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Welcome to my travel log! You will find here a lot more than in the travel reports, stripped from political correctness. Enjoy! 
Sep 29, 2006 02:00 PM Udaipur (Rajasthan)
Udaipur is known to the world also as Venice of East or the Indian City of Lakes. Frankly, I would disagree with the Venice comparison. Just because a palace had been built on the water of one of the lakes, it does not make it even close to the splendour of Venice, which is unique.
After five hours of snoozing, but not sleeping, at Mumbai airport I finally took off to Udaipur.
Weather miraculously cleared as soon as the aircraft entered Rajasthan's airspace. From the airport I took a pre-paid taxi which happened to be a typical vintage Indian car, Ambassador Classic, which resembled Soviet's Pobieda or Poland's Warszawa. It had two couches inside. One at the back and exactly the same at the front.
I checked into the Jagat Niwas Palace Hotel with a great view at the lake and the so called floating palace there. The main sight of Udaipur.
I took breakfast at the hotel restaurant sitting at a window bay, on a cushion, looking at the Lake Palace. The window bay had no pane so it felt great and Indian to the max. I had my fourth coffee then as I embarked on my 25th hour with no sleep and still had some eleven hours to go on that day.
The hotel was supposed to be fabulous. It was not. For a heritage hotel it should be much cleaner. My room was quite dirty: the floor was sticky, bathroom not mopped, towels unwashed, very dubious bed lining, curtains had not seen water for months, maybe even years. I quickly escaped it to see the city. I started with the city palace.
The city palace made a great impression. A real residence worthy a maharaja. Many courtyards on various levels, secret corridors, balconies and verandas with lake and city views, ivory doors, marble walls and floors made it a fairy-tale residence. I am not a museum browser type traveller but this one was worth it. It definitely stirred imagination.
Although it was rather hot, I went on a short stroll about the city. Apart from the palaces on the water and the main city palace there is little to see in Udaipur. Silly me! For there are a few interesting temples scattered around the city, sometimes hidden in narrow alleys.
As I was wandering around with no destination in mind, I ended up at one of the ghats, a stepped platform leading to the water. The gates at the steps to the lake were imposing and a young lad was encouraging me to ride his elephant. When I found that the animal was 45 years old, I decided that older creatures should never carry me. So I agreed that I would just take a few photographs and reward him somehow for this favour. The elephant was curious and wanted to get very close to me. Almost as if it was grateful that I did not want to ride it, so it could stay in the shade of the gates. It was reaching its trunk towards me and looked me remarkably straight in the eye.
Then I went for a short snooze, actually kipping. When I got up, I arranged for a quick boat ride. It took one hour and I was under the impression that the skipper was looking for something in the lake rather than allowing me to take pictures of the city's architecture in the setting sun. I heard that there were crocodiles living in the lake which sounds more like a fantasy since the lake was dry for the last nine years. When I visited, the lake was full for the first time since then.
When I finished, one of the rickshaw boys chatted me up asking if I was happy with my boat ride. When I confirmed he asked me if I could make him happy by agreeing to a tour to the monsoon palace where Octopussy was filmed with James Bond. I did and he was happy.
His name was Albert. He was 29 and had two kids. His mother arranged the wedding for him. Marriage in India is not about love but about respect. So he said. And it does make sense since Bollywood film factory produces so many films about love for which many Indians long so much. For both love and love story movies.
Apparently he was making about 150 rupees a day on the rickshaw and then about 40 by painting miniatures, so typical for Udaipur. He insisted I went to visit his school which was obviously a shop as well. I did like some of the stuff so I bought a small souvenir. He was very happy by then. And when I agreed that he could take me to the airport next morning for 300 rupees he was ecstatic. He was not thrilled about the hour, but at least could earn some commission if he had to send someone else.
As I had my after dinner drink at the top of my hotel, I spotted a couple of giant bats. I thought they only existed in Spielberg films!
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Aug 27, 2006 02:00 PM Elmina (Ghana) - Isaac
Isaac was the youngest player in the Panya FC's squad. He was so good, that he played with twentysomethings on the team. Although he was in his advanced schoolboy age, he had never gone to school. I felt really sorry for him, so I asked some of the teachers on the football team to find out how much it would cost me to sponsor Isaac's education. It turned out that it was under £80 pounds a year. I did not have to think twice about that. Particularly when it was so clear to me that the boy wanted to go to school so much. As soon as I told him that I might consider paying for his school, he would not leave my side for the entire asking 'really?'.
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Aug 26, 2006 02:00 PM Cape Coast (Ghana) - new and old players
On Sunday, it occurred to me that Panya FC made a few player transfers. Some of the good players started to join regular football teams in Cape Coast, Secondi and Accra, which was very promising for them. I went to see of them in action in Cape Coast. It was a good game and played on a real stadium in the city.
Later, a few more players, who'd transfered elsewhere, came from their nearby camps to see me in Elmina. It was great. I brought some football equipment with me, as well as clothes that I was not using, so I had gifts for all of them.
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Aug 25, 2006 02:00 PM Anomabu (Ghana) - seeing the lifeguard again
As nothing was happening on Saturday, I went to see the lifeguards of the Anomabu Beach Resort. I did not actually expected to see all three of them on Saturday. I thought that it was Fridays when all of them were required to work, but here they were. I brought the pictures of them that I took a few month before and they were really shocked how good they looked on the photos. I printed them in the A4 format, which made an impact on them, too. Immediately, they wanted more pictures to be taken of them, which was really funny as they tried to pose like fashion models. It was a great afternoon.
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Aug 24, 2006 02:00 PM Elmina (Ghana) - I know it so well
When I came, I realised how much I was missed. The boys were really happy to see me and it was great to browse through the local bars with them talking about life, the universe and everything. Elmina did not change much, although a few more buildings received well deserved facelift sponsored by the European Union. And I liked how the main square was upgraded, too. The boys played a game that day, and it was great to see them in action. By that time, most of the locals knew who I was. It was great.
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Aug 23, 2006 02:00 PM Accra (Ghana) - again in the country
My second, or technically third, visit to Ghana was specifically aimed at visiting my friends in Elmina. I passed through Accra very quickly without stopping at too many places. I got into the car (I arranged own transport with Philip, the driver, who took me around Ghana a few months before) and we went off to see my football team.
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May 29, 2006 02:00 PM Sal - Cabo Verde, the last word
The last few hours on the island's main resort, Santa Maria, which I knew so well by that time, I spent on strolling about the sleepy streets and taking photographs of fishermen getting ready to depart for the evening cruise. As I was shooting one of the boats, two guys sitting on another boat still on the beach, asked me if I smoked. I thought they might be asking me for a cigarette or matches, so I said that I did not smoke. Yet when I spotted the colour of the cigi one of them was holding in his hand, I realised that they definitely did not mean tobacco. I quickly changed my mind and joined them.
I did not expect to be invited right in the open on the beach to smoke the islands’ finest marijuana. It was very nice and friendly of them to do such thing. It happened to me only once before - in The Gambia. We smoked the joint between the fishermen boats and I took pictures of the lads’ tattoos. Fabio had a magnificent tattoo on his left arm and Pablo sported an elaborate picture on his back. There were true pieces of art!
I later invited the lads for beer. They worked at the diving centre right by the pier and we went for a smoke twice more. They were so young (19 and 21) and cocky. I liked that! I could finally be part of some action going on...
They were after the young girls at the beer booth. Suddenly, an older guy came and started to take pictures of the girls. I decided to join him and the gals felt like celebrities for a while. They definitely enjoyed the attention. I wished I did not have to leave that evening and joined them at a more sophisticated party than the obvious Pirata club.
It was quite clear from the first sight that the island of Sal was not going to be fascinating at all. How could it be? It is almost completely flat and comprises of barren, desert-like land. More optimistically, people would call it a giant beach, with gaps filled with salt plains and black lava fields.
The island bizarrely continues to attract ever increasing numbers of tourists and concrete, ugly hotels keep springing up around the island. Not a pretty picture for a traveller like me looking for local culture and indigenous life. But I understand, it is heaven for older people looking for perfect climate, upscale hotels directly on the beach and a destination exotic enough that makes others think, where the hell is it on the globe?
I would like to re-visit Cabo Verde and go to São Vicente, Santo Antão, and Santiago - the least. Now, as I have an invitation from Xavier, I have an excuse. And a cheap one! This is in fact important because the islands are rather dear, even by European standards. It is beyond me how the locals manage to make the ends meet. There are no discount prices for the locals in the shops.
Although I promised myself not to go back to Sal ever again, it would be interesting to meet Biai, Fabio and Pablo again and how their business grows, and which girl they manage to ‘conquer’.
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May 28, 2006 02:00 PM Sal - Cabo Verde, People
Having spent few days only on one of the islands, and worse - the most tourists packed one - I can offer a limited impressions on the Capeverdeans.
I came in contact and had reasonably lengthy conversation with four Capeverdeans - Biai, Xavier, Pablo and Fabio.
I met Biai on the beach in Santa Maria. He was walking along the coast showing off his muscular body and hitting on the white chicks. One of which was my travel companion. I think it started with him showing her a piece of very sharp seashell he removed from the beach, right under her feet. As soon as he realised that I knew her, he had to come up to me and have a polite conversation. He was not a bad boy, he was only taking his chances. From what he claimed, he was an employee at the Crioula Hotel, one of the poshest and ugly ones, and appeared to have been having a short break from the ‘office’. Interestingly, one of his parents lived in Guinea Bissau, and he chose to stay at Cabo Verde. Well, to me it seemed that the quality of life on Cabo Verde was much higher than in Guinea Bissau. So, he made a good choice. Somehow, we started the subject of girls :) Biai offered to find a girl for me to get a jiggy with. I had to refuse and told him that I did not need to do that and that the girls were only interested in my money. This is why I was getting marriage proposals at Pirata. He reluctantly had to agree. Without much arguing he also admitted that the local boys expected exactly the same from the white female tourists. They were hunting them down hoping that the gals would get hooked and take them to Europe or America. Having spent so much time in so many countries in Africa, I knew what I was talking about, which Biai found surprising. I am not sure how long I ended up talking to him on the beach. It must have been a few hours, because I totally burned my face, particularly my nose. I did put a sunscreen on, but obviously it was not enough. I later met Biai in the Pirata night club. I would have not recognised him had he not been wearing the shirt I gave him on the beach.
The other person I met was Xavier, who was also trying to get to São Vicente, as I mentioned before. His situation was much more complicated than mine because he was on a business trip on Sal and could not wait to see his missus back in Mindelo. Furthermore, he was moving house one of the nights he was stuck on Sal, and it was his woman who needed to take care of everything. She obviously was not happy. It was not good for her and definitely not good for him. It was not his fault, yet he had tonnes of points to earn back home. Xavier impressed me very much with his sense of responsibility. At the age of 24 he had very ambitious plans with regards to his profession and the business he was mobilising with his brothers. First of all, he looked much older, which means that he was a worrier and had to deal with much responsibility already. We had long hours to chat to one another because the plane was not coming and was not coming. He had his dreams with relation to his family and its future and was spending no effort to realise those dreams. I really admired him for that. I have not met a more responsible and thinking man of just 24 before. On the second night paid for by the TACV airline, Xavier invited me to his hotel room to watch a football match between Portugal and Cabo Verde. He was very passionate about football, I have to say. He showed plenty of emotion during the game, which the Capeverdeans lost 1:4. He told me that the Cape Verde team was made up of players who permanently play at Portuguese football clubs, so actually the match was Portugal vs. Portugal. Xavier was very friendly. As I said, he actually invited me to visit him and his woman on São Vicente one day and promised to take good care of me. I hope I will be able to do that.
The third and forth were Pablo and Fabio who invited me for a smoke. I also met their lady friends and two other guys, John and Pappy. Fabio was the key player with the ladies. He looked like a model and liked to show off a little. He was constantly chatting up the girls at the booth selling beers and simple soft drinks. As I was taking a few photographs of the guys and the girls, he stroke a few poses, like he knew exactly what he was doing. Not only did he have a great tattoo on his arm, but an interesting haircut, too. Pablo spoke very good English. He was stirring the group. For all of them worked at the diving centre. He was also the eldest one. He was the one who spoke to me inviting me for a joint. He was the most talkative and witty. All the people I met on the island were friendly. Even those nagging sellers and ‘artists’ wanting to show me their shops or souvenir factories. I just wonder if the locals’ attitude will remain courteous as tourism develops and the number of tourists increases dramatically. This is already happening... the number of new hotels under construction is considerable.
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May 27, 2006 02:00 PM Sal - Cabo Verde, Santa Maria - part II
The morning was a challenge. The breakfast in this all-inclusive resort was fine but there were no signs of a phone call from the airline about my leaving to São Vicente.
One of the fellow passengers, Xavier, a local from Santiago island, advised me to go to the airport anyway. He said that the airline was known to ignore guests in the hotel and despatch anyone who decided to make an effort and come to the airport. I was not sure what to do. When the hotel receptionist told me the same later, I ordered a taxi and went to the airport again!
I found a little more about Xavier on the airport as I was left to linger in the departure hall for half a day. His name was actually Jose Xavier but he did not like Jose as his first name.
For the entire day, I kept raving in my head about the marvellous deodorant I got at the London airport, as I spent most of my time trying to absorb all the adrenaline which kept stimulating my bloodstream, as I yo-yoed between the departure hall and ticket office and the airline assistance desks. I positively hated the airport.
I just wanted to leave Sal. I wanted to go anywhere; Santiago, Boavista, São Vicente. It did not matter. As I was enquiring about the immediate flight to Praia on Santiago, the capital city of the republic, I eventually secured confirmed seats to São Vicente for Sunday morning, returning Monday morning. It was leaving me only 20 hours on the island, but I was going to be happy with that.
I remained good-humoured as much as I could trying to remember that the airline did pay for half of my short holiday.
I saw that Xavier and his boss also got pieces of paper attached to their tickets and we shared a taxi back to the hotel. What actually happened next morning shocked me.
The locals did not have priority. On the same day the airline sold me three tickets for the next day and the three local guys (Xavier, his boss and someone else) could only enjoy to be put on stand by. So bizarre and unfair. I thought that they were also able to secure confirmed seats in the same way I did. I could not believe that I got the tickets and they did not!!
A vein of madness and anger on my forehead began pulsating with regular intervals as I entered the third hour of running throughout the airport trying to obtain some information about anything regarding my flight to San Vicente. I got my boarding pass but the plane was severely delayed. It was supposed to leave at 08:45 a.m. and I heard rumours that any update was going to be announced at 1:00 p.m. The air plane could not be repaired, it seemed.
I could only extract a few often contradicting sentences from the extremely unhelpful and rude personnel. At least I could conduct normal conversations with Xavier.
The time was my enemy. If I went to São Vicente late, I could not see much and I was not sure I was going to be back for my Monday night flight back to Europe.
I decided to draw a line. If the flight was not going to take off by 2:30 p.m. I was going to give up my seat and give it to Xavier, for whom his woman was waiting already third day in a row. That was least I could do. Xavier knew that I got seats confirmed for three people while at the same time he was put on stand-by.
Well, the airline took a lot of piss and since my flight was delayed from 8.45 a.m. to 5.20 p.m., as I found at about 1:30 p.m. So, I stood by my decision and asked the airline to give my seat to Xavier. I actually did not believe that the flight was going to happen that day at all. I was convinced that the TACV simply did not function.
I later called Xavier and was very happy to hear him utterly excited that he was finally with his wife. He invited me to Mindelo. He said that I could come anytime, I would stay at his place, he would take time off and show me the islands. I promised myself that I would never come to Sal again, so I will be waiting for the connection Lisbon-Mindelo to open. From November 2006, as I heard.
Sal can only give limited impression about the country yet I can state that the locals not only are friendly but also keep the streets and the beaches clean. This I could appreciate. It is pleasant and highly civilised.
The nights on Sal are pleasantly warm and very still. Remarkably few dogs are kept on the islands and barking can hardly be heard. Food, like everything on the island, is expensive and therefore keeping a dog means feeding it and this obviously means additional expense. Keeping a pet is not customary and since the island is virtually free from trouble, there is no need to keep a watching dog for protection.
It was also perfectly safe to walk around at night. I was wandering around with my camera on sight and I only attracted attention of curiosity. I figured that people liked to be photographed actually. The crowd is colourful, the guys sport interesting haircut and elaborate tattoos but are friendly and polite. There is absolutely no trouble and I did not hear any reports of such.
One thing that I still did not figure out is where from or how the island is getting electricity. I did not see a power plant anywhere and I definitely did not spot a wind farm (apart from a lone turbine) or solar panel field. Even if the latter two existed I doubt they would produce sufficient power anyway. It is interesting since there is an increasing number of large hotels being built and they all need electricity from somewhere.
Fresh water is obtained through desalination, and I found the desalination plant in the town of Palmeiras. Water cannot be cheap then. Obviously bottled water is available everywhere but it costs almost EUR1 for three pints (1.5 litre).
Everything is quite expensive in Cape Verde. Petrol for example is EUR 1.5, which is much more than in the United Kingdom, where petrol is the most expensive in Europe.
People earn on average CVE 45,000 (EUR 450) a month. To rent a flat, it costs them approximately CVE 17,500 and food for two would be CVE 12,500... Not much left, is it?
Although I would need to push it slightly I can say that seafood is relatively inexpensive on Sal. Well, as it happens it is actually cheaper than a salad of tomatoes, onions and lettuce. In restaurants, anyway!
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May 27, 2006 02:00 PM Sal - Cabo Verde, Food & Wine
Cabo Verde is a paradise for seafood. To be more specific, there is a restaurant on Sal, called Americo’s which is a living proof of the fact. It is located on the main street in Santa Maria and it serves the best grilled lobster on this planet and grilled squid is even better. I have had many lobsters and many grilled calamari in my life, but never ever were the lobsters so juicy and tasty and the cuttlefish was never so tender and gently crispy! I wish I had also ordered grilled octopus there, to see if the best octopus that I ever had on Santorini, Greece, could be beaten.
When I saw it, I still could not believe it! Cabo Verde is producing wine! There are only two kinds: Cha do Fogo Branco and Cha do Fogo Tinto; white and red, respectively. I could not get any confirmation that there were more than just the two. Both of them are produced on the Fogo island, which contains little more than a giant volcano. I cannot imagine where there would be room for a vineyard.
The white wine is fine, but it contains much too much alcohol.
The red one has also got its own character but is stronger than average and tastes too much of black currant to me.
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