The Diwali national holiday over the last week slightly scuppered our plans to travel halfway across India, and having stupidly assuming the festival would not affect our travel plans (or the price/availability of hotels), we stopped in Jabalpur for a few days.
 |
| A Festive Diwali Goat |
After Anjuna we traveled (by my estimate) around 1500 km, using 3 buses and 3 trains, taking an exhausting 41 hours. While it was long and grueling in parts crossing such a distance made for some epic views. For a couple of hours we followed a wide slow flowing river; beautifully illuminated by the setting sun shinning through a thin mist caught in the river valley. On route we also met and spoke to plenty of interesting people. Those who left the biggest impression on me were a pair of young guys both doing a long journey from college towards home for the Divali holidays. One a Hindu and the other a Muslim they spoke a lot about the unity in India and how Indians love all religions and nationalities. This included Pakistani’s despite the more than difficult relationship between the two countries. However, when I asked about China I got a very different response: they described China as being an aggressive country and expressed more than distrust. Articles on China have taken up a significant percentage of every news paper we have seen so far.
Most of the past week has been in Jabalpu; an industrious city which seems to live on the back of a motorbike. Within a 5 minute walking radius I am sure there are a good 15 motorbike repair shops. While wandering through the city we passed two men dressed as women, strangely this was not our first encounter with transvestites in India. On a previous train journey we were woken up by a man walking through the train clapping at people and expecting money, most surprisingly his success rate was far higher than most other beggars I have seen. Apparently Indian superstition says that transvestites have powerful blessings and curses and hence one should hand out money on demand in order to please them.
On November 5th we celebrated Peters birthday alongside Divali but I will leave that to him.
Yesterday we went on a safari through Kanha national park in the hope of seeing a tiger. Sadly no luck there, but it was astonishingly beautiful none the less. With the help of one Captain Das we managed to book a ticket despite a million complications, which we would have failed to work through without his excellent English. On the day, accompanied by Captain Das and his wife, we drove up and down bumpy jungle trails. The landscape with open plains interspersed within dense forest made for great viewing. Small rivers climaxed in serene lakes, and the beds of hundreds of tiny streams crisscrossed everywhere (presumably these were only put to use during the monsoon).
Jamie
One of the weirdest things that's happened to me this trip occurred at the waterfall we saw on a day trip from Jabalpur. I waited for a couple to have their photo taken with the waterfall in the background and then took their position once they'd moved so I could take my own picture. Just as I got in position a group of people behind me greeted me and asked for a photo, but this was no ordinary photo... They handed me their babies one at a time and took pictures of me with them!! How weird is that!?
At the waterfall we also encountered some people offering to jump into the waterfall for a hundred rupees but no one paid to see it and we weren't willing to. We did however see some kids jump about 30 metres into a river earlier which was pretty impressive.
The 5th of november was the main day of celebration of the Diwali festival as well as my birthday and we went to see Gomaal 3, a Bollywood film released that day. It was in Hindi but we still found it hilarious. The largely slapstick comedy, fight scenes and various musical numbers sent the audience wild and we've been singing the theme tune non-stop ever since! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZLSO9Qckbc) We left the Cinema at about 8.30 and entered a battlefield. Loads of people along both sides of the street were lighting firecrackers and as we walked through the town we deafened by some of the loud bangs going off all around us. Everyone was in a cheery mood and many greeted us with "Happy Diwali!". It was great end to a wonderful birthday.
Kanha National Park was really exciting and although we didn't get to see a tiger we still had a great time. On the first night just before we turned the lights out to go to sleep we noticed a massive ant infestation in our room! I got on Johns shoulders armed with ant spray we spent a few minutes trying and failing to get rid of them all but we quickly decided to change rooms as it began to rain dead ants! The safari itself was from 6am to 11am, which meant a 4.20am wake up! We each wolfed down an omelette and some toast before getting into a jeep and making our way to the park entrance. With the jeep going at a high speed that early in the morning it was freezing and we all made use of our jumpers for the first time.
We left Kanha this morning at about 8.30 and endured another bum-numbing bus journey. Our rucksacks can't fit in the rack above our heads and there's no space for them on the floor so we had to keep them on our laps for most of the journey. It was a pretty good journey considering how long it was and how squashed we were because the seats were too small for us.
After an epic 40-odd hour journey, we finally arrived in Jabalpur, a small industrial city in northern Madhya Pradesh, where we were to spend the next few nights. To be honest there wasn't much to do here, we had 3 days till Diwali and we didn't want to move on to Kanha till after the festival. An unlimited thali put Peter out of action for a couple of days, and as a result we spent most of the time doing very little; exploring the city, visiting a museum, watching films in the hotel room. However we did make a very interesting and fun trip to the Marble Rocks, a gorge nearby through which a river runs and large amounts of marble are quarried. We spent a very enjoyable day wandering through the marble craft workshops, taking a boat trip up the river (with an exclusively hindi-speaking guide) and visiting the beautiful waterfall at the end.
For diwali, we went to see a screening of a heavily advertised and very popular film released that day, Golmaal 3. We didn't understand a word, but it was an experience never to forget. The entire audience cheered and clapped every time a character came on screen dramatically, laughed their heads off at the jokes, and went absolutely mental during the (ridiculously over the top) fight scenes. We managed to keep up with the plot till the interval half way through, but after that it was anyone's guess what the hell was going on. Leaving the cinema, as Peter said, was like stepping into a warzone. Smoke filled the streets, and deafening bangs were coming from all around. People were throwing fire crackers into the road, and motorbikes and rickshaws tried hard to avoid them. Great fun to watch, and the fireworks and explosions carried on through the night.
We travelled to kanha national park the next day, had a small incident with a large colony of ants, and took a safari the next day (thanks to the trip-saving efforts of one Captain Das). The safari was great fun, and although we didn't see a tiger, the beautiful scenery, deer, monkeys, exotic birds and guar made the trip well worthwhile. We travelled back to Jabalpur the next day.
Tomorrow we are moving on to Khajuraho, the home of some Hindu temples that apparently are not to be missed. Hope you enjoy the pictures and please leave us a comment.
On the way to Marble rocks we picked up one of the most awesome forms of transport I have ever used. The monstrous behemoth that is the three wheeled tempo. The ride was bumpy and loud, but absolutely great fun. I want one.
Although we didn't get to see a tiger in the flesh, we did get to see the next best thing. A pawprint left by the tiger only an hour or so before.
 |
| Our Safari Jeep (with Captain Das in the back) |
At the waterfall we also encountered some people offering to jump into the waterfall for a hundred rupees but no one paid to see it and we weren't willing to. We did however see some kids jump about 30 metres into a river earlier which was pretty impressive.
The 5th of november was the main day of celebration of the Diwali festival as well as my birthday and we went to see Gomaal 3, a Bollywood film released that day. It was in Hindi but we still found it hilarious. The largely slapstick comedy, fight scenes and various musical numbers sent the audience wild and we've been singing the theme tune non-stop ever since! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZLSO9Qckbc) We left the Cinema at about 8.30 and entered a battlefield. Loads of people along both sides of the street were lighting firecrackers and as we walked through the town we deafened by some of the loud bangs going off all around us. Everyone was in a cheery mood and many greeted us with "Happy Diwali!". It was great end to a wonderful birthday.
Kanha National Park was really exciting and although we didn't get to see a tiger we still had a great time. On the first night just before we turned the lights out to go to sleep we noticed a massive ant infestation in our room! I got on Johns shoulders armed with ant spray we spent a few minutes trying and failing to get rid of them all but we quickly decided to change rooms as it began to rain dead ants! The safari itself was from 6am to 11am, which meant a 4.20am wake up! We each wolfed down an omelette and some toast before getting into a jeep and making our way to the park entrance. With the jeep going at a high speed that early in the morning it was freezing and we all made use of our jumpers for the first time.
We left Kanha this morning at about 8.30 and endured another bum-numbing bus journey. Our rucksacks can't fit in the rack above our heads and there's no space for them on the floor so we had to keep them on our laps for most of the journey. It was a pretty good journey considering how long it was and how squashed we were because the seats were too small for us.
Peter
 |
| Peter With Somebody's Baby |
For diwali, we went to see a screening of a heavily advertised and very popular film released that day, Golmaal 3. We didn't understand a word, but it was an experience never to forget. The entire audience cheered and clapped every time a character came on screen dramatically, laughed their heads off at the jokes, and went absolutely mental during the (ridiculously over the top) fight scenes. We managed to keep up with the plot till the interval half way through, but after that it was anyone's guess what the hell was going on. Leaving the cinema, as Peter said, was like stepping into a warzone. Smoke filled the streets, and deafening bangs were coming from all around. People were throwing fire crackers into the road, and motorbikes and rickshaws tried hard to avoid them. Great fun to watch, and the fireworks and explosions carried on through the night.
We travelled to kanha national park the next day, had a small incident with a large colony of ants, and took a safari the next day (thanks to the trip-saving efforts of one Captain Das). The safari was great fun, and although we didn't see a tiger, the beautiful scenery, deer, monkeys, exotic birds and guar made the trip well worthwhile. We travelled back to Jabalpur the next day.
Tomorrow we are moving on to Khajuraho, the home of some Hindu temples that apparently are not to be missed. Hope you enjoy the pictures and please leave us a comment.
John
 |
| A minor infestation of ants in our room at Kanha |
 |
| The monstrous tempo |
 |
| The closest thing we got to seeing a tiger. |
I want that goat! Glad to see you having such a great time John
ReplyDeleteSounds like you are still having the trip of a lifetime. Please don't bring any of the ants back with you, but if you can fit the baby in with your luggage, I'll have it! hair is looking better, now how about a shave? xxxxx
ReplyDeleteWow! Go-go-go-golmaal... that's now going to be in my head too. Look at those ants - eek!
ReplyDeleteWe are enjoying sharing your trip with you in a virtual manner by googling the places you visit to find out all about them, but Isabel isn't so keen on the ants! That magnificent three wheeled vehicle must have been "made in the village" as they say in India - it looks more frightening than the tiger.
ReplyDeleteAway 42 days, home in 42 days. I wonder how you are marking the half way point?
ReplyDeleteHEY GUYS I'M STEALING A BABY
ReplyDelete