Hello All!
I have now made it to the small island town of Diu located in Southern Gujarat on the Gulf of Cambay. This small, sleepy community was a Portuguese colony for about 500 years and has only been under Indian governance since 1961. Some of the locals speak Portuguese, which is kinda weird. It really reminds me of the small, beach towns that I visited in Brazil, especially because the language, but also because the buildings and the forests look really similar too. There are tons of cows running around this town as well. I walked around for about 2 hours today and I must've seen 200 cows. Its kinda hilarious- but you definitely have to watch your step. There is a huge fort here, built by the Portuguese, but financed by Indian Mughal rulers or kings. These two groups formed and alliance to protect lucrative trade routes and ports along the coast hundreds of years ago. The town has a population of about 20,000 which is a nice change of pace from the huge, overpopulated, and hyper-polluted cities I have been visiting. I plan to stay here for several nights and get some good rest and relaxation along the coast. I may sit for several hours tomorrow in the shade of a coconut tree and read my books. I hope all is well back home and I am excited that football season has kicked off (even if I can only see the highlights on the internet). Go Gators!
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Sounds like a good plan, coconut palm tree, water, and a good book. After the masses in the larger cities small town pace would be a bit more relaxing. Do they have fresh fish? Do they control cattle numbers in any way? Like limiting the number of bulls? do more cows per block make the area more sacred?
ReplyDeleteBTW I finally got my boat back yesterday. Hell of a repair bill!
So perhaps while you are relaxing you can research the origins and various brands of IPA:)
ReplyDeleteI have seen some nutered cows, so somebody around here is "managing" them in some form. However, there are a lot of freshly born calves roaming around town. Also, there is definitely a sort of stable or barn where a lot of the cows congregate and they must get some food here. Often times you see a halter or lead around their snout. I am not sure about the number of cows per acre as a testament to the religous loyalty of the area. I will check into the cows per acre thing... So rudimentary statistics show that there are 200 million cows in India and 600 million farmers. I trust the cow number, but I think the number of farmers is overstated.
ReplyDeleteThanks to wikipedia I did a little research into the IPAs. They really don't have a great selection of beers over here and nightlife or pub culture is kinda lack luster. So... they really don't have IPAs. I haven't seen one. They just have ales and lagers. Usually cheap, high alcohol ones like Miller High Life and Icehouse type brews. What that means is that I haven't done any original research into India Pale Ales. Wikipedia did help to dispel a common IPA myth. I was always told that IPAs have that bitter flavor because the particular IPA brewing recipe and ingredients kept better in the casks on the long voyage from Europe to India to be served to the British bureaucrats. However, the internet said that was a myth and that it was plain old marketing- that the people in India preferred a more bitter beer that accounts for the IPAs unique flavor and persistence through the centuries.
ReplyDeleteDang, and such a good myth it was. I had IPAs in northern India - they were not what i expected, but as you say since they are hard to come by, they tasted good all the same. of course, I was a guest of the Indian Government so my digs were worth a little more then $8.00 per night, perhaps that's why I had access to beer :-)
ReplyDeleteI saw one poor bastard mix half a sprite and half a beer together yesterday while I was having lunch. To me, that sounds like a terrible cocktail, but whatever.
ReplyDelete