Sunday, July 31
I turned the alarm off twice before finally giving in at 4:10 am. Raj was early, so I hurried down to the awaiting taxi. We arrived at the train station where Amruta was already waiting. With the monsoon rains, everyone expected travel to take much longer than it did. We were joined by the other staff along the way, except Hari who missed the train and had to take a later one.
The trip was booked too late for first class; it was full. The coach section is not air conditioned, but has a fan over each seat. With the rains and early morning commute, the temperatures were quite comfortable for most of the trip.
I watched out the window as the scenery changed from a cement jungle to wide open spaces. Copious puddles spotted the green fields. We passed small villages and shanty towns as we headed north to Gujarat. Women hung clothes out to dry while others carried water or food on their heads. Cows and goats roamed aimlessly through the streets. At each stop children played by the tracks while others begged at the station. Many of them would stand at my window for the entire stop. I knew that giving any amount could end badly for both of us. The child may be beaten while others take the money from them; I would be mobbed. This is a world with too many and not enough. Somehow in time you learn to accept this.
The 8 hour trip was made fun by the crowd I was traveling with. Several of the guys jumped off at every stop and chased the train when it started to move without them. A card game started. Kapil seemed to be the high roller…he won 2000 bucks from Tanmay and 300 from Subodh (about $52 total).
We arrived in Anand in the early afternoon and took a rickshaw to the spa. That was really fun because I had wanted to ride in one just for the experience. The town looked like so many I’d seen before, but as we turned into the Madhubhan Spa, everything changed. Palm trees, flowers and statues covered the beautifully manicured grounds. The roads were well paved and very clean. The entire place was very upscale.
After checking in and a quick shower, we all met for lunch at 24/Seven where I tried a lot of new Indian foods. I really liked almost everything I tried. The food is outstanding and the service is excellent. I have a new favorite dessert called Halwa. It’s made in various flavors and served warm. Anand is known for dairy products; so they also served fresh ice cream daily. Amul (my new favorite canned iced coffee) is located in Anand. Needless to say I have regained whatever I lost by being so sick when I arrived here.
I had a great afternoon exploring the grounds and enjoying the bright sunshine. It’s been raining most of the 5 weeks I’ve been here, so this was a real treat. They were filming a Hindi soap opera at the spa so I watched them for a few minutes. The stars were more than happy to pose with spa guests, but I didn’t know who any of them were. I had watched a show for a few minutes at the apartment one day. The over acting is hilarious; even more so live. The others standing around laughed too, so I guess that’s intentional.
I decided to take advantage of the Sohum Spa (it’s the same chain of spas that Priya and I went to). The prices were amazing. I had a head and shoulders massage, manicure and hair conditioning for about $37 USD. Wow, it was awesome. The OTA crew thought it was appropriate that I chose the head and shoulders (that’s a trading pattern). After Darek heard that he decided he would have the double bottom (another trading pattern). He was probably disappointed when they didn’t offer that one.
That evening we met for drinks in one of the rooms. Gujarat is a dry state, so drinking is an automatic 6 months in jail. I guess that little fact wasn’t a big deal to any of our crew. I learned a lot about my new friends; I didn’t know Neeraj was such a great dancer. We moved our chairs back in the small room so he and Hari had room to display their talents. Someone mentioned that Debbie means goddess. I told them I was sure my mother knew that when she named me, but I was certainly glad they knew it as well.
On our way to dinner there was a band playing in the courtyard. No one was there listening or dancing, until we arrived. We brought the party with us; actually we were the party. We danced and laughed and drew a crowd of observers.
After dinner we sat outside. Darek shared a story about going to a temple with Giri. Once they were inside the temple and taken on a brief tour, they were separated. Each one went alone to visit the priest. Afterwards, they were asked to pay Rs. 2100 (~$45). Giri paid it; Darek had just arrived from the US and only had a few rupees from his previous trip. Not knowing if Giri had money, he decided to keep enough for cab fare and offered them Rs. 250. They weren’t happy but he told them to take it or leave it. Everyone laughed about them getting the shake down at a temple. It was especially funny because Giri is Indian and was taken for even more.
The stories were followed by charades and then a night of singing. Luckily I got ‘Terminator’ in charades, so that was pretty easy. Since the songs were mostly in Hindi, I just listened. I can’t carry a tune in a bucket so even if they were in English, I would have just listened anyway. Darek chimed in every once in a while by just waling out a sound that seemed to fit in. I was cracking up at him. Earlier during dinner when they all were laughing over a story told in Hindi I noticed Darek nodding and agreeing like he understood. We looked at each other and I realized that he had no idea what they were saying either. He continued to bob his head up and down and laugh when they did. I don’t think any of them noticed but I laughed so hard I had tears running down my cheeks. He is hilarious.
The Spa shut the outside lights off so we assumed that was our clue that our singing party was supposed to end. We went back to the room for more drinks and fun. After I left the guys attempted to take an early morning swim, but the guards didn’t allow it.
Monday, August 01, 2011
The sun was shining bright when I woke up this morning. I met the crew for breakfast and spent some time in the sun by the pool. The party in the room resumed until lunch and then checkout. I had a great time at a beautiful place. The taxis back to the train were vans this time and the train was air conditioned. Much better!....well except the rain delay....
Click this link for my pictures:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1869658542993.2092553.1286986094&l=8bba215e3b&type=1
I turned the alarm off twice before finally giving in at 4:10 am. Raj was early, so I hurried down to the awaiting taxi. We arrived at the train station where Amruta was already waiting. With the monsoon rains, everyone expected travel to take much longer than it did. We were joined by the other staff along the way, except Hari who missed the train and had to take a later one.
The trip was booked too late for first class; it was full. The coach section is not air conditioned, but has a fan over each seat. With the rains and early morning commute, the temperatures were quite comfortable for most of the trip.
I watched out the window as the scenery changed from a cement jungle to wide open spaces. Copious puddles spotted the green fields. We passed small villages and shanty towns as we headed north to Gujarat. Women hung clothes out to dry while others carried water or food on their heads. Cows and goats roamed aimlessly through the streets. At each stop children played by the tracks while others begged at the station. Many of them would stand at my window for the entire stop. I knew that giving any amount could end badly for both of us. The child may be beaten while others take the money from them; I would be mobbed. This is a world with too many and not enough. Somehow in time you learn to accept this.
The 8 hour trip was made fun by the crowd I was traveling with. Several of the guys jumped off at every stop and chased the train when it started to move without them. A card game started. Kapil seemed to be the high roller…he won 2000 bucks from Tanmay and 300 from Subodh (about $52 total).
We arrived in Anand in the early afternoon and took a rickshaw to the spa. That was really fun because I had wanted to ride in one just for the experience. The town looked like so many I’d seen before, but as we turned into the Madhubhan Spa, everything changed. Palm trees, flowers and statues covered the beautifully manicured grounds. The roads were well paved and very clean. The entire place was very upscale.
After checking in and a quick shower, we all met for lunch at 24/Seven where I tried a lot of new Indian foods. I really liked almost everything I tried. The food is outstanding and the service is excellent. I have a new favorite dessert called Halwa. It’s made in various flavors and served warm. Anand is known for dairy products; so they also served fresh ice cream daily. Amul (my new favorite canned iced coffee) is located in Anand. Needless to say I have regained whatever I lost by being so sick when I arrived here.
I had a great afternoon exploring the grounds and enjoying the bright sunshine. It’s been raining most of the 5 weeks I’ve been here, so this was a real treat. They were filming a Hindi soap opera at the spa so I watched them for a few minutes. The stars were more than happy to pose with spa guests, but I didn’t know who any of them were. I had watched a show for a few minutes at the apartment one day. The over acting is hilarious; even more so live. The others standing around laughed too, so I guess that’s intentional.
I decided to take advantage of the Sohum Spa (it’s the same chain of spas that Priya and I went to). The prices were amazing. I had a head and shoulders massage, manicure and hair conditioning for about $37 USD. Wow, it was awesome. The OTA crew thought it was appropriate that I chose the head and shoulders (that’s a trading pattern). After Darek heard that he decided he would have the double bottom (another trading pattern). He was probably disappointed when they didn’t offer that one.
That evening we met for drinks in one of the rooms. Gujarat is a dry state, so drinking is an automatic 6 months in jail. I guess that little fact wasn’t a big deal to any of our crew. I learned a lot about my new friends; I didn’t know Neeraj was such a great dancer. We moved our chairs back in the small room so he and Hari had room to display their talents. Someone mentioned that Debbie means goddess. I told them I was sure my mother knew that when she named me, but I was certainly glad they knew it as well.
On our way to dinner there was a band playing in the courtyard. No one was there listening or dancing, until we arrived. We brought the party with us; actually we were the party. We danced and laughed and drew a crowd of observers.
After dinner we sat outside. Darek shared a story about going to a temple with Giri. Once they were inside the temple and taken on a brief tour, they were separated. Each one went alone to visit the priest. Afterwards, they were asked to pay Rs. 2100 (~$45). Giri paid it; Darek had just arrived from the US and only had a few rupees from his previous trip. Not knowing if Giri had money, he decided to keep enough for cab fare and offered them Rs. 250. They weren’t happy but he told them to take it or leave it. Everyone laughed about them getting the shake down at a temple. It was especially funny because Giri is Indian and was taken for even more.
The stories were followed by charades and then a night of singing. Luckily I got ‘Terminator’ in charades, so that was pretty easy. Since the songs were mostly in Hindi, I just listened. I can’t carry a tune in a bucket so even if they were in English, I would have just listened anyway. Darek chimed in every once in a while by just waling out a sound that seemed to fit in. I was cracking up at him. Earlier during dinner when they all were laughing over a story told in Hindi I noticed Darek nodding and agreeing like he understood. We looked at each other and I realized that he had no idea what they were saying either. He continued to bob his head up and down and laugh when they did. I don’t think any of them noticed but I laughed so hard I had tears running down my cheeks. He is hilarious.
The Spa shut the outside lights off so we assumed that was our clue that our singing party was supposed to end. We went back to the room for more drinks and fun. After I left the guys attempted to take an early morning swim, but the guards didn’t allow it.
Monday, August 01, 2011
The sun was shining bright when I woke up this morning. I met the crew for breakfast and spent some time in the sun by the pool. The party in the room resumed until lunch and then checkout. I had a great time at a beautiful place. The taxis back to the train were vans this time and the train was air conditioned. Much better!....well except the rain delay....
Click this link for my pictures:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1869658542993.2092553.1286986094&l=8bba215e3b&type=1
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