Aliba
Mood:  happy
Topic: General
Spent the weekend in Aliba(sp) it is a seaside resort about 5 hours from Mumbai. 3 Datamatics engineers went with me. On the way up I saw monkeys by the roadside in a couple of places. The roads and driving are something else. The driver took things as a matter of course, but you have to watch for stray dogs and cattle wandering onto the road. Once we passed a motorcycle rickshaw and a motorcyclist came at us head on. the motorcycle went to the shoulder to avoid a collision. The bigger vehicle rules here. At times it is like a video game as you weave to avoid cows, dogs, motorcycles and people.

In the smaller towns the roads are narrower. I joked that we needed some butter on the sides of the SUV to squeeze thru a very narrow street. Oh and horns here are a way to communicate, not to express anger as they are used many times in the US. So a quick toot is a way for the driver to let another vehicle know that 'hey I am overtaking you on your blindside, don't change lanes.' Or get out of the fast lane, I am overtaking you. This weekends driver was very liberal with the horn. I'll bet we did not drive 10 minutes without the horn sounding at least once. So much for a quiet country drive.

On the way I also saw my first water buffalo and miles and miles of rice patties. Also saw a few poor people with grass huts. The majority of the population seem to have regular housing, but the poor are very lacking. Once at the resort we ate and watched some of the people dance. They played Indian music and also music with a disco beat. It was a family resort so there were not many singles for the Datamatics engineers to dance with. They stayed up until about 1:30am - I told them that I was old and tired, I went to bed shortly after 10, I am not a party animal any more.

At the resort, I noticed a higher percentage of Indians in western dress. I sat on my balcony and watched the people pass by. A boy got to ride on an Indian horse(about the size of a pony in the US), children with ice cream, a young couple collecting their bags to depart.

The next day started with a massage - 22 herbs according the massagist. They start at the belly button and work their way out. Then we went to the ocean. We played some beach volleyball, then went for a swim. I have now swam in the Atlantic, Pacific, and now Indian oceans. We ate before heading to the fort. I tried the mutton, and found it tasty. I remarked to the engineers that my grandmother would sometimes make leg of lamb. They told me that sheep are not very common in India and that mutton is actually goat. It was my first time eating goat - and it actually was not that bad.

The fort was about a quarter mile or so offshore. The town at the shore was a muslim town. I saw burkas, but also western dress - blue jeans. We sailed out on a 30 foot ship. they pushed us off with bamboo poles. Then when we got out far enough to catch the breeze they unfurled a triangular sail. The fort was made in 22 years in the 1500's, it had survived the Mongul invasion without being taken over. There were huge cannons on display. The bigger ones were a series of rings soldered together with lead. The biggest was big enough that a small man could crawl inside. There were 3 muslim and 1 krishna temple inside. A muslim holyman was buried there as well. There was a huge 60 foot well and in its heyday the well was covered with a dome made of pieces of various colored glass.

On the way home we visited a very nice Krishna temple made of marble. It was on top of a hill. Quite a walk up, but the statues with gold decoration were worth it. Sadly they did not permit photographs. We were hungry on the way back and stopped at a McDonalds. They do not serve beef, but only chicken. The fries were very similiar, the big mac was very different. It was had a sauce and lettuce, and of course was made with chicken, it reminded me of some of the Indian food that I had eaten - still it was rather tasty. Also in Mumbai you can find Domino's, Pizza Hut, Subway, Baskin Robbins, and Ruby Tuesdays.

When I got back to the Hotel I talked to Becky on the phone, then lay back in bed while watching TV - I must have dozed off and slept soundly, I awoke the next morning with the TV still on.