Day 150: Lyon - God, it was good to be back

I still remember trying to book a hotel for Lyon when we were in Goa. All the hotels and b&b's were fully booked. That is why we ended up in a youth hostel in Lyon. Now having arrived in Lyon, we know why - there was a light festival that weekend. The youth hostel (part of HI chain) was keeping a strict catholic tradition of no mixed-gender room, so Katy and I had to sleep in different rooms. Actually it was only our second time sleeping in bunk beds during our six months on the road. The last time was in Xian, China, where we shared a room with two big Brits. The hostel in Lyon was not bad. Good view of the old Lyon. - a UNESCO world heritage. Free wifi and breakfast. But it was noisy during the night with people coming in and going out of the room. One annoying thing was the shower. You press the button, and the water is on for only three seconds.

view of Lyon from our hostel (day and night)

street view of Lyon

We came to Lyon for the traditional bouchon and we were not disappointed. The best one was a small bouchon recommended by a local at the hostel. Its business card and direction are below. The 3-course lunch menu - consisting of chicken liver salad, grilled steak with long beans and chocolate cake - was only 13 euros and it was delicious. At the end of our meal, the gentlemen sitting next to our table offered us some Bourgone (or 'French sake' as he called it). God, it was strong. Not sure if it is a good way to finish the lunch, especially if you have to return to the office.


The old Lyon had the Christmas atmosphere as the lights and Christmas trees were proudly displayed in the shop windows. There was a lively Christmas market south of Plaza Bellcour. People were busy with their Christmas shopping. The prices were, of course, very European. Some items we recognized from China or India were going for ten times more. No sign of a global recession or credit crisis here. :)

Overall, we enjoyed our stay in Paris and Lyon. My rusty French was helpful sometimes. Despite what others may say about the Parisians, we still find them to be friendly and courteous. Off to Rome next.

a Lyonnaise fresco wall we stumbled upon

the wall painting was so real

Day 148: Paris – je t'aime

We flew Qatar Airways from Mumbai to Paris. It was a pleasant flight. Roomy seats with personal entertainment system. The service was also very good. There was a flight attendant from Taiwan. After he found out that we were Taiwanese, he showered us with in-flight souvenirs as we were the second Taiwanese travelers he has met during his career with Qatar.

It was 4 degrees Celsius when we landed in Paris. Katy has never been to anywhere this cold before. Hard to believe that we were swimming in the Arabia ocean just a few days ago. Sunny, 35 degrees Celsius. Nevertheless, we were relieved to have landed because the terrorist incident at Mumbai was still fresh in our minds. When we got to the hotel, Mumbai was all over the French news channels. The number of deaths had doubled from 80 when we left Mumbai to 160 now. Sigh.

happy to touch down in Paris

"too cold" - Katy put on fully winter gear

Seine river

We were so tired because we got about one hour of sleep on the day we left Mumbai. On our first night in Paris, we slept for almost 12 hours straight. For the next three days, we went to the usual tourist spots – Louvre, Eiffel tower, Arc de Triomphe and, of course, Disneyland. Even though I have been to those places in the past, it still felt good to revisit them, especially Louvre. The masterworks were just amazing. This time they changed the Mona Lisa. When I went to Louvre in 2004, it was before The Da Vinci Code. Mona Lisa was hung behind a dark bullet proof glass at a corner. Now the Mona Lisa is at the center of the hall and has a clearer bullet proof glass. There was no more single-line queue. It's simply an open space to cater to the large number of visitors interested in the Mona Lisa (or rather The Da Vinci Code).

the most popular painting at Louvre

look at the crowd waiting to see Mona Lisa
thanks to Dan Brown, the upside down pyramid is gaining business too

a new thing at Louvre - artists can paint along side the real masterworks

Despite the cold weather, Disneyland was a happy place to be if not the happiest. The door opened at 9:30am and we were there at 9:30am sharp. There were so many people and it was still a weekday! Fortunately the wait at most of the rides was not long. I still remember doing the Disneyland Paris case study at IMD. Interesting to be back now knowing some of the facts behind the resort.




Our next stop is Lyon – the gastronomical city of France

Day 144: Mumbai – day of tragedy

We had one day to spend in Mumbai before our flight to Paris. Everything went well – we visited several places and even squeezed in souvenir shopping for our friends in Switzerland. Originally we arranged a taxi service to the airport at 3am on November 27th. At around midnight, our hotel owner knocked on our door with a concerned look, telling us that there had been some terrorist attacks and hostage taking at the Taj Hotel, which is about 1km from where we were.

Since some roads were closed and the police was checking every car going out of Mumbai, the taxi driver would pick us up at 1am in anticipation of delays. We finished packing our bags in 10 minutes, and were looking out the window from our room, which had a view of the Taj Hotel. We could hear the police sirens going off. Several locals were awake and talking on the street below us. At around 12:50am, we heard a very loud bang, like a bomb going off, from the direction of the Taj Hotel.

view from our hotel room (Hotel Lawrence) - Taj Hotel is about 90 degrees to the left

On our way to the airport, the driver took us on the short cuts to avoid the main streets. Still we went through three police road blocks. On our very first road block, the road was completely shut down. Our driver, all gray hair in his late 50's, managed to follow an ambulance in the opposite lane and got us through the road block. While passing through, I saw a car with bullet holes and white chalk lines on the ground. "Two expired. Terrorists." he calmly said without much expression. We arrived at the airport at 2:30am.

road block where two terrorists were gunned down

At the airport, the atmosphere was really tense. There were a lot of travellers and police officers. Only after all the security checks and we were at the boarding gate, we were a bit relieved. Most people, including us, were watching the live TV news feed. The video of the burning Taj Hotel and the images of the injured or the dead were still shocking. Then we knew how serious things had got. The chief of the anti-terror squad had been gunned down. More than 80 people dead. It was hard to believe such tragic event was taking place outside the airport as we were waiting for our flight.

at Mumbai international airport

Now we have landed safely in Paris. It is still unsettling to watch the French TV news coverage about the hostage situation in Mumbai. Having now learned more facts about the terrorist attack, we know how fortunate we were. Earlier in the day of the attack, we were at Victoria Terminus (having just arrived from Goa). In the afternoon, we had a drink at Leopold Cafe and were inside the Taj Hotel. In the evening, we went to Gateway of India for an after-dinner stroll around 9pm. All these places were targeted by the terrorists. The last place was particularly unsettling because apparently the terrorists arrived at Gateway of Inida by a rubber boat at 9pm and launched their attacks. It was around the same time we were there.

Gateway of India

snapshots of the Taj Hotel before the attack

place where we had dinner - about 5 min walk to Gateway of India

Day 142: Agonda – the idyllic village

After three days at Benaulim, we moved further south to Agonda. It took us three bus connections to get to Agonda. All local non-AC buses and very crowded. God, we were so glad when we arrived at Agonda, and ended up spending one week here.

St. Anne's church in Agonda

sunset on Agonda beach

Agonda is a small idyllic village. A simple one-street affair with a stretch of white-sand beach. The local “fish market” consisted of four women with four baskets near the the bus stop. The place where we had most of our meals was a small grocery store. They dished up decent vegetarian and fish thalis. Cows would walk past us when we enjoyed our meals. We tried a few of the more touristy restaurants, but none of them really impressed us.

lunch at the grocery store - it's the last store at the corner, not the middle one

letting cows pass - a daily routine at Agonda

We took the most expensive room at Sweezel Guesthouse (only US$10). We had a private balcony with a view of the Arabia ocean and a large open-air patio space where in the night we would either count the shooting stars or watch movies on our laptop. When we asked for a coconut, the owner would climb up the coconut tree and cut one down. He would wait till we finish the juice and cut out the coconut flesh for us to eat. Nothing can be fresher. And it cost US$0.20.

Sweezel Guesthouse

owner climbing the coconut tree

One of our favorite spot at Agonda was the southern-end of the beach. The water was calm. There was shade under the coconut trees. Local kids would play in the water in the afternoon. Fishermen would prepare the nets for the next day's fishing. Just lying there on the beach and reading Hemingway and Mark Twain. Sigh, God knows how long this can last before mass tourism sets in.

fisherman at the south end of the beach

local kids playing in the water
katy playing with crabs

hole made by crabs - doesn't it look like a coconut tree?

katy had a taste of the Indian sour pickles - very sour indeed

Day 136: Benaulim – a surprise detour

Originally we were going to Agonda, a small fishing village on the coast of Goa. On our sleeper train to Margao (Goa), we met a local (an architect for Levi's) who were going to Benaulim. He knew a good place to stay, right on the beach and quiet. So we changed our plan and went to Benaulim first. When we arrived at the guest house, it was full. For the next two hours, we went searching for a place to rest our tired bodies at 6am. All the places on the beach were either disgusting or charged extortianate amount. Some of them looked more like a refuge camp, rather than a beach resort. Eventually we found a nice one (Lloyd's). It's not on the beach, but within walking distance.

the beach at Benaulim

The beach at Benaulim was not bad, but having spent one month in Bali there is just no comparison. So it's not surprising that we did not go into the water during our three-day stay. We had dinner at two of those bamboo shacks on the beach. They were the most expensive so far – easily double our normal dinner bill. I guess someone had to pay for the ocean view, the white sand and the starry night. Sigh, we miss the food at Manju in Hampi.

a stray dog taking a dip in the Arabian ocean

ever seen cows on the beach? next to bikini girls?

ice cream vendors

We rented a scooter to visit Chandor and Margao. In Chandor, there is an old mansion owned by the Braganza family who used to own lots of crop lands in the colonial days. In 1962, land reform came into effect in India, and they lost their fortune overnight. The tour of the old mansion was interesting – lots of porcelain and vases from China, but a bit rushed. As soon as we paid the “donation”, we were shown the door. No time to admire at the house. Compared to Benaulim, Margao is a big city and naturally has big city problems. Bad traffic. Polluted air. We did not linger around too long. Some of the streets and buildings of Margao reminded us of Melaka in Malaysia. It's not surprising since both were colonized by Portugese in the past.

a building in Margao that looks like something from Melaka

Before we left Benaulim, I got a haircut. My last haircut was in Penang, Malaysia. This time I broke that record again. At Rs 50 (US$1), it was the cheapest haircut I ever got. Since the barber did not speak much English, I told him to “just make it short”. Well, it was short all right, but I liked it. Afterwards, he asked me if I wanted a head massage. “Sure,” I said. There was a lot of oil and head slapping and pounding. Just when I thought it was over, he took out this home-made looking contraption – almost like a sanding machine – and put it on my head. God, it was a strange feeling, but good. The “sanding machine” was followed by more pounding and kneading on my shoulder and back. Whew, I was relieved when it was over. So there you go, my first Indian haircut and head massage.

the Indian head massge

the box for the massager - it's not home-made at all

Day 132: Hampi – we love it here!

Hampi is a very special place. It is full of historical ruins. Some are so grand and beautiful. We spent three days touring the historical ruins, but we have not even discovered half of them yet. There were many tourists, but it did not feel over-developed.

snapshots of the ruins

local river transportation

On our first night, we stayed at Hema. It was clean, but nothing special about it. The food was average, but expensive . Then we stumbled upon a guesthouse called Manju (meaning either “steam bun” in Japanese or one of Shiva's 108 names in Hindu). We really enjoyed our stay. The mud house was basic and clean. According to the owner, it was the original style used by the locals in the old days. At Rs 100, Manju was ¼ the cost of Hema. In addition, the three Nepalese brothers cooked great Indian food. We tried every type of curry on the menu.

the mud house at Manju

One day we found a female dog with five puppies next to our mud house. The mother, Xiao Huang as we nicknamed it, looked starving. We could not believe the speed she devoured the leftover of our dinner. From then on we would purposely leave extra leftover for Xiao Huang three times a day. On the day of our departure, it's as if Xiao Huang could sense that we were leaving for good. She followed us all the way through the rice field. This had never happened before. Along the way, we kept shouting at her to get back to her puppies because the rice field belonged to a male dog. But she just kept following us all the way to the main road. Very touching.

Xiao Huang following us through the rice field

Xiao Huang's puppies

There were so many stray dogs in Hampi. While touring the temple, we saw a very thin puppy – so thin that its rib cage was showing. The next day we brought some curry rice for it. We whistled for the puppy, and seven of them showed up! The puppies were too small to eat the rice, so we bought a bag of milk. On our departure day, we bought four bags of milk. The mother wouldn't drink the milk. Just lying there watching the puppies. When they were done (all bloated), the mother then came and drank the rest of the milk. :(

the mother with seven puppies