The evening of last post we caught the bus to Jailsalmer, an 11 hour overnight bus ride in the sleeper. I'll be honest, I was struggling a little in the bowels, and the thought of the long journey with no bus toilet was a little worrying. But it turns out this was the least of my worries.
My eyes had been stinging a little that day, but I assume it was just the pollution from wandering the markets and visiting the sights all day, so thought nothing of it. However, throughout the bus ride, my eyes became more red and painful and were watering like mad. It was too painful to sleep, so I had to just put up with it the whole journey. It was torture. Photophobia was a huge obstacle.
The bus was at a stop off and I jumped off and asked someone to take me to the nearest toilet (I could barely see) for the light was so bright. We were in the desert. My new friend assured me that the bus would not leave without me and it would still be here when I return. Sure.
After my little toilet visit, predictably, the bus, along with ALL of my belongings had driven off...the chase was on. My friend had a mate waiting for me on the bike, and off we dashed. Somehow, through a vast transport mobile telephone network, my friend had managed to contact the driver to tell him to wait. We caught up the bus, I paid the biker for his kindness and was greeted my my fellow travellers, relief all round.
Add to that little bombshell my eye situation, the lack of sleep, buggy tummy and 45 degree heat, and you may have begin to realise why I titled this post the way I did.
But I can assure you that everything now is absolutely fine. Upon arrival I spoke to Dr. Uday, who spoke to the hospital ENT consultant who prescribed me some anti-inflammatories, antibiotics, eye drops and eye lotion. A day later I'm feeling right as rain. Stomach is improving and the eyes are infinitely better.
I've been incredibly hygienic with the lenses, but it seems not enough. I won't use them again this holiday.
All the best, and don't worry.
4 eyes.
Thursday, 16 July 2009
Wednesday, 8 July 2009
After a very grateful goodbye to Uday and family, I flew to Delhi to meet my buddies, who'd flown out that day. During the conference that weekend, I'd been introduced to a Dr. Ghambir, the Vice Chairman of the Indian Medical Assiciation (IMA), who had sorted us out with some cracking accommodation in Delhi at the IMA guest house. Georgie, Tom, Neil and Rosie arrived first and settled in, before heading out for some grub at Connaught Place, a nearby street full of restaurants, where I met them (after my 3 hour trip through the chaotic delhi night time traffic). Full of smiles, we had our first meal together and I presented them all with a hand spun hank (which I'd bought in Bapu Kuti, Gandhi's home), a symbol of the simple way of life ghandi had led, and taught. Much appreciated in the 40 degree heat! (I forgot to buy myself one...)
That night, as lads do, we did a lad workout and lifted some lad suitcases and beds. I clumsily pushed a bed into the aircon socket, tripping the fuse and knocking out all plugs in the room...all at about 1 in the morning with no help around! The 3-way lad team did more lad fusebox trickery to resume the lad workout. A cool, peaceful nights sleep under my bednet.
Our day in delhi was spent in the searing heat chaking out the gigantic and impressive red fort. Georgie got sunstroke while George and Tom played like little kids in the sprinklers. Restaurant closed, no cold pepsi for the tourists. Post-fort we ventured into town to check out the bazaars. Bizarrely, all the shops were pretty much identical, selling tacky watches, cheap batteries (our speaker system lasts 2 songs on a set of eight...) and electrified-tennis raquet mosquito swats (had to buy). Our bartering was pretty awful at this point.
Our journey back was on the metro, which was very impressive! Very clean, spacious, cool and fast. London: take note. One journey was 9 rupees: 12 pence. The morning after we hopped on the train to Agra, the home of the Taj Mahal. Our hostel in Agra has views over the Taj Mahal: absolutely beautiful. I got out the tripod and had a little play with the camera in the dusk. Some great shots of the Taj. Although, this was the tip of the iceberg, the next day we had a look around it.
We were too late to have an aircon room, so we were absolutely baking in the 40 degree night time heat, and had abotu 2 hours sleep max. The other didn't get any...but if anything is going to wake you up, a visit to the Taj Mahal is definitely high on the list.
Described as a "teardrop on the face of eternity" the taj is 100m square, perfectly symmetrical, 81m tall, surrounded by 53 fountains and 16 gardens made of 100% non-porous indian white marble. Tom, Neil and I decided to get a guide: great decision. Although there were rumours of a "guide strike" (!!!) that day...
Although cloudy and raining, it was still a marvellous spectacle. Shah Jahan employed 80000 tradesmen of different skills to build the Taj, a morsoleum for his third wife, who died after giving birth to their 14th child (not giving birth to 14 children, which our guide lost in translation).
That evening we hopped on a train to Jaipur, much easier said than done. We've caught 3 trains so far, each one almost failed in 3 completely different ways.
That evening, we walked up to the monkey temple, a hindu temple high up on a hilltop overlooking Jaipur. Althught it was a pretty standard, yet breathtaking cityscape, some long exposure tripod photography produced some wonderful stars and light trails overlooking the city.
As always, Tom, Neil and I shared a double bed and Georgie and Rosie shared one too. Again, as always, we went out for a delicious dinner of ever increasingly spicy food (as our confidence (continence) gathers strength...). I am being as adventurous as possible with my order, generally getting something I haven't heard of (as if I have a choice...). Current favourites are "jungli roti", "lassi" and "rasgulla". We're compiling a little list of the foods so we can refer back later (Georgie's idea...very organised...keeps us all on our toes!). Getting a little tired of 2 curries everyday; fortunately italian and chinese are readily available. I've seen Chinese spelt incorrectly as Chinies and Chines...this list is growing I'm sure.
The next morning I led the gang on the lonely planet's walking tour of Jaipur. I'd had a great experience of these guides in australia (other blog) but the timings in this tour were a little optimistic! Perhaps a speed of 3kmh in the 45 degree heat was optimistic, especially considering the walk was primarily through market and we were with two shopaholics (guess who?)...
The tour ended at the observatory, which Neil and I (geeks) were keen to explore. It was an array of astronomical sculptures used for celestial calculations. The highlight was a 27m high sun dial. The shadow's tip moves at 4m per hour! (we went at midday...very little movement).
Us boys decided to try out a spot of golf afterwards, caddy and everything, all the trimmings. We arrived, and were quickly shot down by the apparent dress code, high price and grumpy club captain. We made the most of a bad situation and headed to the spectacular Prince Albert Museum, all of us shackled together by a 3-way split audio guide. As we shuffled around the building, we learned of numberous Hindu stories, each with their own fascinating moral, each with brilliant paintings/carvings. Nearly fainted due to heat, we were fan-hopping.
Met the girls back at the ranch and had another brilliant dinner. But hotter. I ordered Buddha delight ( a chyknees dishwith) Fire on Ice (a flourescent salt-sweet fizzy drink that "burns your throat as it soothes your mind". yummmm.)
Went for a failed, slightly scary venture in the dark pursued by a creepy schizophrenic towards a beautiful lake view (which we never found), before heading back to rest at the station to wait for our 12:30 overnight train to Udaiphur. Train arrived at 2am. Very little sleep on the train.
Arrived today in Udaipur and had naps all morning. Decided to take today pretty slow. Just been planning our trip, playing some didgeridoo (the owner is obsessed!), shooting some pool and bloggy blogging. Udaipur is the site of the filming of the famous scene in Octopussy of the Lake Palace. Dry season, so lake dried up. Less idyllic.
Slow internet so no photos, my apologies. You'll have to get your fix another time! All the best.
That night, as lads do, we did a lad workout and lifted some lad suitcases and beds. I clumsily pushed a bed into the aircon socket, tripping the fuse and knocking out all plugs in the room...all at about 1 in the morning with no help around! The 3-way lad team did more lad fusebox trickery to resume the lad workout. A cool, peaceful nights sleep under my bednet.
Our day in delhi was spent in the searing heat chaking out the gigantic and impressive red fort. Georgie got sunstroke while George and Tom played like little kids in the sprinklers. Restaurant closed, no cold pepsi for the tourists. Post-fort we ventured into town to check out the bazaars. Bizarrely, all the shops were pretty much identical, selling tacky watches, cheap batteries (our speaker system lasts 2 songs on a set of eight...) and electrified-tennis raquet mosquito swats (had to buy). Our bartering was pretty awful at this point.
Our journey back was on the metro, which was very impressive! Very clean, spacious, cool and fast. London: take note. One journey was 9 rupees: 12 pence. The morning after we hopped on the train to Agra, the home of the Taj Mahal. Our hostel in Agra has views over the Taj Mahal: absolutely beautiful. I got out the tripod and had a little play with the camera in the dusk. Some great shots of the Taj. Although, this was the tip of the iceberg, the next day we had a look around it.
We were too late to have an aircon room, so we were absolutely baking in the 40 degree night time heat, and had abotu 2 hours sleep max. The other didn't get any...but if anything is going to wake you up, a visit to the Taj Mahal is definitely high on the list.
Described as a "teardrop on the face of eternity" the taj is 100m square, perfectly symmetrical, 81m tall, surrounded by 53 fountains and 16 gardens made of 100% non-porous indian white marble. Tom, Neil and I decided to get a guide: great decision. Although there were rumours of a "guide strike" (!!!) that day...
Although cloudy and raining, it was still a marvellous spectacle. Shah Jahan employed 80000 tradesmen of different skills to build the Taj, a morsoleum for his third wife, who died after giving birth to their 14th child (not giving birth to 14 children, which our guide lost in translation).
That evening we hopped on a train to Jaipur, much easier said than done. We've caught 3 trains so far, each one almost failed in 3 completely different ways.
That evening, we walked up to the monkey temple, a hindu temple high up on a hilltop overlooking Jaipur. Althught it was a pretty standard, yet breathtaking cityscape, some long exposure tripod photography produced some wonderful stars and light trails overlooking the city.
As always, Tom, Neil and I shared a double bed and Georgie and Rosie shared one too. Again, as always, we went out for a delicious dinner of ever increasingly spicy food (as our confidence (continence) gathers strength...). I am being as adventurous as possible with my order, generally getting something I haven't heard of (as if I have a choice...). Current favourites are "jungli roti", "lassi" and "rasgulla". We're compiling a little list of the foods so we can refer back later (Georgie's idea...very organised...keeps us all on our toes!). Getting a little tired of 2 curries everyday; fortunately italian and chinese are readily available. I've seen Chinese spelt incorrectly as Chinies and Chines...this list is growing I'm sure.
The next morning I led the gang on the lonely planet's walking tour of Jaipur. I'd had a great experience of these guides in australia (other blog) but the timings in this tour were a little optimistic! Perhaps a speed of 3kmh in the 45 degree heat was optimistic, especially considering the walk was primarily through market and we were with two shopaholics (guess who?)...
The tour ended at the observatory, which Neil and I (geeks) were keen to explore. It was an array of astronomical sculptures used for celestial calculations. The highlight was a 27m high sun dial. The shadow's tip moves at 4m per hour! (we went at midday...very little movement).
Us boys decided to try out a spot of golf afterwards, caddy and everything, all the trimmings. We arrived, and were quickly shot down by the apparent dress code, high price and grumpy club captain. We made the most of a bad situation and headed to the spectacular Prince Albert Museum, all of us shackled together by a 3-way split audio guide. As we shuffled around the building, we learned of numberous Hindu stories, each with their own fascinating moral, each with brilliant paintings/carvings. Nearly fainted due to heat, we were fan-hopping.
Met the girls back at the ranch and had another brilliant dinner. But hotter. I ordered Buddha delight ( a chyknees dishwith) Fire on Ice (a flourescent salt-sweet fizzy drink that "burns your throat as it soothes your mind". yummmm.)
Went for a failed, slightly scary venture in the dark pursued by a creepy schizophrenic towards a beautiful lake view (which we never found), before heading back to rest at the station to wait for our 12:30 overnight train to Udaiphur. Train arrived at 2am. Very little sleep on the train.
Arrived today in Udaipur and had naps all morning. Decided to take today pretty slow. Just been planning our trip, playing some didgeridoo (the owner is obsessed!), shooting some pool and bloggy blogging. Udaipur is the site of the filming of the famous scene in Octopussy of the Lake Palace. Dry season, so lake dried up. Less idyllic.
Slow internet so no photos, my apologies. You'll have to get your fix another time! All the best.
Sunday, 5 July 2009
The end of the beginning!
Here is the retro gym at MGIMS...
So I visited Mahatma Gandhi's rural home, "Bapu Kuti", with Akshay. It was his idea, primarily so he could have the afternoon out of the wards! The whole place was representative of Gandhi's famously simple way of life; mud floors and walls, large open spaces for prayers, sparse furniture and few amenities. Profound statements galore!
We saw a ghost of Ghandi himself...
Afterwards we went for a cheapy bite to eat, cross legged, bare foot!
Unfortunately herbal coffee was just normal coffee, shame.
An interesting afternoon's discussion about Indian politics of the 19th and 20th century too. Then back to the wards.
The week ended pretty uneventfully. The days were fascinating, in the wards from morning til night, the odd hour in the library reading textbooks and the Times of India. Heaven! Evenings spent in the gym, eating dinner and watching movies with Akshay. Great times!
So come Saturday morning it was time to leave. Dr. Uday had arranged for me to attend a conference on Adolescent Pediatrics. I was introduced to a crowd to 400 or so screaming Indian children, and gave a little speech myself, talking the usual rubbish! I sat in on lectures about immunisation, HIV, premarital sex, cervical cancer, life skills and loads of other medical related topics. Pretty interesting.
Although the best part was meeting lots of new people. Dr. Uday introduced me to many many doctors from all over India, who were very kind, obliging and all gave me their cards! Here's the conference lecture hall.
So the two day conference ended yesterday (Sunday) afternoon, and I really wanted to see the famous new Bollywood movie "New York" which was, of course, in Hindi! I bought loads of popcorn and coke and we devoured that over the next couple of hours. It was the sweetest, most delicious popcorn I've ever eaten! I understood the film surprisingly well. It was interesting how much you can understand from expressions, and standard movie plots/techniques! There was some English, but irritatingly it was usually unimportant phrases irrelevant to the plot. Needless to say, Amol and Uday were on hand to translate for me.
After the cinema, we drove to Dominos, bought a huge meaty pizza and sat watching the Wimbledon final with a nice glass of scotch. The perfect end to a brilliant day! Not very Indian though...
This is a picture taken from the steps to the mall, down a busy street in Nagpur.
This morning I hit the local gym with Dr. Uday. The weights were a little light, but not too big a problem. The owners kept taking pictures of me lifting weights (presumably for some kind of mens health magazine...) asking me to hold steady. Easier said than done with 70lbs on the biceps!
So the plan for this afternoon is to have a look around some local hospitals, see the outpatients department at Uday's clinic and then have a game of snooker! Tomorrow, I'll be flying to Delhi to meet up with my chums from university. Very exciting indeed!
So this is nearly the end of a truly wonderful two weeks' solo travel. I'm now ready to go travelling up in the North, all our plans are pretty much made so now we just go and enjoy ourselves!
So I visited Mahatma Gandhi's rural home, "Bapu Kuti", with Akshay. It was his idea, primarily so he could have the afternoon out of the wards! The whole place was representative of Gandhi's famously simple way of life; mud floors and walls, large open spaces for prayers, sparse furniture and few amenities. Profound statements galore!
We saw a ghost of Ghandi himself...
Afterwards we went for a cheapy bite to eat, cross legged, bare foot!
Unfortunately herbal coffee was just normal coffee, shame.
An interesting afternoon's discussion about Indian politics of the 19th and 20th century too. Then back to the wards.
The week ended pretty uneventfully. The days were fascinating, in the wards from morning til night, the odd hour in the library reading textbooks and the Times of India. Heaven! Evenings spent in the gym, eating dinner and watching movies with Akshay. Great times!
So come Saturday morning it was time to leave. Dr. Uday had arranged for me to attend a conference on Adolescent Pediatrics. I was introduced to a crowd to 400 or so screaming Indian children, and gave a little speech myself, talking the usual rubbish! I sat in on lectures about immunisation, HIV, premarital sex, cervical cancer, life skills and loads of other medical related topics. Pretty interesting.
Although the best part was meeting lots of new people. Dr. Uday introduced me to many many doctors from all over India, who were very kind, obliging and all gave me their cards! Here's the conference lecture hall.
So the two day conference ended yesterday (Sunday) afternoon, and I really wanted to see the famous new Bollywood movie "New York" which was, of course, in Hindi! I bought loads of popcorn and coke and we devoured that over the next couple of hours. It was the sweetest, most delicious popcorn I've ever eaten! I understood the film surprisingly well. It was interesting how much you can understand from expressions, and standard movie plots/techniques! There was some English, but irritatingly it was usually unimportant phrases irrelevant to the plot. Needless to say, Amol and Uday were on hand to translate for me.
After the cinema, we drove to Dominos, bought a huge meaty pizza and sat watching the Wimbledon final with a nice glass of scotch. The perfect end to a brilliant day! Not very Indian though...
This is a picture taken from the steps to the mall, down a busy street in Nagpur.
This morning I hit the local gym with Dr. Uday. The weights were a little light, but not too big a problem. The owners kept taking pictures of me lifting weights (presumably for some kind of mens health magazine...) asking me to hold steady. Easier said than done with 70lbs on the biceps!
So the plan for this afternoon is to have a look around some local hospitals, see the outpatients department at Uday's clinic and then have a game of snooker! Tomorrow, I'll be flying to Delhi to meet up with my chums from university. Very exciting indeed!
So this is nearly the end of a truly wonderful two weeks' solo travel. I'm now ready to go travelling up in the North, all our plans are pretty much made so now we just go and enjoy ourselves!
Wednesday, 1 July 2009
The couple of days since my last post consisted mainly of a few hours on the ward, a couple of hours in the library (doctors give me homework!) and couple of hours in the gym. The rest spent sleeping and eating. Pretty chilled, but this was the rural home of the late great Mahatma Ghandi after all!
An intern at the Paediatrics department, Akshay, has been very kind to me during my stay here. He's been driving me from the boys hostel, where I'm staying, to the wards and back on his car/motorbike each day, and also given me help and advice around the ward.
The food in the mess here was OK at first, but 4 days in I realise it's pretty samey and substandard. The nearby town of Wordha has a nice hotel where I went for dinner last night, and food is so cheap (2 courses, 3 people,8 pounds total), why not?
I mentioned that this was the home of Ghandi, and the region lives by his principles of vegetarian food, no smoking and no drinking. This wasn't an issue for me, as I pretty much live like this anyway...but I can imagine living here to be a different matter, and these are medical students we're talking about...last night I found out how they cope with it. Hilarious underground racket smuggling tins of VSL (very strong lager) into the city. I could barely contain myself, it was utterly hilarious.
Of course I didn't actually get any VSL. No. Definitely not. This would've been entirely illegal (yes, actually an offence).
In other news, along with the rest of India, I'm very excited about the ashes which starts next week. Others seem less fussed than I do about (too early?) the total solar ecliple, which is best viewed from anywhere within this band of North India. I really hope we can still be in this area on 22nd July!
More later about my visit to Mohatma Ghandi's house...
An intern at the Paediatrics department, Akshay, has been very kind to me during my stay here. He's been driving me from the boys hostel, where I'm staying, to the wards and back on his car/motorbike each day, and also given me help and advice around the ward.
The food in the mess here was OK at first, but 4 days in I realise it's pretty samey and substandard. The nearby town of Wordha has a nice hotel where I went for dinner last night, and food is so cheap (2 courses, 3 people,8 pounds total), why not?
I mentioned that this was the home of Ghandi, and the region lives by his principles of vegetarian food, no smoking and no drinking. This wasn't an issue for me, as I pretty much live like this anyway...but I can imagine living here to be a different matter, and these are medical students we're talking about...last night I found out how they cope with it. Hilarious underground racket smuggling tins of VSL (very strong lager) into the city. I could barely contain myself, it was utterly hilarious.
Of course I didn't actually get any VSL. No. Definitely not. This would've been entirely illegal (yes, actually an offence).
In other news, along with the rest of India, I'm very excited about the ashes which starts next week. Others seem less fussed than I do about (too early?) the total solar ecliple, which is best viewed from anywhere within this band of North India. I really hope we can still be in this area on 22nd July!
More later about my visit to Mohatma Ghandi's house...
Monday, 29 June 2009
Doing the rounds
Today was my first day in the pediatric ward at MGIMS. Indeed, the first quality time I've spent on any ward. After two years at medical school, the medical staff here find that a little shocking as their medical education was highly integrated with theory and practical from very early on in the MBBS programme.
The highlight of this morning was observing the pediatric out patients, that is, the new patients arriving at the pediatric department after being referred there from the general outpatients department as non-emergency. There were all sorts of different cases, such as cerebral palsy, epilepsy and a simple upper respiratory tract infection. My studies to date were very helpful indeed. I could apply my theory to the symptoms and treatment of these patients. My first time in this sort of setting was fascinating.
It is a little difficult, however, because the hospital is terribly understaffed (over subscribed), and also the consultations are not in English. So if I am to get any sense out of the consultation I must wait until afterwards, at which point there is little time to discuss because everyone is in a real rush. They did find time for me however, I just had to be alert and ready with the questions I needed answering. The questions were usually general, along the lines of "What just happened? What's wrong with that child? Can you help me understand the general goings-on around me? Where am I? etc."
The highlight: Patient with congenital posterior urethral valves. A 12 year old boy (looked about 6) with short stature, secondary renal failure, hugely distended bladder, knock knees and hypercalcaemia.
The highlight of this morning was observing the pediatric out patients, that is, the new patients arriving at the pediatric department after being referred there from the general outpatients department as non-emergency. There were all sorts of different cases, such as cerebral palsy, epilepsy and a simple upper respiratory tract infection. My studies to date were very helpful indeed. I could apply my theory to the symptoms and treatment of these patients. My first time in this sort of setting was fascinating.
It is a little difficult, however, because the hospital is terribly understaffed (over subscribed), and also the consultations are not in English. So if I am to get any sense out of the consultation I must wait until afterwards, at which point there is little time to discuss because everyone is in a real rush. They did find time for me however, I just had to be alert and ready with the questions I needed answering. The questions were usually general, along the lines of "What just happened? What's wrong with that child? Can you help me understand the general goings-on around me? Where am I? etc."
The highlight: Patient with congenital posterior urethral valves. A 12 year old boy (looked about 6) with short stature, secondary renal failure, hugely distended bladder, knock knees and hypercalcaemia.
Saturday, 27 June 2009
Early Days
The travel blog continues...
I'll be in India for 6 weeks, the first 2 weeks I'll be own, and then the last four will be with 4 friends from Medical School. The first fortnight has been very kindly organised by a good family friend and paediatrician, Dr. Uday Bodhankar. Onwards...
I boarded the plane pretty chirpy after choosing the best seat on the airplane, but left it feeling pretty down after British Airways were unusually unwilling to provide me with my fourth bottle of complementary wine. To my plight, however, the air steward gave in and I merrily continued my way towards some serious jetlag.
Kazi, one of Uday's friends met me at the airport and took me to my accommodation through the absolutely chaotic Mumbai streets. He met me with this brilliant little sign.
I noticed in Uday's office today a sign which read: "Tell your age not in years but in number of friends". OK, it was a little more poetic in print, but you get the idea. Uday has a lot of friends, and deservedly so.
The next morning I was met by another of Uday's friends, Dr. Ramesh who had kindly agreed to show me round Mumbai. I'd checked out the guide book and it turns out my original plans for the day would take 3 days...which wasn't surprising seeing as it took us 3 hours just to drive from north Mumbai (where I stayed) to south Mumbai.
First stop: The Gateway of India.
Just in front of the Gateway is the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel. This was where the
Pakistani terrorists attacked last year. Stunningly beautiful.
Mumbai lies on the shores of the Arabian Sea, and between North and South Mumbai lies Back Bay, which is often referred to as Queens Necklace for the way the sun glistens on the water. This seems a little complimentary considering the water is toxic and there is litter everywhere. I guess it was like that back in colonial times. The only glistening now is from aluminium cans and crisp packets. "Back in my day rarr rarrr rarrrr".
So after a look around the Prince Charles Museum and the spectacular Victoria Terminus we set off for home, stopping off at Chowpatty Beach for some bhelpuri (friend dough with puffed rice, lemon juice, herbs, onions lentils and chutney) and some coconut water, straight from the coconut! Lush.
The next day Uday had invited me to a UNICEF WHO paediatrics conference on child malnutrition, where he would be presenting. It was quite specialist, but interesting nonetheless. I was also lucky enough to meet the two doctors that I would be seeing in Nagpur later on.
Come Saturday, it was my time to fly to Nagpur. I chilled out in the morning and my flight was in the domestic terminal, 5 minutes walk from my accommodation. While boarding the plane, I had assumed it was not reserved seating so wandered along the aisle and chose a suitable aisle seat mid way down, seat 19C. After a while, I glanced down at my ticket, which read Seat: 19C. This freaked me out, for a long time. The chances are remarkably slim!
Unfortunately complementary beverages were sparse on this budget airline. Little did I know baggage handling did not come as standard either. I arrived safely and my bag did not. After a little form filling, they assured me that my bag would be with me by evening, which fortunately it was. Two Indigo Airline workers arrived with my 23kg bag, completely soaked to the bone after coming 10km by motorcycle in the monsoon rain to the house where I was staying.
Upon arrival at the airport, Amol, Uday's nephew met me. He asked what I was wearing, so as to recognise me easily. In retrospect, my exclamation of "white shirt" might have been better termed "white skin".
An eventless evening saw me through to today, Sunday, when Amol kindly accompanied me by car to the Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences, where I will spend the next week. It is a unique medical school, right out in rural Maharashtra, and one of the best in India. I'll be spending the week in the paediatrics department, observing patients and generally making a nuisance. My accommodation is a very basic, student residence. Drop toilets and the shower is just a high tap. A hilariously retro gym, which i'll be making good use of, and food provided.
This should be an exciting week! More later!
I'll be in India for 6 weeks, the first 2 weeks I'll be own, and then the last four will be with 4 friends from Medical School. The first fortnight has been very kindly organised by a good family friend and paediatrician, Dr. Uday Bodhankar. Onwards...
I boarded the plane pretty chirpy after choosing the best seat on the airplane, but left it feeling pretty down after British Airways were unusually unwilling to provide me with my fourth bottle of complementary wine. To my plight, however, the air steward gave in and I merrily continued my way towards some serious jetlag.
Kazi, one of Uday's friends met me at the airport and took me to my accommodation through the absolutely chaotic Mumbai streets. He met me with this brilliant little sign.
I noticed in Uday's office today a sign which read: "Tell your age not in years but in number of friends". OK, it was a little more poetic in print, but you get the idea. Uday has a lot of friends, and deservedly so.
The next morning I was met by another of Uday's friends, Dr. Ramesh who had kindly agreed to show me round Mumbai. I'd checked out the guide book and it turns out my original plans for the day would take 3 days...which wasn't surprising seeing as it took us 3 hours just to drive from north Mumbai (where I stayed) to south Mumbai.
First stop: The Gateway of India.
Just in front of the Gateway is the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel. This was where the
Pakistani terrorists attacked last year. Stunningly beautiful.
Mumbai lies on the shores of the Arabian Sea, and between North and South Mumbai lies Back Bay, which is often referred to as Queens Necklace for the way the sun glistens on the water. This seems a little complimentary considering the water is toxic and there is litter everywhere. I guess it was like that back in colonial times. The only glistening now is from aluminium cans and crisp packets. "Back in my day rarr rarrr rarrrr".
So after a look around the Prince Charles Museum and the spectacular Victoria Terminus we set off for home, stopping off at Chowpatty Beach for some bhelpuri (friend dough with puffed rice, lemon juice, herbs, onions lentils and chutney) and some coconut water, straight from the coconut! Lush.
The next day Uday had invited me to a UNICEF WHO paediatrics conference on child malnutrition, where he would be presenting. It was quite specialist, but interesting nonetheless. I was also lucky enough to meet the two doctors that I would be seeing in Nagpur later on.
Come Saturday, it was my time to fly to Nagpur. I chilled out in the morning and my flight was in the domestic terminal, 5 minutes walk from my accommodation. While boarding the plane, I had assumed it was not reserved seating so wandered along the aisle and chose a suitable aisle seat mid way down, seat 19C. After a while, I glanced down at my ticket, which read Seat: 19C. This freaked me out, for a long time. The chances are remarkably slim!
Unfortunately complementary beverages were sparse on this budget airline. Little did I know baggage handling did not come as standard either. I arrived safely and my bag did not. After a little form filling, they assured me that my bag would be with me by evening, which fortunately it was. Two Indigo Airline workers arrived with my 23kg bag, completely soaked to the bone after coming 10km by motorcycle in the monsoon rain to the house where I was staying.
Upon arrival at the airport, Amol, Uday's nephew met me. He asked what I was wearing, so as to recognise me easily. In retrospect, my exclamation of "white shirt" might have been better termed "white skin".
An eventless evening saw me through to today, Sunday, when Amol kindly accompanied me by car to the Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences, where I will spend the next week. It is a unique medical school, right out in rural Maharashtra, and one of the best in India. I'll be spending the week in the paediatrics department, observing patients and generally making a nuisance. My accommodation is a very basic, student residence. Drop toilets and the shower is just a high tap. A hilariously retro gym, which i'll be making good use of, and food provided.
This should be an exciting week! More later!
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