my shoes and camera, I step trough one of the four decorated entrances into another world. My mind is completely blown away. The interior, rituals, smells and sounds are all so vastly different to our western culture. Because it's impossible to capture the entire experience with words, I'll give one example: in the middle of a long but narrow hallway there's statue of Ganesh, covered with a thick white paste. It's surrounded by people, praying and dropping to the ground. Other ones are asking for favours in a different way, by throwing butter balls to Ganesh. Oh by the way, the gate to this hallway is guarded by a real elephant!

Other highlights are the central pool and the hall of a thousand pillars. After the visit, there is a tropical downpour. So I wait a bit, witnessing more crazy rituals outside the temple. I ask for an umbrella shop and end up with and umbrella, some food and tailor-made clothes. This is in an old part of the temple converted to a market where you can get insanely cheap clothes, if you bargain correctly.

Next stops are the Madurai Palace (impressive), Ghandi Museum (closed on a friday...), water reservoir (dry but huge) and more of the busy dirty city. I wade trough the deep puddles caused by the tropical rain and non-existent sewage. Then I see a cow peeing and a man spitting on the street. And another man, and another (it's a normal here), and another cow. The coin in my head drops and I realise what I'm actually standing in. I need a shower!

All the experiences (and many more like mobbing schoolchildren, fireworks and busy roundabouts) add up to an exhausting day. But back in the hotel awaits the hardest challenge: a french toilet...

Link to the complete South India gallery.

Sri Lanka: Colombo

The things I heard about Colombo were bad: too busy, too noisy, no highlights... but I find it quite refreshing. There are big offices, bank headquarters and businessmen are running around in their suits in the blazing sun. I leave my hostel and walk in my shorts trough the banking area. There is an old man who finished working and has to go the same way. He asks if I want to see the baby elephant being fed in the temple. Sure! He stops a tuktuk and off we are. The temple is free but you have to make a 'donation'. It's part temple, part museum and part baby elephant prison. I can feed the poor fella for free, but afterwards the caretaker demands a big tip.

The old man says there's a must see place further south. Reluctantly I agree. Back in the same tuktuk he tells about Colombo and his work and family. He sounds like he has plenty of time and just wants to show me some of his city. Second stop is the independance square, third is a shopping center/gallery. During every stop he makes the tuktuk driver wait. Fearing this will cost me a lot, I say I will continue on foot the next time. No no you must see this statue, and the town hall, and the museum. After the unimpressive statue I say it's been enough and will continue alone. The tuktuk driver demands 4000 rupees (25 euros) for all the waiting time which is extremely expensive! And then the old man also asks me for a big tip!

Displeased by all the greediness I continue on foot in my own pace. This give me more time to enjoy the nice Viharamahadevi park. Somebody points me to the direction of a big tree filled with big bats (flying foxes). There are even more crows in the park, and they are very aggressive. I wonder when scenes from 'The Birds' will become reality here.

The sun is setting so I hurry to 'Galle Face Green', the peer where all the locals gather every evening. They eat, talk, play and sport, all under a magical yellow glow. Sitting and enjoying the view is the perfect end to my very nice stay in Sri Lanka.

Link to the complete gallery.