Well I`m here at last. The flight was long and got interesting about Bahrain where I found myself in an arab disneyland surrounded by 150 pilgrims from Rajasthan on their way back from Mecca. Lots of rags wound about them, obviously very poor. I found out later that all they could afford to bring home as presents for friends was bottled holy water. Seated next my new Rajasthani friend all of 80 years old, all went well till the hostess dropped a glass of rouge in my lap, resultig in an upgrade to business class, cool for me but horrific for him, annointed for the first time with the demon drink.. Since then I have been reeling from the sensations that are everyday Delhi.
I`ll tell you more as soon as I find a proper cybercafe, equiped with USB access for photos and a keyboard that works and has letters on all the keys.
mercredi 30 janvier 2008
mercredi 23 janvier 2008
J-6
J-6
After many months study in travel books and on line and consultation with my distinctly non-tropical doctor, I have amassed what seems like half of the stock of the 'Pharmacy du Centre' in Plédran, can all this really be necessary, why am I going to a place that requires all this just to stay alive!
Shall I return sounding like Brazilian percussion? At least dear Sarco will be pleased that I am such a good consumer (of pills and sprays).
The tension is palpably mounting, as are piles of things to pack and lists of things to do. My dear W is responding by booking a flight to see her old chums in London, something to do with a 'pole-dancing art exhibition', one can only imagine the mice at play while the cat's away.
samedi 19 janvier 2008
Log blog, Delhi in a week!
My first blog, it is with a certain trepidation that I start to bare my soul (sole?) before the massed ranks of the world's already accomplished bloggers, but here we go......
Saturday morning and the 12 cubic meters, stères, of firewood that I have been cutting in the forest on and off for 2 weeks has all arrived chez nous by small loads. but imagine the chagrin when on my last trip through the trees, loaded with logs, I spy with my finely tuned logger's eye, an orange X
on a tree in the distance. this means that despite my well earned satisfaction at arriving at the end of a load of serious physical work and a somewhat primordial sense of providing for my clan, that it is not yet over. I shouldn't complain since I have already paid for all that has been cut, I have to admit that a 'free' tree is somewhat motivating. So it's back to the woods tomorrow and get it done. For all you tree huggers out there this forest is managed by a professional forestier and we are just cutting specific trees to make more space and light for the others!
The reason for the rush is that at last I can see the light at the end of the tunnel leading to Charles DeGaulle Airport where I will soon be leaving this green and pleasant land (yes, France) for India. I have dreamt for so long of doing this that I can hardly stand this effect of time compressing towards a certain date because I know that after that point , time is just waiting to be used up and will fly by with me hardly noticing. So I am going to try to nail time down by regularly writing this blog for y'all but mainly for my friend and enemy, Time.
I shall be starting with a stay of 5 days in New Delhi (get your maps out now) where I will be attending an expo on organic agriculture and products. The Indian gouvernment has been promoting organic farming as a way of extracting small farmers from the near imposible challenge of competing with big-time industrial agri-buisiness and there is now an enourmous production coming on-line. As yet they have a very small percentage of the world market (less than 2%) but it won't be long before we will be seeing much more from there, watch this space for continuing episodes of this story!
Rajasthan will be my home for the next 10 days with visits to Jaipur, Udaipur (where they have a 'green-leaf rating' for ecolological accomodation) and Bundi, before heading for Goa via Mumbai. If I survive the rigours of the beach and party living (just to wind up my dearest!) I will be heading down the coast to Cochin in the state of Kerala for 2 weeks. Kerala has declared the intention of becoming the first 'organic' state in India by 2010.
From Cochin I will head through Tamil Nadu to Chennai, via Madurai, Pondicherry and Mahabalipuram. So there you go, well I go actually, 6,000 miles by train, bus and legs. You can follow close behind thanks to modren teknologie and I will be posting the best of the snaps I take along the way.
I will be back here very soon if I can stop shaking long enough to tap away on the trusty lap-top.
Saturday morning and the 12 cubic meters, stères, of firewood that I have been cutting in the forest on and off for 2 weeks has all arrived chez nous by small loads. but imagine the chagrin when on my last trip through the trees, loaded with logs, I spy with my finely tuned logger's eye, an orange X
on a tree in the distance. this means that despite my well earned satisfaction at arriving at the end of a load of serious physical work and a somewhat primordial sense of providing for my clan, that it is not yet over. I shouldn't complain since I have already paid for all that has been cut, I have to admit that a 'free' tree is somewhat motivating. So it's back to the woods tomorrow and get it done. For all you tree huggers out there this forest is managed by a professional forestier and we are just cutting specific trees to make more space and light for the others!
The reason for the rush is that at last I can see the light at the end of the tunnel leading to Charles DeGaulle Airport where I will soon be leaving this green and pleasant land (yes, France) for India. I have dreamt for so long of doing this that I can hardly stand this effect of time compressing towards a certain date because I know that after that point , time is just waiting to be used up and will fly by with me hardly noticing. So I am going to try to nail time down by regularly writing this blog for y'all but mainly for my friend and enemy, Time.
I shall be starting with a stay of 5 days in New Delhi (get your maps out now) where I will be attending an expo on organic agriculture and products. The Indian gouvernment has been promoting organic farming as a way of extracting small farmers from the near imposible challenge of competing with big-time industrial agri-buisiness and there is now an enourmous production coming on-line. As yet they have a very small percentage of the world market (less than 2%) but it won't be long before we will be seeing much more from there, watch this space for continuing episodes of this story!
Rajasthan will be my home for the next 10 days with visits to Jaipur, Udaipur (where they have a 'green-leaf rating' for ecolological accomodation) and Bundi, before heading for Goa via Mumbai. If I survive the rigours of the beach and party living (just to wind up my dearest!) I will be heading down the coast to Cochin in the state of Kerala for 2 weeks. Kerala has declared the intention of becoming the first 'organic' state in India by 2010.
From Cochin I will head through Tamil Nadu to Chennai, via Madurai, Pondicherry and Mahabalipuram. So there you go, well I go actually, 6,000 miles by train, bus and legs. You can follow close behind thanks to modren teknologie and I will be posting the best of the snaps I take along the way.
I will be back here very soon if I can stop shaking long enough to tap away on the trusty lap-top.
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