Selamat pagi Kuala Lumpur

It has been around a fortnight we left India for Malaysia. Upon our arrival in Malaysia, we were quite surprised by some big changes.

Kuala Lumpur, with over 4 million of inhabitants in urban area, is a tiny-weeny little village compare to Indian Megalopolises. In 1896, Kuala Lumpur became the Federal Malay Capital. The city was clean, and very well organized. In somehow the contrast between Malaysia and KL was flagrant. We left an emerging country that is India to one of the most fast growing developped country that is Malaysiai. It development is mainly due to the exploitation of the tin mines, in the XX century.

Nowadays, tourism and manufacturing are the key element of the growing economy in the country. Tourism alone employs over 1 million of people. Government is very keen on new technology, especially communication and Oil & Gaz production. As a petroleum engineer, SPE member, I could not resist to have a look at the Offshore Asia Exhibition center standing in KL, March 29^th, 30^th. It was crystal clear that with 25% of the WW proven reserves and 65% of the Malaysian reserves in deep water, that the government intended to make Malaysia the first Deep Offshore pole in Asia.

 Among the most interesting places, we saw, we can mention:

-          The Batu caves, Hindu place of piligrimage, nice to visit. However watch out pilfering monkeys!

-          The Petronas twin-towers; a classic in KL tour!

-          Popular places and quarters such as Chinatown and Little India, where we live.

-          The Lake garden with its numerous museums, such as the butterfly and birds gardens.

-          The Sepang Circuit that holds the F1 GP Race, which was fantastic

My name is Khan and I am not a terrorist

How to travel India, from North to South, and not to speak about cinema, movies, and Bollywood?

Indian movies are great! The atmosphere unbelievable, the experience mesmerizing!

100 Rupees later (around $2), I entered the movie theater, ready to watch the latest Bollywood Blockbuster ‘My name is Khan’: a mega production worthy of the utmost Hollywood movie.

Directed by Karan Johar, the movie released created a colossal success. In less than 4 weeks, it generated around INR 700m ($20m) income, and became a must see Indian movie, following closely the example of “Slumdog” and”3 idiots”. A good sum up of the story can easily be found in IMDB and/or Wikipedia, and therefore I won’t write the synopsis.

The story is moving and teaches you a lesson of humanity; however, this movie had something of “Déjà vu”. Indeed it is no more no less than Forrest Gump, in a “Bollywood masala” (masala is an Indian sauce). Therefore, instead of the American History of the mid XX century, the story dealt with Indian Muslims of the XXI century. The movie kept it magic and the successful recipe was still working, but at the end, the after taste is disappointing. The alchemy was in somewhat; “missing”.

Kerala- Namaskaram Varkala… Good Morning Varkala !

After over 4,000km by train, we reached our final destination in India: Varkala, in the county of Kerala.

In Malayalam-local jargon : «Kerala», stands for “the coconuts country”. The place is simply stunning, the Kerala inhabitants are marvelous and warm. Moreover, the alphabetization rate is the highest in the country, which makes of Kerala the most educated part of India.

Kerala results in the merging of Travancore and Kochi in 1956, and is also a very tolerant estate, where a numerous number of religions live all together. In Trivandrum- the capital, this religious plurality is blazing. Catholics, Muslims, and Orthodox are mixed up, living in a perfect harmony. We even had been invited to visit a local mosque.

It would be too much dull to write about the uncountable activities of this estate. In the second exemplary of ‘GO KERALA”, released in march 2010. The magazine listed 7 wonders:

The Maramadi.

The Maramadi is to Kerala, what the corrida is to Andalousia. It is no less than a raging bull race. A team is formed by a jockey, 2 co-jockey and 3 assistants. Fantastic Atmosphere!

The Nilambur Teak.

The highest Teak tree in the world; Located in Hamlet, in the North Kerala. This plant is part of a sumptuous complex aged over 150 years. With lot of bamboos, this place became very well known and therefore very touristic with time.

Theyyam

An Oracle stands in the middle of whimsical choreography and dance. A show 100% made in Kerala!

Trissur Pooram

A cortège of elephants and colors, that goes with a sound and light show; Very well known in South West of India.

Snake Boat Race

A boat race that takes your breath away. Each team counts 150 competitors by boat. The boat itself is gigantesque! Over 30m of length, it stern is shaped as a cobra.

Kalaripayattu,

Martial art closes to Capoeira, The Kalaripayattu is one of the oldest martial art in the world. Strong commitment, and good self control is required to master this art.

Arunmula Metal Mirror

Aranmula is a small village in Kerala, specialized in mirrors making. From a special and secret manufacturing, Aranmula mirror erase all distortions. Great results!

Goa : Old Goa or Russian Goa.

After Mumbai, we reached Goa. Goa is an enclave of Portuguese origin, surrounded by the Oman sea. It is a paradise where coconuts trees, paddy fields, and beaches are beautiful and countless. We came to Goa not only for having fun and enjoying the fantastic beaches, but also for having a rest between Mumbai and Varkala, last step in our tribulation through India.

Goa is 590 km from Bombay, and after 13 hours by train, we enjoyed at last the white beaches of Colva, 10 km away from Madgaon. Beaches were clean, and with over 28% of Catholics, I can at last enjoy a pepper steak. After a month with no beef, this steak got an after taste of sacred… Not bad!

The Karachi Project

Pune, February 13^th, 2010. India was stroke by a Pakistanis attack, killing over 11 people. Worried, my parents sent me an email several minutes after the blast. Few hours later the India press told the local population of the terrible news.

One month later the India news released an article in “India Today” about the hidden side of the affair named: The Karachi Project.

Conceived in 2003 as a joint strategy between the ISI, Pakistan Army, Lashkar and HUJI to use fugitive given sanctuary in Karachi to India youth and bring them to Pakistan for arms and explosives training via Bangladesh and Nepal, where they are indoctrinated.

The project uses Indian jihadis, enabling Pakistan to deny any role in terror attacks. “Who knows what the future hold?” wondered a powerless Indian official.

Maharahshtra: Mumbai, Intimately Bombay …

It is peculiar to notice that only Europeans are calling Mumbai; “Mumbai”. The indigenous are calling Mumbai, by it old name: Bombay, coming from ‘Bom Bahia’ or the ‘good bay’. With over 15m of inhabitants, Mumbai held the top ranking of the city the most populated in India. It is also a huge megalopolis competing directly with Delhi; the capital. My first impression of Delhi was terrible and so was my impression of Bombay. The slum quarter is the worst in India, and seeing so many homeless kids moves you deep down. But on the contrary to Delhi, Bombay is clean and does look like an industrial and economic city; moreover the city itself is modern and pleasant.

Apart from the fact that my girl friend’s camera was stolen upon arrival, the city was great. From the Taj Mahal Hotel to Mani Bahvan (Bapu house from 1917-34), in passing by ‘Jain Temple’, ‘the Hanging gardens’ and ‘the gateway of India’, we had a fair good time inside the city.

Udaipur, Venice made in India…

Palaces, castles and hostels, built on the top of hills, are the beauty city reflection and make Udaipur unique in Rajasthan. Udaipur is not only a touristic city, but it is also a city full of History. Enclosed by ramparts and rumbles, the city was built in 1568 by Maharana Udai Sing II. One said a tale about a meeting between the Maharana and a hermit during hunting. Following the advices of the hermit, the Maharana got in counterpart the protection of his county from the fauna and flora surrounding the city. The same year Udaipur became Rajasthan capital, and the Raiput capital from the Mewar kingdom.

Udaipur is noble and proud. Its market is the reflection of a colorful and jolly population. Its superb architecture submerged us in a fairy tales worthy of our childhood.

Do : Sunset Point, City Palace, Lake Palace, Fruit and Spices Market, Cenatophs,

Don’t : Reflexoloy massage, Ayurvédic MassageUdaipur, Venice made in India…

Palaces, castles and hostels, built on the top of hills, are the beauty city reflection and make Udaipur unique in Rajasthan. Udaipur is not only a touristic city, but it is also a city full of History. Enclosed by ramparts and rumbles, the city was built in 1568 by Maharana Udai Sing II. One said a tale about a meeting between the Maharana and a hermit during hunting. Following the advices of the hermit, the Maharana got in counterpart the protection of his county from the fauna and flora surrounding the city. The same year Udaipur became Rajasthan capital, and the Raiput capital from the Mewar kingdom.

Udaipur is noble and proud. Its market is the reflection of a colorful and jolly population. Its superb architecture submerged us in a fairy tales worthy of our childhood.

Do : Sunset Point, City Palace, Lake Palace, Fruit and Spices Market, Cenatophs,

Don’t : Reflexoloy massage, Ayurvédic Massage

My first trip in CC, Incredible India!

It was around 10:00pm, when Nastya and I reached Jaipur’s Railway station to catch our train to Udaipur. Nastya stands for Anastassiya, my girlfriend. The two of us had a chat when 2 young men aged between 25 and 35 years old came along and started a chat.

The questions asked were never ending: “What’s your name?, How old are you? Where you from? Is she your wife?.... As long as the discussion went on, people started gathering around the two of us. 20mn later, no less than 50 Indians were sitting in semi circle, listening to our adventures. By commodity and for those who were not English speaker, an interpreter Hindi-English was elected by the crowd and translated our tribulations. Incredible India!

Rajasthan: Jaipur, Udaipur

Rajasthan… Ali Baba might have come from India.

Rajasthan was a fantastic state to stay. Water Palace, Palace and snakes’ charmer seemed coming from nowhere. In Jaipur we met a rickshaw driver who became our guide for the day.

Amar the splendid… ,

Amar was the name of our rickshaw driver, met randomly in Jaipur. Tall guy with a bear perfectly maintained. His head was covered by a Kangha. He was wearing a Kara (Silver bracelet). Although he was neither wearing a kacca (short trouser) nor a kirpan (dagger), we guessed him Sikh.

Sikh doesn’t have for philology the English ‘sick’, meaning ‘ill’, or rather it comes from the Sanskrit “disciple”. The Sikhism is one of the numerous Indian religions. Sikhs are gathered in a community of over 20 million of believers, which means less than 2% of the Indian population. Despite of this numerical minority, Sikhs are helpful, honest and well educated.

Everything started in the middle of the 15^th century in Pendjab. In 1469, ‘Nânak’ was born. At the age of 27, this Young Man had had a mystic revelation. There was no Hindi, no Muslim, there was one God only:”The absolute true”. To sum up, the Sikhism took the best of each religion and threw away the dreadful.

The reason behind the Sikhism is that Nânak, this ‘Macgyver’ of religions wished to calm down the tension occurring through the 15^th century and therefore created a hybrid and new religion.

Amar our driver, was monotheist and beyond the fantastic Rajasthan, Amar drove us off the beaten tracks of Jaipur: the pink city.

Uttar Pradesh, Agra, the Taj Mahal or nothing …

The Taj Mahal… Priceless!

The city of Agra was lifeless by itself, but the Taj Mahal (and the Fort). The Taj Mahal was built by Shah Jahan in 1648, when his favorite wife died after delivering her 14^th kid. The construction of this incredible Tomb would have lasted over 20 years and would have cost around $40m. In the time, where 1kg was worth 50 INR, the value of the Taj Mahal would be roughly $13 billon nowadays. Love is priceless!

Delhi ...

Only Delhi

It was onboard a Boeing 777 from India-Airline, that I left home for India. In the plane, my 2 neighbors were a Nepalese from Katmandu, and a Hindi from North of India. I switched my mp3 player on, and on a music written by Mike Jaegger in 1968: “You can’t always get what you want”, I started my tribulations through Asia. But this time, I did get what I wanted.

My plane landed after a flight of just under 5 hours. Delhi Airport was clean and the custom staff efficient. Less than 20 minutes later I was in a rickshaw: direction Woodcastle guest House.

New Delhi is the India’s capital and the second biggest city after Mumbai. With around 12.5 m of people, Delhi ranks 8^th in the most populated cities on earth. It is also one of the oldest cities, as it birth dates several millenniums BC, as the Yamunâ (one of the 7^t sacred rivers) is witness. Even though, historical traces dated from the 6^th century BC only.

Delhi History started with the creation of Indraprastha by the Pândava 1540 years BC, and then it History was written centuries after, by Kings and Maharaja from Indraprastha to Shahjahanabad, who made Delhi a magical city. Magical? Not that much!

My first day in Delhi gave me the opportunity to get a better understanding of the capital. One tells a lot about Delhi: an impressive city, but too noisy and dirty to my taste, and I was far from being impressed.

Delhi doesn’t escape the archetype of big cities in emerging countries; therefore you are deeply moved by the poverty and the awful living condition the population has to cope with day after day. In the afternoon of the first day, Nastya and I met a British couple and we decided to go to the railway statio to book our train tickets. Finding the right railway reservation office was not easy; a lot of travel tours and drivers tried to scam us. With patience we found the main station and booked our tickets to Agra, Udaipur, Mumbai, Goa and Varkala. Our trip from Agra to Jaipur will be done by bus, 3 hours of fun!

The afternoon was cultural and we enjoyed the visit of the Red Fort. The Red Fort is a huge castle started in 1638 and finished in 1648 by Shah Jahan. This fort, with walls’ length over 2km, was the most powerful castle in India during the Mughal domination. The tour continued with Humayun’s Tomb built in the 16^th century by Haji Begum.

Wealth and poverty are very close in India, street boys are begging for coins. Coins! No way! But Ice cream and food: Yes! At least two of them were happy for a while.

Then days went on. India gate, Parliament, Presidential House, National Museum of India… were the main places we visited in Delhi