Wait for it...

Moin Allerseits,
so unterwegs ist nicht immer (funktionierendes) WLan zu finden und ohne ist das hochladen manchmal schwer, daher ein wenig Geduld! Ich schreibe Offline vor und veröffentliche dann wahrscheinlich 1-2 Beiträge gleichzeitig! :-)

Neuester Stand; Ich bin momentan in Hampi, einer Ruinenstadt (zerstört im 17. Jahrhundert) und für Hindus ziemlich heilig. Die Umgebung wird Kishkinda genannt - das Affenkönigreich. Hanuman (der indische Affengott) ist hier geboren und Szenen des Ramayana haben hier stattgefunden (Rama hat nach etwas gesucht und HAnuman getroffen oder so)
Mittwoch den 14. September mache ich mich auf den Weg nach Goa und werde hoffentlich besseren Internet Zugang haben!

Hi everyone,
unfortunately I don't have regular access to (working) wifi and without it uploading of posts can be a hassle, so please be patient! I am writing offline, so once I go online, there might be several posts zu read! :-)

Update: Currently I am in Hampi, an old city of ruins (destroyed in the 17th century) and pretty holy to Hindus. The surroundings are called Kishkinda - the monkey kingdom, where Hanuman (the indian monkey god) was born and scenes from the Ramayana have taken place (Rama looking for something and meeting Hanuman or something like that)
On wendsday (14th of september) I will be heading to Goa and probably have better wifi connection!

Backwaters of Kerala

After a few days in Trivandrum I headed to Alleppey. This is a town at the coast and has a big "harbour" towards the backwaters of Kerala. The backwaters are a series of canals, rivers, lakes that form the landscape of Kerala at the coastline. Alot of small boats and some larger houseboats drive through these waters and for a few occasions they have races.
One of them ist the Nehru Snalke Boat Race, which incidently took place while I was in Alleppey (I found out the day before I left to Alleppey). So it was hard to get a place to stay, apparently alot of people head out to Alleppey to watch the race and celebrate. The place where I stayed allowed me to get on a houseboat and watch the race from the water itself! That was really neat, because I didn't have to pay an enourmous amount of money to get on a houseboat and I got a lunch, got to know new people and see the race from a pretty good position. On the boat I met Meredith, a veterinary to be and in India for an "externship". She stayed mostly in Bangalore and visited the zoo, other places with animal doctors and was now travelling India for a bit longer.
Together we watched the races (there were several) and realised the boats were getting bigger and bigger. In the last races there were the big Snake boats with about 100 people per boat on it. They all were paddeling. Almost in every race there was a really good team and one that was way behind. Then in the last 2 races (the semi final and final as someone explained to us later) the teams were pretty equal and it was a head to head race. I still don't know who won, because I heard 3 different results (one on the houseboat, one in the evening and one the next day). So maybe just everyone won <3

People getting in the mood to cheer for their team in the race!

One of the first races, rather small boats (compared to he big snake boats)

The Snake boat race! These aren't the biggest ones!

The is one of the big snake boats, the people standing in the middle are giving the rythem for the rowers

(stomping on the planks or using a horn/ whistle)

The next day I went canoeing with Meredith and a british (or welsh) couple. It was really nice jst gliding through the backwaters and seeing the villages and homes of the people, who use the backwaters as streets. There are several ferries driving through the canals and connecting the small places with one another, but alot of people just have small boats they use.
Out captain was a fun guy. He sang for us and was always trying to keep us entertained (with bird sounds for example). Later we had some Thoddy (a coconut liquor/ beer drink) which was... interesting... With each sip it got better though.

On the Backwaters... one of the bigger canals

On our canoe, it's Alex' turn to help out our captain

For lunch we got a nice meal with fish from our captains wife, so they served us food at their home. Then we headed back to Alleppey. Meredith left for a homestay in a small village and the british couple and I went to the beach and had some "special tea" with our dinner.

The "Special Tea" - and a nice mug too^^

All in all it was a great and fun day. I really enjoyed it and really liked the backwaters. Just be sure to bring some insect repellent, because the damn mosquitos are everywhere!
The next day (it was independence day! woohoo!) I missed the hissing of the flag and a parade in the morning (it was at like 6 am) and apparently that was everything planned for that day. No fireworks, no other specials things (at least everyone told me there wasn't anything going on). So I headed with a backwater ferry to Kottayam and on my way back to Alleppey (I took a bus) it was delayed in the town of Alleppey. Later I saw a huge march of the Dyfi (democratic youth of federal India I think). Supposedly the youth organisation of the communist party (also judging by their use of the hammer and sickle in their logo). A guy told me several thousand people joined their march and had more or less halted traffic in the city. So I wasn't able to visit a different beach close to Alleppey, because the bus wasn't able to get through...

On the Ferry to Kovalam , the guy on the left controlled the motor, on the top was the guy steering the ferry

So we could always hear a bell ring, then this guy would change direction/ speed of the engine

A dragonfly relaxing on the ferry

From the ferry: The big backwaters of Kerala

Old boats in the canals of Alleppey

The northern canal of Alleppey

Nachtzug nach Kerala - Nighttrain to Kerala

After the alumni weekend I was actually quite busy in Kodai. I helped a alumni from 86 and had to pack of course. I got a bus to Madurai in the afternoon. Before I was at the bus station to look for some timings, there a guy took my number and said he'd call me in case a better option comes up.
While I was heading to the bus he called and said a taxi would pick me up from the school main gate and it would just cost 300 rupees (it's usually over 1000 rupees). So I waited there, after being pestered by too many taxi drivers I called him and he told me the taxi will only leave at 7pm... that was a little to close to get my train in Madurai and I didn't want to expect any delay. So I ran to the bus station and got the bus luckily.
Again I was lucky, that the bus drove closer to the station than I expected and didn't have to pay THAT much for a tuktuk. So I waited for the nighttrain at the train station (which was as many things in India much bigger than I first realized).
The train did have a delay, but nothing bad, I had time. Unfortunately a family had spread itself on the lower bunks, so I decided to go up directly. The trains have 3 sleeping berths each on the wall of one side and on the other side of the small hallway are 2 more beds. I had the top berth, so I was sleeping next to 3 fans, which were hanging from the ceiling, running on turbo it seemed (loud!). It wasn't that warm, but they were small so I guess they had to be on to help at all. So maybe I'll try and get a lower berth next time...
But it wasn't too difficult to sleep, so I was able to get some rest and after a while the entire waggon was quiet and sleeping (more or less). So only the fans were still annoying with their loud sound, nothing some nice music couldn't handle. A german woman I met later told me that actually the cold air of the fan was the worst about the stay in the night train and she was also sleeping in the top berth.

My alarm clock rang, I was already awake, or still awake? Who cares... I gathered my stuff and tried to get my big backpack from under the lowest berth as quietly as possible. The train unfortunately was even more delayed than before so I had to wait much longer in the hallway. That is how I spent the night of my birthday with the first nighttrain I took in India.

I took a cab to my hotel and packed my stuff to go to the beach! And some breakfast before I leave.
I read that there are 2 nice beaches around Trivandrum (or Thiruvananthapuram) and I decided to go to the closer one, Kovalam. Oh yeah my train went to Trivandrum, the capital of Kerala. Here I was staying in a small hotel with free wifi (luckily my tablet was able to recieve it even in my room!) and quite close to the train station. The Autos taximeter wasn't working as usual (I thought! The next ones was working! Nice, no more haggling!) he took me to a bus station and from there I reached the beach in half an hour.
When I arrived at the beach I put my towel on a beach lounger, typical german! (well I rented it from a guy, but reserved it with my towel^^) Then I wanted to go for a swim! :D
Too bad.. the water was very shallow and even after 50m I only was in the water till my thighs, so I wanted to go further in. Then I heard someone whistle and noticed it was directed at me and the life guard was waving me back. Apparently the monsoon isn't a joke here! He told me the currents are too strong for any swimmer so I can just splash in the water a little and have fun that way. A shame... and just splashing about on my own was a little childish...

So after a little splashing I rested on my lounge and watched the small crabs hiding from the water when an older woman approached me. She had a basket of fruits on her head so it was clear to me, she wanted to sell some fruit. She greated me as a good friend and wanted to sell her Mangos, I just wanted some bananas. She gave me 10, I gave her 6 back and then she said something and while I was reaching for my wallet she was gone. I was actually looking forward to get some bananas, but no matter, oh wait there she is. She just walked around the corner to cut some mangos... dang...
She wanted 300Rupees for the bananas and the mango (she told me she cut 3 mangos).
Once I made it clear to her, that I didn't want the mango in the first place and she was forcing it on me she started going down with the price till 50 Rupees. Soon I was fed up and agreed so she'd go away. I ate the yummy mango and the bananas and waited for lunch time.
Then I was ambushed by more people who wanted to sell me things. I resisted most but once I had a nice conversation going a guy suprised me with Lungis (or dhotis, the "skirts" the men in India wear). I wanted to buy them anyway so I looked at them and agreed to his price without putting up much of a challenge in haggling. I bought 3 and paid too much (300 per lungi). Later (in Kochin) I discovered 2 of them are more bed sheets than lungis (patterns and pictures on them). But the other is nice and now I have bed sheets! Also something I wanted. I just paid so much... dang... But in Kochin the lungis all cost more than 300 rupees, so maybe it wasn't too much... I don't know...

Because it was my birthday I went back to the hotel to chat with my parents and escape the sun. But not for long, because I wanted to see the sunset at the beach. So I sped back and saw the beautiful sunset.
I then had a nice dinner at the beach and had some indian "Kaiserschmarn" (austrian desert). The waiter was kind enough to give me a small candle =)

The sleeping berths in the train - Die Betten im Zug

These posters were in almost all of the rickshaws in Trivandrum...

Solche Plakate hingen in fast allen Rickshaws in Trivandrum...

I guess even Sauron needs a vacation on the beaches of Kerala!

Ich schätze selbst Sauron kann mal einen Urlaub gebrauchen am Strand von Kerala!

The pretty sunset... - Der schöne Sonnenuntergang...

The Kovalam lighthouse in the last rays of sun

Der Leuchtturm von Kovalam in den letzten Sonnenstrahlen

Happy birthday to me =)

Kaiserschmarn - Indian style

Deutsch (hatte ich vorher schon verfasst):
Nach dem schönen Alumni Wochenende war ich am 8.8. tatsächlich recht beschäftigt, habe einer der Alumni des 86er Jahrgangs geholfen und musste natürlich packen, etwas Merchandise der Schule kaufen und mich dann um einen Bus/ Taxi nach Madurai kümmern.
Es fuhr ein Bus, das war praktisch, allerdings hat mich kurz bevor der Bus abfuhr ein Typ angerufen, der ein Taxi für mich organisiert hat (ich hatte mit ihm wegen des Buses gesprochen). Es war ein sehr guter Preis (300Rupees nach Madurai, sonst sind es über 1000), allerdings erzälte er mir erst später (beim 2. Telefonat, als ich auf das Taxi bei der Schule wartete), dass es erst Abends fährt, dadurch wäre es relativ eng mit meinem Zug geworden... Toll dachte ich und habe glücklicherweise noch den Bus nach Madurai erwischt. Der ließ mich auch viel näher am Bahnhof raus, als ich gedacht hätte, was auch praktisch war, dann wartete ich im Bahnhof auf den Nachtzug.
Diese fuhr recht knapp ein, sodass wir mit Verspätung abfuhren, allerdings kein Drama, ich hatte Zeit. Leider hatte sich eine Familie unten breit gemacht und mein Schlafplatz war oben (es sind 3 pro Wand, außer am Gang, da sinds 2), daher ließ ich die Familie Familie sein und kletterte gleich nach oben und versuchte zu schlafen. Nicht so einfach, denn direkt neben mit hingen 3 Ventilatoren, die mit voller Kraft versuchten den Waggon etwas kühler zu machen. Nächstes mal also evtl. eine der unteren Betten probieren.
Das ging relativ gut mit dem Dösen, es wurde auch irgendwann sehr ruhig im Wagen, sodass man tatsächlich nur den Zug und die Ventilatoren hörte.
Im Lonely Planet und anderen Reiseführern stand, dass es ggf. kalt wird in der Nacht, mir war es nicht, allerdings kann es auch daran gelegen haben, dass ich nichts von den Ventilatoren gespürt habe und es dementsprechend weiter unten kälter ist. Eine Deutsche, die ich später traf meinte, dass ihr die kalte Luft am meisten zu schaffen machte (sie hatte auch ganz oben ihr Bettchen).

Mein Wecker klingelte, ich war schon wach. Langsam und möglichst leise packte ich meine Sachen und kletterte hinunter und holte meinen Rucksack, der unter der untersten Koje angekettet war. Da der Zug tatsächlich mehr Verspätung hatte, wartete ich dann doch länger im Gang als gehofft. Aber so hatte ich recht gut die Nacht in meinen Geburtstag hinein verbracht und den Nachtzug überstanden!

Erstmal alle Sachen ins Hotel, Krühstücf gesucht und dann zum Strand!
Ich war in Trivandrum (oder eben Thiruvananthapuram) angekommen und ich hatte gelesen, dass es 2 schöne Strände gab, einen etwas nördlicher der Stadt einer südlicher. Ich fuhr zum südlicheren. Total erstaunt und positiv überrascht, dass hier die Taximeter tatsächlich funktionierten, ließ ich mich wieder etwas öfter mit den Autos hier rumfahren. Zum Strand habe ich allerdings den Bus genommen. Da ganz deutsch eine Liege mit Handtuch reserviert (bzw. von einem Typen gemietet) und dann ab ins Wasser! :D
Leider war das ziemlich flach... auch nach ca 50 Meter war ich erst ca bis zur Hüfte im Wasser. Dann wurde ich zurückgepfiffen. Der Bademeister machte sich schienbar Sorgen und erzählte mir, da es momentan Monsoon ist, dürfe man nicht schwimmen, die Strömung sei zu stark. Das sei wohl bei allen Stränden momentan so, man kann aber ja nahe des Strandes etwas planschen... Schade dachte ich. Planschen ist so kindisch...

Also nach etwas Planschen und "sonnen" habe ich den Krabben etwas zugeschaut als eine ältere Dame kam, die mir Obst verkaufen wollte. Ich wollte gerne eine Banane haben, sie wollte mir Mangos verkaufen. Dann war sie weg und ich dachte mir, schade, ne Banene wäre schön gewesen. Scheinbar war sie allerdings nur einem um die Ecke gehuscht, um Mangos für mich zu schnippeln. Sie wollte 300 Rupees (ca 4,5€) dafür haben... Ich wollte das nicht, also haben wir das "nein" "ja" Spiel gespielt, bis sie nur noch 50 R haben wollte. Anfangs hat sie irgendwelche Zahlen und sich sonst was ausgedacht, mir gesagt, sie hätte 3 Mangos dafür zerschnippelt und ein Kilo Mangos 500R kostet. Als ich ihr aber klar machte, dass ich das von Anfang an nicht wollte und sie mir das also aufdrängt, was ich gar nicht ab kann, wurde sie schwächer und ist dann mit jeder Entschuldigung mit dem Preis hinunter gegangen.
Von solchen Frauen gab es mehrere hier auf Kovalam Beach. Natürlich waren auch Männer am rumlaufen, haben Tücher verkauft und anderen Kram. Ich habe mir hier "Lungis" geholt (ober auch nur 3 Stoffe), diese Röcke, die die Männer tragen. Ich glaube, da ich davor nett mit jemanden gesprochen hatte und sowieso solche Dinger wollte, war ich hier allerdings viel zu nachlässig mit dem Preis. Ich zahlte 300 R/ Stück. Viel zu viel ist mir recht bald klargeworden, aber ich glaube man darf sowas auch mal machen ;-)
Leider hat sich nun in Kochin herausgestellt, dass 2 der Stoffe, die er mir verkaufte (ich hatte nämlich das eine an) gar nicht wirklich Lungis, eher ein Schal/... ist. Als ich darüber nachdachte kam ich auch zu dieser Erkenntnis. Ziemlich ärgerlich, aber nun habe ich 2 schöne dünne indische Decken! :D

Da mein Geburtstag war, ging ich Nachmittags noch schnell ins Hotel, um mit meinen Eltern zu sprechen, was ganz schön war (in der Lobby des Hotels gabs freies WLan). Für den Sonnenuntergang eilte ich wieder zum Strand und konnte noch einige Fotos machen. Zur Feier des Abends habe ich mir im "deutschen Restaurant" Kaiserschmarn geholt und der Kellner war so nett mir noch eine Kerze dazu zu geben!