From: FHERTZBERG@finabo.abo.fi (Fredrik Hertzberg Lit)
Subject: Back from India
Organization: Abo Akademi University, Finland
Date: Thu, 1 Oct 1992 08:06:32 GMT
X-News-Reader: VMS NEWS 1.23


  Namaste!

  As you may remember, I asked for advice regarding a trip to India earlier
this autumn, and received lots of help. Thanks: without your help my trip 
without any doubt would have been a lot more problematic!!
  We arrived in Bombay on the 10th of August. As we hadn't reserved a hotel 
room, it was extremely diffucult to find anywhere to stay. A one-legged begger
offered us a cheap (200 rs) hotelroom and we had no other choice but to accept.
It was the worst room we had in India (cockroaches, dirty beds, shit all over
the bathroom floor, etc). But olaba, the area in which it was, was extremely
exotic and interesting. We saw the Gateway of India by night and bought train
tickets to Bangalore. 
  After two days in Bombay we took the train to Bangalore (2nd class sleepers)
and had the journey of a lifetime (beggars, accidents, thefts) which took about
thirty hours (with delays). Bangalore was not a very exciting city, clean and
modern, but the night life there seems to be livelier than in many other places
in India. We stayed in Bangalore only for the night and then we went to Mysore,
one of the pearls of Southern India. We asked the rickshaw driver to take us to
Durbar Hotel; he borught us there but told us that it was very dirty ("Muslim
place - very dirty!") and then we decided to go to his commissioned hotel,
which was quite nice and cheap. 
  We stayed in Mysore for about a week, ate at the Maharadja Palace outside
town (splendid!) and took in India. Then we took the bus to Cochin/Ernakulam
(a day's trip in monsoon rain) and arrived at Cochin just before midnight. Next
day we both got sick (inluenza + fever) but still opted to stroll along the
beach in Cochin. We went to see the Chinese fishing nets, etc. Cochin was my
favourite place in the South.
  After Cochin, we decided to go down to Kovalam and rest there for a few days, 
which we did. Great seafood, lovely beaches and nice weather all the time (this
was the only place where it didn't rain at all). 
  After this we flew from Trivandrum to Madras. Madras appeared to be a good
place. From there we went to Mahabalipuram to see the beach temples. After
this, we flew to Delhi from Madras (it took only about 3 hours). In Delhi,
people appeared to be much more unfriendly than in the south. 
  We slept at Roshan Villa Guest House (very good small family hotel) and ate
nearby, at Holiday Inn. From Delhi we went to Agra and Jaipur: Taj Mahal was
the most beautiful building I've ever seen (there's nothing like it in Europe).
We went there two times, and in between to Fatahpur Sikri. The rickshaw drivers
were quite wild in Agra. In the south of Indpeople treated us very friendly: :
: they were frieldlier than almost any people I've seen ever! But in the north,
the opposite was the case. Why, I wonder?
  When we went to Jaipur by train in the morning, lots of people took their
morning shit on the rails. But we saw no women doing this! Why would that be?
Speaking of women, I thought that the Indian women are the most beautiful women
in the world! So deeply beautiful faces, lovely clothes, etc. 
  Jaipur was perhaps the most exotic place we visited. Monkeys, camels, cows,
madmen everywhere. 
  As regards the food, we often had to eat at Chinese restaurants (I wonder why
there are so many of them in India?) because the Indian food often was quite
hot! In Ernakulam, they put chili even in the morning omelette! The Indian
soft drinks are quite goos to a western taste. I particulary liked Citra and
Limca (Pepsi and Thums Up are too sweet!) 
  We usually ate at slightly expensive places (never in the street) and we
didn't get seriously ill (just a couple of diarrheas).
  Places we regretted we didn't visit are Udaipur and Varanasi. If we hadn't
had influenza, we would have gone looking for elephants in Bandipur Jungle (we
actually saw some from the bus window). 
  Thanks again for telling us to mainly visit Southern India! 

  Greetings from Over There!!
  Fredrik Hertzberg, ]bo, Finland. 




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