Europe, India: January 2003

[Preface] [Munich] [Netherlands] [Lisbon] [Delhi] [Agra] [Jodhpur] [Mumbai] [Goa] [Home] [Epilogue]

Note that the flights and trains listed here in italics do not constitute my original itinerary; rather, it reflects the trains and planes I actually managed to catch. Surprisingly enough, I made every single connection through Heathrow, although I wouldn't recommend this as a regular practice to most people, unless you enjoy sprinting through crowded departure lounges with all of your worldly possessions on your back...

Instructions: The title of each section can be clicked on to take you directly to a photo page for that destination, sans commentary; clicking on those thumbnails will take you to the full hi-res version. Links in the text will take you to either a page of thumbnails or a single photo thumbnail, which can be clicked on to see the hi-res version for those with bandwidth and/or a desire to see more detai on a given photo.

Note: For the full effect, you really need to be listening to the Soundtrack while reading this. Of course, for that you would definitely need a broadband connection. (If the link doesn't work, you can download and listen to the files individually) [Soundtrack pulled due to disk space limitations. If you want it, drop me a line.].

Preface

Munich

Getting There

1:
2:32 PM Caltrain 269 Menlo Park -
3:06 PM Millbrae

4:45 PM Depart San Francisco (SFO)
Arrive London (LHR) Terminal 3 10:30 AM +1 day Wed 1-Jan
9hr 45mn
VIRGIN ATLANTIC -- VS20

2:
1:20 PM Depart London (LHR) Terminal 1
Arrive Munich (MUC) 4:10 PM Thu 2-Jan
1hr 50mn
British Airways British Airways 952

Travelogue

Unfortunately, we (Johannes, Marion, and myself) were all sick while I was there, so the next day we just went for a short walk along the Isar, and visited the Deutsches Museum - an incredibly huge science and technology museum on an island in the middle of the river. (Since we're all current or former physicists, this was, in fact, fun.)

The third day Marion and I took a tram to Schloss Nymphenburg, a lovely little castle with its own waterways (complete with swans and nice stone bridges. Unfortunately, as this sign pointed out, there is no cross-country skiing allowed.

Lest any of you think I'm losing my touch in photographing silly, shocking, or simply entertaining things, I'll leave Munich with three images: a handy landmark by which one can find Marion and Johannes' apartment, a lovely accessory to anyone's bathroom, and a widely-advertised magazine cover that oppeared all over Munich. Prost!

Netherlands

Getting There

6:
11:35 AM Depart Munich (MUC)
Arrive London (LHR) Terminal 1 12:45 PM Mon 6-Jan
2hr 10mn
British Airways British Airways 949

2:15 PM Depart London (LHR) Terminal 1
Arrive Amsterdam (AMS) 4:25 PM Mon 6-Jan
1hr 10mn
bmi british midland bmi british midland 109

Time   Station      Track   Direction           Train number                     
18:10  Schiphol     2       Hilversum           Stoptrein 5765           
18:23  Duivendrecht 1                          
18:29  Duivendrecht 8       Utrecht Centraal    Intercity 3067           
19:41  Nijmegen     1b 

Travelogue

Actually, I was staying with three: Karin, Odin, and Pippa, their recently-acquired (and very endearing) dog. Lent appears to be a town that's very friendly to dogs; for example, there is even a designated area for dogs to, er, do their business. After escorting Pippa to her rest stop, we went for a walk along the dike. A very, very cold walk. Did I mention that I chose to travel during the worst winter in Europe in 25 years (and, later, the worst one in India in 40...)? With only carry-on luggage? This should go some way towards explaining why I appear to be wearing the same outfit in every single photo... In any case, towards the end of our walk, I discovered that dogs were not the only beloved animals in Lent. Small farmers keep pigs, geese, chickens, and... ostriches???

The next day, we visited s'Hertogenbosch (pronounce that! OK, everyone calls it Den Bosch. I just wanted to see you try.) Where we took a city tour. Or, rather, got really lost on the city tour. Still, there were some pretty canals along the way. Once we were sufficiently frozen, we stopped off for lunch - and, more importantly, dessert, which consisted of whipped cream, inside a pastry, covered in chocolate. MMMMMMMM! While still on a sugar high, we visited the cathedral next door, which had a rather ghoulish Christmas Pageant display (try the full-res version for a better look at the Night of the Living Dead extras that represented Mary, Joseph, and Jesus), but a lovely stained glass window representing the Lady and the Dragon. (No, I don't know what the legend is, either. It just looked nice.) On the way back to Lent, we had a very nice sunset to greet us once we reached home.

The last full day I was in Lent, we biked over to Nijmegen, which had parts that were still under water from the recent rains, including this roundabout. We had a nice lunch at a cleverly named cafe that is called, roughly, "y'know" - so that one can propose going there by saying, "Hey, let's go to that place, y'know?" OK, it's a little cheesy. Moving on, we also checked out the cathedral; apparently at some point they ran out of stone and built the rest of this gothic-style building with... bricks?

Oh, right, culture. Well, if there's two things I like the most about the Netherlands, it would be the fact that chocolate sprinkles are an accepted topping on bread for breakfast, and that everyone bikes everywhere. My own personal rented conveyance can be seen here, in a photo I call "rebel without a motor." It appears that there are plenty of cat lovers here, too - one owner has built a ladder for their cats to be able to get in and out pretty similar to the one I've got rigged up outside my apartment.

Lisbon [Castelo] [Elevador] [Hotel] [Humor] [Mosteiro] [Night] [Streets]

Getting There

10:
Time   Station          Track   Direction       Train number                     
10:45  Nijmegen Lent            Arnhem          Stoptrein 7633           
10:59  Arnhem           4a/b                          
11:08  Arnhem           7a/b    Ede-Wageningen  Intercity 3034           
12:03  Duivendrecht     5                          
12:10  Duivendrecht     4       Schiphol        Stoptrein 5736           
12:22  Schiphol         5 
 
1:45 PM Depart Amsterdam (AMS)
Arrive London (LHR) Terminal 1 2:00 PM Fri 10-Jan
1hr 15mn
bmi british midland bmi british midland 104

3:25 PM Depart London (LHR) Terminal 1
Arrive Lisbon (LIS) 5:55 PM Fri 10-Jan
2hr 30mn
British Airways British Airways 502

Travelogue

On our first day out, we took a trip up the Elevador de Santa Justia, which offered spectacular views of the Plaza of Dom Pedro IV (which looks even better at night), the Castelo de Sao Jorge (ditto), and the ruined Convento do Carmo, destroyed in the 1755 earthquake. The statue in the Plaza, supposedly of Dom Pedro IV, is rumored to actually be of Maximilian, emperor of Mexico. The statue was on its way to Mexico from Paris when news of his assassination reached Lisbon, where the statue was dumped. Perhaps this explains why the statue is placed sufficiently high as to obscure its features...

The highlight of Lisbon was the aforementioned Castelo, which featured intrepid animals [1] [2], modernist statues [1] [2] , an impressive panorama of Lisbon from different angles [1] [2], gun emplacements and other good places to spy on someone [1] [2] [3] (to pacify the population?), stairways to nowhere, including a large number without guardrails (which indicated to us that the lawyer density in Lisbon must be very low - we only saw one warning sign the entire time at the castle.)

The next day, I ventured out to the Monastery of Sao Vincente de Fora, which features a collection of blue-painted tiled panels frequently seen around Lisbon; these particular scenes featured the morality fables of La Fontaine. A number of graves in the monastery were decorated with elegant marble figures, some poignant, others more blunt. The views from the rooftop [1] [2] [3] were excellent, as were the views of the underground [water supply]. The church next door has a beautiful [facade , but not much inside of interest other than nice [ambient lighting.

Wandering the streets of Lisbon [1] [2] [3] is quite pleasant; the wandering cobblestone streets and stairways offer glimpses of ordinary life, although a few of the streets were in somewhat dubious repair. I took a tram ride to the end of the line and back again, taking snaphots out the window along the way (ah, mobile tourism...); the narrowness of some of the tram routes was impressive. No wonder the Smart Car is so popular here; any wider, and trams would regularly take off your side mirrors.

Everywhere we went, we were met by smiles, from the proprietor of a glocalized restaurant, to its local competitors. Even building sites had wide smiles, although the widest smile of all could be seen at the Military Museum. The lack of English on signs did not keep certain messages from getting across, although this sign seemed to indicate that it was necessary to be stoned to access the building site.

Delhi [Purana Qila] [Qutb Minar] [Lodi Garden] [Old Delhi] [Streets]

Getting There

I arrived at India Gandhi International Airport at 1:30 AM. At least, I think I arrived there - the fog was so thick that the pilot couldn't see the runway lights. No, really. A special car had to drive out to guide us in.

Note to readers: try to avoid sitting next to fat [Indian, but I suppose it doesn't actually matter what nationality they are] men on a plane. They seem to feel it is their right to take up not only the entire armrest, but also some additional space, with their elbows. Perhaps it was because I bumped his wide (who thought the "C" seat was the window) to the aisle [I have become a recent convert to sitting in aisle seats rather than windows during long trips as a result of this experience, since he could never be raised from his slumber so I could get to the bathroom]. Well, maybe I gave him my cold in retribution. Hah! At least he didn't keep me from watching my cartoons on the flight. Note to fellow travelers: lots of short episodes pass the time more quickly than movies, since you don't have time to get bored.

In any case - after sneaking two bottles of wine through customs and locating my bag (removed from the conveyor and placed a considerable distance away), at last I emerged to be met by Karthika + co. (Sabyasachi and Sharmila, apparently bribed by one of said bottles of wine to accompany K. to the airport)

14:
2:05 PM Depart Lisbon (LIS)
Arrive London (LHR) Terminal 1 4:45 PM Tue 14-Jan
2hr 40mn
British Airways British Airways 497

15/16:
11:30 AM Depart London (LHR) Terminal 4
Arrive Delhi (DEL) Terminal 2 1:25 AM +1 day Wed 15-Jan
8hr 25mn
British Airways British Airways 143

Travelogue

On Day One, we visited Purana Qila, which is the Old Fort, built before the Mughals came. We watched the newest 'diaspora flick', Hollywood/Bollywood, which was surprisingly fun. Day Two was spent mainly in South Delhi--we went to the Qutb Minar [Featuring the Iron Pillar, a 1600-year-old pure iron pillar with an inscription on it that has to win the award for worst run-on sentence ever] , then to JNU [Jawaharlal Nehru University, a graduate-only institution] where I showed him my old haunts, and to the Lodhi tombs. On Day Three we hired a cab, and with two of my friends, went off to visit the official monuments of Delhi, which of course turned out to be quite lame. The Gandhi Museum was tellingly hard to find and once inside, tacky and uninspiring. The Red Fort is closed to visitors (there was an attack on it over a year ago, and my nation loves to bolt the stables that horses have deserted) but Alex managed one good shot of a man in fatigues standing on a historic gate as we drove past. India Gate was shrouded in fog even in the middle of the afternoon so we went to the National Museum instead (and I made sure to steer Alex to the less muddled and dingy rooms).

Driving Me Crazy: Driving (and parking) in Delhi is an art, not a science. The horn is to be used only in the following circumstances: when passing, when turning, when alerting a pedestrian, when alerting a car or bus, when alerting a cow, to express anger, pleasure, or boredom, or general frustration, when idling, when racing, when someone is cutting you off, when you are cutting someone off, when someone is driving too fast or slow, or when you just feel like it.

The roads are shared by lorries [trucks], buses, cars, autorickshaws (otherwise known - in Thailand - as tuk-tuks), bikes, bike rickshaws and (of course) cows. Rearview mirrors, when they exist, tend to be bent for passing or parking. but who cares what's behind you, anyway? [Some of the stoplights in Delhi actually have "Relax" painted on them - which clearly hasn't helped]

New Delhi's streets were refreshingly broad, although an obscene number of roundabouts pepper the streets. The Bangkok jams were nowhere to be seen...until we got to Old Delhi, where we spent a good half hour waiting to go about two blocks on our way to the see the Red Fort. Which, of course, was closed.

Like elsewhere, The Man (read: US cultural imperialism) was present, in fog-shrouded shopping malls, in the cafe at JNU, and even in the Lodi Garden. Local scams, er, businesses do pretty well, too - for example, you can invest in the UCO Diamond Deposit Scheme, or Improve Your Personality. (No, it's not the Scientologists, thankfully...)

Agra [Fatehpur Sikri [Palace] [Mosque] [Gulistan]] [Taj] [Station]

Getting There

19: 
0600 New Delhi station
Train 2002 Bhopal Shatabdi ($8)
0800 Agra Cantonment

Travelogue

Our trip to the Taj has confirmed that Agraphobia is a likely affliction for tourists. It didn't help that we landed there in the middle of the coldest winter in North India for centuries. The cold didn't, however, keep the touts and taxidrivers away, just made them more determined to exploit the hardier tourists. Of course, the Taj was as beautiful as ever (in spite of the completely unaesthetic scaffolding they had put up). [There's little I can add here to express exactly how impressive the Taj Mahal is that hasn't already been said elsewhere. The photos speak for themselves.]

[Well, except for this one. You didn't expect me to leave Agra without at least one photo like this, did you?]

On a Night Train: We called the hotel in Jodhpur. We called parents. We even called the hotel in Goa. (OK, Karthika called, not me...)

We forgot to call the train station.

Initially two hours late, we went in search of tea. Which they didn't sell in the [train station] restaurant. (This is like a diner having no coffee). Then the train was four hours late. So we looked into getting a bus. And instead of being taken to the bus station, were taken to a travel agency. [Gotta love touts...] Who said the last bus left three hours ago. [Later, K told me of a horror story in which a friend of hers was on a bus that broke down en route and was eight hours late. Which she failed to mention before we looked into getting the bus...] So we went to a restaurant listed in Lonely Planet. Which was closed. Then we took a [bike] rickshaw [keep in mind that we have ALL our luggage with us at this point. Poor guy...] to another restaurant. [You must all go to this restaurant - Dasaprakash - if you are ever in Agra. Apart from the fact that the food was decent and in large quantities, they are open late, and were very helpful with trying to contact the station. So go patronize them. Karthika tells me that it's a part of a chain of South Indian food joints.] We tried to call the train station, but they appeared to have left the phone off the hook. Back to the train station, where the autorickshaw driver argued he should be paid more than the already inflated price [to take us from the restaurant to the station]. Still four hours late. To the restaurant, which only had rice and yogurt that we could eat. [We ordered it anyway, since that was the only way we could sit there. In our expense log, this is listed as "sitting - 30 rupees"] To the departure lounge, dominated by a group of Koreans who we convinced [intimidated, really - there are advantages to being an American who is relatively tall for this country] to give up two seats. The fog rolled in. The train was six hours late. It got colder. And colder. And colder. And foggier. You couldn't see 15 feet. [No, really. See the photos.]

The train finally came. My head hit the pillow at 2 AM - six hours after it was supposed to have left.

Jodhpur [Hotel] [Meherangarh] [Humor]

Getting There

1.The train is: A.2 hours late; B.4 hours late; C.6 hours late
2.Because of: A.Fog B.Cows C.Freight trains.
3.Seats are: A.Assigned B.Assigned and checked via Internet C.Not Assigned
4.Reports of lateness are: A.Correct B.Incorrect C.Vary according to source.
5.Food is: A.Brought to you B.In a separate car
6.And tastes: A.Delicious B.Awful
7.Electric plugs: A.Available B.Not Available
8.Air conditioning: A.Available B.Not Available
9.Waiting room: A.Stinky B.Smoky C.Filled with Koreans

Answers:
USA 1.B 2.C 3.C 4.C 5.B 6.B 7.A 8.A 9.A,B
India 1.C 2.A 3.B 4.C 5.A 6.A 7.A 8.A 9.A,B,C

19:
1950 Agra Fort Station
Train 2307 Howrah Jodhpur Express ($23)
1015 Jodhpur Junction (20th)

Travelogue

We took yet another three-wheeler to the Fort (this one was much more lavishly decorated than the ones in Delhi or Agra). Of particular note in the Fort:

1. The 90-degree turn just before the main iron doors, which have spikes - this is to prevent elephants from battering down the door
2. The handprints of 15 wives of one of the kings before they threw themselves on his funeral pyre. So much for liberation...
3. The Royal Hookah
4. A disturbingly robot-like figure of a goddess.
5. An excessively decorated cannon (compare with the one in Lisbon)
6. The brilliantly decorated and lit rooms of the palace: [1] [2] [3] [4]
7. Karthika taking aim at the aforementioned overrated palace (in background)
8. Outside the fort, the memorial to Maharaja Jaswant Singh II - used primarily as a bird house these days.

• The Generic Bar
• The Victim of Globalization (note the ISO 9002 stamp)
• The Bird's Nests in the Palace and a Streetlamp
• The Wild Boars - just outside the Wild Boar exhibit at the zoo...
• The Silence Zone
• The Trademark Ripoff

Mumbai

Getting There

23:
0820 Jodhpur airport
IC 7471 Indian Airlines flight to Mumbai
1040 Mumbai

Travelogue

Everyday Stuff: Just a few thoughts about everyday things that one might forget:

Beds. Foam mattresses (3" thick) on a wooden bed frame. An unfitted sheet goes on top; either a blanket (most places in the North) or a sheet for covers. Not noticeably less comfy than regular [read: US] beds, but when you wake up a few times every night... [side note: Two things usually give me strange dreams: being too hot, and travel. On this trip, I was also on Larium, which is well known to cause strange dreams. I had some doozies in India...]

Toilets. Many places have both 'Western' and 'Indian' style toilets. Although some claim the latter are more hygenic, you wouldn't know by looking at them, especially on a train. [The reader has been spared graphic proof of this, since I never got around to taking a photo. A collective sigh of relief is heard from the audience.] Fortunately, the author never had to use one, as his bouts with bad drinks occurred sufficiently close to the hotel. Note to others: Never drink Royal Challenge, and never order the "House Special" drink [as long as they can't identify what's in it any better than "alcohol and fruit."] My sense of living (as one of Karthika's relatives put it) in the "turd world" was greatly enhanced by the impromptu places people chose to do their business (especially in cities)

Bathing. Showers include faucets near the floor, with buckets and large cups for ladling out water. Toilets included occasionally spray handles on the end of flexible tubing. Most people eat with only one hand (the right). Beyond that, I really just don't want to know.

Goa [Train] [Day] [Evening] [Night]

Getting There

24: 
0535 Lokmanya Tilak Terminal (Kurla)
Train 2051 Jan Shatabdi ($16)
1330 Madgaon

Travelogue

1. Day:
   • Walk along the beach.
   • Lounge about around the pool
   • Lounge around in front of a beach bar, watching people parasailing.
   • Look and act colonial.
2. Evening: Go play in the surf, watch a magnificent sunset.
3. Night: Go eat and drink at Domnick's (a faux Singapore Sling for Karthika, a "Goa with Love" for me - coconut and whiskey, apparently. Rather tasty), pet cat.

Culture? What culture? I'm on vacation. =)

Home

Getting There

27:
0725 Vasco Da Gama Airport
Indian Airlines Flight IC 866 to Delhi ($245)
1030 Delhi airport

28:
3:25 AM Depart Delhi (DEL) Terminal 2
Arrive London (LHR) Terminal 4 7:50 AM Tue 28-Jan
9hr 55mn
British Airways British Airways 142

11:00 AM Depart London (LHR) Terminal 3
Arrive San Francisco (SFO) 2:05 PM Tue 28-Jan
11hr 5mn
VIRGIN ATLANTIC -- VS19

2:55 PM Caltrain 64 Millbrae -
3:27 PM Menlo Park

Travelogue

Epilogue