Monday, January 27, 2014
Driving at night in India
I was going to add this to the end of the previous post but after editing it and watching it, it deserves a post of its own.
Before you watch it, be sure to watch it in full screen by clicking on this button at the bottom right of the video.
And now, for the feature presentation, I give you the scariest night of my life.
Mind you, this video is under 3 minutes long. This went on for 6 hours.
Yes, that is "Joy to the World". That's how I felt when I returned. Christmas songs aren't scary. Only mall Santa's are scary.
Before you watch it, be sure to watch it in full screen by clicking on this button at the bottom right of the video.
And now, for the feature presentation, I give you the scariest night of my life.
Mind you, this video is under 3 minutes long. This went on for 6 hours.
Yes, that is "Joy to the World". That's how I felt when I returned. Christmas songs aren't scary. Only mall Santa's are scary.
Sunday, January 26, 2014
There is fear... then there's driving at night in India fear
Now that I have been in India for a couple of weeks and had gotten settled in to a great apartment, gotten over the jetlag and have started working on the various projects at work, I wanted to start planning weekend and side trips. I posted about my itinerary earlier so this weekend was time to get started.
I decided I would head Southwest this weekend down to Mysore with a stop in at the fortress at Srirangapatna on the way. I had been in contact with a driver who was going to drive me but one of my teammates at work, Naresh offered to take me instead.
We left at 7am expecting to get to Srirangapatna around 9:30am. Of course with India traffic and the f***ing speedbumps every 500 yards, we didn't get there until about 11 and we didn't get to Mysore until almost 2.
South of Mysore there is a national park in Bandipur which is another 80 or so km away. Supposedly, it is very common to see elephants, tigers, and other wildlife here.
Only another 20 km away from Bandipur is the mountain town of Ooty.
Even though the original end destination was only Mysore, we ended up going all the way to Ooty. This map shows how far it is and the estimate time to drive it ONE WAY.
We didn't arrive in Ooty until almost 4pm. Though we did see a wild elephant and had to bribe a very intense park ranger yelling at us in Tamil 500 rupees since we weren't allowed to stop for photographs and he said we had to pay a 5000 rupee fine.
We stopped in Ooty for some tea and some Ooty chocolates that they are known for and headed back. By this point, time in car 6 hours, time on foot, about 2 hours. We had a 6 hour drive back and the sun was going down.
If you watched the Top Gear clip I posted earlier about driving in India, they showed how insane driving at night was. You have not experienced fear until you've driven on Indian highways at night. Since there are so many things you can possibly hit and there are no street lamps, EVERYONE drives with their high beams on all the time. You are blinded probably 60% of the time. 99.9% of the trucks and buses don't have working tail lights or brake lights. Neither do most of the scooters and motorcycles. 50% of the cars only have 1 working headlight. Tractors have only 1 headlight so you don't know if it's a car or motorcycle, nope it's a f***ing tractor. You have pedestrians crossing the street all the time as well as dogs and cows.
I'll post video tomorrow but I told Naresh that if I was driving, I would have just pulled over and waited until sunrise. It was pure terror for 6 straight hours.
I have never been so happy to make it home in one piece.
I decided I would head Southwest this weekend down to Mysore with a stop in at the fortress at Srirangapatna on the way. I had been in contact with a driver who was going to drive me but one of my teammates at work, Naresh offered to take me instead.
We left at 7am expecting to get to Srirangapatna around 9:30am. Of course with India traffic and the f***ing speedbumps every 500 yards, we didn't get there until about 11 and we didn't get to Mysore until almost 2.
South of Mysore there is a national park in Bandipur which is another 80 or so km away. Supposedly, it is very common to see elephants, tigers, and other wildlife here.
Only another 20 km away from Bandipur is the mountain town of Ooty.
Even though the original end destination was only Mysore, we ended up going all the way to Ooty. This map shows how far it is and the estimate time to drive it ONE WAY.
We didn't arrive in Ooty until almost 4pm. Though we did see a wild elephant and had to bribe a very intense park ranger yelling at us in Tamil 500 rupees since we weren't allowed to stop for photographs and he said we had to pay a 5000 rupee fine.
We stopped in Ooty for some tea and some Ooty chocolates that they are known for and headed back. By this point, time in car 6 hours, time on foot, about 2 hours. We had a 6 hour drive back and the sun was going down.
If you watched the Top Gear clip I posted earlier about driving in India, they showed how insane driving at night was. You have not experienced fear until you've driven on Indian highways at night. Since there are so many things you can possibly hit and there are no street lamps, EVERYONE drives with their high beams on all the time. You are blinded probably 60% of the time. 99.9% of the trucks and buses don't have working tail lights or brake lights. Neither do most of the scooters and motorcycles. 50% of the cars only have 1 working headlight. Tractors have only 1 headlight so you don't know if it's a car or motorcycle, nope it's a f***ing tractor. You have pedestrians crossing the street all the time as well as dogs and cows.
I'll post video tomorrow but I told Naresh that if I was driving, I would have just pulled over and waited until sunrise. It was pure terror for 6 straight hours.
I have never been so happy to make it home in one piece.
How not to get sick when traveling (THIS IS A POST ABOUT POO. You've been warned)
Let's be real now, getting a case of diarrhea at home is unpleasant but at least you are close to home or in a worst case scenario, you are near a restaurant or some other place that has a reasonably clean bathroom.
Getting a case of diarrhea when traveling is a person's worst nightmare. You are in unfamiliar territory, possibly in a country that you don't know the language, you are ill-equipped and don't want to embarrass yourself.
Even worse, you might have to use a bathroom like this one. This is the bathroom in a bar we stopped at in Ooty yesterday.
It reminded me of the classic scene from the movie "Trainspotting" (I almost posted a link to the scene, but I'll spare you the hysterical, yet incredibly disgusting vision. Google it if you want.)
India is notorious for it's overall general uncleanliness and EVERYONE I've spoken to has told me that it's not a matter of IF, but WHEN I will get sick. When I went to see a travel doctor, when he asked me where I was going and I said India, he simply shrugged and said "I'm going to give you an anti-biotic and anti-diarreahal." Check please.
In third-world countries, the drinking/tap water can be suspect. They might treat their water supplies but it's generally a good idea not to drink it.
This obviously poses a problem. Water is necessary for survival. Bottled water adds up in cost if you need to constantly buy it. In Turkey in 2011, we found a grocery store and bought a case of bottled water instead of buying it individually at stands. 36 bottles of water cost the same as 3 bottles from the street vendors. And what if you run out and need to drink? Do you risk drinking the tap water and whatever water-thriving pathogens might be in it thus exposing yourself to salmonella, e-coli, cholera, giardia, and all those other little bastards that are waiting to open up your colon like Iguazu Falls?
You should ask yourself the same question before drinking from the crystal clear mountain stream that looks perfectly safe... except for the moose that took a crap in it 100 yards upstream from you.
Even the hotels want you to feel safe here. They give you a large, 1.5 liter bottle of water every day.
Since I was going to be here for so long, I decided to take the power back. I brought with me a Sawyer travel water filter ($20 on Amazon) and 2 UV water purifiers. One made by Camelbak (Free using REI points, retail $99) and one made by Steripen ($40 on eBay, retail $120).
After 2 weeks, I'm happy to announce that I have yet to get sick! At least in the normal sense of the term diarrhea.
When I first arrived, I only purified my water using the Camelbak bottle. I noticed the water though had a slight chlorinated taste. So I started filtering it first with the Sawyer filter, then purifying it, which took the chlorine taste out completely. It takes a little longer, maybe 5 minutes per bottle, but since I brought 3 empty water bottles with me, I just do them all at the same time and I always have a fresh bottle of water ready, even if I drink one.
The process is simple. Fill up the bag that comes with the filter with water (can be tap water or mountain moose poo water or whatever water source you're trying to filter). Screw on the filter, remove the end cap, flip it over, and fill up your bottle (or you can drink straight from the filter like it was a big Capri Sun.)
I choose to fill up my bottle. Screw on the UV filter top, push down the blue power button for 2 seconds and the lamp turns on, and starts counting down 60 seconds. They tell you to "agitate" the water by turning the bottle upside down a few times so it all gets nuked.
Once the 60 seconds is over, the light turns off and the screen tells you it's done! Voila! filtered, purified water!
Getting a case of diarrhea when traveling is a person's worst nightmare. You are in unfamiliar territory, possibly in a country that you don't know the language, you are ill-equipped and don't want to embarrass yourself.
Even worse, you might have to use a bathroom like this one. This is the bathroom in a bar we stopped at in Ooty yesterday.
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India is notorious for it's overall general uncleanliness and EVERYONE I've spoken to has told me that it's not a matter of IF, but WHEN I will get sick. When I went to see a travel doctor, when he asked me where I was going and I said India, he simply shrugged and said "I'm going to give you an anti-biotic and anti-diarreahal." Check please.
In third-world countries, the drinking/tap water can be suspect. They might treat their water supplies but it's generally a good idea not to drink it.
This obviously poses a problem. Water is necessary for survival. Bottled water adds up in cost if you need to constantly buy it. In Turkey in 2011, we found a grocery store and bought a case of bottled water instead of buying it individually at stands. 36 bottles of water cost the same as 3 bottles from the street vendors. And what if you run out and need to drink? Do you risk drinking the tap water and whatever water-thriving pathogens might be in it thus exposing yourself to salmonella, e-coli, cholera, giardia, and all those other little bastards that are waiting to open up your colon like Iguazu Falls?
You should ask yourself the same question before drinking from the crystal clear mountain stream that looks perfectly safe... except for the moose that took a crap in it 100 yards upstream from you.
Even the hotels want you to feel safe here. They give you a large, 1.5 liter bottle of water every day.
Since I was going to be here for so long, I decided to take the power back. I brought with me a Sawyer travel water filter ($20 on Amazon) and 2 UV water purifiers. One made by Camelbak (Free using REI points, retail $99) and one made by Steripen ($40 on eBay, retail $120).
After 2 weeks, I'm happy to announce that I have yet to get sick! At least in the normal sense of the term diarrhea.
When I first arrived, I only purified my water using the Camelbak bottle. I noticed the water though had a slight chlorinated taste. So I started filtering it first with the Sawyer filter, then purifying it, which took the chlorine taste out completely. It takes a little longer, maybe 5 minutes per bottle, but since I brought 3 empty water bottles with me, I just do them all at the same time and I always have a fresh bottle of water ready, even if I drink one.
The process is simple. Fill up the bag that comes with the filter with water (can be tap water or mountain moose poo water or whatever water source you're trying to filter). Screw on the filter, remove the end cap, flip it over, and fill up your bottle (or you can drink straight from the filter like it was a big Capri Sun.)
I choose to fill up my bottle. Screw on the UV filter top, push down the blue power button for 2 seconds and the lamp turns on, and starts counting down 60 seconds. They tell you to "agitate" the water by turning the bottle upside down a few times so it all gets nuked.
The Steripen is also a UV purifier and works the same way, except it's supposed to be portable. I keep it in my bag at all times. You just pop the top off and put it into your bottle. The body is rubberized so you don't drop it but hold on tight anyway. The 2 silver prongs are sensors so as soon as you put it into the water, the UV lamp turns on. A green LED blinks on the backside also for 60 seconds. Stir it around a few times and once treatment is complete, the UV lamp turns off.
Of course, there is no telling whether or not I would actually get sick drinking the tap water but considering everyone has told me I would and the hotel even give me bottled water, I would like to think these products work. Regardless, I'm sold and I'm going to keep treating my water in this fashion and I will continue to bring these 3 items with me to any other third-world country I visit.
Thursday, January 23, 2014
"Son, things just took a turn for the surreal..."
I just exited my nice comfy confines of the Justa Indiranagar and moved to my new place of residence for the duration of my stay in Bangalore.
I loved my little Justa but this place is just ridiculous.
KAZAAM doesn't even begin to describe how big these rooms are.
I loved my little Justa but this place is just ridiculous.
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| This is the view from the front door. HUGE Living room. |
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| This is the view from the far corner looking back towards the front door/kitchen. That little nook to the right goes to the half bathroom. |
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| The kitchenette. There is a mini fridge in the cabinet with the slots in the door. |
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| This is the half bathroom. YES, has a half bathroom. |
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| The door to the bedroom. Sure.. doesn't look that impressive. |
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| but KAZAAM!! |
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| DOUBLE KAZAAM!!! |
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| TRIPLE KAZAAM!!! |
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| The Master Bathroom |
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| Shower/Tub |
Wednesday, January 22, 2014
German vs. Indian
While we were sitting in traffic today, my driver showed me this. It's pretty hysterical.
"You must be crazy"
I'm pretty sure that is what most driver's here think ALL.THE.TIME.
- Pedestrian crossing the street: "You must be crazy!"
- Bus trying to squeeze into a space between cars the size of a Smart car: "You must be crazy!"
- Car driving the wrong way: "You must be crazy! And driving some American..."
I want you to take a look at this image and pay close attention to the areas in red.
What you are looking at is the Google Maps recommended route from my hotel to my office. It's the route I have been taking daily for the last week. On Google Maps it says it's about 18km but in reality it's probably 10 since my driver's cut corners (literally and figuratively) every chance they get.
Back to those red areas. Since cars drive on the left here, right turns from the left lane are too difficult to manage. It would create an even worse traffic jam than normal. So there is not a right turn from onto the street I need to be on going from the hotel to the office. You have to make a left turn, go down a few kilometers, then turn around.
BAH! Nonsense.
This is a enlarge image of that intersection and what my driver does. He just cuts over into the OPPOSITE SIDE, driving against traffic. Cars, motorcycles, buses all driving head on at us, then cuts over to enter the onramp going the other way.
The first time I this happened, I was sure we were going to die. The next few, I just hang on for the ride. Today traffic was horrendous. It took us probably 10 minutes just to clear this intersection. So the whole time we are slowly moving against traffic, cars and buses swerving around us, my driver is casually telling me about his brother in Washington DC and his sister in Virginia all the while cursing at the other drivers for not letting him through.
He's seriously my favorite person in the whole world.
- Pedestrian crossing the street: "You must be crazy!"
- Bus trying to squeeze into a space between cars the size of a Smart car: "You must be crazy!"
- Car driving the wrong way: "You must be crazy! And driving some American..."
I want you to take a look at this image and pay close attention to the areas in red.
What you are looking at is the Google Maps recommended route from my hotel to my office. It's the route I have been taking daily for the last week. On Google Maps it says it's about 18km but in reality it's probably 10 since my driver's cut corners (literally and figuratively) every chance they get.
Back to those red areas. Since cars drive on the left here, right turns from the left lane are too difficult to manage. It would create an even worse traffic jam than normal. So there is not a right turn from onto the street I need to be on going from the hotel to the office. You have to make a left turn, go down a few kilometers, then turn around.
BAH! Nonsense.
This is a enlarge image of that intersection and what my driver does. He just cuts over into the OPPOSITE SIDE, driving against traffic. Cars, motorcycles, buses all driving head on at us, then cuts over to enter the onramp going the other way.
The first time I this happened, I was sure we were going to die. The next few, I just hang on for the ride. Today traffic was horrendous. It took us probably 10 minutes just to clear this intersection. So the whole time we are slowly moving against traffic, cars and buses swerving around us, my driver is casually telling me about his brother in Washington DC and his sister in Virginia all the while cursing at the other drivers for not letting him through.
He's seriously my favorite person in the whole world.
Welcome to my humble abode
Since I'm moving tomorrow I figured I better pay respect to my current residence.
Say hello to Justa - The Residence, Indiranagar.
If I hadn't been such a moron and confirmed the address of LinkedIn Bangalore prior to arriving, I wouldn't have been introduced to the wonderful people who work at this little hotel. It's a converted apartment building but it has a nice little Asian flair.
The location is great, just off 100 Feet Road. I posted about 100 Feet Road earlier so I won't repeat myself, but there is plenty of restaurants and things around. I discovered a bakery around the corner the other way I walked so stopped by after work today to buy some fresh bread and pastries.
The down side of course is it took me 68 minutes today to go 11 miles. It only took me 45 to get back but I left the office at 4pm.
If LinkedIn hadn't moved, I would have been happy to stay here.
I got a "suite" so my bedroom is separate from the living room. It's a nice arrangement and definitely makes it feel not so "hotel-ey".
I also have a kitchenette with a mini-fridge, microwave, hotplate, and coffee/tea maker.
I have 2 televisions (though I have yet to watch any tv), a love seat, coffee table, a small desk, and a very comfortable lounge chair.
There are also ceiling fans and air conditioners in both the living room and bedroom. Central air would be nicer, but these work very well, in fact too well. It's directly over the bed so it's too cold to leave on at night. But it gets too hot without it. What I do is turn on the bathroom fan, the bedroom ceiling fan to low, and the AC on in the living room. The bathroom fan sucks in the cool air from the living room through the bedroom and the ceiling fan circulates it. Stupid? Yes. But it works. I don't wake up in a puddle of sweat or shivering anymore so don't judge me.
Say hello to Justa - The Residence, Indiranagar.
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| Here's the front door and underground garage |
The location is great, just off 100 Feet Road. I posted about 100 Feet Road earlier so I won't repeat myself, but there is plenty of restaurants and things around. I discovered a bakery around the corner the other way I walked so stopped by after work today to buy some fresh bread and pastries.
The down side of course is it took me 68 minutes today to go 11 miles. It only took me 45 to get back but I left the office at 4pm.
If LinkedIn hadn't moved, I would have been happy to stay here.
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| The front facade. My room is the 2nd one above the garage |
I got a "suite" so my bedroom is separate from the living room. It's a nice arrangement and definitely makes it feel not so "hotel-ey".
I also have a kitchenette with a mini-fridge, microwave, hotplate, and coffee/tea maker.
I have 2 televisions (though I have yet to watch any tv), a love seat, coffee table, a small desk, and a very comfortable lounge chair.
There are also ceiling fans and air conditioners in both the living room and bedroom. Central air would be nicer, but these work very well, in fact too well. It's directly over the bed so it's too cold to leave on at night. But it gets too hot without it. What I do is turn on the bathroom fan, the bedroom ceiling fan to low, and the AC on in the living room. The bathroom fan sucks in the cool air from the living room through the bedroom and the ceiling fan circulates it. Stupid? Yes. But it works. I don't wake up in a puddle of sweat or shivering anymore so don't judge me.
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| This is the view looking straight in from the front door |
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| And to the left is the kitchette |
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| Walk straight in to the desk and turn around and there's the front door, TV, and bedroom door |
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| The queen sized bed. Pardon my mess. |
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| The view from the far side of the bed back towards the living room. That's the bathroom and AC unit. |
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| To the right is the TV and wardrobe. Pardon my mess again. |
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| Lastly the bathroom |
Tuesday, January 21, 2014
"Burgers" in India
I ate at the British expat pub last night. You know, this one...
Well, I decided to try a "single beef burger" just to see what it was like. To my surprise, this is what I got.
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That's a fried egg on top of a hamburger and onion strings on the top half of the bun.
No ketchup, no mustard, just amazingly delicious.
Well, I decided to try a "single beef burger" just to see what it was like. To my surprise, this is what I got.
That's a fried egg on top of a hamburger and onion strings on the top half of the bun.
No ketchup, no mustard, just amazingly delicious.
My next 10 weeks are going to be Epic!!!
I've finally gotten a chance to sit down and open up a calendar and start figuring things out. One thing I wanted to do while I was here was try to do some exploring. India is such a vast country, there is too much to see and not enough time. Especially since I have to do it basically only on the weekends.
Go big or go home.
Weekend 1: Jan 25- Jan 26 - Mysore
Weekend 2: Feb 1- Feb 2 - Sri Lanka
Weekend 3: Feb 8- Feb 9 - Kerala
Weekend 4: Feb 15- Feb 16 - Have a work event that I have to attend.
Weekend 5: Feb 22- Feb 23 - TBD (Goa or Mumbai maybe?)
Weekend 6: Mar 1- Mar 2 - Delhi/Jaipur/Agra
Weekend 7: Mar 8- Mar 9 - Nepal
Weekend 8: Mar 15- Mar 16 - Return Home
Weekend 9: Mar 22- Mar 23 - Home
Weekend 10: Mar 29- Mar 30 - Iceland
Go big or go home.
Weekend 1: Jan 25- Jan 26 - Mysore
Weekend 2: Feb 1- Feb 2 - Sri Lanka
Weekend 3: Feb 8- Feb 9 - Kerala
Weekend 4: Feb 15- Feb 16 - Have a work event that I have to attend.
Weekend 5: Feb 22- Feb 23 - TBD (Goa or Mumbai maybe?)
Weekend 6: Mar 1- Mar 2 - Delhi/Jaipur/Agra
Weekend 7: Mar 8- Mar 9 - Nepal
Weekend 8: Mar 15- Mar 16 - Return Home
Weekend 9: Mar 22- Mar 23 - Home
Weekend 10: Mar 29- Mar 30 - Iceland
Monday, January 20, 2014
18 Kilometers
Eminem can take his 8 Mile and stuff it. He's got nothing on my 18 kilometers.
18 kilometers. That's 11.18 miles.
18 kilometers. It takes me an hour to cover those 18 kilometers TO work and an hour and a half to cover those 18 kilometers FROM work.
18 kilometers. On the most dangerous roads in the world.
I'm trying to relish in this experience now since I might be changing residences due to the previously posted about calamity (which if you're keeping track was #2 in 2 days). Honestly, the driving and traffic here are so unbelievable that one just has to smile at the insanity.
- My driver today might have driven on the wrong side of a concrete divided road to get ahead of a traffic jam (he did).
- We might have been forced off the road because the cars going in the other direction decided that a 1 lane road was going to be a 4 lane road even if it meant encroaching onto our side so we basically were left to drive on the sidewalk.
- We had a truck pull out straight across us. We just looked at each other and laughed.
- Number of cows walking in the road that we had to avoid: 3
- Number of cows lying down in the road that we had to avoid: 1
- Number of bicyclists we ran off the road into a ditch: 1
- Number of schoolgirls we almost ran over before my driver finally conceded that they were going to keep walking in front of us so we stopped: 4
- Number of cars driving the wrong way on a 1 way expressway: Too many to count.
18 kilometers. That's 11.18 miles.
18 kilometers. It takes me an hour to cover those 18 kilometers TO work and an hour and a half to cover those 18 kilometers FROM work.
18 kilometers. On the most dangerous roads in the world.
I'm trying to relish in this experience now since I might be changing residences due to the previously posted about calamity (which if you're keeping track was #2 in 2 days). Honestly, the driving and traffic here are so unbelievable that one just has to smile at the insanity.
- My driver today might have driven on the wrong side of a concrete divided road to get ahead of a traffic jam (he did).
- We might have been forced off the road because the cars going in the other direction decided that a 1 lane road was going to be a 4 lane road even if it meant encroaching onto our side so we basically were left to drive on the sidewalk.
- We had a truck pull out straight across us. We just looked at each other and laughed.
- Number of cows walking in the road that we had to avoid: 3
- Number of cows lying down in the road that we had to avoid: 1
- Number of bicyclists we ran off the road into a ditch: 1
- Number of schoolgirls we almost ran over before my driver finally conceded that they were going to keep walking in front of us so we stopped: 4
- Number of cars driving the wrong way on a 1 way expressway: Too many to count.
It ain't Africa, but it'll do
This wild animal park had some animals that I haven't seen close up and some I had never seen so I was excited for the opportunity to see some. I broke out my 300mm lens and gave it a go.
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| This is a white Bengal Tiger. Beautiful. |
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Orange Bengal Tiger. Their stripes are so incredible. |
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| Anyone who knows me knows I love elephants. These are Asian elephants which are WAY smaller than African elephants. |
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| It's a brown bear in India!!! It's actually some vegetarian bear from India and it's more black than brown... |
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| I think I've gotten pretty good at taking pictures of lions. |
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