One month in South India (Mumbai, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu) (with pics)

Chinese fishing nets in Kochi.

Hampi is more gorgeous than it appears here, I swear.

For anyone interested in planning a South India trip, here’s how I did mine: 

Days 1-3: Mumbai

Days 4-6: Goa

Days 7-8: Hampi

Day 9: Hampi/Transit to Gokarna

Day 10: Gokarna

Day 11: Transit to Kerala

Days 12-13: Varkala

Day 14: Kollam

Day 15: Alleppey/Transit to Munnar 

Days 16-17: Munnar

Day 18: Transit to Wayanad

Days 19-20: Wayanad/Transit to Kochi

Days 21-23: Kochi

Day 24: Madurai

Days 25-26: Pondicherry/Auroville

Days 27-28: Mamallapuram

Day 29: Chennai/Transit

Day 30: Transit to Kolkata

“Kunichiwa!”

I get that a lot. Or the shopkeepers and rickshaw drivers will ask, “Where you from--Korea?” (I guess they don’t they know “hello” in Korean)

It drives me crazy, the presumption that because I’m Asian I must be Japanese, Korean or Chinese. One girl I traveled with is Japanese, and she hates it when people call out kunichiwa. Again, it’s just that assumption that because she’s Asian she must be Japanese (even if it’s a correct assumption). I don’t really get annoyed by people asking where I’m from, even if after I say “the U.S.” they respond with, “But you don’t look like you’re from the U.S.” I know not everyone understands how much diversity there is back home, and then I can explain that my family is from Vietnam.

I always appreciate it when someone puts some thought into their guess. When people asked if I was from Thailand and Indonesia, I said, “No, but good guess!” Yesterday a man called out confidently, “Vietnam,” and I whirled around and said in wonder, “How did you know?”

My sister and I spoke to an Indian guy yesterday who was curious about us being Asian-American. He asked if we ever got teased back home for our race. We said no, but explained that California is incredibly diverse, so there are many Asians. He told us that for him, it was strange to see Asian faces but hear perfect English. 

Beaches, scooters, wildlife and slums in south India

 Some specifics on what to do with 30 days in south India.

Days 1-3: Mumbai
Walked around Colaba and Fort districts, checking out the colonial architecture and the courtroom. Toured Dharavi slum with Reality Tours. Spent ages trying to mail a parcel. Hopped on 8 pm overnight bus for Goa.

Days 4-6: Goa
After 18 hours of travel and two bus changes, checked into a hotel in Palolem in south Goa at 2 pm. Relaxed on the beach. Rented a scooter and went to the nearby beaches of Agonda and Cola (a beautiful lagoon), as well as Cabo da Ramo, an old Portuguese fort. Went on fun canyoning tour in morning. Hopped on overnight bus to Hampi.

Days 7-9: Hampi
Took an auto rickshaw tour to see the ruins. Moved to the island side on Day 8 and rented a scooter to see the beautiful surroundings and swam in the dam. Visited Hanuman Temple (a 570-step climb) after sunset, and the following day at sunrise. Spent the rest of Day 9 taking local transit to get to Gokarna (rickshaw to Hospet, bus to Hubli, bus to Ankola, bus to Gokarna, rickshaw to Om Beach).

Trains vs. buses in India

India has an extraordinary public transport system, with buses and trains connecting just about every city. But they all have their positives and negatives.

Trains

POSITIVES: Very smooth ride, once the train gets going, and faster than buses. I also love gazing out the window or standing in an open doorway, seeing the world go by. Tatkal ticket scheme helps get tickets the day before travel.

NEGATIVES: Longer trains are almost always late. If an overnight train is only one hour late, I consider that on time. For popular or longer routes, it’s hard to get day-of tickets unless a travel agent can handle things or you go to the train station (where you’ll only get general seating—shudder. If you can’t get a seat in second seating, it’s completely miserable).

WORST TRAIN EXPERIENCE: Once I waited more than 3.5 hours for the Kalka Mail. I told myself I wouldn’t lie on the ground like everyone does, but after yet another delay, I succumbed, spreading my thin airline blanket on the floor. It was after 1 am. I put on my headphones and read my Lonely Planet in a dream-like state. I was at the part about India being crazy for cricket when I heard a cheerful roar go through the station. I immediately thought, “Did India beat Pakistan in the cricket?!?!” I asked someone, “Why is everyone cheering?” He announced, “The Kalka Mail has arrived!”

Public buses

POSITIVES: Almost always leave on time. Often have one leave every hour to major cities, creating plenty of last-minute options.

NEGATIVES: They’re bumpy, lack AC, and if you don’t get one of the Super Fast buses, they make multiple stops to pick up more passengers. They’re also more expensive than trains, which boggles the mind. Oh, and winding mountain roads can be downright scary because of how close the driver is willing to get to the edge (there’s nothing between the bus and a 100-foot cliff except a two-foot-high barrier). I was standing at the front of one bus and when the driver looked like we were going to hit the barrier, I literally squatted and whimpered, unwilling to see us go over. “Just don’t look. It’s better if you don’t look,” my sister said.

WORST PUBLIC BUS EXPERIENCE: I took the overnight bus from the hills of Shimla to Delhi. After an hour of winding round and round the mountain, my seatmate threw up in the aisle. He motioned to me to trade seats so he could get fresh air from the window and I complied. Only after we switched did I realize he hadn’t quite missed the seat.

Private/tourist buses

POSITIVES: More comfortable than public buses. You can pay more for AC or a sleeper for overnight buses. Also conducive to last-minute bookings (I once booked a bus an hour before it was to leave).

NEGATIVES: Considering you’re paying so much more than for a public bus, the service isn’t THAT much greater. Some lines still make multiple stops to pick up stray passengers, instead of just going from A to Z as promised. Also, they don’t have many for short distances.

WORST PRIVATE BUS EXPERIENCE: Even though my ticket clearly stated that I had a single sleeper, the man who took my ticket wouldn’t return it and gave me another sleeper instead—a double, with my bedmate a random American guy (who also was supposed to have a single seat). I blew up, declaring, “I’m not sleeping next to some man I don’t know!” Truth be told, I didn’t care (as I told Zach later), but I was angry because they would NEVER make an Indian women sleep next to a man she didn’t know, and I was annoyed by the assumption that I wouldn’t mind (even if it was true). Later, Zach and I learned a man had used our bed to illegally smuggle liquor out of Goa, where the liquor is cheap. I think he was using the cover of foreigners to do it. I felt like Maria, full of grace. 

Stray dogs

Stray dogs are a fact of everyday life here.

I ain't 'fraid of no rabies!

One of the things I love about India is how stray animals are treated—as though they have a right to exist. You don’t see nearly as many strays in the U.S. since we’re quick to put them in pounds. I think we Americans tend to associate strays with rabies and other dangers.

But here, stray dogs and cats (especially dogs) are just a fact of life. You see them everywhere. Locals don’t necessarily pet them or play with them, but they accept that the strays have a right to take up space. I think as a result, the strays become quite docile, and I pet them all the time (after making eye contact and seeing the dog’s tail wag, indicating to me that they’re open to it)(I admit I had two rabies scares, but that was just me panicking about overly playful puppies and kittens!).

Less squeamish about dead people here in India

I was unwrapping my naan from the newspaper it came in the other day when I saw two pictures of dead faces. One was a woman named Sumitra, the other an unknown man. “APPEAL FOR IDENTIFICATION,” the ad said. “General public is hereby informed that one unknown person age: 50-60 years, has been found near the park Baljeet Nagar, in the area of PS Patel Nagar on 23.06.2009. The body has not been identified till date…Sincere efforts have been made by the local police to trace out identify of dead body but no clue has come to light so far. Any person having any information or clue about this dead boy may kindly inform to the following.”

I asked an Indian friend about this ad, and she said that Indian police are required to follow certain steps upon finding a dead body, including reporting it in the newspaper.

This is strange to me, since in the U.S. it’s a big deal for a media outlet to display dead bodies. We can’t even show the coffins of dead soldiers without controversy. Yet Indians post pictures of their dead in the newspaper as a matter of course.

It’s not just newspapers either. I was at the Sikh Museum at the Golden Temple complex in Amritsar, reading about the many ways Sikhs have been martyred over the years (and oh my GOD, it reminds me the many horrifying ways humans have managed to torture each other over the centuries. We’re talking dismembering children and making their parents wear the body parts as necklaces). One of the displays featured about 20 Sikh men killed (in an incident I don’t recall). As part of the display, there were giant pictures of the men’s death faces, about 1.5 by 2 feet. Their eyes were closed and bloated, their faces bruised and smashed. In the corners were smaller pictures of the men in their prime. For me, it was surreal. 

One reason why I get groped

At Palolem, my friend Amy and I were chatting with a late 20s Indian guy from Mumbai when I said, “Can I ask you something? I’ve been touched a lot by Indian men. Just light brushes against my leg or butt. Are they doing that to everybody, or is it because I’m by myself? Except some of this has happened when I was with friends or other travelers.”

He looked a bit uncomfortable and said, “Please don’t take this rudely, but many prostitutes here are from Nepal. They may think you’re Nepali.”

I nodded. This was actually something my Indian-American friend had warned me about earlier in Delhi, that most sex workers are Asian and people might look at me differently.

Amy asked, “So how should she respond when people touch her?”

The man said matter-of-factly, “Just tell them you’re not a prostitute.”

More journalistic differences between India and the West

Back home, when reporters write an article highlighting a bureaucratic or government absurdity, they usually try to find a sympathetic victim of said absurdity. Say you’re writing an article about how jails are filled with old people who are nonthreatening and unlikely to recidivate. You probably find the 60-year-old man who got 40 years for stealing a pack of bread at age 25 to feed his starving family.

That’s what I expected when I started reading, “Jailhouse Shock” in the Feb. 20 edition of India Today magazine. The subhead said, “They are people with a criminal past. They are also very old now. Some of them are so weak that they can’t walk without assistance. Yet the state regards these geriatrics in Rajasthan’s jails as threats to society and insists on keeping them in.”

The first guy the article highlighted, Omar Mohammad, fit the bill. He’s 90 and has been behind bars for 2 years and 2 months. He was convicted in 1985 for a robbery attempt, escaped after 20 months in jail, and then was rearrested in December 2010.

Then I read about the others that the article focused on. Anop Singh Rajput, 73, behind bars 12 years for killing her daughter-in-law. Sharbati Meena, 75, in jail for eight years for burning her daughter-in-law to death. Badlu Ram, 87, behind bars seven years for beating a man to death with sticks along with his two sons. With the exception of Omar Mohammad, all of the people cited in the story had been convicted of murder.