First India post yey

adrimm says on Jul 25, 2007, 18:24:

Nope, but it is definitely on my list! Now I'll have a place to post my questions to when the time comes (could be awhile).

;)

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Man Tequila says on Jul 25, 2007, 22:06:

I spent six weeks in India as a medical student. Spent a few days in Madras (Chennai), a week in Pondicherry, couple weeks in Vellore, travelled to Bangalore and Goa, saw some of the impressive sites in Rajasthan and Benares...

Beautiful country, beautiful people. Saw incredible suffering and hardship since I was there working at the hospitals. Never did get use to eating spicy breakfasts in Southern India even though I love spicy food -- for lunch and dinner. Kind of country where you could see ANYTHING and after a couple weeks it might not surprise you.

Aunque no me creas/ si me lo propongo/ lograre olvidarte/ porque a fin de cuentas/ no soy tan cobarde./ Y termino todo una de estas tardes/ no sera dificil buscar algún sitio donde refugiarme/ donde nunca mas vuelvas a encontrarme. (Polo Montañez)

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Peter (Moderator) (☼Travelguide writer) says on Jul 25, 2007, 23:36:

Man Tequila says on Jul 26, 2007, 14:42:

"Immodium and holy men". These four words describe India very well.

Aunque no me creas/ si me lo propongo/ lograre olvidarte/ porque a fin de cuentas/ no soy tan cobarde./ Y termino todo una de estas tardes/ no sera dificil buscar algún sitio donde refugiarme/ donde nunca mas vuelvas a encontrarme. (Polo Montañez)

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Mosaic_Soul says on Jul 26, 2007, 18:05:

Peter.

God's willing, I will be going to India in Feb 2008 for the engagement of my little brother Manish.

Faith means that you have peace even when you don't have all the answers.

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Gomezman5 says on Jul 26, 2007, 20:56:

Peter, I don't know a damn thing about India.........but if you love the food.......fly over to Chicago one weekend and we can go on Devon Ave.......2-3 miles worth of cuisine from India. Those spices take a little getting used to if have not had real Indian Food. On Devon, they have it all.....especially the buffets......vegetarian ones too. They are so reasonably priced, I don't know how they make money for the amount, and quality of food that they serve.

http://www.yelp.com/biz/m1IVpXClMox1VGw5hO2LhQ

Tiffin.......this place is great.....go there all the time

http://www.tiffinrestaurants.com/

General guide to eateries from India on Devon in Chigo

http://jump.suntimes.com/list.cfm?tag=devon

If you ever get here, we can go together........you will love it. BTW, if you have an lady friends from India, there are plenty of Jewelry stores that carry the stuff they like,,,,,,and Sari shops too.

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Peter (Moderator) (☼Travelguide writer) says on Jul 26, 2007, 22:05:

adrimm says on Jul 27, 2007, 07:55:

I do too ( we have some great little hole-in-the-wall indian places near work..so tempting).

Man Tequila, Peter, say I nail down a 2-3 weeks of vacation in 2008/09 where would you suggest going?

ACK.. I rreallly shouldn't plan ahead that far... omg I better stay away from this branch until I am closer to travelling there...

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Man Tequila says on Aug 1, 2007, 22:00:

I'm no expert on India. In Toronto you could get local advice.

The Lonely Planet guide to India is excellent and guided many of my decisions.
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/worldguide/destinations/asia/india/see

My work took me to the Kerala Backwaters, Pondicherry, Chennai and Goa. All were worth seeing. Goa is far more laid back than the rest of India due to its deep Portugeuse roots. Pondicherry was settled by the French and has a different flavour. Chennai is an interesting city.

The Taj Mahal is in Agra, and quite a few travellers prefer to go to the North of India. The mountains around Darjeeling, the incredibly beautiful pink city of Jaipur (the people of Rajisthan have to be among the world's friendliest), the incredible chaos of Mumbai (Bombay)...

Aunque no me creas/ si me lo propongo/ lograre olvidarte/ porque a fin de cuentas/ no soy tan cobarde./ Y termino todo una de estas tardes/ no sera dificil buscar algún sitio donde refugiarme/ donde nunca mas vuelvas a encontrarme. (Polo Montañez)

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Peter (Moderator) (☼Travelguide writer) says on Aug 2, 2007, 03:28:

BaJaHa says on Aug 8, 2007, 04:30:

My first trip to India, That was in 1989. I felt a bit groggy on the aircraft on the way over from England, that then developed into a full blown bout of sickness like I have never had in my life, I felt like an old amputated left leg.

After two weeks of misery I went to see a chiropractor he rambled on for about 45 minutes after giving me six small white pills, he said that I would be better by the time I left his office. Amazingly he was correct, I had always spoken somewhat less than admiringly about such practices.

The chiropractors fee, RS 100 (£ 00:80 - USD1:40. The same private consultation in UK would be more like £100.

He also advised me to stop taking the Malaria tablets, he said that it was they that was causing me the problem. He was correct. At that time, Malaria was not a problem there (in Goa) it is now, many hundreds of people have been infected over the past year.

I then started to enjoy India. But the things that I could manage to live without are:
Poverty amongst the majority of Indians and the system that keeps them like that.
Rubbish discarded everywhere
Uncontrolled corruption
Beggars everywhere
People staring at me, and all foreigners, what they see is a mobile ATM
The touts and their scams
Snakes and mosquitoes

These things one gets used to and deals with in your own way.

However I love India and its people, I have made many good friends there, genuine friends that is. India is a safe place to live, the chance of being robbed, murdered etc is not worth worrying about, on the other hand, the standard of driving here has to be seen to be believed, and the only safe means of travelling would be in an army tank.

Although I am now retired. I can live like a lord here and can afford to give to others less fortunate than myself.

My trekking days are over now but we are planning to tour by car, all the major cities and sites in India.

I live in a complex on top of the Western Ghats in Goa, the view is amazing, I can see millions of coconut palms and beyond that the blue Arabian sea, in the evening we sit on the verandah and watch the sun go down to the whisper of a gentle breeze, glass in hand, with good friends, good whisky costing less than £2: per litre, and the cost of food negligible, warm sea, an almost empty stretch of sand this is my Nirvana.

~ When I die, I want to be in Goa, I want to be 110 and my wife to be so upset she has to drop out of school~

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BaJaHa says on Aug 8, 2007, 15:40:

Just remembered this bit.
Arriving in Goa some time ago, I had not yet bought my apartment and subsequently moved in to my wife's relations house for about four months, they have three daughters and two (boy and girl) grandchildren living there.

After some time when I had got to know them all better, I told the girl of 10 years that I was going to teach her how to pronounce the English language better, get the emphasis correct and to use the letter w instead of v i.e. Vot are you vanting, ve are vaiting etc. (sounding like Germans in an old movie) I kept at her for a long time and, to me anyway she was sounding just like a posh little lady.

When she went back to school I went with her mother to collect the two children, as soon as she got into the car I asked her what the teacher had thought of her pronunciation.

"She said that the words were very good now uncle, but she asked why I had a Scottish accent now?"

~ Asked at Immigration, "How long were you in India?" "Five foot ten" I said~

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lamiche says on Nov 14, 2007, 18:45:

Hysterical, BaJaha....

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