Bhubaneshwar (Try saying that 3 times fast!)
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John
Jan 6, 2009, 10:14:59 AM1/6/09
to The Madcap Blunderbus
Ahoi hoi from Temple city (or so i read on a sign on the way in here)
As you may have noticed we have been MIA for a few days. This is due
to spotty internet in various locales and that we stayed in a few $4 a
night lodges. More on that to follow. Needless to say (but I'll say
it anyways) there is far too much to cover so I'll try to do the
reader's digest version as best I can.
Thanks for the info Mrs. Ulen, now all we have to do is figure out how
to text the website... We'll get in contact with a few of the other
teams and see what we can do.
So, since our last chat we headed up into Chennai (which was our first
experience with city driving and totally insane). We only got lost
for an hour or so and unfortunately had to pass by a giant garbage
dump which was on fire 2 times but after some directions from friendly
locals we found our way out and onto NH 5.
NH 5 is a "highway" that runs up along the eastern coast of India from
Chennai to Kolkatta (or something like that). As we got on it on the
north side of Chennai, we were reminded of Mad Max from the state of
disrepair. The cement dividers were crumbling, giant Lorry's (trucks)
were parked all along the highway (and by along I mean on) and traffic
while minorly congested was slowed due to the 4" deep potholes almost
every 15 feet. My favorite part about driving on highway 5 is the
many "detours" onto the other, oncoming side of the highway with
little or no signage or organization.
The next stop was Nellore where we got stuck driving at night again.
Brendon got to announce an "OH SHIT" when he thought an oncoming truck
during one of the previously mentioned detours was headed straight for
us. Turns out he is just blind in one eye due to a soccer incident
which I won't go into.
Nellore was relatively unremarkable although we had a little trouble
starting up Mattie (by the way we named our rickshaw Mathilda or
"Mattie" because it surely has to be bad luck to not have named her).
This seems to be a regular morning thing since she has a 2-stroke
engine and it can be trouble when it's overly cold (or overly hot).
So we drove and drove deciding that for the first part of our journey
we would cheese it (a phrase used at least 15 times a day much to what
would be my girlfriends chagrin). for the first few days we stopped
for lunch at roadside stands where we are generally received as though
we have mutliple heads (though warmly at the same time). We've had
many camera phone photos taken of us and the magical phrase of
communication at this point seems to be happy new year (though we are
quickly running out of time on that one).
Next was Guntur, where a man in the hotel parking lot demanded a photo
with us and that we mail him a copy. It was strange but a nice
gesture. We decided that it will be worth the postage. We also drank
budweiser there (needing a break from kingfisher) although it was just
as crappy as we remembered (even worse with all the preservatives).
The next day we got up and drove some more (imagine that) with nothing
too remarkable for a reader's digest post although when we stopped at
the hotel I went out to find a funnel and battery for the Rick and
Brendon filmed a mini-series of trying to remove the yellow gecko from
our 200 Rs a night hotel hovel. He eventually succeeded by throwing
little moist towelletes at it to drive it out the window.
Back to the road (I swear the days are more eventful than this but I
left my journal upstairs and it's probably better this way anyhoo)
driving driving driving, OH! I forgot to mention that the morning
after our last post Brendon became rather ill. The term we've heard
thrown around is Dheli Belly and it certainly seems to apply here. So
for the past few days he's been a little in and out of it, getting to
experience the local squatter toilets quite a few times.
Onto last night. Tekali is a place that is bold on the map. As we
discovered, it should not be. Although many of the places we visit it
is quite clear that they are not used to seeing white people, Tekali
kicked it up to the next level. Within 30 seconds of having stopped
for Brendon to check with the lodge, I became immediately surround by
a veritable mob of 50 indian people battering me with questions and
hopping in the back seat. Fun at first, it quickly got a little
intimidating as I couldn't keep an eye on everything and also could
not see to the lodge.
Eventually I heard Brendon yell my name and we managed to get
everything up and into the room. The mob while intimidating and a
little pushy ended up being extremely friendly (if a little overly
excitable) and after we dropped our stuff off we went to the finest
restaurant in town (a whole in the wall where they made us chinese
fried rice and some butter chicken masala) and had a drink with the
locals at the watering hole (dark room behind the liquor store).
While relaxing there we had a steady stream for about 2 hours of
different people coming in to shake our hands and introduce themselves
(including a man who we believe was introduced as the mayor). The
purveyor of our delicious beverages was forced to kick non-paying
customers out every few minutes. Once again.... unique, or as our
german friend Johny would say "TII mate! This is India".
The most colorful character was an indian who looked alot like Michael
Jackson from thriller (greasy jerry curls and everything) who was from
Mumbai and clearly wanted to get into a bit of trouble with us (he
kept making covert signs and trying to whisper things to us but
unfortunately we couldn't understand a damn thing). Eventually we
decided not to wander off with our new friend because although a
little harmless trouble could be interesting, we did have a mob of 50
people with us so getting away with anything would be nigh unlikely.
Besides, we're here for goodwill and wholesome (mostly) experiences.
Instead we retired for an early start and watched some Indian music
videos (which vary wildly from traditional to goofy to normal mtv
stuff but one thing is for sure. In India, they love large groups of
people dancing at the same time)
In the morning we discovered that we had lost a bolt that was holding
our muffler on and replaced that and had some of the locals help us
get the vehicle up and running. The people of Taleki were an odd lot
but all told left a positive (if stressful) impact on us.
It was at this point (today) that we reached the end of our journey
through Andrha Pradesh and entered into Orissa. The border was
atrocious and by atrocious I mean back to Mad Max, post-apocalyptic
crap. We officially started to roll the vehicle as we tried to take
one of the unmarked detours but saved it by shooting out our left feet
and keeping the rickshaw from tipping over. 3 small children and a
puppy watched with interest.
I can't even put into words the quality of what we drove through at
the border. 7" mini-boulders and 4" potholes the size of the road
were par for the course. We were almost backed into by a bus and
almost squeezed into a cement wall by a truck. In order to get
through we ended up following the motorbikes and driving through the
walking areas in front of the huts along the road only to discover
that there was noone checking any papers or anything anyways sowhy
there were a hundred vehicles stopped we had no idea.
Even after we crossed over we were immediately wishing to be back in
good old Andrha Pradesh as we drove through 20 kilometers of "road
work" were we saw maybe 5 workers with no tools working on the road.
Fortunately we made it and eventually it cleared up to be a beautiful
and mountainous region.
And that leads us to Bhubaneshwar where we decided to swank it up for
internet and shower purposes. Along the way we met up with several
teams, one of which, the dutch team told us about a wildlife reserve
200 clicks north of here that I think we'll head to in the morning.
So that's all I'm writing for now. Hope everyone is well.
Btw, I'm throwing a few photos online finally so you can all enjoy!
John (and Brendon who is upstairs feeling sick)
As you may have noticed we have been MIA for a few days. This is due
to spotty internet in various locales and that we stayed in a few $4 a
night lodges. More on that to follow. Needless to say (but I'll say
it anyways) there is far too much to cover so I'll try to do the
reader's digest version as best I can.
Thanks for the info Mrs. Ulen, now all we have to do is figure out how
to text the website... We'll get in contact with a few of the other
teams and see what we can do.
So, since our last chat we headed up into Chennai (which was our first
experience with city driving and totally insane). We only got lost
for an hour or so and unfortunately had to pass by a giant garbage
dump which was on fire 2 times but after some directions from friendly
locals we found our way out and onto NH 5.
NH 5 is a "highway" that runs up along the eastern coast of India from
Chennai to Kolkatta (or something like that). As we got on it on the
north side of Chennai, we were reminded of Mad Max from the state of
disrepair. The cement dividers were crumbling, giant Lorry's (trucks)
were parked all along the highway (and by along I mean on) and traffic
while minorly congested was slowed due to the 4" deep potholes almost
every 15 feet. My favorite part about driving on highway 5 is the
many "detours" onto the other, oncoming side of the highway with
little or no signage or organization.
The next stop was Nellore where we got stuck driving at night again.
Brendon got to announce an "OH SHIT" when he thought an oncoming truck
during one of the previously mentioned detours was headed straight for
us. Turns out he is just blind in one eye due to a soccer incident
which I won't go into.
Nellore was relatively unremarkable although we had a little trouble
starting up Mattie (by the way we named our rickshaw Mathilda or
"Mattie" because it surely has to be bad luck to not have named her).
This seems to be a regular morning thing since she has a 2-stroke
engine and it can be trouble when it's overly cold (or overly hot).
So we drove and drove deciding that for the first part of our journey
we would cheese it (a phrase used at least 15 times a day much to what
would be my girlfriends chagrin). for the first few days we stopped
for lunch at roadside stands where we are generally received as though
we have mutliple heads (though warmly at the same time). We've had
many camera phone photos taken of us and the magical phrase of
communication at this point seems to be happy new year (though we are
quickly running out of time on that one).
Next was Guntur, where a man in the hotel parking lot demanded a photo
with us and that we mail him a copy. It was strange but a nice
gesture. We decided that it will be worth the postage. We also drank
budweiser there (needing a break from kingfisher) although it was just
as crappy as we remembered (even worse with all the preservatives).
The next day we got up and drove some more (imagine that) with nothing
too remarkable for a reader's digest post although when we stopped at
the hotel I went out to find a funnel and battery for the Rick and
Brendon filmed a mini-series of trying to remove the yellow gecko from
our 200 Rs a night hotel hovel. He eventually succeeded by throwing
little moist towelletes at it to drive it out the window.
Back to the road (I swear the days are more eventful than this but I
left my journal upstairs and it's probably better this way anyhoo)
driving driving driving, OH! I forgot to mention that the morning
after our last post Brendon became rather ill. The term we've heard
thrown around is Dheli Belly and it certainly seems to apply here. So
for the past few days he's been a little in and out of it, getting to
experience the local squatter toilets quite a few times.
Onto last night. Tekali is a place that is bold on the map. As we
discovered, it should not be. Although many of the places we visit it
is quite clear that they are not used to seeing white people, Tekali
kicked it up to the next level. Within 30 seconds of having stopped
for Brendon to check with the lodge, I became immediately surround by
a veritable mob of 50 indian people battering me with questions and
hopping in the back seat. Fun at first, it quickly got a little
intimidating as I couldn't keep an eye on everything and also could
not see to the lodge.
Eventually I heard Brendon yell my name and we managed to get
everything up and into the room. The mob while intimidating and a
little pushy ended up being extremely friendly (if a little overly
excitable) and after we dropped our stuff off we went to the finest
restaurant in town (a whole in the wall where they made us chinese
fried rice and some butter chicken masala) and had a drink with the
locals at the watering hole (dark room behind the liquor store).
While relaxing there we had a steady stream for about 2 hours of
different people coming in to shake our hands and introduce themselves
(including a man who we believe was introduced as the mayor). The
purveyor of our delicious beverages was forced to kick non-paying
customers out every few minutes. Once again.... unique, or as our
german friend Johny would say "TII mate! This is India".
The most colorful character was an indian who looked alot like Michael
Jackson from thriller (greasy jerry curls and everything) who was from
Mumbai and clearly wanted to get into a bit of trouble with us (he
kept making covert signs and trying to whisper things to us but
unfortunately we couldn't understand a damn thing). Eventually we
decided not to wander off with our new friend because although a
little harmless trouble could be interesting, we did have a mob of 50
people with us so getting away with anything would be nigh unlikely.
Besides, we're here for goodwill and wholesome (mostly) experiences.
Instead we retired for an early start and watched some Indian music
videos (which vary wildly from traditional to goofy to normal mtv
stuff but one thing is for sure. In India, they love large groups of
people dancing at the same time)
In the morning we discovered that we had lost a bolt that was holding
our muffler on and replaced that and had some of the locals help us
get the vehicle up and running. The people of Taleki were an odd lot
but all told left a positive (if stressful) impact on us.
It was at this point (today) that we reached the end of our journey
through Andrha Pradesh and entered into Orissa. The border was
atrocious and by atrocious I mean back to Mad Max, post-apocalyptic
crap. We officially started to roll the vehicle as we tried to take
one of the unmarked detours but saved it by shooting out our left feet
and keeping the rickshaw from tipping over. 3 small children and a
puppy watched with interest.
I can't even put into words the quality of what we drove through at
the border. 7" mini-boulders and 4" potholes the size of the road
were par for the course. We were almost backed into by a bus and
almost squeezed into a cement wall by a truck. In order to get
through we ended up following the motorbikes and driving through the
walking areas in front of the huts along the road only to discover
that there was noone checking any papers or anything anyways sowhy
there were a hundred vehicles stopped we had no idea.
Even after we crossed over we were immediately wishing to be back in
good old Andrha Pradesh as we drove through 20 kilometers of "road
work" were we saw maybe 5 workers with no tools working on the road.
Fortunately we made it and eventually it cleared up to be a beautiful
and mountainous region.
And that leads us to Bhubaneshwar where we decided to swank it up for
internet and shower purposes. Along the way we met up with several
teams, one of which, the dutch team told us about a wildlife reserve
200 clicks north of here that I think we'll head to in the morning.
So that's all I'm writing for now. Hope everyone is well.
Btw, I'm throwing a few photos online finally so you can all enjoy!
John (and Brendon who is upstairs feeling sick)
John
Jan 6, 2009, 10:16:30 AM1/6/09
to The Madcap Blunderbus
John Bodycombe
Jan 6, 2009, 10:36:42 AM1/6/09
to The Madcap Blunderbus
more are uploaded at www.flickr.com because it is faster thought I'm hnot sure how to give you the url to my album and am out of time so maybe search for my name..... John Bodycombe... in case you didn't know
Ilona
Jan 6, 2009, 4:27:27 PM1/6/09
to The Madcap Blunderbus
John, If it helps any, the following teams are using TXT/SMS: Auto
Pilots, All Tuk Tup, Cumin or Goan, Hijos del Yet, Tuk Gun, Chitty
Chitty Bhangra, Rick 'n Roll, Canada WHOA, The Dellicious, Nice
Richshaw Innit, G(h)ee Whizz.
Ilona
On Jan 6, 10:36 am, "John Bodycombe" <bodyco...@gmail.com> wrote:
> more are uploaded atwww.flickr.combecause it is faster thought I'm hnot
> > > John (and Brendon who is upstairs feeling sick)- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -
Pilots, All Tuk Tup, Cumin or Goan, Hijos del Yet, Tuk Gun, Chitty
Chitty Bhangra, Rick 'n Roll, Canada WHOA, The Dellicious, Nice
Richshaw Innit, G(h)ee Whizz.
Ilona
On Jan 6, 10:36 am, "John Bodycombe" <bodyco...@gmail.com> wrote:
> more are uploaded atwww.flickr.combecause it is faster thought I'm hnot
>
> - Show quoted text -
Ilona
Jan 6, 2009, 5:14:50 PM1/6/09
to The Madcap Blunderbus
John, This flickr account works great. I was able to find your
pictures under your name after signing into my yahoo account.
Thanks, Ilona
> more are uploaded atwww.flickr.combecause it is faster thought I'm hnot
pictures under your name after signing into my yahoo account.
Thanks, Ilona
> more are uploaded atwww.flickr.combecause it is faster thought I'm hnot
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