I am currently on the Rickshaw Rallye from Chennai to Kanyakumari (southernmost tip of India). From December 29, 2008 to January 8, 2009, please check www.a-teamrickshaw.com for blog posts and pictures! Happy New Year!
A quick detour out of our Thailand trip landed us in Hanoi, Vietnam for 3 days. Our friends Craig & Grace, with whom we’ve traveled before (Philippines, Italy & India) said, why don’t we meet in Vietnam over Christmas? Makes perfect sense to spend Christmas in a Buddhist-Communist (Socialist) country, right? It turns out that the Vietnamese have embraced Christmas with the same fervor as their pseudo capitalism.
We spent 3 days hanging around the French quarter, going in and out of shops (mostly galleries) with a few detours to see the sights. Hanoi is a fantastic walking city, especially if you stay at one of the hotels in the center of town such as the Hilton Hanoi. The culinary highlight was lunch at “Little Hanoi 1,” a hole in the wall Vietnamese place that 4 of us had lunch at for about $12. The Vietnamese 5 course dinner for Christmas Eve was also very memorable, especially the girls getting a second dessert because the staff thought they hadn’t served it to us!
Craig did a great job on his post about our time together in Hanoi, so I’ll link to his blog and you can read more if you’d like: Who wants to be a Millionaire?
From Hanoi we headed back to Bangkok for one more day of shopping and sightseeing. Since it was the weekend we headed to JJ Market which is just outside central Bangkok. This place is massive and you can find just about anything you are looking for. With the heat and humidity and the sheer amount of stuff and number of people we were a bit overwhelmed. Prachee picked up a few gifts and we headed back to Silom for some massages 
Writing this from the lounge at BKK airport – back to Bangalore tonight. Next is the Rickshaw rallye, so stay tuned!
Bangkok was next on the itinerary and it didn’t take long for both Prachee and I to realize what a great city it is. I mentioned on my FB update that I felt like “Goldilocks” because Bangkok seemed to be “just right.” It straddles many dimensions: old & new, asian & western, provincial & cosmopolitan, laid back & full of energy, clean & dirty! It seems to have whatever you are looking for and as a bonus the best food in the world. Thais tend to eat many small meals throughout the day, so on every corner and every alley you can find people who have set up a mini kitchen serving amazingly fresh food. And despite being on the street, cleanliness is impeccable – even tourists can eat at these impromptu restaurants without any fear of getting ill.
On our first night after arriving we ended up at an Italian restaurant in West Silom where our hotel was located. After 4 days of Thai food for lunch & dinner in Phuket we were ready for some pizza! The next day we started with a river boat “bus” ride up to the old part of Bangkok where the holiest temples or Wats are located. First was the Grand Palace & Emerald Buddha, followed by the Reclining Buddha – for me the highlight of cultural Bangkok. We then made our way to Banglamphu market, Soi Rambutri & Khao San Road which are the “backpackers” areas of the city. The streets are lined with stalls selling everything imaginable and you can graze on the great Thai food carts while you shop. We’d been snacking all day, so we had a light dinner with the backpackers on Khao San and headed back to the hotel.
The next day all plans had to revolve around having lunch at Chote Chitir, a hole in the wall restaurant that had gotten rave reviews in the NYT travel section and was also highly recommended in our Lonely Planet. If you know Prachee, then you understand how a whole day in a city could be planned around meals! Since the restaurant was near Khao San Road we decided to head back there to continue our exploration of the area. This time we did a bit of shopping – I am now the proud owner of “Thai Fishermen” pants… don’t ask! The morning flew by in our exploration of the endless streets and alleys of Banglamphu and soon it was time for lunch. Thanks to Lonely Planet we were able to actually find Chote Chitir and since it was nearly 1:30pm, we found that we had the pick of the 5 tables in the place. Prachee excitedly asked the owner for her recommendations on what to order and soon the dishes started to arrive: first, the Mee Krob – a house specialty of thin fried crispy noodles with a delicious sweet and sour sauce; second, black pepper and garlic prawns; third, raw mango salad with grilled salmon (both Prachee’s and my favorite); & fourth, banana flower salad. The proprietor asked if we wanted steamed rice, we kindly declined – who wanted to waste valuable stomach real estate with rice! Let me just say, there wasn’t much for a “doggie bag” – Chote Chitir lived up to the hype!
After lunch we “rolled” to the hotel, picked up our bags and headed to the airport for our trip to Hanoi, Vietnam.
After 2 years in India it was rather sad that we had not yet done a South East Asia trip (with the exception of Singapore). It was a conscious decision to focus on trips in India and the idea was to do a month long backpacking trip at the end of the assignment prior to moving back to the US. Given that there are two and a half of us, the whole backpacking thing went out the window. Prachee calls it a “baby moon,” I call it one last hoorah!
What better place to start than the beach! We flew from Bangalore to Phuket via Bangkok and stayed at the Kamala Beach Hotel & Resort which was recommended by our friend Phil. It was a chill place – exactly what we were looking for. Lots of reading by the pool and the beach, broken up by fantastic (southern) Thai seafood and walks on the beach. We’d definitely recommend the hotel even though we were a little out of place as we had not arrived on a charter plane from Northern Europe. Tons of Scandinavians, Dutch & French staying for 1-2 weeks at a time. I love doing nothing at the beach, but I don’t think I could do it for 2 weeks straight!
Kamala Beach is also 15 minutes by taxi to Patong, which is probably Phuket’s best known town/beach. It is kind of a mini-Bangkok with the bars, clubs and nutty night life. At this point this is not necessarily our scene, but we were glad to be so close and we spent one evening in Patong. We were also very fortunate because they were having a “Beach Festival” for 4 days which included about 60 or 70 food stalls all along the beach boardwalk highlighting all the different types of Thai cuisine. We were planning on eating at a restaurant, but when we saw all the food stands we couldn’t resist and ended up eating as we walked. After coming from India it is a pleasure to be able to eat from the street vendors with no fear of getting sick – the cleanliness & professionalism is fantastic!
Prachee is usually the big fan of massages, but during pregnancy the kinds of massages are restricted. On the beach, there are a couple of massage beds every 20 feet and of course our hotel had about 10 of them – perpetually busy! On our last morning we decided to get up early and start off the day with a massage. Prachee chose an oil massage (gentle) and I chose Thai (when in Rome…) having never had one before. For the next 1 hour this diminutive Thai woman proceeded to pretzelize me, using her hands, elbows, forearms and feet – using her entire body weight as leverage. I often wonder why I don’t like massages – to me they are just the ultimate luxury. Somebody labors (for very little money ~$10 for 1 hr) in order to relieve you of your physical pain. I guess it’s just my personality, but physical pain is something you endure, not relieve. For this reason, Thai massage appeals to me – in order to achieve the relief you have to endure 1 hour of pain!
Prachee and I both finished a great new book at the beach in Phuket so I wanted to encourage you to read it if you haven’t already. The White Tiger is Aravind Adiga’s first novel and the 2008 Man Booker prize winner. For those of us who live in India, the narrative strikes close to home, but regardless, it is an exceptionally written novel with a unique and dark story that you won’t be able to put down.
Next is Bangkok, followed by Christmas in Hanoi. I will try to post individual blogs for each, but we’ll see how that goes. I’ll probably post photos at the end once we get back to Bangalore. Check back soon!
Two big pieces of news have been slowly filtering out through email, Facebook and I’ve alluded to them in previous posts on this blog.
1. Prachee and I are expecting! He or she was made in India and we are looking forward to April 2009 with equal measure excitement and trepidation. If you’ve seen Prachee lately there is not much point to keeping this news “under wraps.”
2. The “three” of us are headed back to the Bay Area in January 2009. Prachee’s job here in Bangalore is wrapping up and she’s looking forward to new challenges in Marketing with Cisco’s Security Technology Group. I am in job search mode, so be on the lookout for my resume in your inbox soon
There is no doubt that we’ll miss India, Bangalore and the friends we’ve made these past two years (see next two posts), but we are looking forward to being closer to our families and to the new challenges of 2009.
Sukh Sagar – this is my favorite local eating place. The food is good, service is fast and I’m going to dearly miss my Tomato Onion Uttapam with Coconut Chutney!
The Food – I mentioned Sukh Sagar by name, but there are many other places and food that I will miss dearly. From having 20 Rupee lunch (about 50 cents) at the Laxmi Darshini in New Thipassandra; the Onion Rava Dosa at Dosa Stop; the Indian-Chinese Noodles at China Pearl; the Biryani at Eden Park; the Kababs & Nizam Rolls at Siddique in Shivajinagar; and of course the heavenly breads: naan, roomali roti, phulka, roti, paratha & chapatis! I bought a tandoor to take back with me and I hope I can re-create some of my favorites at home!
The Naren Workout – it’s amazing to be able to workout with a personal trainer, to have someone there to motivate you, to push you and be waiting for you on those days you just don’t want to go to the gym. I really enjoyed my afternoons with Naren, even though his job was to keep me in a perpetual state of soreness!
The Venu Pickup & Drop-off – our driver Venu has been one of the constants of our time here in India, always punctual, reliable, trustworthy and professional. I enjoy driving so I look forward to having the car to myself again and turning it into my personal karaoke booth. What I will miss however, is getting dropped off and picked up right in front of wherever I am going, truly a luxury.
Flat 610 at Embassy Tranquil – our oasis in India. We’ve truly enjoyed the space and tranquility of our apartment as well as entertaining on the fantastic private terrace. We were lucky to find a building with like-minded neighbors that is both close to the center of town and to Prachee’s work.
Being so close to Aai & Papa – although we haven’t been to Pune to visit Prachee’s grandparents as much as we would have like to, our frequency has been much better than when we are in the US. We’ve enjoyed having them just an hour flight away and being able to see them several times a year.
Bangalore Weather – I just can’t say enough about Bangalore’s weather, I absolutely love it. No jacket or sweaters required! Our windows are open year-round with breezes cooling you off even during the 2-3 “hot” weeks each year. Even the monsoon is enjoyable in Bangalore as it usually arrives in the evening so you can fall asleep to the sound of the rain. Definitely not your typical Indian weather!
Waking up to the papaya vendor in the morning – with the windows open I can hear him clearly even though he is 6 stories down. I don’t know what he looks like and I am not sure he even sells Papayas (his call just sounds like he’s saying Papayas), but I will definitely miss my distinctive India “Alarm Clock.”
Our friends in Bangalore – we have the photos and the memories, but we’ll miss the great friends we’ve made over the last two years. I hope that we’ll see each other again soon in India, in San Francisco or somewhere in between!
Thumbs Up – somewhere between Coke and Jolt but with a bit of “Masala” kick. Thumbs Up is one of those truly Indian things. In my 2005 post New Year’s in India (of my first trip to India) I closed it out by saying what turned out to be prophetic words “A Thumbs Up for the road and it was time to leave India, content in knowing that I’ll be back soon.” I’ll say it once more, with the knowledge that it will be true again and the hope that it will be soon.
Mosquitoes – there are no words to describe how much I hate mosquitoes! Apparently, the feeling is not mutual, because they love me! Looking forward to being in mosquito free California.
Slow Internet – it’s not only slow, it’s also metered! Have you ever had a $300 dollar broadband bill? Exactly, slow and expensive – add insult to injury. FIOS better be in the Bay Area by now because I am ready for the smorgasbord “all you can eat” 50 Mbps so I can download half the Library of Congress if I so please!
Bangalore Traffic – hard to understand if you haven’t experienced it, but to put it in perspective: I’ll take the 405 at the 10 junction in LA at 6pm on a Friday any day! The thing is, all major cities have traffic these days, but what sets Bangalore apart (and many other Indian cities) is that beyond the crush of cars you have the Rickshaw Mafia (don’t mess), the motorcyclists with a death wish, the people on foot playing a real life version of frogger and the cows who are just plain dumb.
Speaking about Cows – I definitely won’t miss them. They have to be the absolute dumbest animals on the planet! Even after 2 years in India, the Uruguayan in me is unchanged: the best place for a cow is on a BBQ.
Drive to the BLR airport – the new Bangalore Airport is a definite improvement over the old one. The one problem is that it takes 2 hours to get there by car. That’s the equivalent of living in San Diego and driving to LAX for any of your flights, even domestic. The difference is that the new Airport is only 45km away (vs. 100 miles SD to LA), now you understand…
Flight between India & US – this was amusing at first, but the way home on our last US trip in October was just a grind! 24-30 hours in transit of which 20 are in-flight with at 13.5 hour time difference… looking forward to staying in PST for a while.
220 Volts – who thought this was a good idea? Everything sparks when I plug it in, fuses and light bulbs burn out constantly, plugs have to have switches and these worthless safety mechanisms just so kids (or adults) don’t fry themselves. Maybe it’s the Indian wiring, or maybe the voltage – I just hope my electronics go back in one piece!
Blackouts & the UPS beep – we are fortunate to live in a building that has a generator backup, but even so, blackouts are a pain. I won’t miss the nearly daily ritual: all lights go dark, fans stop, the stillness broken only by the annoying beeping of the computer’s Universal Power Supply. Then suddenly, the bone jarring coughing of the generator starting up spewing black soot into the air, the stench of diesel immediately overpowers you… it will be a pleasure to pay that PG&E bill.
Do you have 2 Rupee change? – if I did, I would have given it to you! For some reason there is a chronic shortage of small bills and coins in India. The jar full of candy by the register is not there to entice you into that spontaneous POS purchase, it’s for the cashier to use if he’s run out of 1 rupee coins!
Negotiating with Rickshaw drivers – thanks to Venu it wasn’t that often that I was relegated to commuting in quintessential Indian transport, the Auto Rickshaw. However, every time I knew that I had to I would dread the inevitable negotiation that would take place before I could even get in to the Rickshaw. The meters would be better utilized as coat hangers! If I can negotiate the price to double of what I know the fare should be I am happy! And forget about taking a Rickshaw when it is raining… that’s just extortion.
Some pictures from our weekend in Pune. With all the baby celebrations and pujas, but knowing that it would be our last trip to Pune while living in India, it was definitely a bittersweet 3 days. Shashi and Asha came from Bombay for a gathering of the Dates. The puja was for the baby and as usual lunch was fantastic
We also got to spend lots of quality time with Aai & Papa and Prachee got some of her Marathi food cravings taken care of. On Sunday we had lunch with the Khadilkar’s before heading to the airport.
Afternoon snack of sticky sweet Gulab Jamun & Jalebi – 25 Rupees; Tandoori Chicken, Biryani and Rotis with my friend Amit – 200 Rupees; My own Tandoor oven to take back home – 1800 Rupees; Traffic jam created by girl-on-girl cow action in the middle of the street – Priceless.
My friend Amit and I decided to take a gastronomic tour of Shivajinagar on Saturday. Shivajinagar is a crowded section of Bangalore full of shops, stalls and street vendors of every kind. It is mostly a Muslim area and is vaguely reminiscent of the souqs we’ve been to in places such as Morocco. The streets are wider, but the crush of people is the same – especially on the Karnataka Day holiday on Saturday.
Amit, an admitted foody and me, an Anthony Bourdain wanna-be who will try anything (only once) decided it was time to explore the recesses of Shivajinagar in search of some culinary “diamonds in the rough.” After some parking issues (we should have taken a Rickshaw in retrospect) we found ourselves at the Grand Taj Hotel. For those of you who are fimiliar with Indian hotels I am not referring to those “Taj” hotels. This is a restaurant tucked away in a side street in Shivajinagar serving some excellent Tandoor and Biryani dishes. The two of us stuffed ourselves for the equivalent of $4 dollars! Every Indian meal must end with something sweet, so we were off in search of a well known sweets shop on Commercial street called Bhagatram. While this one is not really off the beaten path, I have walked by it countless of times in the past and never even noticed it. At Bhagatram we had their Gulab Jamun (condensed milk ball saturated in sugar syrup) & Jalebi (deep fried spiral soaked in sugar syrup immediately after frying). Both were amazing of course although I felt like was going to develop diabetes just standing in the shop.
We were on our way to find a supposedly famous secluded Samosa shop when I told Amit about my desire to have my own Tandoor to take back to San Francisco with us. He consulted with Rajan his Personal Assistant (it’s an India thing, not an executive perk) and he said of course he knew where to find them and his cousin knows one of the shop owners! When you are buying these kinds of things in India, it is always good to be with a local. If they see a car, it raises the price 50%, my face, a multiple of the price! After knocking off 500 rupees, we got the Tandoor for the “friend” price of INR1800 – he even let me carve “Charles Tandoor” on the fresh clay. Check out the picture!
Our gastronomic tour had been cut short, but I now have my own Tandoor! I am looking forward to many Tandoor BBQ parties in the last remaining months in India and back in San Francisco.
I wanted to post some photos from Bangalore Oktoberfest this year. The band is flown in from Germany, so are the Brats, while the beer is Kingfisher. An all you can eat and drink smorgasborg – I am paying the price today!
Album Link: Oktoberfest 2008
