Sunday, December 18, 2011

India Update No. 3

After a swim at the beach this morning, I'm feeling a little more on top of things here. As a developing country, there are still so many things that remain below Australian par. Unfortunately, I think this has played out in the quality of a flash drive I recently purchased. It appears that I have lost over 12 GB of photos from the trip. There were quite a few amongst them which I really liked. That has put a bit of a sour spin on the photography side of the trip. As we are close to the end, it seems I won't have many photos to show after all.

On a more positive note, Alleppey is a lovely place to stay. It is a much smaller town than Kochin or Chennai. The beach is much cleaner than Chennai and more sandy than Pondicherry. The fruit is great and the people seem pretty nice. The plan for today includes boating on the backwaters and taking a bus to Thiruvilla.

I hope to retrieve as many photos as possible from the apparently corrupt flash drive. If I do so (probably in a completely random order), I shall put some up on here. 

Saturday, December 10, 2011

India Update No. 2

Back in Chennai again for Natalie and Paul's reception...

A couple of addendums to the previous post.

1. I have seen clouds in Chennai. The sky seemed to clear up a bit after the rains.

2. Kodaikanal is, according to one report (poignantly by a guy named Exodus), is 75% Christian.

When I have a bit more time, I shall bring a bit more detailed update in.

Got a couple of great sunrise shots this morning overlooking the beach among the peddler carts, so keeping the shutter moving..

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

India Update No 1.

Well, I'm not sure if there is any way to compare India to Australia. There is really not very much the same about the two countries except for the price of petrol. Hence, the great number of scooters and motorbikes in this very populated and crowded place. The pollution and the smog is such a big part of life here. This alone takes a lot of getting used to. It is unbelieveable how much of the immediate atmosphere can be completely obliterated by such a city as Chennai. With almost five million people living in Chennai, it could appear inevitable that there be some sort of impact on the environment. Unfortunately, I think there is not really any sort of environment in some of these cities apart from the ones created by humans. This is so much the case that it is impossible to distiguish the presence of clouds. I feel the rain would surely not be healthy to consume.

So far, we have met many people and travelled less than a thousand kilometres. However, there is much sadness when we here the many stories of corruption that has seemingly crippled parts of this nation. The majority of the people are essentially under oppression from what potentially could be a great government. There is much order and many customs, yet things do not flow down to the people. Roads are unkempt and health conditions are miserable in many parts. In many regards I feel that the people are trapped and are in of need of far more than 2 rupees.

On the upside, we are currently in Kodaikanal. This is a different city. It is different both in its religion and in its outlook on life. To me, it seems that the people here have not given up. Yes, they are located on a beautiful mountain with access to cleaner air. However, it is refreshing to come here and see people who are making an effort to keep their home clean and fresh. There is more of a community feel to the place.

On the photography front, this has been the first time I have felt that landscapes are the prime material source. Until now, it has been the people of India. Now, there is also some beautiful and relatively unpolluted landscape to shoot. So, I am enjoying this also!

My apologies for the lengthy post. I am unsure of when I will access internet again. However, I will definitely upload some photos of our travels here (weddings included) once I am back in Perth.