Impressions on South India

3rd February, 2019

Before I launch myself at the next post, on our stay in Thailand, I just thought I would put down a few impressions Val and I had of our trip round south India.

We had planned the tour with the Indian tour company we had used for our 2016 tour of Rajasthan, but with the emphasis on a certain amount of sight-seeing interspersed with some R&R. This pace suits us as Val is not up for long drives and even longer treks round cities trying to see everything and although there are times when I possibly might have liked to dwell a little longer, I also found the pace good and we certainly did not stint for sights to see and things to do.

In no particular order….

Driving

Although first impressions of our car and driver were not good (he had to borrow some cash from us to get the car out of the airport car park!), things improved markedly and Pandi and we became good friends and we knew we were in capable hands. This, if any of you reading this have ever visited India, is rather vital as driving here is an art form. They use every bit of the road and don’t be surprised to find:

• something approaching you on your side of the road
• cows wandering about all over the place
• buses overtaking on a blind corner of hill
• you overtaking on a blind corner or hill!
• 6 lanes of vehicles in a 2 lane road

Somehow everyone makes space and although everyone honks at every opportunity it is all part of the ‘system’, ie letting the person in front of you know that you are about to overtake them, then honking as you are alongside actually overtaking them and once more to let them know that you may well cut in front of them at the last minute. They are certainly extremely accurate drivers and know the width and length of their vehicles down to the last millimetre. I suspect that sellers of brake pads must do well in India. That said, no one goes that fast, not least as there are regular speed bumps and barriers in all of the roads (even dual-carriageways) to slow up traffic, though the latter must, I feel, cause the odd accident as two oncoming vehicles play chicken and vie for the space in the chicane that has been created.

No one seems to get cross or irate, though Pandi did get a bit irritated by motorbikes that dawdled or would not keep over to the side of the road. Road rage, though, is not a feature and there is a sort of laissez-faire/might-is-right attitude whereby you just go with the flow and generally give way to anything bigger than you (especially buses, which all seem to be express and equipped with the loudest horns achievable). If you are a bit of a nervous passenger, then you might want to sit in the back of the car to start with as it can take a bit of getting used to.

Billboards and Signage

Honestly, I reckon that the way to get rich in India is to start up a billboard or signwriting company. They are EVERYWHERE! Every shop, every road, even the walls of houses are painted to advertise something like cement or mobile networks. It is certainly colourful, but also a decided blot on the landscape. There are also advertising boards for films (only the male actors seem to get shown!), politicians, schools (with their results and star pupils) and even when it is someone’s birthday or wedding a sign goes up with as many relatives and friends (again almost always male) on it as you can fit. Never dull!

Hotels and Accommodation

We were very fortunate in being able to stay in some lovely hotels, but even so generally the service is excellent and everyone makes a special effort to look after you. You have to get used to being greeted, often with a bow, by every member of staff you meet, from the receptionists to the gardeners. It can get a bit wearing, but I remind myself of what the alternative might be!

It is well worth doing a bit of research on where to stay as it can be a bit variable in price and quality – basically like anywhere else in the world. The price we found was generally pretty good, even with the poor exchange rate (boo Brexit!!!).

We did find it a bit tricky to venture out from the hotels in the evening as it was not usually a case of just walking out the door into the streets as some of the hotels were a bit tucked away and there was often a bit of a lack of what we might consider pavement, but we found that eating in was perfectly okay.

I will not put a load of photos in here of each of our hotel bedrooms! (Unless you want me to??)

Temples

Well, any of you who have followed our travels will know that we have certainly seen a few temples! They have been of sufficient variety to hold the interest, not least because of the people milling about either trying to sell you stuff or on their way to do a puja for their pilgrimage. I would suggest a good working knowledge of at least the main Hindu gods and goddesses would be useful, though a good guidebook can be useful, not least in telling you of some of the myths that are associated with each site.

I would also recommend a basic knowledge of the layout of the temple. They generally follow the same pattern – a bit like a Christian church – and there is significance in every bit. Our guides helped and if you can get a good one (but I don’t know how you can tell they are going to be good beforehand), then that is a bonus. It would have been nice to dwell a little longer in places just to soak up the atmosphere and maybe chat with the people attending the temple. Failing all of that I can recommend Michael Wood’s book, ‘A South Indian Journey’.

I think we did get a bit ‘templed out’ by the end, but the overall memories will be there forever. Each temple had its own magnificence or quirks and the sheer scale of some of them is jaw-dropping. The colours and vibrancy too are awe-inspiring with the myriad statues almost moving over the gopuras and other buildings.

Food

South Indian food is different to the north as they use more coconut milk, but you can usually get a fairly wide variety of cuisine (even Chinese and pizza in the cities). The bigger hotels especially have a varied menu, but of course it is fun to try the local fare. Val was particularly in her element as her parents came from Kerala and she was brought up on many of the dishes that we ate in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.

We had no ‘problems’ with the food, which may be an indication of the hygiene of the cuisine or the training of our stomachs over the years. The only danger seemed to be that would order a bit too much as we saw another dish we wanted to try.

Our modus operandi was to have a good breakfast, break for a coconut (water and flesh) by the roadside and then have a good supper. It was not oppressively hot at all (indeed Bangalore Airport in the early morning was only 10C!) but we just didn’t feel like eating any more. You can pick up snacks along the way, a bit like Bombay Mix or the equivalent.

No pictures of food…….

The People

Everyone we met were delightful and keen to help. They were often keen to have a selfie with us as well. I think this was for different reasons – me because I was the tall (in India) white man with the white hat and Val because they could not quite work out where she was from. It was all great fun though and we had a lot of laughs posing with would-be male Bollywood stars and slightly shy girls and feisty and funny female pilgrims.

The level of English varied as you might expect, but there was always someone with enough to get the message through – or a combination of them to piece all their combined knowledge together. Admittedly we had Pandi, our driver (not brilliant, but just about OK) and a guide usually, but I would imagine that anyone travelling solo would be fine. We had a secret weapon in Val who has a good working knowledge of Tamil (as well as Malayalam, Bahasa Melayu (Malay), Cantonese and English, of course) and could often surprise people who did not know that she could understand most of what they were saying!

The women are almost always impeccably dressed even for the most menial or mundane tasks. The sari is ubiquitous along with the salwar kameez in a never-ending variety of vibrant and contrasting colours. To this is added jewellery and carefully brushed long hair, tied in a plait and often decorated with more jewellery and flowers. I was constantly surprised by how attractive they looked, young and old and how much care they gave to their appearance. We did not see many women in western dress, though there were a few in the bigger cities, often younger women or girls.

The men, by contrast, looked a bit ordinary, usually just a short-sleeved shirt and jeans or trousers, though they would wear a lungi (sarong) or dhoti for more special occasions or because they preferred the more traditional look. In case you are wondering, a dhoti is a bit like a lungi, but gathered up at the sides and tucked in in the middle and of just below knee length, whereas the lungi is full length and just wrapped around the waist and tucked in. That said, if you want to look ‘cool’ as a man, then you need a leather jacket and sunglasses and a hero pose. And, of course, the moustache is absolutely mandatory, possibly with beard accessory.

A few of the characters we spotted….

The Weather

As far as we were concerned, January was perfect. We had no rain and temperatures of mid to high 20C except in Ooty which is a hill station, where it can get a bit chillier at night but was a very pleasant 20C during the day. I would add that you need clothes that are fairly conservative and cover you well for visiting temples and I think I wore long trousers throughout – like the locals.

Shopping (and Markets!!)

Plenty to buy! Either take very little with you or work out a way to get it back to the UK or wherever you live. Haggle, of course. Lots of nice fabrics, rather too many touristy elephants etc, some lovely jewellery (though Indian gold is a bit bright for Western tastes possibly) and of course you can go all out and buy carpets and statues which they will happily arrange to ship back for you. Beware though as in our experience, the UK customs are a clever bunch and might query the ‘value’ the seller has given the goods. Also – DO NOT take excess hand luggage on Air Asia!!!!! They will charge you a HUGE amount for it. Buy extra baggage allowance before you get to the airport (well before).

And do visit the markets wherever you are in India – definitely the most colourful places of all, even the temples, with a myriad of goods on sale and people selling them.

Litter,Poverty and Pollution

Val and I felt that the litter and rubbish was perhaps a bit better than we had experienced in other parts of India in times past. There is a big anti-plastic campaign, but the biggest problem in our view was that people still just dump their rubbish wherever they can and although we were impressed by the attempt to keep the main streets of the cities clean, it is pretty much ubiquitous everywhere else. You do find yourself getting used to it, which is good and bad, but Val and I did get the usual feeling that we always get in India, which is an almost irresistible urge to get the Marigolds out and start sweeping up. It would not take that much effort, but somehow the social norm is not there as it is in other parts of Asia (Singaporeans must have a terrible time in India!).

We did not see much outright Slumdog poverty. There were a few people sleeping rough, but probably no worse than London in the summer. The general sense was of great industry and everyone working hard to scrape a living. The cities, towns and villages are a sea of people all busy moving and shopping and selling and generally on the go – and all honking! It is never-ending and if you like the wide-open empty spaces with few if any places, then India is not for you.

The pollution, especially in the cities was bad and even in Ooty in the highlands it was very poor, largely a result of vehicle exhausts. Having an air-conditioned car is very, very useful! It is a big problem for the country, I feel and I hope they do something about it soon.

Carving and Bronzes

A never-ending display, done with enormous skill and often humour and much of it very ancient indeed.

Highlights

The Nigiri Blue Mountain Railway was fabulous, the temples were staggering, the food, the people, the driving, the palaces especially at Mysore and Srirangapatna, Pondicherry and the Matri Mandir at Auroville are a few of the outstanding memories. And lovely hotels, warm weather and blue skies.

OK, definitely time to post this as it is Tuesday, 5th February and we have been in Thailand for almost two and a half weeks and I have yet to post anything from here!