Laid-back

Ensi kertaa matkalla mulla on sellainen olo, etten oikein tieda mista kirjoittaa. Oleskelu taalla on niin rentoa, etta melkein unohtaa olevansa olemassa. Ajantaju katoaa ja sita vain on. Voisin tietenkin kertoa siita, etta olemme jattaneet heratyskellot virittamatta aamuksi, kompineet aamiaiselle yhdentoista aikaan, soittaneet ja laulaneet hotellihuoneessamme pyjamat paalla kello kolmeen asti paivalla, syoneet, syoneet, syoneet ja nukkuneet. Ja tietenkin juoneet, mutta vain vahan. Voisin myos kertoa siita, etta tarkoituksenamme on jo monta paivaa ollut kayda Diun Fortilla, muinoin portugalilaisten rakentamalla linnakkeella, mutta emme ole viela muilta kiireiltamme ehtineet. Kuten myos siita, etta olemme tavanneet liudan uusia mukavia ihmisia, joilla on rento elamanasenne, ja jotka me miellamme “OIKEIKSI travellereiksi”, jos niin voi jotakuta nimittaa. Suurimman vaikutuksen meihin kai teki, etta heista jokainen matkustaa ilman puhelinta. Ja yksi kavi intialaisessa public sairaalassa, jossa operointilamppu oli kiinnitetty kasaan laastareilla. Ja toinen juo vesijohtovetta, jotta tulisi bakteereille immuuniksi. Aivan samaan me ei uskallauduta, muiden kertomukset saavat meidan silmat ymmyrkaisiksi. Huomaamatta tanne saarelle on muodostunut kutakuinkin kaksi nuorten lankkareiden porukkaa. Toinen on kiinnostunut huumeista ja toinen ei. Ei onneksi varmaan ole vaikea arvata, kumpaan me kuulumme.:) Tanaan vuokrasimme skootterit, ja hurautimme Diun toiseen paahan hiljaiselle rannalle. Saimme lahes koko paivan olla siella keskenamme, me 8, ja uskaltauduimme jopa kaymaan bikineilla uimassa. Paiva oli taydellinen leppoisaan yhdessa oloon, vaikkakin skootterilla ajo nain minulle ekakertalaiselle nostatti ensin pulssin korkealle. Se, mista nyt aion kuitenkin kertoa, on se, etta nautimme tasta joutilaisuudesta suunnattoman paljon. Ei haittaa, vaikka emme saisi aikaiseksi mitaan, niin kauan kuin vain nautimme siita. Sovimme silti varmuuden vuoksi, etta taalla olo jatkuu ainakin niin pitkaan, etta kaymme Fortissa. On vaikea kuvitella, etta tasta tulisi viela pakottaa itsensa lahtemaan takaisin Ahmedabadiin. Se on kuitenkin valttamatonta, silla sielta kulkevat kaikki yhteydet Rajasthaniin pain. Lopuksi joudun ilmoittamaan, etta tamakaan teksti ei saasty kuvaukselta todellisesta vaaratilanteesta. Lehma hyokkasi tanaan meidan paalle. Se oli syomassa pahvia meidan guest housen edessa ja jaimme hetkeksi tuijottamaan sen kummallista aantelya ennen sisapihalle astumista. Luulimme, etta se oksentaa. Jotain muuta oli kuitenkin mulikolla mielessa, silla se lahti taysin arvaamatta juoksemaan suoraan meita kohti. Onneksi refleksit pelasivat- paasimme turvaan portin toiselle puolelle. Ehka se vain halusi saikayttaa meidat aikansa kuluksi. Guest house- perheen poika Alvin arveli, etta hyokkays johtui Ainon punaisesta paidasta. Isa Francesco arveli, etta taysikuu saa lehmat hulluiksi. Ei tiedeta, mutta Aino peitti visusti punaisen reppunsa matkalla pesulaan ja tanne nettiin. Apparently it is possible to be afraid of Holy Cows! Ps. Olimme niin vaarassa Diwalista. Se loppui tasan sina paivana, kun luulimme se alkavan. Ihmiset rajayttelevat silti viela ilotulituksia! -Saara








Aliisa reporting from the lovely island of Diu.. ...I don't think i've felt this relaxed and happy in a while. We arrived in Diu yesterday morning. The trip from Mumbai to Diu was long, but now I know if was completely worth all the (pardon my French) shit.

On Friday we took a local train (of Mumbai) from the Churchgate station to Bandra. We had travelled on the 1st class coach before (with our 2nd class tickets), but now decided to go to the ladies coach instead. We were heading to Bandra, a station from which we were to depart to Ahmedabad from later on. The ladies coach had a laid back atmosphere and it was a sight we were thrilled to be a part of. All the colorful sari's, smiley faces - topped with endless babbling. We were cramped up with our huge backpacks and the entire scene was somewhat hilarious. We began chatting with some of the ladies. They aided us a bit with pushing through the crowds at Bandra station, and helped us find a rickshaw that would take us to the Bandra Terminus, another bigger station. The rickshaw ride was something we had never experienced before. We drove through one of India's biggest slums. The scene was quiet and sad, the only noise I was aware of was that of the rickshaw engine. Although I consider myself an enthusiastic photographer, snapping a shot didn't even cross my mind. All you want to do is close your eyes from the mad world and pretend everything is alright.

Once we arrived at the Bandra Terminus, the true hassle began. After about an hour of queuing, we found our our 3rd train ticket had not been confirmed. The dilemma of having 3 people and only 2 confirmed sleeper beds was apparently a common phenomenon around here, especially during the Diwali, one of the biggest national festivals of India. The lady at the ticket counter said it would not be illegal to travel without a 3rd seat, so that we did. We hopped on the train heading to Ahmedabad, found our two beds and prepareda ourselves for the long journey ahead. Since we only had 2 beds, we took 2-hour shifts sleeping, one having a bed of her own and two sharing one. Needless to say, we didn't really sleep much that night.

At around 5am, even before sunrise, we arrived in the capital of Gujarat state, Ahmedabad. Somehow it didn't feel safe to go wonder off on the dark streets so we found a ladies resting room and continued napping on the bench in turns. After 7am we felt confident enough to set foot again. Aino wasn't feeling well at all, she was rather dehydrated and began to vomit once we exited the station. Even her state of being didn't stop the Indian men from hovering around us. It didn't take Aino a long time to feel a bit better and we hopped on a another rickshaw and eventually found ourselves at a bus travel agency. We bought sleeper bus tickets to the island of Diu, but the time being around 10am, felt very exhausted and hungry from the trip of the night before and decided to check the Lonely Planet for a place to eat. We read about Green House, a restaurant near the city center. When we arrived, we realised we had been dropped off at a resort-like palace. Although backpacking is supposed to be budget travel, we didn't even think twise. We walked in the restaurant and ordered breakfast. Aino was still feeling a bit ill and she fell asleep in the restaurant after we ahd eaten! There was a long day of waiting (for the night bus to depart) ahead for us and we began wondering what we could actually do in the city, in terms of Aino's wellbeing and our sleep deprivation. We had heard Ahmedabad was a metropolitan city of beautiful mosques and vibrant atmosphere. None of it mattered anymore. We just wanted to eat and sleep, and that we did! We asked the waiter if there was any place for us to relax for a while. He nodded and guided us to this luxorious pool area of a hotel. We were in awe. We dropped our backpacks and fell asleep on the benches surrounding the swimming pool. Our little "nap" lasted 4,5 hours! :D We woke up to the sound of hotel guests taking a swim. The waiter served us with tea and brought us clean towels if we wanted to take a dip in the refreshing pool, too. Hah, IF. We swam, took long showers, ate a delicious dinner basically spending the entire day at the hotel. It was a day we will never forget. We felt re-energised and ready to hit the road again.

The sleeper bus ride was, in my opinion, the worst bus ride I had ever experienced. Well, perhaps not the worst, but definitely the most dangerous. The beds were narrow, roads beyond bumpy, and forget the seatbelts since those just don't exist. We chained our backpacks to the metal bars fencing the beds. If we wouldn't have, the bags would have dropped to the floor without a doubt. After chaining the bag, I closed the bed curtains and tried to get some sleep, but the bumpyness of the road was just too much to bear. The condition of the bus was otherwise a pleasant surprised and people were friendly and well-behaved, even for us white skinned westerners. An Indian guy did open my bed curtains at one point and yelled "good morning, lady!", but since it was about 4.30am at that point, and I was in no mood for chatter, I just pulled the curtains back and returned to my vertical position. During the journey, the bus stopped 3 times for a pee break! My dear uribag is still, till this day, untouched. We arrived in the island of Diu early in the morning and were greeted by street dogs. Having heard about our friend's bad experience with such wild predators, we were cautious. Having now spent 4 days here, I can honestly say the dogs are harmless. The entire town is.

We were so lucky for having found the guesthouse we are staying at. It is owned by a portuguese-Goan family who took us under their wing with open arms. The guesthouse owners Francesco, Alina and their son Allwyn are some of the most kind-heared people we've met around here. I'm finding it hard to describe Diu in just a few words, but the 4 days we've spent here have already proven us that simple things can make you happy. Sometimes we forget we're in India. We met some other travelers on the beach a few days back and decided to hang out again the next day. Today we rented scooters and rode to a restaurant called La Dolce Vita to have breakfast with the others. After breakfast we hit the road and rode past amazing beaches to a strip of sand abandoned by the locals. Our own private beach. All of us took a dip in the ocean and spent hours listening to music and talking about the strangest things.

For a light finish, I will now tell you about a cow that attacked us today. Once we rode back from the beach and parked our scooters, we saw a huge cow eating a piece of cardboard only 2 meters away from us. The poor thing was choking on the cardboard and began puking. For some strange reason, we were highly amused by it all. Perhaps we stared at the cow a bit too much, stood still observing it, I don't really know. Something we did flipped the cow out and it dashed towards Aino and Saara. We ran towards the guesthouse gate as fast as we could and once we were safe behind the bars we laughed hysterically for a minute or two. According to Francesco the cows go a bit mad during full moon. And of course we just happened to pick the best time for bothering a vomiting cow. Full moon.