SOME ULTIMATE PRACTICAL TIPS AND TRICKS

BARGAINING RULES

Photo credit: Viktoria

Get used to it, once you become more confident it gets easier to bargain. After a few weeks you'll get used to to rikshaw fares and the overall bragaining mentality. However once you're in it, try not to overdo it. Example: we went to the 'Silk of India' fair and had our eyes on a leather purse. The second the guy told us the price we offered him a 40-50 Rs lower price. He just smiled and pointed to the huge sign behind him, saying: "fixed prices, no bargaining". Bummer.

BREAD.

As basic and simple as it may sound, bread is not everywhere to be found. Supermarkets offer a few kind of pre-packed sliced bread along with some rolls but to get the freshly baked 'real' bread, one needs to hit up some foreign shops (e.g.: a French bakery). We were looking for baguette for Mathieu's birthday, it was a rather impossible mission, I must say. Then one day Ben came home with a freshly baked real bread-like bread in his hands. It was a day to remember. We had the same issues with butter, cheese and good coffee. 

(Note: even the bread doesn't escape from being 'masalized', there are several types of masala bread. Yay.)

SO WHAT'S UP WITH ALCOHOL?

As you might know many Indians do not drink alcohol, however, in 'permit rooms' and wine shops it easy to get drinks. There are western-style pubs and also clubs do offer alcoholic beverages. In the case of our housewarming party (which was a wild ride, lasted until 11 pm) we offered both alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks and it turned out some of our friends do drink sometimes.
*Quick note to first-timers: no matter how fancy or posh the bar is, do not forget: NO icecubes fo you.

PREPARE FOR MONSOON!

Photo credit: Viktoria

Before we came our contact send us an information package, letting us know what to bring how to prepare for the trip etc. One thing she mentioned all the time: proper walking shoes because we arrive in the middle of monsoon season. Now in my head I head this rather depressing image of floods and constant rain, I went shopping for those stylish rubber boots and raincoat, thinking I should be well prepaired. Little did I know that it is not like that, after a couple of weeks I was so happy I passed on the rubber boots because of their weight (plane restrictions) and at the end I didn't buy the raincoat either, I just brought a seethrough pocket-poncho with me (the kind they give away on festivals). Sandals worked way better for me in the rain, water comes and goes, no squeaky sounds etc. As for the rain-poncho, I still have it in my bag, but have never used it, no point, humidity was sky-high when we came, we were happy to be able to move around and under the poncho thing I would have been a bowl of a living boiling human-soup. So braving the rain worked the best for us.

CONDOMS?

Now that is a tricky one. What to do if you are in need of condoms in India? Pharmacies and drug stores are your friends, of course, but no matter how open-minded your Indian friends might be, asking for condoms can raise some serious eyebrows among shopkeepers. Firstly, consider the location, more western-friendly neighbourhoods or districts will be more likely not to make a fuss. I heard stories of guys slipping notes to the guy in the pharmacy, in order to avoid awkward moments. Secondly, it might be a good tip to say the brand name e.g.: 'Durex' instead of 'condoms'. Thirdly, if manageable, let the man arrange these things, better for everyone. Girls might get some serious cold shoulder on this one.

MOSQUITOS vs MALARIA

So what is going on with malaria, you might ask? Not much. I mean Pune is a big city, with highways, malls etc. it is not in the middle of the jungle. The most problem we had with mosquitos was I guess still in the guest house of the university, on our first week. The campus is kind of a jungle, so that explains it all, but some mosquito repellent, screens and it's all good. The extremely naive thought of simply not letting mosquitos bite me got crushed the very first night nay first few hours of staying in India. The scary looks on my doctor's face and her words: 'If I were you, I would take some malaria medicine with me, you never know' seems quit funny now, although yes, I do have some medicine with me in the bottom of my luggage, it seems very unlikely that I would need it, though. In case of fever, there are many hospitals we could go to. 

SPICES ARE GOING TO BE YOUR NEW FAMILY

Spices, spices everywhere. Starting with masala chai (spicy milky tea), lime soda (with salt and pepper), masala chips, masala burger, the ever-present chili, the sky is the limit, but there's really no choice, go spicy or go home!

Photo credit: Floor

SOME ADDITIONAL TIPS FOR GIRLS

• Scarves and sunglasses: all time best frieds. Curious looks will follow you wherever you go, but a scarf also comes handy when riding in the rikshaws, to reduce the pollution you breathe in.
  
  
• Beauty products: you can get amazing skincare products (both European and Asian brands) for a ridiculously cheap price. No need to stack up back home of your favourite makeup remover or tonic. Maybe one thing can be tricky: hairdye. No problem to find brown or black colours, some red can also be managed, but if you're in need for blonde dye that can be tough. However the shopkeepers in bigger medical shops will probably offer you the possibility to order the colour you need and then problem solved.
  (Also, fun fact: you will find a lot of "whitening" or "skin-lightening" products.)
  
• Tampons/pads: stop with the nightmares already, again, no need to travel with O.B. multipacks, you can get tampons and pads here too, in many shops. However, it is a good idea to carry some tampons with applicators with you, as you might not get the chance to wash and dry your hands properly everywhere.
  
• Crowd management: that can be tough for first-timers. Me too, I had my share of freaking out, but that is something you need to handle well. People and especially men will look at you, photos will be taken etc. No need to get all cranky about it, confidence and general not-caring-that-much will get you through the awkward feeling, but it is important not to behave in a provoking way.

'SPATIAL' TEA, THE 'LORD OF THE RINGS FORT' AND PALMING

Planning a trip often takes up a lot of one's energy. But this time, I thought I prepared well, we had the number of a driver who moved us around earlier - we knew he had a huge car - and had a local guy talk to him so we avoid misunderstandings due to language barriers. After double, nay, triple-checking everything, what could go wrong, right? Let me make a list.

Let's start with 6 white students sitting on the sidewalk somewhere in Pune on a Sunday morning (and by morning I mean dawn). Yep, that's us, waiting for the driver who was "20 minutes late", meaning he arrived 50 minutes later than planned. That already screwed our plans to visit a cave before going to the coast, to Murud. Then it turned out he only has 4 seats for us instead of the previously triple-checked 6. Smooth.

After a friendly elimination round, worthy to be broadcasted on reality TV (kidding), Floor and Ben sacrificed themselves and stepped down, letting 4 of us go on the road. PEOPLE OF THE NETHERLANDS, BE PROUD, your fellow Dutch mates did good. 

* NOTE TO SELF: Google maps does not count the extremely varying quality of the roads, the #musttakeaphoto moments or the often occurring cow or goat roadblocks on the way when calculating the length of the route. And there goes a few more hours.

2 #musttakeaphoto moments on the way:

Photo credit: Viktoria

Photo credit: Viktoria

But it was totally worth it to see a default super-cheesy Windows screensaver live when we finally got to the coast in Murud:

Photo credit: Viktoria

 ...and to take some poscard-like photos

Photo credit: Viktoria

BREAKING NEWS: everyone, 'planking' is so 2012, Emma invented the way better: 'palming'. To quote the internet: 'haters gonna hate'.

Photo credit: Viktoria

 To be fair, I must add: it is almost impossible to take non-cheesy, less romantic photos when surrounded by this amazing scenery (and when we could borrow Ben's camera... so once again: Dutchies vs rest of the world: 2-0). Check some of them out:

Photo credit: Emma

Photo credit: Emma

Photo credit: Viktoria

Photo credit: Viktoria

Photo credit: Viktoria

After some intense (yet at this point almost scheduled) bargaining session with the office that handles the boats and then again with the captain of the boat (who turned out to be a self-appointed tourguide as well) we reached Murud-Janjira fort, floating majestically on the water.

Photo credit: Viktoria

Photo credit: Viktoria

I must have driven the guys crazy, because while we were climbing the old stairs of the fort I kept reciting scenes of the LOTR and try to convince them (or mostly myself, because they weren't as enthusiastic as me in this question) that some scenes of the movie were definitely shot in the Murud fort. (No, they weren't but they could have been, okay?!)

Photo credit: Emma

Photo credit: Viktoria

So... what is a 'spatial tea' you might ask? Spelling mistakes on the menus are old news, it happens quite often, but this one launched a serious debate, let us know what you think:

• the tea comes in a huge mug in order to have more space, be more comfortable
• the tea comes in a spacesuit or in a scafander
• the tea will look like the space itself
• the tea will be made with milk from the milky way
• the tea was being stirred with a spatula

...sorry for that.

PS: it was just a regular chai. :D

HOWLERS

  The other day after aimlessly wandering around Koreagon Park (one of the most touristic parts of the city), Mathieu and I ended up standing by Pune's biggest river, the Mutha. It was wide and unclean but had a riverbank busy with people hanging the nearby hotels' laundry on long wires. Meanwhile, the rubbish that was lying around us was full of various domestic and not so domestic creatures: pigs, boars, cows, goats, dogs and chickens. As we were watching this bustling cavalcade, strange voices caught our attention. They grew louder and louder as the river carried them from the other side. We could clearly hear some kind of a weird howling sound that was then repeated by a larger group of people. As it went on and on, we started guessing what it all could have been. A religious ritual? A festival? Some kind of a meditation practice? 

  Failing to find any sensible answer, we decided to take courage and ask a passing by stranger. The stranger- who turned out to be a chapati bread supplier for the local hotels- was happy to answer our question: 'It's a training' he explained, 'a class for those, wishing to collect pigeons. The teacher knows how to make special pigeon sounds that attract the birds. After the course, students will be able to call and catch pigeons which they can sell to pet shops afterwards.' Apparently, it's a rather profitable business in India because well- off people like to have their own pigeon in their house. In a country where colourful birds and green parrots are flying around freely, pigeons become the peculiar ones. Knowing this, isn't it time that we in Europe re-evaluated our attitude towards our pigeons and maybe showed a little more appreciation to them?