Going slow on the Basingstoke Canal

What a delight to go slow on a glorious summer day on a barge down the Basingstoke Canal. The boat trip is one of the public cruises offered by the Basingstoke Canal Society, a registered charity run by a bunch of enthusiastic volunteers. The cruise that we took ran from Colt Hill in Odiham, Hampshire to the Odiham Castle and back, a distance of 1.6 miles as the crow flies but took 2.5 hours on the barge.

For once I did not carry my camera and relied solely on my iPhone 6 Plus. I noticed that I have begun to use my smartphone more and more to capture scenery on my trips - is it laziness or convenience?

Aboard the John Pinkerton II barge

The first thing I noticed was the snail pace; much more fun when I stepped onto the deck to watch the world go by. The Hampshire country side, spread out under an azure blue sky, stretched as far as the eyes could see, a perfect antidote to the stress of modern life.

The second thing was the powerful visual impression made by a traditionally decorated narrow boat - a riot of colours, painted all over the boat in increasingly layers of complexity. In the photo above, a water can sat atop the boat, complete with the boat's name. Such a water can was once used to carry water since in the horse-drawn boat era some canal water was so polluted that it was not suitable for horses to drink from the canal! And so the tradition carries on to this day.

A cantilever bridge that had to be pulled up to allow the boat to pass

The skipper turning round the boat on its return journey

Odiham Castle or King John's Castle

We got off at the Odiham Castle to allow the crew to turn round the boat on its return journey. What remains today is the three storied keep of stone and flint. It was built around 1207 by King John as a hunting lodge while on his journeys from Windsor to Winchester. The King made history when he rode from this castle at Odiham to Runnymede near Windsor, to set his seal on The Magna Carta. 

By far the sight that pleased me most was the profusion of yellow irises on the banks of the river. I love irises. The yellow flowers stand out among the duller weeds and sedges and I was most tempted to collect a few for the home but desisted from plundering the country side.

Bright yellow irises along the river banks

It was nice to travel with my beloved companion again.

A haiku from the Cotswold Canal, a sublime image of summer, dragonflies and lazy days.

What joy to receive

from each towpath dragonfly

its dismissive glance.

Delhi, India - Of Kindness, Chaos and Heat

The Indian people that I met on a recent trip to India had been incredibly kind to me; they were generous with their hospitality, warm and caring for their guests. From the time I was picked up at the airport by the hotel to the time I left, including the time I had to visit a doctor due to heat exhaustion, I was touched by the warmth, hospitality and kindness of those who went out of their way to look after me. 

This bowl of carnations appeared in  my room when the hotel learnt that I was unwell. They offered to call a house doctor but I dilly-dallied in the hope that I would recover, only to find myself being taken to the hospital the next day. Unexpectedly, the waiting time in the hospital was a fraction of that in the Emergency Department in a hospital in the UK. The consultation cost 500 INR, less than £5. I left impressed.

An abiding image of India: garbage, unmade roads and rubble everywhere. I asked why so much litter, and was told that picking up rubbish is a task for the lower caste. Yet within people's own homes, I was reliably told that people are moderately clean. Now check out this funny article at Times of India Clearly the "My Clean India" campaign launched by Narendra Modi the Prime Minister in 2014 hasn't had much effect.

I was expecting to see a lot of cows but only occasionally spotted a skinny one or two. It is incomprehensible for me that cows are left to freely roam in the streets and nibble at the garbage rather than being taken to pasture or left at the cowshed. If something is truly sacred, would you let it roam around at will?

Make no mistake, this auto rickshaw is seriously under loaded; I reckon it can hold up to 16 passengers. Auto rickshaws are here and everywhere, they come at you from all directions, from the front, from the sides; but they add interest because they provide so much human interest in such a small space. If it were not for the heat (40C), I probably would have tried out an auto rickshaw. When in Rome ....

View from the hotel - not exactly a pleasant one but at least no garbage was visible from the 6th floor. In the foreground is the construction of the extension of the rapid metro southwards to Sectors 55 & 56 where the hotel is situated. The skyline in the morning was typically dusty, but thankfully the pollution level wasn't half as bad as Beijing, something of a bonus to a weary traveller.

A clean and modern Indira Ghandi Airport Terminal 3, post immigration and security. There are 5 layers of security: passport and itinerary check at entrance to airport, passport check at check-in, passport check at immigration (long long queue), security past immigration (decided to use fast track), passport check at departure gate. My first impression on arrival was one of poor organization - the information board said baggage carousel no. 11 but the luggage was dispensed from no. 13. 

Sadly I did not get out of Gurgaon and Delhi to experience "Incredible India", but from a country that I had no wishes of setting foot on, I came away from a short visit with incredibly good memories of a people not renowned for their good manners abroad.