Singapore

How nice it is to be in lovely clean Singapore! We stopped over for a couple of nights and went to Sentosa Island, Orchard Road and did the Red Lantern Walk (red light) in Chinatown. Sentosa Island is party island with beaches, resorts and soon to be opened Disneyland and casino. We went up in the Tiger Tower and checked out the museum of Singapore's beginnings. A nice walk along the beach and then back into Chinatown for the Red Lantern Walk. Since we did not actually see any prostitutes (it is illegal to solicit on the street) and since the area we walked through looked very trendy, we have our doubts as to the actual existence of a red light district. Prostitutes and Singapore seem kind of incongruous. However, the talk about the past lives of Chinese male and women settlers was very interesting and it would appear that in the late 1800's, 1/2 the Chinese women were prostitutes (3000) who catered to 20 times as many men. Most were slaves or tricked into this existence and never escaped. Opium dens were abundant.

On a much lighter note. Singapore really knows how to turn on the Christmas lights.

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!!!!!

Snaps of the dirty bits

Along the way during our travels I took some quick snaps of interesting cultural differences. The cows enjoy grazing through garbage together with dogs, pigs, goats and chickens. In Rajistan we saw cows being fed grasses and grains bought by Hindus to worship the Holy Cow, but elsewhere they were either being herded or left to wander the streets and roads, rummaging. Our driver and all others avoided hitting them and the many dogs who just stand on the road. Although I have seen quite a few dogs limping. The owner at a restaurant we frequent in Bangalore 'Sunny's', donates 10% of his profits to the Protection of Animals Society - so there is hope and Hindus are very kind people and do not intentionally harm animals.

When leaving Jaipur we passed the Bangladeshi refugees still camped in the Muslim part of town. They were apparently shipped there from the camps on the border to do some work but when that finished the Bangladeshi government refused to take them back as they did not have papers so it was claimed that they were Indians trying to get into Bangladesh - how sad.

Kerala Folklore Theatre and Museum

On our way to the airport we stopped at the Kerala Folklore Theatre & Museum where we were shown around and then joined the Grade 2's to watch a performance that teaches the children about the cast system and humility. It involved Hanuman (the monkey god - how fortunate as he is my favorite of the 32 million gods to choose from). Hanuman blocks the path of a very proud and rich man who looks down on others. Hanuman then begins to mock the children and the 2 white very special guests and pretends to show his bottom and pick yukky things off his body and throw them into the audience, which has all the children squealing and rolling around in laughter.

Afterwards some children were chosen to share their experience of the museum and Mike was asked to say a few words also - he was a big hit! We are pretty sure that the stories about their trip to the museum will have as a highlight the meeting of the very special guests and not so much about the masks and statues!

The Backwaters of Kerala

The houseboat picked us up from the resort and off we went for more relaxing and great food. Our cook was wonderful and I'm sure I've gained weight as there was so much eating - coconut drink, then lunch (fish and curry and rice and ladies fingers and coconut mix and more), then snack (prawns), then afternoon tea (banana bread Indian style - deep fried battered banana's - Yum), dinner (fish and chicken and rice and bindi and potatoes and tomatoes and more) and then after a good nights sleep a huge breakfast (pancakes stuffed with coconut and bananas and spicy omelet and toast and pineapple juice). But who's complaining - he knew how to cook and everything was delicious.

The Backwaters were not quite what we were expecting, perhaps further in (it covers 200 sq km) it may become more natural but for our overnight trip we sailed around man made canals fringed with coconut palms and rice paddy's. The farmers live in huts on the waters edge and go about their daily business despite a steady stream of houseboats documenting their every move. An unusual and relaxing experience which I would not have missed.

The Whispering Palms Resort

Because Santosh was taking a few days off to celebrate his daughter Sree's birthday and have all family around for the first time to his home we had another quieter driver take us to Kumarakom and the Whispering Pines Resort. The pool was good (nice and warm in Kerala - 30's) as was the Ayurvedic massage. Lets just say there is a lot of oil involved and apparently you look 25 years younger afterwards!! I went back the following morning for another try.

Met a couple of Aussies here who had been touring India for a month. They were from Shepherton and found the language barrier a difficulty especially trying to steer clear of Craft Emporiums and do anything out of the usual sightseeing! They also put us onto a product called Travelan, which the Australian Cricket Team uses to ward off any upset tummies (can only be purchased in Aus, so - next time).

Kerala - Kochi (Cochin) city

After checking into our hotel we headed off for the usual sightseeing. Dutch Palace (palace!??), Jewish synagogue (closed) and Chinese fishing Nets. The fishing nets were probably the most interesting especially the fish shops ('You choose - I cook') and the first place to see cats. The SantaCruz Basilica was nice also, very colourful inside with Hindi style paintings of saints and the 'Last Supper'. We arrived just in time for the Saturday evening Mass and although we only stayed for 10 minutes, felt very pious!

The best part of this afternoon was our driver Santosh, who told us a very excited and animated story of how he met and fell in love with his wife. He saw her swimming in the temple pool in order to cleanse before entering the temple. Although he had cleansed before leaving home he also went into the pool to cleanse and when their eyes met - 'it was love'. For the next 6 months he would get up extra early to go to the temple to bath and secretly meet with his beloved. His parents thought he had become very spiritual and were very pleased. When her parents found out all hell broke loose and there was much fighting and trouble, mostly by her mother, who did not think he was good enough for her daughter as he worked in a shop for only 1000 Rp's ($25) a day. They married anyway and their daughter is about to turn 2. The in-laws have finally come round as he now has a good job as a driver and has big plans to buy land and buy gold jewellery for his wife. His enthusiasm in telling the story was so endearing that as well as the tip, I gave him an $20AUD as a gift to his daughter. He will go far!!

Camels

Rajasthan is also famous for its slippers made from camel leather and also its jewels of precious and semi-precious stones. Probably why so many Maharajahs settled here in the first place. There are lots of camels used in transport.

We are heading off today to Kerala which is on the south west coast and will be warmer (in the 30's). On this leg we do Cochin and the house boat trip on the Backwaters. Should be relaxing.