I have been terrible about updating this blog. Ever since I discovered that you could schedule entries I've been especially lazy. But since I am still committing to having an update at least once a month, I will write about my visit to India the last week of July.
What's that? India? Yes. I finally made it there, albeit four years late. It's not the trip I envisioned when I got turned down from the check-in counter in the summer of 2014, understandably. I had intended to meet up with two friends living in the city, but none of them were here when I finally was able to come. Instead, I stayed with a friend I didn't yet have when I originally intended to visit, whom I met at the Rotex Convention in 2016. Funny how that ended up working out.
Rather than go through a day by day report for the week like I did for Mexico City (I also vaguely considered calling this entry “One week in Mumbai,” but decided against it), I selected a few pictures from the ones I took and decided to add a short descriptor to each of them. This was one of those trips that was really made up by the little moments rather than extravagant itineraries, so it felt right to reflect upon it by writing about some of those here.
I think part of what made small moments the most memorable was the fact that I stayed with my friend and her mom, rather than at an Airbnb with some strangers or in a hotel by myself. While there is a lot of fun and merit in solo travel, getting exposed to different people’s ways of life and enjoying the company of other people is probably first on the list of reasons I travel, which is why the single photos seemed like a good way to reflect on my trip. During my week I accompanied Anushka on a lot of random errands she had to run, one of which was paying her phone bill. We went to a branch of Vodafone, her phone carrier company. While she talked to an assistant I just roamed around. That’s when I noticed an abundance of pugs–on a promotional poster, on SIM card packaging, and on informational images like the one above. I asked Anushka if the pug was their mascot. She said yes, then I squealed and she looked at me in amusement.
A lot of the trip was Anushka telling me, “Oh my gosh, you have to try [insert random food here]!” One of those foods was pani puri, a street food which she described to me was something people eat to help their digestion and very healthy. I wasn’t sure what to make of that, but to try it we went to a shop near her house that had a food stall set up in the front run by a couple of men. They had an assortment of condiments in front of them and were stirring something in a pot. Anushka went up to the person behind the counter in the store, requested something, and I was handed a little foil saucer. She then instructed me to stand by the men making pani puri in the stall and wait for them to hand it to me. Not entirely sure what to expect, I did what she said. Then they handed me a hollowed-out fried ball filled with some kind of liquid. It smelled tasty. I wasn’t sure how to approach–was I supposed to bite it and have the liquid spill into the saucer? Anushka noticed my confusion then told me, “Put the whole thing in your mouth!” My eyes widened a bit at the thought of putting the entire thing in my mouth but I went and did it anyway, and it was crunchy from the shell the liquid was in, as well as spicy and delicious. I savored it then heard Anushka say, “There’s five more of those he’s making for you.” While surprised, I was also pleased to hear it.
On one of our eating adventures to an all-vegetarian restaurant, this was what the front of the menu said. I think it speaks for itself.
Traffic in Mumbai was the most terrifying traffic I have ever been in. It was also the loudest. People were really not shy to honk their car horns (or whatever their mode of transportation is) excessively. Crossing the street also took some getting used to. From time to time I would see a bumper sticker that would say something along the lines of, “Please no horn.” I found it rather ironic. That’s not the point of this description though. The point is, Anushka and I took a ton of rickshaws to get around the city because her family didn’t have any cars on them for the time being. This ended up working out very well, because I got to experience the wonderful and convenient rickshaw. The rickshaws reminded me a lot of moto taxis in Kigali, given that they were open air and readily available. Going around felt very different from within a rickshaw than it did from a car or taxi, since you could feel the wind and catch wafts of a wide array of scents from the streets. Sometimes I held my breath when they made a tight turn or drove a bit too close to a truck, but you know. Part of the little thrills of being in a completely new country.
To get to a part of town far south from where Anushka lived, we had to go on a train. At first I didn't notice anything special about our train car. I did notice the occasional vendor going down the aisles and hanging up their products on the handlebars to sell to people. One such vendor was a man selling earrings. He went from section to section, and a woman would occasionally make a selection and purchase it from him. At some point he left the train car in a haste after it stopped. As we approached the final stop, Colaba, we passed by trains that were parked. On a few cars I saw signs saying something like "Women only" marked on them. It then occurred to me that apart from the earring vendor, I saw no men on our train. "Wait, are we in an all women train car?" I asked Anushka. "Yes, we are!" she replied. "But what about that man selling earrings?" I asked. "He wasn't supposed to be in there. Men get fined if they're caught in an all women car. There were some police officers nearby, which is why he quickly ran out of the train."
I've really put off posting this entry for a while. It's now August 12 and the fake date of this entry is July 31st. This trip has just been going by way too fast. I'm currently back in Manila after more than two weeks away and have just spent the past day at home resting since I got sick over the weekend. I think it's been good to bum around and do nothing and get better little by little so I'll get back to that. Write again soon!
What's that? India? Yes. I finally made it there, albeit four years late. It's not the trip I envisioned when I got turned down from the check-in counter in the summer of 2014, understandably. I had intended to meet up with two friends living in the city, but none of them were here when I finally was able to come. Instead, I stayed with a friend I didn't yet have when I originally intended to visit, whom I met at the Rotex Convention in 2016. Funny how that ended up working out.
Rather than go through a day by day report for the week like I did for Mexico City (I also vaguely considered calling this entry “One week in Mumbai,” but decided against it), I selected a few pictures from the ones I took and decided to add a short descriptor to each of them. This was one of those trips that was really made up by the little moments rather than extravagant itineraries, so it felt right to reflect upon it by writing about some of those here.
I think part of what made small moments the most memorable was the fact that I stayed with my friend and her mom, rather than at an Airbnb with some strangers or in a hotel by myself. While there is a lot of fun and merit in solo travel, getting exposed to different people’s ways of life and enjoying the company of other people is probably first on the list of reasons I travel, which is why the single photos seemed like a good way to reflect on my trip. During my week I accompanied Anushka on a lot of random errands she had to run, one of which was paying her phone bill. We went to a branch of Vodafone, her phone carrier company. While she talked to an assistant I just roamed around. That’s when I noticed an abundance of pugs–on a promotional poster, on SIM card packaging, and on informational images like the one above. I asked Anushka if the pug was their mascot. She said yes, then I squealed and she looked at me in amusement.
A lot of the trip was Anushka telling me, “Oh my gosh, you have to try [insert random food here]!” One of those foods was pani puri, a street food which she described to me was something people eat to help their digestion and very healthy. I wasn’t sure what to make of that, but to try it we went to a shop near her house that had a food stall set up in the front run by a couple of men. They had an assortment of condiments in front of them and were stirring something in a pot. Anushka went up to the person behind the counter in the store, requested something, and I was handed a little foil saucer. She then instructed me to stand by the men making pani puri in the stall and wait for them to hand it to me. Not entirely sure what to expect, I did what she said. Then they handed me a hollowed-out fried ball filled with some kind of liquid. It smelled tasty. I wasn’t sure how to approach–was I supposed to bite it and have the liquid spill into the saucer? Anushka noticed my confusion then told me, “Put the whole thing in your mouth!” My eyes widened a bit at the thought of putting the entire thing in my mouth but I went and did it anyway, and it was crunchy from the shell the liquid was in, as well as spicy and delicious. I savored it then heard Anushka say, “There’s five more of those he’s making for you.” While surprised, I was also pleased to hear it.
On one of our eating adventures to an all-vegetarian restaurant, this was what the front of the menu said. I think it speaks for itself.
Traffic in Mumbai was the most terrifying traffic I have ever been in. It was also the loudest. People were really not shy to honk their car horns (or whatever their mode of transportation is) excessively. Crossing the street also took some getting used to. From time to time I would see a bumper sticker that would say something along the lines of, “Please no horn.” I found it rather ironic. That’s not the point of this description though. The point is, Anushka and I took a ton of rickshaws to get around the city because her family didn’t have any cars on them for the time being. This ended up working out very well, because I got to experience the wonderful and convenient rickshaw. The rickshaws reminded me a lot of moto taxis in Kigali, given that they were open air and readily available. Going around felt very different from within a rickshaw than it did from a car or taxi, since you could feel the wind and catch wafts of a wide array of scents from the streets. Sometimes I held my breath when they made a tight turn or drove a bit too close to a truck, but you know. Part of the little thrills of being in a completely new country.
To get to a part of town far south from where Anushka lived, we had to go on a train. At first I didn't notice anything special about our train car. I did notice the occasional vendor going down the aisles and hanging up their products on the handlebars to sell to people. One such vendor was a man selling earrings. He went from section to section, and a woman would occasionally make a selection and purchase it from him. At some point he left the train car in a haste after it stopped. As we approached the final stop, Colaba, we passed by trains that were parked. On a few cars I saw signs saying something like "Women only" marked on them. It then occurred to me that apart from the earring vendor, I saw no men on our train. "Wait, are we in an all women train car?" I asked Anushka. "Yes, we are!" she replied. "But what about that man selling earrings?" I asked. "He wasn't supposed to be in there. Men get fined if they're caught in an all women car. There were some police officers nearby, which is why he quickly ran out of the train."
I've really put off posting this entry for a while. It's now August 12 and the fake date of this entry is July 31st. This trip has just been going by way too fast. I'm currently back in Manila after more than two weeks away and have just spent the past day at home resting since I got sick over the weekend. I think it's been good to bum around and do nothing and get better little by little so I'll get back to that. Write again soon!
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