Saturday 13th December 2008

I got my tour of the city as promised. One of my colleagues was kind enough to use his day off to take me round the city. We had a car, and a local driver, so all we had to do was sit back and enjoy.
First stop was the Gondola Fort and what an amazing construction. It is hard to imagine that it was probably built around the time our little island (and it's people) were still living in mud huts and worshipping all kinds of gods. It is also clear that when the British ruled India we simply pointed big guns at the place and said "are you coning out? or are we coming in?"....the distinct lack of damage to the place would suggest they opted to come out!
Again, we were accosted by the locals. One guy, clearly a tour guide, would not take no for an answer. We told him so many times to go away but he kept following us and giving us information that, for all we know, he could have just made up. Had he told us the fort was built in the 6th century by one armed, latin speaking kangaroos, would we have known any better? Eventually he did give up, after we made it plain for the umpteenth time that we were happy to wander around by ourselves. He then had the cheek to ask us to pay for what he had told us already, even thogh we didn't ask for it!
The locals here find westerners fascinating. All around the fort they stopped and stared and even on occasion, followed us around, looking at what we were looking it. It was like having our own entourage. At one point we were stopped and asked if we would have our photos taken with some Indian visitors to the fort. To be honest it is difficult not to feel like a celebrity when it happens so often. I even turned to offer them my autopgraph but they had gone!
Whilst all that is nice, and it does no harm, you need to be mindful out here that people also see westerners as cash-rich. Tuk-tuk drivers will ignore locals and aim for tourists because they generally pay better and have more disposable income. Beggars are also a problem, and very persistant, so you have to be firm and in some cases aggresive to get rid of them. It pays for even to most philanthropic of people to develop a hard heart out here.
Next stop was the lake. In the middle is a giant statue of Buddha that is known locally as the "Buddha of death". Legend has it that there are the remains of 6 people underneath who were killed during its construction. I have to say, it was not as impressive as I had hoped, nor did it live up the billing it was given by the guide books. A few minutes later (after we had marvelled at the manky green water in the lake) we were back on the road.
We wandered around the shops for a bit and I treated myself to a new bag. I know I have loads, but this one has wheels and will come in very useful believe me. After lugging my laptop around Doha airport transit lounge for 3 hours on the way out here, it hurt trust me. I will now be able to wander around Dubai on the way back without fear of inducing a curvature of the spine! happy days!
Inevitable we ended up in the pub (the sports bar to be precise). It has every conceivable sport on numerous screens as those who have been in the UK ones will know. The beer is provided in what looks like giant food blenders (containing about 8-10 pints I would guess), the core of which is frozen to keep the beer cool. My colleague made the mistake of accepting a bet with me regarding my knowledge of sport. Silly man and he is now a 100rupees worse off.
Sadly I had to curtail our fun as work called. There is more work coming in all the time and there was stuff to be done. Playtime was definitely over but hold on....I hear word of a barbecue back at the villa. Must dash!