BATTLE AGAINST THE HIPPY SCUM

BATTLE AGAINST THE HIPPY SCUM

So last night, I talk to the lady right across the hall. Could she please play the sitar more quietly after 10PM? She becomes very offended and tells me this is why she came to India - indeed this very guest house.

I told her it wasn't why I was here.

She said she might have to move then.

I gave her the 'I don't care where you live if I don't have to hear loud sitar music after 10PM from the room right across the hallway' look.

I figured that would be the end of it.

This morning, I am threatened with physical violence from an angry and possibly French hippy due to the girl needing to move. I asked "Are you threatening me with violence?"

He said "Yes, it is India - what are you going to do?"

Well, I am a bit old and fat to want to engage in this sort of thing. I went and had a chat with the hotel management. Although the adrenilin is going, I am keeping very calm and respectful. I'm doubting that the management is going to put up with guests physically assaulting each other.

The main thing I'm worried about with an altercation isn't the beating but getting my glasses broken. I just don't want to try to find a place in India to get new ones and such. We'll see how it goes.

Flower power is out, violence is in. I guess it's the new hippy ideal.

Well, I discussed the situation with the owner of Kedar Guest House. He assured me that he'd take care of it. Apparently, they are just moving the girl to a different room. Having friends who show up threatening bodily harm isn't enough to get ejected from the guest house.

Only in India.

More as news becomes available.



NEPAL

Right now, three factors are helping to propel me toward Nepal.

1. Situation at Kedar Guest House. If that doesn't rear it's ugly head again after a couple days it will no longer be an issue.

2. It is now hot enough (mid March) that I'm beginning to again take siestas in the middle of the day. And the sweating has started up. I don't mind sweating but unlike the average Joe (or Jane) I am not stuck in one place. If it gets uncomfortable (or if I am beset by hippie scum) I can move.

3. Urge to explore Nepal for Matt.

I've only talked to one lady at the Festive Villa Restaurant. According to her, I can either do the ride to another place, stay over night, ride on to a different place (none of which are interesting) in order to end up at the Nepal border by train OR I can take what she calls a 'fancy bus' there for 1000 RS. That's $20 USD.

Given that the train and such will end up costing the same - perhaps more in the long run - I'm thinking about the 'fancy bus'. My next step is to go around pricing places.

Those who have read the blog's previous entries know that if you buy a bus ticket to the destination, you aren't assured of anything except getting there. If they tell you it is an ultra modern double decker bus with a bathroom it doesn't mean anything when you show up and find the usual rusty metal rectangle with wheels and no bathroom - or shocks. What are you going to do? You have zero recourse. You don't speak the language and if you miss your bus, hey your ticket just expired. It's trash now. There is no 'Better Business Bureau' in India. Here it's more of a case of 'caveat emptor'. With the buyer often getting screwed.

But according to the nice lady at the restaurant, the bus leaves at 8:30 AM (I can catch it from the restaurant) and arrives at 4:30 PM. This means that it will probably arrive actually on or around sundown.



JUICE IN INDIA

Average cost, 80-90 RS for 1 liter. Usually the kind that is say 25% 'real fruit juice' from concentrate.

In India, they have a lot of different flavors Americans aren't usually presented with. The favorite fruit in India is mango. I'm not a fan but if you are, you can find it pretty much everywhere. They have all of the usual flavors - apple, grape, tomato, mixed fruit, cranberry, orange, pineapple, peach and mango - as well as some new ones. guava, pomegranate and litchi. I've tried these new flavors. It is always smart to try everything - perhaps you will find your new favorite flavor. I didn't. They all taste like ass to me. But the trying is important.

Sometimes, you unwittingly purchase juice that has 'real' fruit in it. The fruit may have been altered to taste like what you're drinking but it once was 'real' fruit. I know that because fake fruit is still more expensive. I'm not a fan of mixing my eating and drinking in this fashion but many people are. I find it frustrating when several pieces of pineapple flavored oranges get stuck in the straw or drinking hole of the container and that spells the end of your drinking. But for those who haven't had it yet, it's an experience.



INDIA QUOTE OF THE DAY

"Sacred cows make the best hamburger." - Mark Twain



CASE HISTORIES

I'm currently trying to watch 'Case Histories'. It looks as though they only made one season of it - six episodes. The problem I'm having is that it moves at a glacial pace. I'm going to try watching the second episode only because I like the main actor Jason Isaacs. If it hasn't sped up or taken some interesting twists by the end of that, the big delete button.