Archive for the 'India' Category

Varkala was the perfect break from my madcap adventure, but afterwards I made my way up to Hyderabad to visit my buddy Andrew.  He’s working at the consulate there as a Foreign Service Officer, a job that I’m pursuing myself.  We hadn’t seen each other since Christmas, and I was really looking forward to hearing about his FSO experiences as well as what life in India was like.

Hyderabad itself is pretty modern, at least compared to the places I’d been visiting before.  Andrew had booked us on an Andhra Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (APTDC) guided tour, on the recommendations of some of his Indian coworkers.  His buddy Steve from Microsoft was tagging along as well.

Our first stop was flying to Vizag, which is a coastal “paradise” that came highly recommended.  We hired a driver to take us around for the day, and discovered that Vizag is actually a barren wasteland of fun.  The beach, described as having “peace, quiet and solitude” was actually run by a roving band of beggar children who had set up Mad Max-esque road blocks to demand rupees from anyone that passed.  The actual beach was covered in sculptures that were inside the tidal line, so they were in various states of disrepair.  The most popular one was nothing but a mermaid’s torso, lacking arms or a head.  Perfect for posing tourists.

Our hotel was also quite drab.  I should mention that at a cost of roughly $150 for each of us to go on this two day tour that my expectations were a bit high.  I’m a budget traveler by nature, so I’m usually fine with the cheapest accommodation I can find.  However, if I’m paying a higher price, I expect better levels of service.  I don’t think it’s unreasonable to be disappointed when you ask for bath towels and are handed bedsheets instead.  The Indian tourists we were with seemed to have no problems with the tour whatsoever.  I don’t think there was an expectation of service associated with the high cost, which was interesting.

Here’s a quick rundown of the rest of the tour:

• A day at Araku Valley with no activities planned, essentially meaning we had the 1-day tour but with one day tacked on.  We ended up watching 80s action flicks in our hotel room all day.
• A museum tour that took all of 10 minutes, with a strange mix of tribal and modern clothing on the mannequins.  No photography was allowed, as I imagine anyone that saw what was in store for their tourist dollars would run the other way.
• A traditional dance held in the parking lot of our hotel.
• A communist party demonstration, complete with burning of an effigy, that held up traffic on our bus for 45 minutes.
• A cave tour that actually rocked.

As silly as all of this was, it was actually a hilarious tour.  Andrew and Steve were just as incredulous as I was, so we spent the weekend laughing at the absurdity of it all.  It was one of those trips that was horrible during, but makes for a great story afterward.  I still wouldn’t wish an APTDC tour on my worst enemy though.

I’ve fallen into a trap.  I’m usually good at avoiding it, but I’m trying to see too much here in India.  I think I really underestimated just how big this country is.  Three weeks simply isn’t enough for southern India, so I’m going to have to choose my battles more wisely.  See what I can see and be happy with that.

To give you an idea, I’ve bounced from Chennai to Pondicherry, to Madurai, to Kodaikanal, to Munnar, to Varkala.  That’s a lot of bus rides and not a lot of time to see things.  But I am going to chill in Varkala for at least a few days.  More on that later.  Of those mentioned above, Munnar was far and away my favorite spot:

The whole area is a lush, verdant green.  It’s quiet and idyllic, and everywhere you look you’ll find meticulously cultivated tea plantings climbing up the sides of the hills and mountains.  They form really intricate patterns, almost like massive brain corals across entire swaths of the horizon.  It’s an incredibly lush and vibrant place.  Two of my favorite things to photograph are geometric shapes and bright colors, so Munnar was like Candy Land for me.

I stayed in a brilliant little lodge just outside the main town, and was lucky enough to eat the two best Indian meals of my life right down the road.  I’ve never had butter chicken or chicken masala like it (sorry Mo!).  And both meals only set me back 100 rupees  (~$2) apiece.  The food so far has been fantastic.  I’m surprised I like it so much since I’m an avowed carnivore, but the breadth of flavors and spices that they use for their vegetarian dishes blows away what I had back home.  I love it here.