Sunrise in Kochi

    

We have arrived and settled into Kochi. We are staying at a very nice home residence, the Chiramel Home Residency. The innkeepers are most friendly and helpful--highly recommended.

Fort Kochi, where we are staying, is an old Portugese-Dutch settlement situated in the Kerala State of India. The area contains a multitude of stunning old colonial mansions lying under the shadows created by palm groves that cover the region. The two main attractions are the Santa Cruz Cathedral and the cantilevered Chinese fishing nets, which provide a hint of the multicultural nature of India's southern coast.

The dawn broke with the sounds of music blaring from a Hindu temple, the muezzin's call to prayer, and the toll of bells from the cathedral. A local fisherman back from an uneventful fishing session greets me onshore. He informs me he is of Dutch descent--though nothing in his appearance would suggest such a connection--and says his family has lived in Kochi for over 400 years.

After just one full day in India, our preconceptions have been shattered and the D(harma) Bums await eagerly to begin our journey north.

Posted at 09:31PM Dec 27, 2006 by D Bums Comments[0]

Photos

We are trying to figure out a way of uploading photos and processing them so that you can see snippets of our journey through India rather than just reading the blog. Please stay tuned. We will figure something out.

Posted at 12:00AM Dec 27, 2006 by D Bums Comments[0]

Namaste Mumbai!

We have arrived in Mumbai. It was a long and exhausting flight from Los Angeles, but we decided to explore the city in the early hours of the morning anyway.

In the darkness of the early morning, the city's squalor is overwhelming. The air is filled with the smell of garbage and burnt wood and we are stepping over the mummied bodies of families sleeping in the streets. There are sleeping mummies everywhere--under the eaves of shanty sheds, in the recesses of storefronts, and across the breadth of the pedestrian bridge.

Shanty sheds line the avenues of Mumbai. Gray storefronts of corrugated iron offer little to excite the imagination. The streets are nearly empty and devoid of activity.

As the morning sun breaks through the haze of the Mumbai sky, the city reveals itself in an immersion of colors, smells, and sound that define Mumbai's personality. Drab storefronts are hidden by the sharply contrasting colors of hurrying women in their saris. The traffic symphony of horns blares through the city streets as brightly colored and elaborately decorated trucks and rickshaws channel through the deadlock.

Beside me a man cuts mangos, melons, and bananas, readying them for making juice. Another man strings together garlands of flowers, which he then proceeds to hang on pictures of Krishna in front of many storefronts.

I watch in amazement as the squalor fades; the city is awake and its beauty shaken from its slumber.

Namaste Mumbai! Namaste India!



Bennett has fallen ill. It seems the Biryani does not agree with him. He is in hell.

The Biryani is coming out from both ends. Unfortunately for Bennett, the spices are emerging through his nose, making the pain more intolerable. Our poor Bennett is ill.

Posted at 03:00AM Dec 26, 2006 by D Bums Comments[0]

GPS

Because many of you have inquired about GPS, I want to inform you that, yes, Bennett has found a way to connect his digital camera with a GPS tracking system. You should be able to track our progress once we have figured out how this works. Details coming.

If you do track our progress, some mindful tips. If it appears that we have not moved in a while, we have probably perished. If it appears that we are moving too quickly, we are probably traveling inside the stomach of a Bengal tiger.

Posted at 11:54AM Dec 22, 2006 by D Bums Comments[0]

Ode to the Chariot of D Bums

Our chariot has been crafted and the paint applied. Let us repeat the words of the unlucky as we venture forth into the subcontinent!

Lord Tennyson abandon us not!

"Ours not the reason why
Ours but to do and die"

Tallyho, then! To the abyss!!!

Poor Bastards!!!

Posted at 02:18PM Dec 21, 2006 by D Bums Comments[0]

Kochi to Darjeeling

If someone would be kind enough to point out the best route to Darjeeling from Kochi, please download the map above and send us an email. Please clearly mark the most efficient path to our destination. We would be deeply appreciative if the suggested route does not lead to a deadly fall from a steep plateau or a leisurely encounter with a pack of marauding elephants or an uninvited visit to a village of angry hermaphrodites.

Posted at 12:00AM Dec 18, 2006 by D Bums Comments[0]