Postcard

It is 9:50 AM on Friday February 15th as I type this. Most of you are still out on your Valentines dates, fighting the crowds for space in popular eateries around the world. It is hotter than hell in this net cafe this morning. I walked over here from the hotel and found it stuffy and warm, the guy next to me lights up and now its smoky. All we need is some sleazy lounge music and a few drinks.

Not much to report from yesterday. I have a touch of a cold so I stayed in last night. Had planned to meet up with a friend here but their dead cell made that not happen. Today then. I spent time in my room watching such romantic classics as You've Got Mail, Must Love Dogs, Sleepless in Seattle and the Wedding Crashers. Rest assured that in India HBO is heavily sedated so there is no cussing or nudity. I actually wasn't going to watch the Crashers but found the edited version more enjoyable.

I am going to post a few snaps from the trip so far (again) and try to explain a little about them.

This was my first up close and personal view of Mumbai. The Lake Site Hotel where I was routed for a price higher than I have paid for rooms twice as nice. One thing about the thugs here is that they take advantage of your youth. I have grown up much in the past two weeks. Hopefully enough to avoid such lying denizens in the future.


My real hotel in Mumbai, the Railway, was in walking distance to CST (see previous posts), I had walked past it many times but was a little afraid to venture into it since I wasn't a passenger. There must be rules against white guys with cameras loitering inside train stations. But one day I went anyways. I never actually got down onto the platform, however, that would be going too far. So I watched everything from the walkways above. Since then I have become very well acquainted with the entire process of traveling in India by rail. First class baby, or walk.

You see a lot of living being done right in front of you on the streets everywhere in India. This is one of those oddities that I ran across, a street barber. Both were congenial and allowed me to take this snap. I haven't worked up the courage to actually allow one of them to take a straight razor to my skin.

Street food is huge here. Everyday, anytime of day you will see crowds of people elbowing their way to the front of the line in order to feast on the tasty treats the food vendor has for them. This particular one is a coconut drink. The man trims up the end of a green coconut and then lops off the end. The buyer then drinks the sweet coconut milk out with a straw. I asked if I could take this snap and they were cooperative, enthusiastic even. The buyer (with the glasses) offered to buy me one. Here you cannot simply decline such an offer politely. You have to say "I just had some" in order to no offend. I had just had some. But I was genuinely touched by the offer.

There are too many archaeological sites in too many places to mention. It is the archaeologists dream vacation with all of the temples, etc thousands of years old, seeped in the history of the world. This is a snap I took at Agra Fort which was inhabited by many rulers throughout the years, each one adding their own special touches and additions. Across the river is the Taj Mahal.

In a devastating marketing coup over PepsiCo, Coca Cola's faded logo remains visible on a centuries old building across from the restaurant on the rooftop of my Agra hotel. Coke is painted everywhere here. Like a marketing thug went on a tagging spree about 50 years ago.

I snapped this photo while looking in on some silk tapestry makers working on looms. Kids are everywhere and quite happy and good natured all of them. I find them quick to smile and interact while we adults are far more suspicious.