All I've been doing this past wk is eating, mincing, lazing and soaking up beach life - ace :). Haven't made it to one yoga class yet (surprise surprise :P).
But, I've meditated with some maddie Guru (that only lasted a morning as I'd rather do that sort of shit on my own innit), bought lots of clothes (no surprise ;P), attended a wedding on the beach (loads of a London crew, safe crew ;)) and I mentioned eating and mincing around didn't I?
Gokarna town, which is about a twenty min walk from the beach where I am staying (over really lovely scenery btw, still promising to get pics up soon...), is really lovely and holy. There are a lot of pilgrims mincing around and loads of little temples and shrines dotted around. Gives the place a really nice feel to it and is always nice to wander around and immerse yourself in its vibe. Slightly touristy, but not offensively so at all. Kudlee beach where I am staying is well nice too, just proper chillled and the beach is really beautiful - not too busy at the mo too... Thinking of moving on next wk so that I can get Hampi in, really looking forward to going there - haven't heard one bad word about it - and from there I'll stay in Goa for a few days before heading out from Mumbai to Sydney, whoop \o/!
Before I came here, I was in Mangalore I think... Meh, twas aight - busy city, got stared at a lot again - it does start to well grate on your nerves that. Went to see some temple near there, Udipi - was interesting as they were LOADS of pilgrims roaming around, doing Puja etc - but I was the only whitey again and had no idea what I was sposed to be doing or where I was going (one place I would have liked a guide actually), nearly lost my flip flops and tripped over a holy cow, but was interesting nonetheless :).
On the train from Mangalore, I got chatting to this Indian woman who's been living in the US the last 10 years, so was nice to have a frank chat about Indian life - finally managed to get a view on the whole rubbish situation... Basically, she blames it on the government/local councils, for not enforcing rubbish collection/adherence. Whereas we have mandatory council tax which includes this, in the towns i India (and probably not all either), there is a 20R/wk charge for rubbsih collection (minimal!), but it is not enforced and many people would rather not pay and just dump it on street corners! There are hardly any bins around (true) and the culture is such that people just throw stuff anywhere... This lady had tried to carry her rubbish around after she had been westernised for a bit, but her parents told her that when in India, it's easier to just think Indian - it's a shame, but sort of true...
Anyway, this woman also told me to get off the train earlier than Gokarna - see this place called Murhedeshwar - massive temple and Shiva statue (40m in height), which was recently built on a penninsular by this beautiful beach - so I did :). Thought I'd end up staying the night, got a room and everything - but after having been round the temple there wasn't really much to do. The beach was beautiful, stunning in fact - but again, I was the only whitey around, bit of an attraction with the yound lads who wanted to have pics taken with me - walked as far as I could be arsed to get a quick swim in without drawing too much attention with my exposed, white flesh - but still managed to have some 12yr old boys gawking at me from the beach, one who followed me for ages and I had to tell him to leave off after a bit - twas not just innocent curiosity.
So, I decided to just do one - wasted a nights accommodation, but it was like a fiver, easily rationalised - and so glad I did it anyway coz by evening time I landed in this lovely place!! My mind has had a total rest, it's been really nice - have felt really content and peaceful and it will be nice when I move on too, get some more hstorical vibes before I leave and another beach stint, ace :).
That's about it so far - people have been good here, have 4 sound neighbours - a Scotsman, Italian girl who leaves today and Israeli girl - and the London crew from the other beach have been cool too.
Anyhoo, dying for a wee and lunch beckons - man am gonna miss the food in India, I hope I can find a masala dosa and vegetarian thali in Rusholme!
Spank you later, xx
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Hey Jo yes we got your postcard and it was lovely to hear from you and so impressive too. K and J blown away that you actually wrote us a postcard in amongst your busy-ness. You are a great writer young lady and your blog just captures the scene so well. tink your blog will be a great souvenir of your trip in future. your last few days sound absolutely amazing and you're not even templed out yet! it's tougher in some ways travelling on ones own but great for making these last minute decisions you don't have to discuss with anyone else!you may find Sydney rather cool when you get here - only 30 degree today. bw Emma has just got her Ls and is flashing the old card around like nobody's business! Maybe you'll be in the passenger seat with her when you're here. lots of love xxxxx nin glad to hear you're not in the thick f the yuck stuff - must be pretty surreal though
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