Kambala!

After seeing the incredible Mysore palace, and trekking the mountains in Coorg, I headed to Mangalore, on the coast of the Arabian Sea, to hunt down a local sport called Kambala.

This consists of water buffalo racing down muddy tracks, with a guy holding on behind, lashing and screeching the bull on, running as fast as he can to keep up with it. It developped after farmers would race their buffaloes home after work in the paddy fields.

After some research and some bus rides, I arrived at the Kambala track, basically two long ditches filled with muddy water, and watched as the farmers, each with coloured turbans to indicate their teams, presented their animals to the audience, while people placed bets, and a sort of marching band provided some tunes.

There are different types of Kambala. For some races, the whip-man will surf on a little plank of wood attached behind the buffalo, others, it is the height at which the water will splash, rather than the speed of the animal that counts.

The experience was thrilling (just look at the pictures) and, having been interviewed for two newspapers and two TV stations at the site, I really got the feeling I was seeing something special and unique.

I'm in Kodaikanal at the moment, more posts coming soon!

Karnataka

After a bangin beach party for NYE in Anjuna, Goa, I headed to Hampi. During a break from the bus ride on the way there, I decided to head to the roof to attach my bag. While I was on the roof, the bus started driving away! I was panicking a bit but another guy beside me told me to chill, gave me an orange, and lied down. So i did the same, and for about 10 minutes i was lying on the top of this bus with my blanket, watching the stars as we drove along, until the ticket man came to tell us to get down.

Hampi is a small town surrounded by incredible rocks balancing on top of each other. It looks like a land of mountains that have been crushed into giant pebbles. Loads of backpackers, cheap prices, really nice place.

Next I moved on to Bangalore, the state capital, and also the rock/alternative music capital of India. Because of all the IT companies here, young people come from all over the country to study and work, and so use English as their common language. The center is full of hip shops, cafes, bars, and clubs (that shut at 11:30pm?!) and I managed to catch a few gigs. The first one, a blues band from Shillong called Soulmate, was really amazing. I also was really lucky to meet a group of Indian friends my age all working here, who showed me the bars, and took me to a house party, where trance was booming out onto the terrace. These guys all drink, party, sometimes take drugs, very similarly to a lot of youngsters back home, and I think they had more in common with me and the west, than they did with most Indian people. It was really nice to connect with these people who grew up half way across the world, and yet knew all the words to "L.A. Woman". At the same time, it was easy to forget that I was in India here (they have taco bell!), but I couch surfed and my host was super friendly, had an amazing place so it was nice to recharge for a bit, cook some meals.

I'm in Mysore now, and will do some exploring tomorrow....

Happy New Year!

Soundtrack to my trip at the moment: The Move