From Feb. 2, 2007
Some of you have been asking for pictures of Mumbai, and I wish that I had taken some pictures. Unfortunately, my camera was packed deep down in my bags that I couldn’t just take a camera out and take a shot. I now have my camera ready. The energy and spirit of the Indian people that I felt while riding would’ve probably been lost the moment I stopped, pulled out my camera, and said, “say cheese”. Not that they don’t have their own energy and spirit, but posed pictures tend to lack energy. If I see other bicyclists like me, I’ll follow them and take pictures. But I’m no ordinary bicyclist, I’m a bicyclist with 6 years worth of gear, so even other bicyclists are amazed and amused. I should say that of my two-day sample in Mumbai, people seemed more preoccupied early mornings and more outgoing in the afternoon.
The beautiful women’s dresses, the many colors and various styles are a sight to behold. I’m sure that my staring seems lecherous, but I’m really just admiring their clothes. When I take that perfect picture, I’ll post it.
Pictures from my trip to the New Delhi area
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Riding the Streets of Mumbai
As for Mumbai, the parts that I saw were mostly small, crowded streets with small shops that gave the corrugated steel feeling to them. The new construction of fancier malls, shops, schools, hospitals, and apartment buildings could possibly rival China’s fourth fastest growing city (whichever city that may be). The entire city was filled with smoke, which burned my eyes and speckled my bags with white ash. Riding in taxis on the streets of Mumbai isn’t for the faint of heart, but riding on a bicycle wasn’t nearly as scary. I’d rather be on the streets of Mumbai than on the streets of San Francisco or Los Angeles because I know that Mumbai drivers are focused on driven. Every moment is like Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, so you have to pay attention or die. Whereas, California drivers get lulled into a false sense of security, assuming that since the last 30 minutes have been uneventful, they can reach down and tie a shoe, or something just as stupid.
It’s 95 degrees with high humidity, and that’s how I like it. Everyone here is amazed that I would ride 30 miles a day and I have to say that with the load I’m carrying, 45 miles may be my limit in these mild conditions. Starting in April, it will be much hotter, so we’ll see how well I do. I now have my bike’s weight adjusted properly so that I only have a minimum of wobbling. The bicycle is a little small for me, but all the bikes in the shop were a little small. The front tire hits my foot if I turn right while my left foot is forward. Fortunately, after a few miles, you get used to mindfully peddling while turning.
Finding Arnala Beach Resort
You have to be a true adventurer to do what I’m doing. I don’t read Hindi, so street signs are of no use. I know that if I head north, I’ll reach my destination or some other destination. On my way to the small village of Manor, I didn’t get lost, but I did make a detour left because I knew that the beach was somewhere left and I wanted to see what was there. Along the 17km (11-mile) journey I saw signs for the Arnala Beach Resort (101% vegetarian). Since I’m a vegetarian, it seemed like a perfect place to stay. Having just stayed at “The Resort”, a five-star resort in the Marve/Malad area, to get my baring and ease my transition, the Arnala was a good next step. The resort had several pools, three water slides, and a two-minute walk to the beach. I’m probably the first non-local to ever visit the resort, at least that’s how I felt when they opened the front gate for me. I keep mentioning spirit and energy of the Indian people, but when you put those same people in a waterslide-playland, with teenagers “rain-dancing” to Indian-disco-fusion music under waterfalls, you could probably tap the energy to power this sub-continent. I spent several hours with them dancing under the waterfall, but at age 42, I couldn’t dance all day like the kids. Compared to the rather boring 5-star resort I was at a few days ago, I’m getting more of an Indian feeling at Arnala. The beach resort is 6 months away from completing luxury rooms, a conference area, and disco room, so I’ll have to return someday to see their improvements. Until then, bring your own toilet paper.
The food was excellent, and the people were more than friendly. In San Francisco, I would eat at Indian, Thai, Chinese, or Vietnamese restaurants every night and the food at the 5-star resort was typical of what you would find in any Indian restaurant. But, some of the food at the Arnala Beach Resort was unlike anything I’ve had in America. I wish that I had the culinary expertise to describe the traditional textures and flavors that I’ve enjoyed, but when you’re in vegetarian nirvana, sometimes it’s best to just enjoy rather than analyze. As a vegetarian, people often nicely ask me what I eat, and my first thought is that they’re culinary world must be very limited. Well, I think that I’ve added a few culinary worlds to my own palette.
The receptionist (Niyati) invited me to her parent’s house, where her mother made samosas for me, along with a milk-cashew-saffron drink. Niyati and I would’ve walked on the beach to see the sunset, but the uncle, who also worked at the resort, said that he would take me because he spoke better English. I smiled politely and said, “thank you”. The beach was nice, but his hand was cold. Actually, I’m kidding. The uncle was probably also kidding because Niyati and I ended up going to the beach the next day.
The directors of the Arnala Beach Resort came out to visit me, which is a big deal because they live quite a distance from the resort and don’t make personal visits. They turned out to be health, fitness, and bicycle enthusiasts, who cycle with group of friends 16km every day at 5:30am, rain or shine, to a dam, where they swim, and then ride back. One of the directors is a doctor, and has designed the resort to be a place where local kids can get exercise, and eat healthy while having fun. We sat for an hour and had tea, discussing tips for my trip through India, and their upcoming bicycle trip through Europe. They were impressed with my decision to drink natural (tap) water rather than mineral water. We all agreed that on a long journey, you need to build up a resistance, although, during monsoons or floods I doubt that I’ll be so cavalier since water is prone to being heavily polluted. They let me know that I could replenish my supply of protein powder at any medical store, and mentioned that I shouldn’t travel after 9:00pm, and that I shouldn’t leave anything of interest in the open. Fortunately, I brought two tents so that not only would it look like I’m not alone, but also so that I could hide my bicycle in the smaller tent.
1 Comments:
Hey Rick, glad to hear your embracing the local flora, fauna, bacteria, spirochetes, viri, and mammals. Should one of them not respond with the same degree of kindness, then the antibiotic of choice would be ciprofloxacin 500 mg. One pill at the start of backwater distress, or one pill twice a day for a week if persistent problems of that nature.
Joe
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