Flood Havoc in Brisbane

As we were looking at the tip of India in Kumarakom, the Hindu's newspaper first page, a leading national paper, was not re-assuring. This house, pictured on the front page, looked very familiar and resembles a lot the houses in my street.

We checked our mobile text messages, anxious to find a text from our neighbours about an 'emergency situation' for our house as well.

Fortunately, when we arrived in Brisbane (on the 20th),
(1) we could reach our house form the airport easily - that being the first concern, and
(2) the house was standing proud, not even a leak in the roof.

We knew the risk was not so high in the area we were living in since we are 'on the hills'. Nevertheless some people in Chapel Hill did get flooded, and many school friends families of the children from Fig Tree Pocket area got evacuated, some hosted in school grounds.

As a result some schools had to open their door a bit later for the first day of school normally this week. Oscar's friend (Liam) parents, in Kenmore, said they were stranded in their house like on an island for two days, surrounded by water and no electricity to communicate with anyone, not knowing 'for how long'. Family members would find themselves 'struck' in other parts of town, not being able to reach back home, having to rely on friends or else to host them for the night.

One neighbour said jokingly they had been happy to 'steel' (:) our cucumbers in the garden, because at one stage, they were afraid they would not get access to fresh food easily. Some fights over 'who takes too many loaves of bread' had erupted in the local Kenmore Plaza supermarket, and as a result, the supermarket was closed. Large queues were seen in petrol stations as some people started to panic and there was fear that trucks would not be able to reach supermarkets.

Fortunately, it did not last very long, and there are also lots of stories of bravery in the papers.

It was only two week ago, and already people do not talk about it, it is 'just what happens', and every one moves on.

Australian have seen it before. This flash flooding occurrence happens every forty years (see news archives).

As for us, we were so lucky we were in India during that time!

Kollam - Kovalam - Trivandrum

17th of January 2011

HOTEL IN KOLLAM: Valiyavila Homestay

This is ‘in my opinion’ the most beautiful room and accommodation we had so far, and surely not the most expensive ... but yes, very hard to reach. The Homestay is located at the tip of an Island and from our rooms (I reckon we got the best rooms in the hotel), we have a 270C view over the backwaters, hammocks in front of the private patios’ dining areas, wooden furniture set out nicely in mega spacious rooms. The two rooms are interconnected by a bathroom in the middle with a French Bidet (I don’t remember last time I saw one!). The hotel also features a huge 20m or so statue of liberty – Indian statue of liberty because she displays very generous rounded breasts like you can often see on temple carvings L

At 2.00pm, we reached the DTPV Official Kerala Tourism Tour to have a comment on the backwaters village life. It was highly instructive. We saw coconut oil processing, coconut fibre processing and Oscar even had a go at ‘wheeling’ Ghandi’s way! Paul and I were the only ones risking the chai tea in a local Dhaba, well, we are not sick! and we were rewarded by the owner showing us how to chew betel leaves – though we did not chew them. 

We also bought some red bananas – the best ever !!!! I call them ‘superior variety’ one thousand times over the Qld lady fingers even! The children were able to drink the juice of fresh coconut and made a spoon out of the coconut to extract some of the fresh pulp after drinking.

We also saw fish farms, prawn farms, and paddy fields. The people there seem to live very self sufficiently. They all seem to own a few chicken, ducks, goats and small cows.

In that tour, we met an incredible woman from New Zealand who had covered 700kms on her bike from Chennai, with peaks of up to 97kms per day. She explained you have to understand the strict traffic rules. She could boast about - in her blog crazyguysonabike.com - overtaking an elephant with her bike. She said she now felt safer on her bike in India than in Auckland. Hum...

I am now writing this blog from the best ever possible setting, on a little table (with a beautiful tablecloth) in front of my magnificent room overlooking the Statue of Liberty of Valiyavila Homestay, listening to the gentle water movements (backwaters) with stunning coconut sceneries all around; Oscar is fishing out of a little wooden fishing rod that a taxi driver who was standing in front of the hotel made for him out of a hook he happened to have in his glove compartment !!! Paul is reading his ebook and quick, food is coming for lunch, we are leaving in 30ms for Trivandrum/Kovalam – last stop!

Kovalam Beach - Beach Hotel II

18th of January 2011

What a nice surprise !
As we were walking on the beach with our bags in order to find our hotel, Josie said : 'Maman, thank you, thank you for taking me to this place !'
Kovalam Beach had changed a lot over the years. 

Last time I stopped over here was 'on my way to migrate to Australia, some 18 years ago, or so' - it was my stop over between France and Australia, just like on this occasion. Many new hotels had sprung, it is not so much a backpacking hangout anymore The clientele is more mixed, Indian and Westerners all enjoying the place's natural beauty.
Beach Hotel II is a winner, right on the beach, 50 m from the lighthouse walk, sea views, very tastefully furbished, and a cafe-restaurant on a terrace overlooking the Arabian Sea.

Breakfasts to die for included in the bill - Indian and western style - whatever you feel like !

We knew it was our last stop, so we gave some pocket money to the kids to do their shopping - no more bags to carry along in crowded railway stations, and plenty of luggage allowance since we totalled 35k for 4 people so far.
I almost fell for a nice rock sculpture, but did not succumb. Paul liked it too, but it was quite a bit of money still. 

We got some cotton spreads for the children beds at home, Oscar got some little bronze Ganesh for his mates (God of prosperity and knowledge that all taxi drivers seem to display on their dashboard); Josie had a shirt made up for her and had a henna pattern on her hand.
We indulged in sumptuous final seafood meals - fish in Malabar sauce, fish tikkas (Paul & I), calamari (Oscar). You could chose your fish on the restaurant's terrace and say how you want it to be cooked.

I had a final ajurvedic massage before the dreadful plane journey to come, and I delighted in the nice fragrances coming out of the massage oil.

Paul had a splash in the Arabian Sea (or Oman Sea) with Oscar. They were careful of the drifts. The beach was patrolled.

It was a terrific way to end the trip in such a beautiful and relatively relaxing setting. We knew though, this was not 'really' India anymore, or maybe it was a taste of 'some hybrid tourism' in the making in India. We loved it anyway.

We struck a deal with the hotel manager so that we could stay until 8.00pm in the room until the taxi could take us to the Trivandrum airport since the temperature here was quite high, and so that we could have a final refresh.

After that : Trivandrum/Singapore (4 hours flight) - 12 hours in SIN (yes, a bad connection but a cheap ticket) - Singapore/Darwin (another 4 hours) - 2 hours connection (good because the plane was delayed by 40mns) - Darwin/Brisbane (3.5 hours)

Kottayam - Kumarakom - Allepey - Houseboat cruise

14th of January 2011

I am now sitting in the train from Kanya to Kottayam where we should be met by a taxi around 4.30pm to take us to our houseboat. Tonight should be candle lit dinner – plenty of mosquito repellent, don’t worry! It is a shame I booked in AC2 (Air Con) wagon because as a result, we have dirty and heavily tinted windows which preclude us from properly enjoying the breath-taking Kerala landscapes we are passing through and we had to get our fleece jackets from our bags to sustain the cold despite perfectly pleasant temperatures outside. On the plus side, we are getting more space on the benches (2 people as opposed to 4 people in the non AC class). Here the vegetation is even lusher and we are passing very rich coconut fields, rice fields, backwaters landscapes.

Our train was delayed by 45 mns. Fortunately the people who were supposed to pick us up had waited patiently and I was surprised when two guys approached me from the crowd with no sign, nor any other indication they were form the tourism industry, calling out my first name.

We followed them with our luggage and they took us in a brand new Renault car (with transparent plastic covers sticking to our skin) to the boarding point. I have to admit I did not feel so comfortable in since it shortly became unbreathable inside. I opened my window but they did not open theirs in the front. Mid-way, they asked Paul if he would like to stop for beer. We both found that odd, but worked out later that it was probably for the houseboat on board consumption as the houseboat may not have been licensed for alcohol. Paul said: "no, just take us straight to the boat".

15^th of January – Houseboating in KUMAKARAKOM

The houseboat was looking great, beyond expectation. 

All made of local products: coconut tree wood, ropes and mats made from coconut fibre. You can eat local grilled fish on board, and you are looked after by three local crew members who had equal responsibility in the running of the boat – as they told us at the beginning. We were first greeted by freshly fried bananas – the kids loved it, and so did I – accompanied by drinks. Then, we moved towards the middle of the lake – it was already getting dark, and we moored the boat along a small islet with two other boats moored there for the night.

The dinner was served in a glass protected area – if you wanted to. We chose that option for fear of mosquitoes that first night. The food was sumptuous, and given the immaculate state of the kitchen, we did not have any second thoughts about ‘eating everything heartedly’ – we did not leave one crumb!

The bedrooms were very cute, and inviting. I asked one crew member if I could open the windows and put the mosquito net for the night instead of the A/C. He said ‘the A/C is better’, so I complied. I was not convinced the mosquitoes were that much of a problem there because I did not notice any on the deck that evening.

After two or three hours, I realised we were about to choke in there, it was terribly hot, the A/C was not working properly at all, so I decided to stop it and open the windows. I put the mosquito net on the bed as Paul is very worried about mosquitoes, then I attended to the children. In the early morning, Paul was finally convinced we could take the net out, and that was the best part of ‘lazing around’ as a gentle breeze entered the room and we could still admire the calm and peacefulness of the lake waters and waterlilies from our bedroom window.

We shared a traditional Keralan breakfast with Geetha & Gopan families. This was a very special and private moment. They came with generous and mindful presents. They stayed with us until 11h30am, it was sad to see them leave the boat but Geetha’s husband said we should come to his home next time. We took heaps of photos to share with Gopan who was overseas. These few hours were for me the very highlight of the whole trip.

Then we continued along the river towards Allepey and were dropped in front of the Green Palms Homes Guesthouse I had booked for that night around 4.00pm.

This was indeed a very special venture. The guesthouse was a separate building from a Backwater Villager’s home to host travellers in a very eco-friendly and minimalist way. We embarked almost immediately in a guided tour with Matthew (Thomas’ brother – ref Lonely Planet India), a very erudite man himself as well. He taught us about the ecology of his area, as we walked through the canals, backwater houses and paddy fields. He also told us how successful Kerala had been with religious discrimination issues, and he explained that by the ‘above average degree of literacy in that particular state’ – people who ‘think twice’. He said uneducated people were ‘easily manipulated by politician’. He explained the intricate symbolism of the local Christian Syrian church where the lotus flower was mixed with the cross, etc – showing how the faiths had interestingly somehow intertwined over the millennia. We were also taught about the ‘mud diggers’, previously known as arajans (untouchables) and how they had to construct their own Christian church in the middle of the paddy fields so that they would not mix with higher cast gents and ladies. He explained that the cast system was not current anymore in states like Kerala, that it was more a thing of the North, like Bihar etc.

We saw some Bihar nomadic people fishing with small handmade (palm leaves) round shaped boats of approximately 1 meter diameter.

The last part of the tour saw us boarding small wooden canoes that every household in the backwater seem to have moored in front of their house (like we do with our cars) and Matthew sang three traditional songs that could be heard during his childhood years along the river. Then the children sang a song as well, and the finale was a song from a old Austrian couple !!! .. very very pleasant and picturesque moment indeed.

We enjoyed the evening meal around a round table with a Norwegian family of four (they must have the same school holidays as us) and a young Chinese couple working in Pune who were here for the week end. The Norwegian woman said they had chosen to come to India because she had been there and had a great time when she was in the middle of doing medical school as a young student. She said she ‘at the time’ had to be evacuated by emergency plane back home as she had suffered severe dehydration. She said she had waited for too long to address the problem, because she wanted to stay in India ‘with her boyfriend she loved so much’ – girls !!! She seems not to have lost her sense of adventure because she had just spent one month as a Médecins sans Frontieres in Haiti this year.

The young and outgoing Chinese guy was a sales person for a Chinese Vehicle manufacturer and he engaged in conversation with me ... IN FRENCH !!! He had spent 10 years in France studying and working there for the same company. He missed Paris. His fiancée had come from China to visit him for one month, so he was taking her around for the week end. He said ‘the hardest place to visit had been Varanasi’, and that it was ‘no place to take children there', and 'if you can travel there, you can travel anywhere'.

In the morning, he was struck with fever and diarrhoea, so his fiancée (who could not speak much French neither English) came to fetch some help from us all and Paul had to mime how to take the ‘blokker’ ... that it : take two capsules, then after ‘miming passing a stool’ (well this was serious matter J) take another one, then another one after the next stool. The Medecin sans frontiers woman gave her some antibiotics if he wished to as ‘she was not an antibiotics doctor’ (her own words), only in case of emergency.

Paul had a bird walking tour with Matthew in the morning.

16^th of January – KOLLAM

After breakfast, we rented some wooden canoes from the hotel and paddled around the backwaters and paddy fields. The canoe was a bit wobbly, so the children were soon fed up with it. We finally moored the boat and they could easily make their way home walking !!:))) An escape from the parents is always a good plan, for some reasons... Then Oscar made up a fishing rode out of a multi branched stick and a large handkerchief. He put bits off an old muesli bar he had been given in the plane as part of the kids meal, to attract fishes along the canal.

Philip, Matthew's brother in law, said he would never have accepted our booking if he had known we would stay so little time. He explained kindly how he was doing this job as a hobby, as he was also a ‘financial adviser in London’ where he spent 7 months of the year, and the remaining months here with his family, wife and two children who would come to see him during the holiday in England – the best of both world he had managed, I suppose. He was very nice to talk to. I could sense how frustrating these kinds of encounters could be for him. One day is not long enough to make real connection. I found this tourism venture very interesting. It was run in an eco-friendly way by a family of gifted young men (and women I should say, because the mum was cooking the three meals every day), who were perfectly able to act as a ‘bridge between cultures’.

We left the place with the regret of not having spent more time there.

Matthew organised for a taxi to take us to Kollam, our next stop for the night. We first had to put our luggages on a small wooden boat to leave the backwater island where Green Palms Homes house was located, and the taxi was waiting for us on the other side. It was a small Tata car. The driver was very skilled and even managed to find our hotel in Kollam after having ‘again’ to cross a river, putting the car on a barge --- the joys of the backwaters! but I felt a bit nauseous in the car, I feel more comfortable in the old fashion ‘Ambassador’ car with no A/C.

Kanyakumari

13^th of January 2011

Today, our taxi came at 9.00am on the dot, in front of our Madurai Hotel to drive us to Kanya. We stopped on the way to a dhaba to have a chai tea. A guy was wearing a tee-shirt which said ‘Nothing is illegal until you get caught’, Josie pointed him out to me. The driver was very good, he managed to avoid a 4WD driving in the opposite direction on our side of the 4 lanes (2 on each side) highway.

Getting out of Madurai was a bit of sportive driving but after that, it was a highway all the way. We saw rice fields after a while, then kms and kms of wind mills, some with two, some with three blades. They seemed to catch the wind OK, maybe due to some mountains on one side channelling the wind ???

We arrived at the Seaview Hotel around 1.00 pm. We were happy to find that our double-connected bedroom had a view on the very tip of India, so no need to get outside for the sunrise tomorrow morning. The bathroom was not very cleaned although all made of marble, and the bedroom was a bit stuffy.  The AC rooms are best avoided in the winter as the air is very pleasant outside. The downstairs restaurant was excellent though, so we enjoyed a nice Malabar fish curry in the evening and we even risked ice cream for the kids for desert.

For lunch, we decided to be more adventurous and had a tali at a more local restaurant recommended in the Guide du routard. We were taken in a stuffy adjacent room, but we asked to be in the main room with everyone. We ate in the company of a dozen of school boys hungry for their tali.

In the afternoon, there was plenty of time to visit the Fishermen Village. The village is being reconstructed after the 2005 Tsunami, and is not shy with paint colours, fishing boats and houses alike.  We visited a Christian church. There were no chairs inside, so you had to pray really humbly, and I rested there with Josie. Then, we walked at the end of the jetty, and further proceeded to visit the memorial of Vivekananda on an islet 40m from the shore. We were taken in a very crowded boat as this was a very popular place to visit for Indian tourists who wish to pay homage to the first century (or so) poet Thiruvalluvar. There is a meditation room where the Ohm sign is lit/displayed in red.  This is probably as far off the tip of India you can get at that point.

In the distance we could see the fishermen going even further, probably trying to catch what could end up as our ‘Malabar fish curry’.

After that, we made our way to the Gandhi Memorial. It was completely empty. Gandhi chose for his ashes to be scattered in that very place where 3 seas meet: the Indian Ocean, the Bengal Sea, and the Arabian sea (or Oman sea). In the same fashion this mausoleum has been designed by three architectural influence : Christian, Muslim and Hindhu. 

Finally we made our way back to our hotel, missing the Kumari Amman Temple, so no ‘celibacy vow’ for me, I am afraid! ...

A very large tourist market goes along the holy coast. This is definitely designed for Indian tourists, you find a lot of colourful godly trinkets, frilly dresses for little girls, plastic baseball bats for boys, pink sugar candy sellers, horse rides.

14^th of January

This morning, we saw a picture of Brisbane flooded in the Hindu News . Paul texted Bill to let him know he could use our house if his was flooded as he lives in a more at risk area, but Bill said although it was a big mess, his house was ok.

Madurai

11^th of January

At 9.00pm, our taxi arrived to take us to the 35 km /1 hour / 800 Inr journey to Villapuram Train Station. We found out that Pondi does have, after all, a train station, but it is very limited in scope and does not reach the great Southern Network.

The taxi driver was young and savy, but as we left the city centre in the evening, we got arrested by a policeman who asked me where we were going (Train Station) and where to (Madurai). Finally, he asked if it would be ok to search our luggage and I said yes with calm and no hesitation, so he let us go without searching.

10:30pm - on arrival, the building did not look at all like a train station; we had to go up a long concrete ramp before we could reach the reservation office, and the officers looked at our e-tickets suspiciously. Our train was not on the luminous billboard, but I was reassured by the officer that it would come tonight on Platform 2. 

I have to admit that I would not have liked to find myself in such place at night alone.  There were a lot of small food sellers waiting endlessly for the next train to appear, there were people sleeping on cardboard on the ground, beggars, but also school groups, no westerners at all on this occasion.

We made our way to the platform 2, and doubled checked with the station master who said it may arrive on platform 1, and to go at the beginning of the platform in order to reach First Class 1AC wagons. It was impossible to work out how far we should walk, and the trains are incredibly long (much longer than the TGVs), but it was easy to switch platform, so we decided to walk up a bit. When the PanIndia Express (our train) arrived – on platform 1 -, it was easy enough to switch platform but we had to run with the luggages because we were far away from our wagon. A military man helped us out to board the right wagon. It had been impossible to figure it out by ourselves with all the good will in the world. I reinforced my concept of keeping the luggage weight down.

It took us only 10mns before we could be in bed sleeping. We were escorted to our cabin immediately. A man brought two pairs of sheet each, a nice woollen blanket and fluffy pillows. He made our beds on the generously large leather bunk benches, and we fell asleep immediately. We could put our luggages under the lower beds. The light went on again at 5.45am, and the train arrived in the station (terminus) at 6.15am. An incredible amount of people came out of that very train, it was smelling horrible as we walked along the wagons. People had done the journey sitting at night all the way from Chennai.

Madurai, the 12^th of January

The strip of tourist hotels are located only 200 m from the train station, so we decided to walk. This was the theory, but Madurai traffic is extremely busy: that was our biggest town so far, and it was hard to make our way through the crowd with our luggages.

With much difficulties (we tried 3 hotels nearby), we found a suite (2 rooms with one common bathroom) for 2200 Inr all inclusive with breakfast at the Keerthi Hotel. The tourists in the area are mostly Indian who want to visit or pray in the famous Shri Meenakshi Temple, so the kind of services are more designed towards the Indian clientele.  For example, breakfast in our hotel was definitely Indian Breakfast and 100% vegetarian as seems the case in the restaurant around this area. The kids went one level up in their acculturation.

We were lucky to be let in our rooms immediately, and have this breakfast. The beds were queen size, and the rooms clean and of modern style, in great contrast with Hotel de l’Orient for sure! The staff was very friendly.

Around 10.00am, we took an auto rickshaw to visit the famous Sri Meenakshi Temple. It is best seen from the roof of the antique stores surrounding the temple, but our rickshaw stopped at a nice angle. We were immediately surrounded by touts proposing all kind of services with a lot of insistence, including one who wanted us to put our shoes in his ‘friends shop’. I glimpsed a more official and organised area to leave our shoes in, we only had to give 5 rupees for that when we collected them. The entrance fee for the temple was 50 Inr for tourists + 50 Inr if you wished to take photos inside (a permit), 10 Inr for Indian people entry fee and some parts of the temple were only for Hindus.

The good thing about this temple is that it was ‘one of a kind’, made of 30 000 or so colourful statues representing deities and alternative forms of deities endlessly. We saw people talking in the ears of some of these deities, bringing offerings made of food on banana leaves or fresh flower necklaces, people kissing the grounds, even a live elephant inside blessed me with his trunk!! The kids were mesmerised by the atmosphere and the amazing variety of gods and were busy taking lots of photos with their own cameras where it was allowed.

After that, we went to the Tirumalai Nayak Indo Muslim palace dated XVII s, built by an Italian architect. The architecture is very impressive and the place hosts a sound and lights show every evening in English and in Tamil, but we skipped that because we would be too tired tonight. The palace seemed very peaceful as it was not counting many devotees, I could glance many young couples looking for isolating spaces in the large window frames of the palace. I don’t think it was a religious place, which would explain the lack of interest by people.

We took another auto rickshaw (35 Inr) – the kids love it / Oscar seats on my laps since it is only designed for 3 passengers in the back – to our hotel and shortly after, the rickshaw took Oscar and Paul to have a hair cut at the local barber. They were treated extremely nicely, we even had to take pictures of them all and we'll send one back to the hairdresser.

In the evening, we had a sumptuous meal on the rooftop of the Supreme Hotel. We found a spot in the roof garden corner so we could enjoy an unchallenged view over the town, with Shri Meenakshi Temple in the distance.

Wedding Night every night for a God and a Godess

One interesting fact I read in Le Guide du Routard is that the statue of Shiva is taken every evening at 9pm from the Sri Sundareswara sanctuary (forbidden to non Hindus) to Meenaskshi's sanctuary, so that the two Gods can spend the night together. 

Why? The energy produced is believed to revitalise everyday all the universes' energy!

We also booked our taxi to take us to Kanyakumaru tomorrow morning (235 kms – 4 hours). We cancelled the train two days ago (got refund) because we thought it would be too much for the kids. We even considered the bus (6 hours) but decided otherwise when Oscar started complaining his stomach was aching. He has not complained since then, but I think it is better not taking the risk of being ‘stuck in a bus’. The fare is only 3200 Inr (80 Aud) for a taxi all the way.

....better go and supervise the kids brushing their teeth with clean water, they tend to get a bit too relax about such things now.

Pondicherry

Pondi on the 10th of January 2011

I am writing in the comfort of Hotel de l'Orient

We reached Pondicherry yesterday by taxi and the sea was never very far. It was a 2 hours ride across mangroves, salt extracting fields, traditional rice & wheat crops, and prawn farms. The cows and buffalos had their horns painted as (perhaps) part of the end of the harvest celebration (mid-January), and there were nice sun patterns drawn with chalks in front of most doorways everywhere.

As we arrived in Pondicherry, we were happy to find the classy Hotel de l'Orient. The rooms have been tastefully decorated with 18th century furniture. It was 'old world' but not desuet, the place was kept alive with in door concerts, and we just happen to check in while a movie was being shot outside the Hotel. Special effects consisted of 'creating the rain', so all the kids were getting excited.

Shortly after that, we went for a stroll along the beach, had a look at the Gandhi memorial, then we reached the more Indian Northern part of town where we soaked in the bustling atmosphere. Paul tried to find a shirt, but no shirt on display were truly casual.

The atmosphere in the French Quarters is very odd. The avenues are paved and beautiful poinciana trees seem well established in large avenues comprising strong stone houses of French architecture, but all seem very old world, abandoned, no one in the streets. It does not only seem rundown, some places are deserted. Remarkably, a few places seem done up and trendy in the middle of what looks like a war zone. One café seem to summarize it all with its sign for FRENCH BREAK FAST ... 

The following day, we took an autorickshaw to the city of Auroville

Auroville

I was quite puzzled by such an ambitious human project. We found there a very well managed venture hosting 2000 aurovilliens, comprising 43 nationalities, with 50% Indians. The project is spiritual (around the founding Mother doctrine) but not religious - I am not sure I get the subtleties.

There are factories around the compound to make the place sustainable, tourist shops to sell the goods produced there (great quality), bikes for hire to visit the compound (although none was left when we visited) and a big emphasis is placed on environmental solutions. My impression was that the mission statement sounded great ('no nationality boundaries' etc.) but the language was 'vague'. I don't like that so much, because it is easy to make general vague statements that mean something and its opposite at the same time. I was also under the impression the project was very intellectual. I found odd that despite such a noble project statement, as a visitor, you were very much 'snobbed upon', this was at odds with the words,  je suis restée sur ma faim.

In the evening, we went to Satsanga (Labourdonnais St) in the French quarters to eat a sumptuous meal. We had Indian flavoured mushrooms for appetisers, Aubergine curry, Butter chicken, and Chocolate Mousse, a blend of French and Indian flavours.

11th of January

This morning we visited the museum of Pondicherry, in a colonial house, hosting furniture from the French Epoch XXVII and XIX s, and even a portrait of Marianne standing. It was easy to visit with children, all the more it is located next to the Government Place, city council parkland with large established trees, a gathering of Hindu and Muslim families alike. The beautiful surroundings seem to make everyone at peace, a very pleasant feel.

Then, we consulted Le Guide du Routard (we prefer this travel guide over the Lonely Planet when it comes to food recommendation) and we found L’Aristo, on a roof top garden, where we had chicken tikkas and curd – yum!

In the afternoon, we visited a paper factory in North Pondi. Some women showed us how to shred cotton, as a basis for paper making. Then, we saw the oil printing process, and we bought a handmade paper blue photo album with a blue elephant where we’ll put our photos of the trip. The kids bought souvenirs for their friends. I am being cautious because I try to be strict about luggage volume and weight. For now, we each have 10kg, except for Oscar who carries 5kg.

That last evening in Pondi (3^rd), we had a nice meal at Hotel d’Orient and Paul ordered as a surprise a nice bottle of white wine made in Khatarnaka (North of Bangalore). It was quite pricy (1000 Inr) but very pleasant in such magic setting. The children had a 'to die for desert' for chocolate lovers called Trilogy (chocolate mousse, chocolate tart, chocolate ice cream).

Tonight, we will be sleeping in the train from Villupuram to Madurai, and I am not sure I will manage to get internet connection to write and share this blog for a while after that because the travelling will be fast paced and less luxurious from now on, so I am looking forward to a good night sleep tonight.

I also cross my fingers, nobody is sick as this is crucial right now.

Gulf Air trip and Arrival in India

We flew with Gulf Air on the 7th of January from Paris to Bahrain with a 35mn transfer time. It was like a temporary passage in the Arab World: Newspapers in the plane were in Arabic, captain messages were in Arabic, then in French, then in English, our Flight Route Map was displayed in Arabic characters to start with. 

I chose an Egyptian movie subtitled in EN. It was about a young man who did not know what to do in order to please Leila, his beloved, so he would ask a magician to change his personality and see what would happen with Leila if he could alter himself with the following qualities: being more sensitive, being a leader, being cool, being rich etc... but nothing seemed to work because Leila would always reproached him the bad side of being too ‘such or such quality which was emphasized’, so eventually the magician said 'just be yourself and let people see who you really are' ...))))). I liked the idea of the ‘Magician’ and the dramatic transformation of the character after each new supposedly desired quality emphasized, it was very funny.

Then we flew over Bahrain, we could see a very modern city near the airport, all lit up in the Arabian land, not much else. The transfer went without drama, everything was very well organised in the airport – security checks, etc. Women alone with children were escorted to go first. The second flight was not so good: the air was too thin, it was too hot and I kept on asking for water for myself and the kids, but I did not get airsick this time.

The flight was full of Indian Migrant men returning home for a break home in India, I was guessing.

As we arrived in Chennai airport, and as we were queuing for ever for immigration, we realised that we were tomorrow – it was 3:05 am! Paul’s birthday, so I gave him a quick kiss on the chick. A young Arab family (from Bahrain I suppose?) was behind us with a toddler.

The woman must have seen the kiss and this may have helped her take her courage in her hand. She asked me ‘what do they want?’. I was not sure what she meant, so as we were queuing for immigration, I said: they want to see this form (I showed her) and our passports, then we will be able to collect our luggage. Then she smiled and said OK, and her husband showed me he had the forms and the passport. Yet, I had not understood well: what she really wanted was for me to fill up the form. I found that out as they were escorted in the queue ahead of us for having a young child, when the immigration officer put them aside and soon enough a young Indian man was filling up the forms for them. I thought to myself: how much I took for granted that to enter Bahrain I could fill up the forms in English writing, imagine I’d have to write in Arabic! Anything like this kind of help available in CDG?

As we passed the second passport check, I placed all the 4 immigration cards in a very methodical way (I was getting bored) and this made the officer laugh, so he said : ‘Welcome to the land of India’ – that was nice.

3:05 am did not seem to be of any concern in Madras airport: two official money changing boots were open, the second giving you 51 Rs for 1 Euro, the first 48 Rs, so it pays (slightly) to be patient. Unofficial was 55 Rs. We went to the prepaid taxi counter and we got immediately what we needed, a fare to Mahabalipuram (1h45 drive) for 1080 Rs without any bargaining – I had been told it would be 1200 Rs by the hotel, so there was no need to bargain. We could even find 2 big water bottles on the way to the taxi – I was quite impressed given it was about 4.00 am by then, and everything working in full swing!

Outside, it was incredibly alive with people and cars, and I had a bit of a job moving through the traffic handling 2 kids (Oscar half asleep and the Josie in culture shock). Paul was following the man leading us to our taxi. As we passed the toll, the taxi driver asked us for 50 Rs, we said it was prepaid, but he did not move, then said he had no money, ... what could we do ? ... so we gave him the 50Rs (1.5 dollars!). I did not know what to think, it was embarrassing, and we had no real choice. It was still pitch dark and the children had fallen asleep in my arms in the back of the car. Later, we learnt that the tolls have to be negotiated before.

The hotel keeper kindly opened the door for us as we arrived at 6.00am (we had warned the Hotel about our early arrival), and gave us a temporary room until our rooms would be ready, so the four of us slept in a double bed! Yes, it is possible when you are extremely tired! This is a mistake I will not make again. It seemed silly to me to book two rooms for a few hours. Well, these kind of ‘few hours’ are crucial to ‘how fast you will recover from the middle of the night flight arrival ordeal’. We were so tired that we went on to sleep until 12.00pm.

I woke up first and had a walk to the beach – 3 mins from the Hotel. Now, I recognized India how I had known it years ago, the main trigger being the earthly smells, it smells real organic, REAL! The streets were alive and I was already greeted by many people who would remember me more than I could as I would find out later when I would need some of their services later on. An English speaking woman showed me the beach direction and warned me about watching out where I would walk on the sand. I got it.

As I arrived near the beach, I could already glimpse the Shore Temple on the right, the grey, rolling and misty Indian Ocean ahead of me, heaps of seafood restaurants lined up on the beachfront, fishermen back from the sea, and many straight dogs that seem to mind their own business. I was glad we were so close to the sea, this would please Paul and the children as well.

Our hotel (selected by Susan at work) was very stylish in its category. Managed by a young French woman, Pascale, it had what I would call ‘a French Flair’. Each room had a mosquito net on top of the bed, a nice Indian patterned flowery covering sheet, but no sheet – anyway we did not need any as it was hot, the mosquito net was enough protection. It seemed spartiate inside but each room had a small patio with a small desk size table and two wooden chairs: absolutely perfect to have a drink with a friend or/and mostly to use your desktop which was what the other guests seemed doing. I reckon you’d get used to the simplicity (like the cold shower not running all the time – but bucket and dispenser available, no toilet paper, well you can get some around the corner) in one day, and could then enjoy the freedom for a long time, the price also: 800 Rs per night per room, that is 18 Australian dollars ! Our kids loved it, they had their own room on day 2, and they loved the little table for themselves and the new found freedom: NO PARENTS to tell them what to do for one night !

Around 9h30am, I asked Paul if he would like to visit the Enfield factory (motorcycles), but he said ‘no’ that he would rather relax a bit in Mahabalipuram. After lunch at Le Nautilus in our street, and a quick look at the sea, we ventured to visit the Shore Temple, modest in size but fragile and proudly standing despite all the erosion work from the Indian Ocean on its stone carvings. It is a VII century temple dedicated to Shiva, surrounded by Nandi (on which Shiva rides). In one of the chapel, you can see Shiva laying down on his side, in the other one, you can see a huge black granite lingam, which represent the God’s presence – nothing else! The 2004 Tsunami for once had a beneficial effect - on archaeological discoveries – since it revealed more of the presumed other six temples along the 10km beach.

Most tourists were Indian and many women were dressed entirely in red, I don’t know why. It was quite beautiful to see so many of saris in such beautiful settings.

In the afternoon, we had a look at the stone carvers everywhere in the streets. Apparently, their work is exported all around South East Asia to decorate the most exquisite hotels. In the early evening, I had an ajurvedic massage by a local woman who told me about her daughter performing at Arjuna Penance tonight and who gave me a good address for a Tamil Nadu restaurant for Paul’s birthday. This sorted out all my aches from the flight and general tiredness. She even gave me a facial massage. After that, I found a taxi to take us to Pondicherry tomorrow.

Paul would eventually be rewarded for his birthday as we were lucky enough to arrive in the middle of the Classical dance festival and we were able to get tickets (100 Rs each – nothing) to see Orissa Classical dance performance against the exquisite Arjuna Penance Bas Relief lit up in the background.

The lead dancer took time to talk to her audience to explain and mime the nine dramatic facial and gestural expressions she was going to include in her coming performance. All the local youth were trying to sneak without paying, being very noisy at the beginning, but finally, the performer wan them all over, as they managed to stay on for the two hours and not a word was heard as all the audience managed to be captured by her talents. This was the best act. We also saw other martial arts and folk dance performance before her final act.

We slept well that night.

Funniest Videos

Grand Pa got a bit carried away teaching Oscar how to sledge on a Tea Tray - UK December 2010

Paul & Oscar biting the (white) Dust

The End of the European Section

Written in the TGV between Annecy & Paris

I am now on a 3h30 TGV trip from Annecy to Paris-Gare de Lyon, comfortably seated. The kids are plugged into their MP3 players, and can’t wait for the bar to open so that they can get our coffees:) Paul is sorting out photos and videos on his IPad – aren’t we lucky Oscar just took a ‘Seagull ??? Video’ in Annecy, known otherwise as the ‘Little Venice of the Alps’ – that was all worth it!!

This is the first leg of our return. From there on, we will go to Paris to catch the plane to Bahrain tomorrow morning. We just received a text from Gulf Air on our mobiles saying that we can already check in (and choose our seats) electronically if we wish to.

Backtracking

Our ski experience went well. We did manage to ski for two days under very good climatic conditions. The second day, we started a bit later at 9:30 am, a bit later in order not to get the morning bitter cold, and we were lucky to have lots of sun until 4.00 pm when the temperature started to seriously go down.

Now both children can go down the slopes – in Pistes Vertes (the easiest level), and they could sample this wonderful feeling of ‘you and the mountain with NO WALL’, nothing, you and the mountain!!! Oscar would know no fear – this does not mean he did not fall, he did, and thanks God his skis had been loosely adjusted so that they would detach easily in case of fall, of which he had MANY. He could not be bothered waiting or helping out ‘the more cautious bunch’ so he decreed he should ‘ski on his own’ because ‘he had been born in a family of idiots’ (thats Us !!!) 

(read – a family who cannot ski fast enough for him).

The following day, we rented a sledge with brakes, steering wheel, etc for 4 euros (for 4 hours) and took it to an ‘Espace Luge’ (sledge area). The children really loved that part. Paul and I sat on the chairs in a Cafe de Montagne, opposite the Espace Luge and we sipped some ‘vin chaud’ (warm wine).

That evening, we decided to treat ourselves and eat diner in the hotel – we had tried saving some money eating out the other days after the Paris unexpected last minute hotel expenses. For the entrée, the children and I had some leek and potatoe soup (we needed the vitamins) while Paul chose poached eggs on soft toast (pain de mie) covered by a burgundy sauce with onions and mountain red berries. For the main, the kids had spaghetti Bolognaise, I had some ‘Fish of the Mountain’ (lakes) with a grapefruit & Savoy wine sauce, and Paul had some Raclette (Mountain cheese melted on potatoes and Mountain smoked hams). We did not get any desert.

So this is the end of the ‘European Part’ of the journey. I received an email from Geetha in Kerala telling me how excited she was about our imminent arrival, India is calling ! ... and my heart is leaning FORWARD.

My little Kangaroos can ski now: Mission accomplished !

Megeve, French Alps

The 2nd of January, we headed to Gare de Lyon Train Station to embark in a TGV (fast train) for Sallanches-Combloux-Mégève The journey would take only 3 hours to cover over six hundred kilometres. Paul registered speeds of 240 km/h on his GPS. The kids were laughing their head off as the GPS was keeping on trying to find the nearest road and was utterly confused by the train line!

The good thing about the TGV is that they serve a fabulous breakfast in a tray not unlike in the airplane, except that I don't feel as nauseous as in an airplane - Vive le train !

The landscape along the way was like in the Narnja movie, except with no light. The sun rose up only around 9am, and well, barely did. It is only once you are IN the mountains that you get these beautiful blue skies, and we were lucky that it is exactly what happened. As soon as we arrived in Mégève, we were greeted with a bright blue sky, and pure air.

Mégève is a traditional ski resort built on an actual village, so even if you don't ski, you will still have a great time in the cobbled streets taking a horse carriage wrapped up in thick furry blankets - instead of a taxi, for example. Then if you like skying, you don't need to be 'un As' (I mean an As, as in a card game, for those who may have other ideas), there are very gentle slopes for the beginners, even a 'rolling carpet made of fake grass' for those who think a ski lift would be too risqué.

The conditions were ideal for the kids: we managed to rent our equipment for two days, at the bottom of the gondola carrier (ski lift), and we had an arrangement: we could leave our shoes there in the morning and exchange them again in the late afternoon when we are through with skying. So, this meant not much heavy equipment lifting for the kids. We also found an instructor from ESF (French Official Ski School) who looked after us for 2 hours in the morning, managing to lift off the kids natural fears in the most professional manner. In the afternoon, we continued skying on our own, except for Josie who needed a rest. Oscar could not get enough of it and we moved to harder slopes. As the sun went down, I insisted he should wear the warmest hat that Josie was wearing in the morning, but to no avail, he said that Josie had told him 'she had lice'!

The hotel is a winner: la Grange d'Arly, a wonderful family hotel in the middle of the village, all made of wood, and Oscar reckons it is the best hotel so far. Our bedroom is on two levels, with an interior all made of wood, very cosy indeed. The owners are very friendly and they pay attention to every detail to make their guests' stay an enjoyable one. Breakfasts caters for French, Anglo and German taste, although right now, French children are back at school, so all you can hear is Russian, English and Italian on the slopes. Our ski instructor, this morning, could instruct in English, French and Russian, and she explained that Putin had given 10 days holidays to Russian people at that time of the year. It was strange for me to 'hear Russian' spoken in France, I left in 1991. 

It is so nice and relaxing to be able to stay there for 4 nights in a row; we had been travelling quite fast lately.

We have already sampled the red fruits tarts from the local bakery, yum ...!!! On the 2nd, it was Epiphany in France, so we had a Galette des Rois (Almond filled pastry) and Paul got the 'fève' (little figurine to be found randomly inside of the pie) and became the King and got his golden crown. We also filled the pewter flask Sandrine and Evelyne gave Paul for New Year with the Haute Savoie Elixir made by monks with mountain herbs : la Chartreuse ! (55% alcohol) ... to be carried at all times when skying, so no more being cold on the slopes (-12C this morning at 9.00am) and to be administered one drop at a time !

We'll have a late breakfast for sure tomorrow morning.

Happy New Year 2011

Happy New Year 2011 ! I wish you all a Good Health and a Clear Mind

Finally back in Paris around lunch time after spending the New Year in Rennes with close friends. My dear dear friends braved the cold to collect us from Rennes' train station around 11 pm! ... then opened up their cosy home. Tis was followed by a wonderful two days wandering the street of an ancient pirate's bastion : St Malo. We had 'moules frites' (muscles & fries) on the esplanade for lunch, vin chaud in the old part of Rennes, and at 6.30pm, we caught a light show on the City Hall. 

Most of all, a sumptuous meal including scallops with endives, chestnut meringued ice-cream and exquisite vines, all organised to perfection !!! No less.

At 11:56 pm exactly, we turned on the TV to tune in to the world, but instead, we got a documentary about the Crazy Horse, so as fate has it, I FINALLY learnt how to dance the French Cancan properly under Sandrine's guidance, who is a keen classical dancer! Oscar danced Bob Sinclair (Rock this Party) and Josie Inferno (Paris to Berlin), some JM Jarre for Sandrine.

Our train was at 8.00 am this morning to Paris - that was a bit tough :) The pace is fairly fast at the moment.

Tomorrow, we will take the TGV at 7:00 am for Mégève - The Alps to spend 4 days in a Chalet-Hotel.

Backtracking

After we spent Christmas with Paul's parents, we all became sick with the flue for two days. I spent one day in the bed (the 26th) as I was keen on recovering as soon as possible. This was no joke, no option for me, I had to do everything possible to get back on my feet quickly. I got worried for Oscar especially because it was not clear a doctor could be reached easily there, neither a hospital for the matter. When I inquired about an opened chemist on the 28th, I was horrified to read on the door that no chemist would be available in the town of Ivybridge between the 26th and the 2nd - a feel of having landed in the NEVER NEVER land.

On the 28th, we were to drive to London to have a celebration for my mother in law's 70th Birthday with some of her relatives. We were all reasonably recovered by then, except for Paul's dad, who felt he was too sick to come with us to London. So that left me and Paul for driving. The driving conditions were horrendous: fog, snow and rain. In the first 15 mn of me driving the damn car, as I reversed in the ghost chemist shop car park, I touched a pole that was standing in the middle of the empty car park, and the right hand side front door handle area got damaged. This is the most painful financial event so far as the insurance excess had been worked out very optimistically (let's not get depressed).

We had a 20mn stop in Stone Henge. We went to see for ourselves the intriguing rocks laid out there approx. at the time of the Pharaohs in Egypt. It was suitably surrounded by sheep, you just 'got into this eery atmosphere' and let your imagination run wild.

We reached London after 8 hours of driving - for only 200 miles! The main road was sometimes only a single lane, and it was painfully slow.

In London, Paul's mum wanted to make a detour in Croydon to show us where she grew up. I drove to Croydon, but we did not stop. Not sure why we did not meet anyone there Despite receiving yearly Christmas cards, the children and I had not met any one from her family except from her cousin's who was at the restaurant, no word was spoken about it. 

This was a doomed day, because I did not manage to see my friend Hafida, who had herself been sick that day and told me about the change of plan as we arrived in London, although we had been happily texting in anticipation to be meeting that evening a few hours earlier. The family meal was the following day.

For the bright side, we stayed at a very convenient place, The Premier Hotel, in Waterloo station area, that Paul's mum booked for us. It was convenient for the price (110 pounds approx for 4 people in the City Centre), checked in with 'no talk' - you just check in to a computer - spare toothpaste comes in a vendor machine if you need it, but the beds are very clean and comfortable. It was convenient for the location: right near the London Eye and Big Ben.

I stayed in the bedroom with Oscar who had a tummy upset while Paul, Josie and his mum went for a pizza. I went down to the hotel restaurant, and they were kind enough to let me take a food tray upstairs in the room. Later that evening, Paul's mum volunteered to babysit the kids, so Paul and I wandered London Streets and went to the Sherlock Holmes Pub to sample English beers. It was 7C quite mild relatively, so we could relax a bit under the street festive illuminations.

We had a full English breakfast at the hotel (free for the kids). The children loved that! Then, we walked around the hotel, saw Big Ben, the Parliament House, 10 Downing Street, the London Bridge, and I could recognize all the familiar landmarks of western civilization : roman columns, fascination with ancient Greece and ancient Egypt civilizations, war memorial of the same kinds, the democracy landmarks, even the female statues representing the five continents in Downing Street resembled those you can find in front of the Musée d'Orsay in Paris. Very much like Paris in many ways seen from Australia.

For lunch, we took a ferry to Greenwich to meet a cousin of my mother in law accompanied by her husband and two children, with whom we would share a meal for my mother in law's 70th birthday. It was in a pub with lots of character.

We parted with my mother in law who was going to go back home to her husband by train the following day after visiting other relatives by herself, and we took the train to St Albans to visit some very dear friends of ours and their 3 children. Their enthusiasm and cheerfulness was contagious, and I felt completely refuelled after spending one night at their place. The kids had a ball as well, they played Wii, ate a mega couscous, and we went playing football in a nearby field after breakfast the following day before embarking the Eurostar later that day at St Pancreas Station on the 30th. It was sad to think that such good friends were living so far away, but they promised they would come and see us again in Australia soon - in three years :( - still !

I loved London, it was clear in my mind that I could live here as well.