Slow Days

Slow Days

Saturday, Nov. 18, 2006--Bijapur (Cont.)

Today is 3 months since the date that I left Texas.

I had trouble with the cyber cafe. One of the websites where I communicate with people about travel planning wasn't working. Every time I tried to send a message to someone, the screen would close. I had that problem in Vietnam, and just figured that the Communist government had decided that was a site it didn't want its citizens being able to access. But this is the first time it has happened here in India.

I met some nice young men just around the corner from my hotel. They were all medical students at the ayurvedic college. Ayurvedic is the Indian form of holistic medicine. It depends on massage, oils, herbs, etc. They were all on their lunch break with nothing to do, so they were eager to have me stop and visit with them. They all spoke English quite well and looked nice in their white shirts and red ties with blue slacks.

I went back to the local tea shop for both lunch and dinner. For lunch, I had a seasoned rice. It came with a dark, thick sauce that looked like chili. It was very spicy and was good with the rice. It also came with a yogurt-tomato-onion salad. All of that cost me 19 cents. I spent another 19 cents for a lime flavored soft drink. For dinner, I had Gobi Manchurian. It was pieces of cauliflower and broccoli that had been cooked so they were coated with a thick, spicy, dark red covering. On the side was catsup to dip the pieces in. It, too, was delicious.

Sunday, Nov. 19, 2006--Bijapur to Gulbarga

The trip was so promising when it started. The roadway was wide and smooth and even had striping on it. But that only lasted about 1/3 of the way. The rest of the trip was more like what I have been used to here in India--old, rough, pot-holed, one-lane roadways. It was a jarring trip that rest of the way.

Gulbarga was a bit of a surprise. First, there was a new bus station that was in a different location from where the guidebook had shown we would arrive. Fortunately, it was on a major road which was marked on the guidebook map. Second, the town is very spread out. It is more like a town in the western part of the U.S. in which walking is not very practical. But I did walk. I rolled my suitcase behind me as I headed into town. I passed a few lodges that didn't look good enough on the outside to satisfy me. I stopped at one and was quoted a rediculous price of 300 rupees for a room that I wouldn't pay more than 150 rupees to occupy (and still wouldn't want to stay there because of it being dark, dirty, and depressing). I saw a lodge that looked okay at a major intersection and looked at it. It was about like where I have been staying, but it was 50 rupees more. So I left just to look around some more. I quickly decided that it would be the best place for me and returned. It really is a nice place--nicer in some respects than others. And it is a good bargain at $5.40 per night. So I am staying there and am happy with it. The boys who provide the room service are a little aggressive--stopping by to see if I want to order food for each meal, checking to see if I want to have laundry done--but it's not really a problem.

I ate at the hotel's dining room for lunch. It had a good crowd, so I figured it was a good place to eat. I had one of my old stand-bys--palak paneer (spinach and cheese) with naan. Then I stayed in the room the rest of the afternoon and watched TV and read in my book. The town was too spread out for me to want to explore it in the heat of the day. In the evening, I just went next door to a bakery and bought two samosas (pillows of dough stuffed with a potato-onion mixture and accompanied by a slightly sweet sauce and two chili peppers) and two kinds of pastries. I took them back to the room to eat them.

Monday, Nov. 20, 2006--Gulbarga

Well, it's been a long morning of walking. I left the hotel around 8 a.m. and walked along a roadway that curved to the eastern side of town where there are several large tombs. The local people (Muslims) were all very friendly. They seemed surprised that I am an American traveling alone and that I have never liked George W. Bush and have never voted for him. They seemed almost proud that I was walking through the small walkways among their homes.

From the tombs, I went to the fort at the center of town. The walls are still there, but inside the walls, not much stands. There is a huge fortress-type building inside. And there is an unbelievably large mosque with many domes inside. That's about it. People have homes and are raising goats and other animals in there. It was interesting to see, however.

There are more tombs west of the fort, but I didn't go to see those. I could see them in the distance from the top of the fortress, and they didn't look as if they would be different enough for me to want to make the walk. By then, it was already almost noon. Instead, I went to a juice stand and had a creamy, delicious pineapple juice. Then I came here to the cyber cafe.

The internet service here is having a problem with their Google connection. It doesn't take me to the sites I want to use as a link so you can read about Gulbarga and/or see photos of it. Therefore, I could not provide any links. So if you are interested, you need to do your own search for it. Here is a website that ought to work but doesn't on this computer: www.karnataka.com/tourism/gulbarga/