Palolem, Goa: Beach and Food

Palolem is a little capsule, buffered from the rest of India. Not all Goa is like this. I've been on beaches where wearing a bikini would have been a death wish. Not here, though. The Russian grannies and the French students lie in the sun in their suits. Few look twice—why should they?—except a group of young Indians who have come especially to gawk. They keep their distance, though.

The beach is lined with hotels and restaurants from one edge of the sandy crescent to the other. One hotel is much the same as the other. Cracked tile, a bit of mildew, sandy tiles, some mosquito net. Nothing fancy, but at the beach you don't need much. A roof to keep the sun off and someone to bring cold drinks seems enough.

The restaurants are also much the same. They serve grilled fish, fresh, but a little overcooked, alongside a few Goan dishes. I try ambotik, xacutti, vindaloo, and Goan sausage. They are good enough for me, but a Goan auntie would likely complain.

Each table comes with its own dog to provide company, and, if needed, clean up any scraps that fall. The morning dog rivalry resumes after dark. One evening as we sip aperitif, a smallish white dog comes trotting along, following a plump, unhappy lady. All the dogs around us rise up, barking, even snarling, until the intruder has run away. Our dog for the evening is a female, a mother. She barks briefly, for form's sake, it seems, and then lies down to sleep on our toes. We debate giving her a bit of fish, but fear the consequences of bones. And where are the cats? Surely with this much fish about, cats should be prowling?

Later I find them, skinny and sand-colored, above our heads, living on the roofs. They must jump down once in while to scavenge, but they are very quick. In the week I am there, I never see one on the ground.

Palolem, Goa: Morning

I walk early in the morning, leaving my room just before dawn. By six thirty, the sky is just light and the air is still cool enough that I am glad to be wearing sleeves. The beach is far from empty, though. Hung-over tourists trudge across the sand, regretting the boat trips they booked the day before. Boatmen cast about for more passengers. Women with men's shirts over their saris pick up bottles and smooth the sand in front of their hotels. It's the hour of the dogs, who wake and stretch, greet their favorite friends, and bark at the non grata. Further down the beach, a group of North Indian men do calisthenics in preparation for a football game, enjoying an hour of freedom before their long workday. The waves lap closer, tickling my toes, wetting my cuffs. Everything is covered with sand, and no one seems to mind.

Picturing India: The Darjeeling Limited

The Grand Budapest Hotel's elegiac nostalgia left me wanting more. Cue The Darjeeling Limited, Wes Anderson's “precious” 2007 release, which is not a film about India. It is American. The main characters are so self-centered, yet they manage, by the end, to shed their baggage and love each other. The fairy-tale setting is hardly needed. It's beautiful, though. I love to watch the opening sequence. It's unreal, just off-kilter enough to make us believe it might be true, and then remind us that it isn't. Look past Bill Murray’s grandfatherly worry and mad dash at the still, clean, imaginary India. The sun-bleached buildings, the colors of the clothes are right. Yet there are no hooting buses, no “Horn OK Please” trucks, no crowds, at least not by Indian standards. The immaculate cream-colored bullock stands stock-still. There is no scrap of trash in the gutters, Murray's taxi races past no open sewer. The railway station — spotless. But it’s almost India. It's a film that lets you dream about how India could be, if only.

Palolem, Goa: Arrival

The flight from Banaglore arrives at little old Dabolim Airport just before dusk. The baggage claim area is disorganized, ill-suited for a very mixed crowd hoping for relaxation. People mill about, uncertain where, or if, their luggage will appear. Mine does, but it seems others on my flight are not so lucky.

I negotiate a ride from the pre-paid taxi window in the baggage claim area, and a driver appears. I follow his plaid back, struggling to keep up, jostled by slender men pushing carts stacked high with bags. They do not care whose ankles they bruise along the way. The driver glances back at me. Stuck in a crowd of trollies, I cast him a dirty look. When I finally break free, he takes the handle to wheel my luggage around a corner, then leaves me to wait while he gets the car.

Our drive to Palolem is long and dark. Snack stands and barber shops stand out, beacons of light in the night. Mostly, though, the road is unpopulated, and barely lit. The air carries hints of what might be seen, were it light: sewer canals, salt flats where fish dry, and, once, a fragrant forest. But perhaps it's best that it's too dark to see. The heat of the day is past, and Goa's black air is soft and cool, mysterious. When we turn for Palolem, the roadside bursts to life. A man is getting a shave in a pink-painted barber shop. A group clusters around a stand, drinking tea. Vendor's stalls loom, full of T-shirts, brass trinkets, silver earrings, and mounds of fake spices and teas.

As we approach the arch that leads to the beach, touts crowd around the car. They hope I want a room, but are disappointed. Already booked. They point me in the right direction and leave me to tote my bags down the beach alone. I am in Goa.

Advanced Bangalore: A Trip to Raja Market

Raja Market is at the heart of a busy, chaotic neighborhood. It’s hard to find, making it a potentially challenging outing even for those with solid India experience. This market is worth the effort, though, especially for anyone in the market for silver or costume jewelry, Raja Market’s specialties. There are gold shops, too, but these are narrow and modest, barely noticeable among the bright displays of colored beads, fancy fabric trimmings, fake hair, and gold-fill costume jewelry. Raja Market is a costume designer’s dream, and a must-visit for Bangalorean brides to be. It’s also a truly authentic Indian experience.

The main challenge is getting there. Many of the streets around Raja Market are closed to traffic (don’t expect them to be anything but packed, though) and others are so narrow and busy that auto drivers often refuse to drive on them. Beyond that, about half of all auto drivers know nothing about Raja Market. Guys just don’t go there to shop, especially guys as short of cash as these. So, ask an auto driver to take you to the intersection of Chickpete Road and Avenue Road. He'll most likely drop you at a busy intersection on Chickpete and point you towards Avenue Road. Walk along Chickpete, dodging between fruit carts and men carrying bundles bigger than they are on their backs. Touts from the fabric stores—this is one of Bangalore’s better known shopping areas for cloth and clothing—will call out to you. Ignore them, unless you want half a dozen bright polyester saris. If you’re looking for some cotton cloth, this is not a bad place to get it. Check the more modest shops and stalls for southern plaids and light-colored shirt-weight material.

Keep just half an eye on the muddy gutters under your feet and look up at the vibrant multicolored displays of saris and cloth for salwar suits. Advertising banners hang overhead. Street signs are nonexistant, so check the addresses on the stores’ signs at each intersection to see if you’ve come to Avenue Road. When you do, take a moment to look around. Where, exactly, the market is will depend on where your driver chose to drop you. Stores selling jewelry and accessories rather than fabric are a clue, and there’s a marked entrance on each side of the market.

Don’t hesitate to step inside. There are always plenty of shoppers, but the atmosphere is markedly less hectic than outside. Most stores are busy enough that they don’t need an outdoor tout, and foreigners are never their best customers. Stop to admire the henna artist’s designs, marvel at the man braiding beads onto string for necklaces while he holds the cord taut between his toes, and get a closer look at the silver bowls made for temple offerings. If you’re interested in sewing or planning to get some Indian clothes made, step further into the market towards the “fancy” stalls that sell colorful ribbons and lamé edgings.

If you want a new ring or a necklace, go upstairs to Chitalia Brothers. Their sign says silver jewelry, gold, and diamonds, but except for a small selection of gold fill for brides and dancers, it’s a place for silver. Ask for earrings, bangles, or pendants and an assistant will pour a heap of them from a plastic tub onto the counter. All are on cards marked with the price—no bargaining here—and wrapped in protective plastic. You’ll be given a velvet-lined tray to hold anything you think you might be interested in, and can make your choice after everything you didn't like is back in the box. The service is pleasant and attentive and though they do clearly hope to sell you more than you planned to buy, their suggestions are more helpful than not, and rarely pushy. The jewelry is well-made, durable enough to wear every day, but Indian silver isn’t sterling and the semiprecious stones are of dubious quality. At these prices, though—the most elaborate earrings cost around $25—you’re getting your money’s worth. One note of caution: neither Chitalia nor any of their neighbors sizes rings, nor do American jewelers. The exact combination of metals isn’t always known, which is apparently critical to getting good results, so don’t buy rings unless they fit well enough for you to wear them comfortably.

Once you’re done shopping and have see the sights, exit the market through the hall to your left if you’ve come in on Avenue Road. If it’s a relatively quiet time of day, take a moment to check out the fruit and snack carts. Treats like fresh figs and guavas are often for sale at prices far below those on busier streets. Remember to rinse with bottled water before eating. More likely, though, you’ll be ready to take one of the autos that congregate there to your next stop.

Additional destinations in the neighborhood include Tipu Sultan’s summer palace and Lalbagh gardens, both relatively peaceful.

Ten Minutes Too Late, Part VII

December 24, 2009

The hotel is really not all that close to the airport. It is even bigger and more impersonal than I was able to imagine. The vast foyer is nearly empty of people, or seems so. I wait behind the family, who are taking their time negotiating something with the checkin clerk. As I wait, a group of men, tall and stout with shaven heads, Germans I guess, strut by, on their way out. I wonder idly why they chose to be here. They are on their way to Soi Cowboy. Silom has so many impersonal hotels, all built with men like these in mind. Why strand themselves all the way out here?

A bellhop seems to suddenly tire of my waiting. He takes my papers, addresses the clerk behind the counter, and receives a key. I follow him as he pulls my suitcase down one hall, and then another. Gradually I begin to doubt that I ever left the airport at all, and then to wonder how I will ever get out of this labyrinth without a guide. One dim, carpeted corridor leads to another. I am lost and dizzy when we stop at a door exactly like all the other doors. I tip the porter, and he goes.

Inside, the room is plush. The windows look in on an atrium, so that people in rooms must keep their curtains drawn if they want any privacy. I close mine. Sitting on the footstool, I think that I want some water, and to shower. I think I ought to eat. Instead, I take out my laptop to check my email. There is no message from Cambodia, so they probably don't know where I am. I send another message, not believing it will ever get to them. And then I realize that no one in the world knows where I am.

The idea is oddly liberating, license, somehow, to be someone I'm not. I order room service, and wine. I shower, then lie on the soft bed, drinking and eating and watching the television. I don't flip my laptop open again to try to work or to listen an educational podcast. I revel in being alone in the world, making up my identity as I go along.

•

The next day goes as it should. I wake and pack, then jog down the long maze of corridors to wait for the shuttle bus in the dark. The flight is on time, uneventful. It's only when I stand alone outside Siem Reap airport that my panic returns. For I am alone. There is no taxi queue. Tourists have all been collected by hotel vehicles, locals by their families. No one is waiting for me. After a time, I look for a phone, but what for? All I have is the name of the hotel, and the non-working email address.

Then a tuk-tuk approaches, a three-wheeled, open-sided vehicle built around a lawn mower motor. This is my only chance, but I already doubt that my absurd struggle is over. I know the hotel is a modest one, so it's unlikely that the driver will be able to identify it by the name alone, and that's all I have. I feel that I haven't the stamina to knock on every hotel door in Siem Reap looking for my family, but I may have no choice.

The tuk-tuk pulls up in front of me, and the passenger steps out. It is my darling son, just sixteen years old, but suddenly grown up enough to come to my rescue. He has been coming to the airport to meet every Bangkok flight since the one I should have been on. We hug in Siem Reap airport, on the morning of Christmas Eve.

Read the beginning.

Ten Minutes Too Late, Part VI

December 23, 2009

I love Suvarnabhumi International Airport. It's true! I adore this airport as much as it's possible to like a place. It is clean and orderly, easy to navigate. Staff are polite and helpful. It has shops where people like to shop and food people can enjoy eating. Beyond these practicalities, it's a place full of promise. Arriving, I have always felt joyful. All Bangkok to explore and enjoy — what could be better? But today, I can only repeat the sad marathon I did in India. This baggage claim area is sparkling and insect-free, a sharp contrast to poor dirty dingy Chennai. I wait watchfully by the carousel. I pull my suitcase up as quickly as I can, and run through the building, down long shining halls, down an escalator and up another, to arrive, panting, at the checkin counter. My flight is on Air Bangkok, a no-frills budget brand, chosen for economy. The journey from Bangkok to Siem Reap is short, after all. No need for soft seats, or food. A little empathy might be nice, though I don't expect it. I am informed, brightly and cheerfully, that I have missed my flight by a mere seven minutes, and will have to wait until the next day to fly. Then I am sent to another counter.

I walk slowly. Missed by seven minute. Surely Air India could have done a little better, and shaved seven minutes off a six-hour delay? Or could I have run faster? Couldn't I have avoided this second mass of uncertainty and expense, another day of worrying my family? Tears rise in the back of my throat. I cannot cry here, in the most public of places, in front of hoards of happy tourists. I swallow hard.

The woman at the booking counter accepts my papers and starts to scold me for missing my flight. I have been in Asia long enough to understand this piece of social interaction, and to know how I ought to respond. But today I cannot. The required deflection, the half-apology are not there. The unfairness of delayed flights, the dollars pouring from my never-full pockets, the worry of my still far-away family, the uncertainty that they've received my message, is too much to bear. I try to explain what really happened, knowing the woman behind the counter will not understand, but I am unable to stop myself. She looks at me with disapproval and disbelief, and begins her reproach all over again.

I have no answer. The tears press up and up until they are rolling down my cheeks. Now the woman at the counter regards me with round-eyed horror. So does the woman at the desk to her right, and the man on the other side of her. No one else notices the crazy foreign woman weeping in the airport.

Perhaps Air Bangkok employees are taught a protocol for dealing with distraught passengers, but I doubt it. It is simply that they have failed to stop me from disgracing myself, and now they must mitigate any shame my bad behavior might reflect onto them. Together, they silently decide to get rid of me as quickly as they can. The Air Bangkok woman demands my credit card. The woman next to her announces that I need a hotel room and selects one for me. She goes through the motions of showing me the pictures in her catalog and explaining that it is the best choice, because it is near the airport and has a shuttle that will get me to the airport on time in the morning, and of course she can give me a good discount.

I have never stayed in an airport hotel in any city. In Bangkok, I know some hotels in Chinatown and even in the backpacker district that will cost a fraction of what this room will cost. But there is the expense of the taxis, and with that, the uncertainty of navigating Bangkok traffic well enough to get back here in time. My new flight leaves painfully early in the morning. The calculus of comparing what I would well be able to do on my own with what this woman is offering fails me.

That isn't why I choose to do as she says, though. It is not because I am weak-willed, or cannot do math in my head. I choose the airport hotel, expensive and characterless, because it will not taint my memories of Bangkok. I am assured that I will make my flight. More than that, I am submitting to the impossibility of the situation. The last moment when I truly had a chance to avoid this whole mess was when I pressed the “buy now” button on the SpiceJet web page. Since then, the whole affair has been out of my hands. Let it stay there. There is no need for me to pretend to be responsible for what happens next.

The pain in my stomach subsides a little as I wait for the hotel shuttle bus. I climb in behind an American family. The husband and wife are bickering. She doubts the wisdom of staying at this airport hotel, and would have preferred a place in town. The husband impassively insists that his choice is the better one, but does not elaborate on why. Perhaps he himself is doubtful. Their children, pre-teens, are made querulous by their parents' disagreement, mild as it is, and interject irrelevant little complaints when they can. I endure.

Continued.