Home sweet home, Baroda (images will follow shortly)

Oddly as it might be, normal it feels to me. I think I actually missed India and the life I lived here. Though we're supposed to be happy with our European way of living and the high quality and standards it brings. But should we truly be? Today I'll give you some insights in the things I see as happiness by taking you through my last few days.

Mumbai, the gateway to India, which it has been for centuries. It was also our gateway this time. We arrived shortly delayed after travelling via Dubai. The trip took about 15 hours (counting from the point we stepped on the airport in Düsseldorf till we left it in Mumbai). We barely slept. After arriving around 6 pm in the hotel we freshened up fast and went out. We stayed in hotel 'Tip Top', it's a nice hotel if you're used to hostels. Don't expect too much. Do expect cold showers, small rooms and ‘other’ people. It’s also located in a shady alley which isn’t easy to find, since this has been my hotel to go, when I am in Mumbai, I easily found it.

Going into the city I have to admit I was a bit surprised. The cabs were friendly and didn't try to rip us off. They even used the meter, which I can appreciate. It shows signs of trust. We took to taxi to gateway to India and the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel (Colaba), which are both astonishing sights, made during the time of the British empire. One is a big gate to enter India, which is both figurative as literal. It used to be an entry to India and also was the last exit for British soldiers. The hotel is famous for its architecture and a rather sad terrorist attack some years ago.

After the short sightseeing we went for dinner at the - equally plagued - Leopold Café (‘the’ tourist spot to eat) and ate the first Indian gravy. Playing save I went for Chicken Tikka Masala, a rich curry which is not too spice with (of course) Cheese Naan, missed it too much, accompanied with thumbs (Who doesn't know 'Thumbs up', the drink?) up and mineral water. Finishing the food made us grave for coffee, after all, and this is something I've to admit, Thom and I are addicted to coffee, good and freshly brewed with a strong taste. So we went to a Belgium cafe (Le Pain Quotidien) next to the gateway and ordered two 'units' of cappuccinos. Because of all the caffeine were ready to walk home.

Before we continue, I'll get back to my introduction. So this dinner and coffee was 'expensive' in Indian terms, but all we paid was about €17, - for two people. Like in the Netherlands, you would be able to go to the Snack bar at its top. Point being, cost of living is very low but the quality is quite alright. You're able to do things which were not cable off in Europe are easily here. Another example is the taxi, one hour from the airport to the south of Mumbai is max 500 rs (€8,-). I actually said the following words to my travel mate when we drove in this taxi 'I'm feeling like being home again' resembling the satisfied feeling in my mind. This feeling, is something I would describe as “happiness”. Knowing that the things will go your way without effort, enjoying the organized chaos and the beauty of the Indian life all around you. It's hard to explain that this chain of events happening at any given moment are chaotic yet organised. It's a feast for your eyes and a shock for your mind. It's hard to imagine that it all works and everyone is doing something with a purpose, yet morning is actually happening. The Indian life is something you've to experience and observe to get a feel of what's going on. An example would be the traffic, it just works, if you want to cross a road it is easy, you just need to walk in one pace and everything will open up around you. Magically the road appears and if you don’t show doubt you can make it to the other side.

Remember the cappuccino’s, we just finished them, ready for a walk. First off to marine drive via the high court (an iconic building) and this Big Ben imitation, thought the – otherwise so crowded – park. Arriving at the bay, there’s this sense of quietness and relaxation. – Just for you to notice, on our walk back, we were the only white people and were stared at a lot, even here in Mumbai. – This sense, or atmosphere is accomplished by the fresh breeze and all the Indians relaxing at the boulevard, over watching the sea. We accompanied for some time, enjoying the sea air and Mumbai skyline on our own, the life around us and the moment of blocking out all the horns of traffic. After a while we decided we were done, this was around 9 p.m. which is reasonable, after all we spend about 15 hours travelling (not including the drive to Dusseldorf airport), and went through another 10. Time to head back to the hotel.

We walked all of the boulevard and had a lot of faces pointing at us, this is a theme, which is familiar to me. Indians are interested by foreigners – especially fair skinned ones. It feels like being famous and special, which is odd and satisfying. We, the white kids, were a sight to see. Are you able to explain why? What makes us so special? The walk continued, the boulevard is quiet big, after a few km walking we started to realize and feel this. Kids smiling, people looking, asking for photos and some baggers asking for money is what we came across. We took a walkover over the road and railway, at the other side of the bruising city life we found the darker alleys. Small – build up from scrap – houses next to some higher buildings and almost no street lights dominated the sight. Sleeping outside seemed to be the norm, with whole families and this all just a stone’s throw away from the busy boulevard. Little after all this contrast we reached out hotel in a ‘not too bad’ area of Mumbai – which later was mentioned as the red light district of Mumbai by one of our friends.

Part 2

You might wonder why about the title of this blog, Baroda, isn’t it? Well that is the place I called home for several months and I had to go back. This is the very and only reason we woke up little past 5 a.m. after the long day of travelling to catch out train. It took us to Vadodara, were we arrived around midday. Waiting for us was my good friend and host Siddhart, he says he’s Indian, but he feels more like a European looking like a Chinese with the patience of an Indian. Or in short words, an amazing person. He was also going to host us for the next few day (soon there will be a TripAdvisor review of his home and the service).

Time to fresh up, Siddharth took us to his house after the warm welcome were a fresh shower was waiting for us. Soon after we would get on the Scooty and drive off to my old office. It is fun driving a scooter in India, there is no speed limit, no writer rules, you just have to get a feel of the situation, which I am good it, at least, never crashed, many times almost crashed and ones parked my scooter in the wall, but that does not count. Driving to the office I remember almost no one took us over, which means I still knew how to drive. (Will upload a video when I’ve interwebs good enough). Keep into account you need to know how to use your horn, hand signals and how to squeeze between other vehicles. Coming back to the office was fun! The office ´boys´, Dada and Deepak offered us chai straight away and you could see the smile in their eyes. My old colleagues greeted me firmly and had some small talks about live in the Netherlands and changes within Helios.

After the office we went to the wine shop to get our (alcohol) permit and buy some drinks for the night and the party which would follow the next day. Being done with this all around 5 made us realise it’s almost time. Time for one of the most Indian things. Cha, chai, chai! Tea time at Masi (Chai Lady). Masala chai is more or less a mix of milk, water, tea and lots of spices and other things. Chai is best accompanied with biscuits (20/20). Last but not least we had some drinks at the rooftop terrace of our host and fell asleep.

Saturday Piyush took us to the mountains, a thing which I didn’t do in Baroda the 7 months before. We left early morning (11.30) for the long day. After a few minutes on the highway I felt like driving in India – which I never did before - and Piyush trusted me with his car. It did not take long before I was back to my Indian driving skills and zigzagged through the trucks, cars, auto’s and bikes.

Sometime later we came to the world heritage side Champanar full with old ruins, a big fortress and other interesting stuff (see photo’s). We took the ropeway up the mountain followed by some steps and a market to get to the top. Besides visiting a temple we walked to this old monastery. It was on the edge of a cliff and we climbed on top of the building to enjoy the nice view – which we didn’t see it because of the fog. Shortly after we went back to Baroda to enjoy a small reunion party and karaoke night, followed by some street food at 3 a.m.

The Sunday was more relaxing, we didn’t do too much and let all the impressions of the previous days come in. We even went for some good western food at Variatea, near my old house. Later that day we said goodbye to a few people and took the bus to our next destination: Sasan Gir.

That’s all for now, sorry for the lengthy post and maybe a little too much details,

See you,

Maurice.