A Few more Pictures from Mumbai

There are occasional public restrooms, some are for pay, and some are just urinals.

Fresh Meat

In the morning, trucks filled with live chickens stop for their daily delivery.


Some of the chickens are taken away by hand or bicycle.


Many are taken into the market and are immediately prepared to be sold.

Garbage

Garbage cans are rare, and it is accepted to leave your garbage where you make it.


Many shop owners clean the area in front of their shops, but in Mumbai, there are pairs of city workers cleaning the streets in the mornings. One sweeps it together and the other uses two boards to pinch and lift the pile into his rolling cart.


Some trash is burned in the street.

Shops on Mumbai Streets

All day and into the evening, Mumbai shop owners sell their goods.


In the early morning the stands are still packed away from the night before. Every night all the stand owners put away and lock up their goods. Many of them even sleep near or on their stands.

Mumbai Traffic

The relationship between cars, pedestrians, and traffic laws is very different in India.

A Few more Pictures from Goa

Chalk art symbol of the devotional mantra: Om


Water Delivery


Ice Delivery


Old School Fishin'

Accepted Currency

Change is hard to come by in India. If you pay for something and require change, you may get a combination of bills, coins, and even candy. Most shops have a jar of candies on the counter they use to give change when they don't have enough small coins. Occasionally you can work together to give them an amount of money that they can make change for. Unfortunately, I could not pay for anything with candy.

Sugar Cane Juice

I waited a long time to try this because it seemed a bit chancy. I was told many times not to eat raw vegetables and not to drink the water (including ice). Sugar cane juice carts use both.


Raw sugar cane is run through a gas powered mangle/juicer...


...the canes are run through 5 or 6 times to squeeze all the juice out which drains into a pot of ice to cool.


The ice and the fibers of the sugar cane are strained out, and the result is amazing. After I finally tried it once, I got it every time I saw one, and they are everywhere.

Taking the Bus in India

It takes two men to operate each bus in Goa. There is the driver who's responsibility is to drive recklessly fast and honk at all the cars, scooters, and cows in the road. And there is the fare taker.


The fare taker walks through the bus collecting fares once the bus gets moving. He also calls out the destination of the bus repeatedly at the depot to collect more riders. Along the route he will open the door for people standing on the side of the road calling out the destination again.

The bus will let people off pretty much anywhere, but there are designated bus stops to pick up more people. Hopefully, you can jump on before the bus starts up again.


Bus depot in Mapsa, Goa

Kamakshi Temple in Shiroda

A slender man with long sideburns, trucker's mustache, and wild nearly shoulder length hair sat next to me on a park bench in Margao. His name was Manush Kamat, and I told him I was from America so he talked about our previous 3 presidents and their varying degrees of India friendliness based on outsourcing jobs to India and issuing visas for Indians to come to America.

He knew something about everything. He reads all the newspapers, works in insurance, and refused to get a cell phone. We talked for a while longer, and he told me today was Maha Shivaratri. Translated to English, the Big Night of Shiva. He invited me to come with him to the Kamakshi Temple in Shiroda. It was about a 10 minute bus ride away so I went with him. He gave me a personal tour of the temple grounds and told me the stories behind all the gods. He gave me an inside look I could not have had anyway else.

Photography is not allowed at the Temple, and the sketch above is from inside the primary building which holds the shrine for the Goddess Kamakshi, the wife of Shiva. In front of the shrine is a table and Temple steward who has a small pitcher of water blessed by Shiva. We entered after taking off our shoes and went up to the table. The steward poured a bit of water into our hand for us to drink. Then Manush showed me how I was to put my finger into a bowl of red powder and transfer it to my forehead. He led me farther in where we sat on the ground; it was starting to get crowded. Behind the table was a 10-12 foot hallway with the Goddess Kamakshi at the end. Manush pointed out a TV to either side of the hallway so more people could see the idol. Everything inside the hallway had very bright colors, was shiny, and/or was covered with strings of flowers; only the holy people went inside.

I felt very welcomed, and it a was unique experience I was fortunate to have. Wherever you are now Manush, I would like to thank you again. You were a wonderful host.

A Few more Pictures from Hong Kong

Hong Kong Police


Double-decker trolley


For my friends back in Portland

Hong Kong Park

A large patch of green in a gray city, Hong Kong Park contrasts all the horn honking and tall buildings of the streets. This is not the only intercity getaway on the island; Hong Kong has many parks with ponds, athletic courts and walking paths.


Workers are constantly keeping up the grounds. Not just in the park, but all around the city workers are cleaning and repairing public areas.


From the observation tower

Shopping in the Street

On the Kowloon side of Hong Kong there are a few areas each with there own unique type of street market. This is the Ladies Market well known for its good deals and counterfeit goods.


Flower Market


Bird Market


Meat and Produce Market

Subway

I was amazed at the size of the subway cars. These cars have got to be a quarter mile long and stop and start very quickly. Usually every inch is filled with people, but I was able to take this picture as the car approached the last stop on the line. I still could not see the end.

A Few more Picture from South Korea

I kept having to take off my shoes.

Night Lights

Night is when the city looks most alive. With bright and colorful lights all the way up every building, the day starts over again, and many business stay open till midnight or later.

I love these signs. They are all animated, and they are all written with Hangul characters.

Litter Advertising

I noticed a man discreetly drop a piece of paper from his shoulder bag. I then noticed the trail of flyers he had planted all the way down the street. I was told this is a common way to advertise, and by morning every flyer will have been swept up.

Tire Pressure

This was not a common sight, but I came across one bike rack with a air pump. I am from the the most bike friendly city in the world--Portland, OR--and I have never seen this. It seems Seoul is trying to be more biker friendly; now the riders just have to start using it.