February 5, 2008 by Rick.

One great thing about traveling is all the spare time. Yeah right; well I mean spare time compared to “normal” life. We met an American couple one night while on the backwater houseboat cruise that was also traveling. They landed in Mumbai, flew directly to Aleppey to take a one night cruise, and then their whirlwind started. They were next going to Calcutta for a friends wedding, then through Thailand, before finishing in Cambodia (Angkor What) and flying home from there. I asked if they had two months or three to do that in. Hah! They laughed, and told us… NINETEEN DAYS. That’s from home to home. I started calculating in my head, but they gave me the answer of nine days of travel, with barely 10 days of wedding, tours and relaxing. Relaxing indeed! Certainly not by my definition…

On to books then. The rest of this post should be considered completely whimsical and irrelevant, (dare I say maybe even boring?). We have all been reading lots while traveling. While Claudette and I are pretty selective and/or frugal about buying souvenirs and “stuph” we’re freewheeling in a bookstore. When no used stores were around, we’d even spend full retail prices on stocking up on material to read. Mostly though, there have been a good variety of used bookstores. If there’s no used bookstore in a place, then there is likely no new English bookstore as well. The exception to that is two times (once in Peru, once in SE Asia) where I thought I’d found a nice English bookstore, but it turned out to be a religious materials (typically Catholic) store instead.

Luke has gone through the latter six books of the Harry Potter series over the last five months. The only thing slowing him down is waiting to find the next number of book that he needs. Once we buy it, it’s usually devoured in a couple to several days, depending upon what other “tourist” things we have planned. Alex has gone through a pretty wide assortment as well. In Thailand I bought some sci-fi books and insisted that the kids read some before going on to their own choices. Specifically I grabbed “I Robot”, “2001” and the first “Lucky Star” novel from Asimov. Alex kinda enjoyed I Robot, but I changed my mind about making Luke read it just yet. I want them both to have a desperate fascination and deep appreciation for the genre, and that can only happen by them “discovering” it at their own pace. Alex did also read 2001, and Luke enjoyed the Lucky Star story, but what boy wouldn’t?

In Kovalam I’d picked up 3001 in paperback. I had really enjoyed the first two, (2001 & 2010) when I was younger. 2061 was pretty good too, but I’d always neglected to get 3001. I thought to myself that there was simply no way he could tie them together and make this last one worthwhile. Really though, I think I was just making excuses for not being able to afford the hardcover. Anyways, am I EVER glad I picked it up. the story was masterfully pieced together and with strong scientific fact that Asimov is so famous for. It was such a phenomenal read that I enjoyed tremendously. Most sci-fi authors create alternate realities that you escape too. Asimov immerses the reader in what raelly seems to be the future telling of mankind’s history. He makes everything so seamlessly real and integrated, that we can easily see that this is truly what will be happening to our society. Fahrenheit 451 affected me the same way, for they are seemingly more social commentaries utilizing some sci-fi concepts as a vehicle for that commentary. Gattaca, the movie, (I haven’t had the opportunity to find the book at all yet) also came across that way.

The other cool thing about 3001 was that Asimov took a few pages to describe how the stories all came together. 2001 originated as a relatively obscure short story until Kubrik contacted him to collaborate on something amazing together. I was always under the impression that 2001 had stood on it’s own as a popular novel long before the movie. The copy of I Robot that we originally got in Phi Phi Don, Thailand Alex went through only to discover that the last dozen or so pages were missing. I took it back the next day and demanded (with difficulty too!) a refund. This store was way high priced to begin with, and didn’t give us any sort of deal on buying about eight books altogether, so I was still burned a little from that. After giving me the money back, the girl started taping up the book at the back where the pages were lost from. She then proceeded to put it back on the shelf when I was outside (we were in a rush to catch our ferry in ten minutes). I immediately went back in and started to berate her (in front of many other customers) for trying to sell a book with missing pages at the back. I slyly noticed that ALL the other customers started checking the backs of the books in their arms, and one girl put one book of the three she was carrying back on the shelf. I insisted to the store clerk (in the friendliest possible way of course) that the incomplete book belonged in the garbage, where she eventually gently placed it. I’m pretty sure though that she took it out as soon as I was gone from sight.

I also had grabbed a couple of short story compilations from Bradbury, and have knocked off a few of those here and there when I only had a short time to focus. When we were in Costa Rica, the Alaskan guy we met gave me Heinlein’s “The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress” which I still haven’t brought myself to open. I’m not sure why… probably because he was so close to Farmer (Phillip Hose’ Farmer) in the bookstores when I was a kid, and I somehow resented that??? Who knows. The only four-time Hugo Award winner can’t be the least bit bad of an author though, and it’ll be the next one I pick up to read. I’ve also been carrying around a copy of “Cather in the Rye” for quite awhile unread. NO! This does not make me a closet presidential assassin! I finally read it on the houseboat one afternoon. It was rather anti-climactic considering infamous associations of this book. Actually, the entire story was disappointing to the end that he didn’t commit suicide when it was the most likely (in fact almost the ONLY possible) conclusion the story could have produced. Perhaps it was most notable in literary circles for the rapid fire, conversational narrative method used by this ever so “depressing” character. Those who have read it, will get the inside on that comment. Now, I just need to find “The Great Gatsby” and get it crossed off my “To Read” list.

We eventually found another bookstore in Northern Thailand with another copy of I Robot. This one was even better though because it was the 50th anniversary edition and it included all sorts of extra dialog of an interview with Asimov. His thoughts and reflections were as wonderful to read as the original and inspiring story itself. Claudette was incredulous that this book would appear one day in the “To Be Mailed Home” pile we were sorting. I tried to explain, but I don’t think I was successful. All she understood in the end was that “Yes, sending this ratty old stoopid book home is, in fact, important to me rather than buying a new one from Amazon after we get home” (As if she would really support me doing so then, never mind the difficulty in finding the same edition). Wives just don’t understand sometimes I guess… (Except for you probably Lacie!) I sure wish Asimov could have been around for the utopic world unified government that he envisioned and wrote about in so many stories for the last half century! Anyways Tim, both 3001 and that I Robot copy are on their way to you (in the next couple of days when I find a post office) for safe keeping (and reading of course) until we return home. AGH! That’s in only five months!!!

Posted in 2008-01 to 02, India | 3 Comments »

February 5, 2008 by Rick.

India was hit by a massive internet connection shortage a few weeks ago with an underwater cable problem. Then, a few days ago just after we left Kovalam there was another problem somewhere else which caused even more widespread outages. I’m pretty sure that the government closed down most of all the country except major IT hubs like Mumbai and Delhi that service North America. We stayed one night in Alleppey (sp?) before embarking on a two day backwaters houseboat cruise. Thus we have no internet anyways and are just cruising around in complete relaxation, devouring books and absorbing the incredible scenery. Once we get done the cruise, we still might not have access to the internet for a few (or several?!) days.

The cruise has really been amazing! The city is relatively close to the ocean, but there was a rather large inland lake only a few kilometers in. About 35 years ago the government built earthen dams reinforced with “placed” and mortared rock on the outsides for erosion protection. These dams hold in about four meters of water back from vast plains of rice paddies that are about two meters vertically lower than the canal water levels. The system of dikes is comprehensive and truly amazing! They seemingly stretch forever in all different directions. There are “homesteads” built upon small patches of raised ground all along the place. Occasionally schools, stores and general ferry drop-off/pick-up piers crop up around different corners. There was even one Catholic church (& rectory presumably) in all it’s brightly painted glory out by itself with nothing else around it but the canal on one side and hectares of rice on the other side. Just now as I’m typing, we passed by a standard highway sign telling us that it’s 79km to Kollam. Very cool! For these waterways are indeed a true local highway system just as in Venice, or the blacktop snaking across the prairies at home. Many guidebooks (and other travelers we have spoken with) have described the experience as an absolute must when visiting India, right after seeing the Taj Mahal. We all completely agree.

The boat we settled on is $125/night including two bedrooms, three meals a day, losta bottled water and a friendly crew of three. This was the least expensive boat I came upon when checking the day before we wanted to cruise. Most were another $50-$75 more, but that was certainly for nicer quarters, plus air conditioning! There are attached bathrooms in each bedroom with a poor excuse for a shower, but we’re all gonna need a good wash after the sweat of the muggy days and a tiny (and noisy!) fan in our bedrooms. There were even a couple of boats that I looked at that were more than double this one’s price. They were opulently decked all out and I presume would serve even more delux meals. Our food was OK, nothing spectacular but hearty enough. The fish for lunch was really great, but the chicken had some very weird bones in it that I’ve NEVER seen before in a chicken. Claudette silenced me immediately so as not to freak out the kids and to not appear rude to the crew. Hah! Me rude to them??? They’re the ones that are serving my family mystery meat!! Claudette also saw a fair sized rat peak it’s head out. During our second night’s meal, I waited until everyone else was done their meat before show & tell. There were many pieces that certainly resembled chicken, but… I got this one little ever so cute side of a rib cage. The little ribs were only about 2.5cm long, and I figured they were just supplementing the chicken with “other” animals or rodents. After they were done their meat, I showed the rest of the family my little half a rib cage. Horror! Claudette quickly (and forcefully) theorized that Indian chickens were built just a little differently than North American ones. She also then quickly added that it was also a STRONG possibility that this was just a different part of the chicken that we don’t typically use. I’m pretty sure her semi-panicked reactions were almost more for her benefit of keeping her head in the sand than for the kid’s benefit. Anyways, Luke was a little worried about eating a possibly not normal part of a chicken before Alex filled him in on what I was REALLY suggesting. Claudette didn’t tell the kids about the rat she’d seen the previous day. The first morning I heard them scurrying around in the ceiling like crazy, but didn’t hear them otherwise. Maybe that was cause the cook had caught them later that day after I heard them???

What I also didn’t mention to anyone else was that I went back to the kitchen for a moment on our second afternoon. The “kitchen” itself was a pretty poor excuse for cleanliness, let me tell ya! If you are booking a trip in the future, always go on the boat and check it before committing. Most people check the bedrooms and bathrooms, but I’d suggest skipping them and heading straight back to the kitchen. Naturally everything will be “tidy”, but open some cupboard doors and check the cutting board. That will really tell you a story. When I went back, the cook was outside a window on a ledge cleaning fish for supper in the canal waters. Hmmm, OK. Gross I guess but certainly not out of the norm. All day long the locals bath in the canal or swim in it as well as do laundry and catch fish to eat. I don’t even want to consider sanitation. There certainly was no capacity or infrastructure for sewage tank pump-outs in the many, many homes along the canals. That can leave only outhouses. That in a place where the water table is super saturated, and at only 0.5m below the ground level! Never mind the houseboats themselves. I would make a gross presumption that all sewage is in a holding tank and pumped out at the end of each trip, but ya just never know!

We are currently in a car driving from Alleppey to Kochin (or Kochi on some maps). This is only a distance of 65km, and we do reach speeds of 80kph, but… it will still be a 90 minute drive. That’s due to the constant braking, then abruptly speeding up again, before madly braking ten seconds later waiting to pass the next pothole/animal/bicycle/tuk tuk/car/truck/bus. I really need to write a whole seperate, (huge) post just on traffic in India. It realy does boggle the mind. We’re booked in to Kochin for three nights before our flight to Mumbai.There’s a fort here to check out, and hopefully an internet connection and maybe even a swimming pool! (That’d be nice!) In the back of my mind I kind of wanted to all go out and see a movie in India. Even if it was in Hindi with English subtitles, that would’ve been alright, but I’ve not had any luck finding one so far. I’m sure we will in Mumbai, (they likely have English “talkies” there) but it would have been cool to find one somewhere else.

Posted in 2008-01 to 02, India | No Comments »