Monday, February 7, 2011

Staying in TV, leaving the ashram

Sadly, I could not stay at the ashram - this is busy season for everything here, and they already had my room booked to somebody else.  I had a hair-pulling morning trying to find a new place, but have succeeded (much is full) and it should be ok for a few days. 
The pollution here is unbelievably bad. I've heard that it is even worse than Delhi -which I 've heard is one of the worst in the world.  It's the people burning trash, mixed with what amounts to streets packed with driving gas-lawnmowers.  One minute out there and you get this vengeful, vile, acrid burning in your throat that just sticks.  Hacking and coughing at common morning sounds.  yay. 
I will stay for a few days, or however long it takes to figure out my accommodation in Pondicherry, which I've heard is cleaner.  We'll see.
I didn't know the temperature, but apparently it is about 30 C right now - and it is 7 in the evening.  I guess it was hot today, eh?  Well as you may know - I loved it.
My love goes out to everyone.  Stay warm there ... even in the store!
(I hope the Liberte deliveries have been going smoother... I guess that is your day today)

1 comment:

  1. Dear Rob - I'm amazed at the distances that you are traveling, and when you make no reference to trains , I am guessing that you are traveling by bus. I finally found some decent maps, to get to know the relative distances - you are really covering the entire country ... It'll be interesting to see whether the terrain is as varied as the distances suggest.
    I hope the views are good and that you can capture enough of the landscape on photos. Finding that peacock on your doorstep must have been amazing, though the peacock's screech is piercing !!
    Chennai to Pondicherry ==> 165 km.
    Chennai to Varanasi ==> 1813 km. ... a looong train ride!
    Varanasi to Delhi ==> 780 km.
    ... Where is Varanasi ? Has the name changed? I cannot find it on the maps.
    Delhi to Amritsar ==> 447 km.
    Delhi to Dehradun ==> 235 km.
    Dehradun to Jaipur ==> 493 km.
    Jaipur to Agra ==> 232 km
    Srinagar to Delhi ==> 876 km
    Wonderful to read your comments. Looking forward to every next one!
    Hugs,
    Mom

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