Expectations – Mystery, fantasy and romance at the dangerous ends of the earth

What to consider when considering a tour:

By Karen Abrahamson | March 26, 2019

Recently a friend and I took a tour in India. Now first of all, a disclaimer from me: I am not a tour kind of person. I prefer to travel on my own in most situations, however I have done tours in the past that were some of my most memorable travels for all the right reasons.

The India trip left me and my travel companion thinking that there was more that we should have done to do due diligence before booking the tour. The following list of questions/considerations is intended to help travelers to gather complete information before booking a tour so that you aren’t surprised along the way. These questions are in no particular order.

Is this a tour provided by a large company or a small one-person operation or something in between? Large tour operators are more likely to have many resources on the ground in your destination, but are less likely to have the flexibility to shift itineraries to meet your preferences. Small operators offer flexibility, but also may not have the network and knowledgeable guides that you want.
How many times has the guide led this tour? Is he/she from the country in question? What are the guide’s credentials (e.g. do they have training in the culture/history/natural history and geography of where you are going? In other words can you ask them the name of a local tree is and get an answer instead of a shrug.)
Ask whether the guide usually caters to a particular clientele, such as seniors, women, men, LGBTQ? Consider whether the guide’s experience could conflict with what you expect on a tour. For example, if the tour guide has mainly dealt with Seniors, but you enjoy high levels of physical activity. Be clear about your expectations and make that clear to your guide before the trip.
Does the guide/operator use local guides at certain destinations? When was the last time they were in touch with the local guides? Do they have a backup should the intended local guide not be available? Are the local guides affiliated with an established local company that can be easily contacted?
If you can speak to the tour guide, ask them to tell you about the culture that you’ll be traveling in. Get a sense of whether the guide respects or even likes the local people.
If you can speak to the guide, ask them about visiting a historical site. How will this be handled? Will they:
- shepherd you through like a flock of sheep,
- go in with you and be available for questions and to ensure that you see everything, or
- will they send you in and stay outside to do the newspaper crossword puzzle?

Consider what you want from your guide.

Ask what types of restaurants you will eat in and what meal times will be kept. Will there be three meals a day at regular times, or will it be catch as catch can between breakfast and dinner? Consider your meal requirements and discuss with the tour operator/guide whether they can be accommodated.
What types of transportation will be used? Consider that in less developed countries overnight trains, even in first class sleeper cars, may not provide comfortable sleeping accommodation. If these are very long trips, how will meals be accommodated while on the train?
What types of hotels will you stay in? Will they be in areas where you will feel comfortable going out walking? If not, will the hotel be such that you will be comfortable staying in the hotel? E.g. is there a pool or something else to do and are the rooms clean and large enough to feel comfortable rather than cell-like. Be clear about what you need, because if you expect 5 star and only get 2 or 3 star (or expect 3 star and get one star or no star) accommodation, you won’t be happy. Ask whether the guide has stayed in these hotels before.
Ask what will be done if you arrive at accommodation and it is clearly unacceptable (e.g. the room has bugs.)
Consider how many days are spent in travel versus in individual locations. Is there enough time to see the location and to settle in a hotel, or are you forever going to have bed-head from sleeping on railway cars or buses?
If something falls through – e.g. a location is closed – does the tour have a backup plan for activities?
Before the tour, ask whether there is openness to adjustments to the itinerary. Is the guide willing to research possible changes and present choices to the client? For example, are there alternative ways to accomplish transportation? Do you have to do a round-trip boating trip, that then requires a driver to take you to the next destination, or could the boat actually take you to the next destination instead of returning to its point of origin?
Are there any identified or potential extra costs? For example, would the boat trip to the new destination cost extra? If there is an extra guide for the trip, is there any additional cost for that additional guide? Clarify that all costs are included in the price agreed to at the start of the trip other than the tips for the workers and guide(s).
If the guide is going to make recommendations regarding shops or products, what knowledge does the guide have of that type of shop or product? For example, if recommending a tailor shop, does the guide know enough about sewing to judge whether a bespoke item is well made or even sufficiently finished (e.g. no raw edges inside, not so poorly measured and cut that they have pieced together portions of the garment and tried to hide it?)
Consider past reviews of the guide or contact past users to ask about appropriateness of guide language and conduct such as inappropriate sexual comments, respect for country’s culture, consumption of clients’ alcohol, consuming illegal substances, respect for restaurant/hotel workers, drivers etc.
Ask whether there will be consultation with all clients about changes in itinerary.
Ask for guidance about appropriate tips for the variety of people who will help you along the way, including drivers, hotel staff and subsidiary guides. Gain a sense of whether there will be any suggestion/expectation of patronage (e.g. special support like immigration assistance or money) for guides/workers along the way and whether this is condoned by the company.
Recognize that you will not see everything or do everything that you want to during a tour. There is never enough time.
Be prepared to be exhausted at the end of a tour. A tour excels at cramming a lot into a short time. Don’t expect to be rested, but do expect to your head to be filled with a tremendous number of adventures.

Goin’ Nowhere in Goa

By Karen Abrahamson | January 22, 2019

We’ve been in Goa for three days and I am really not sure what to tell you other than my impressions of the place have all changed. First of all, I have to admit a certain ignorance of Goa. I knew it had been a Portuguese holding (until 1961) and I knew it had a lot of history in the spice trade, first trading with the Arabs, and then, after Vasco de Gama circumnavigated Africa, with the Portuguese and Europeans. I had even realized that Goa was a state in Southern India.

Colva Beach. A haven for sun seekers from around the world, but not peaceful! Photo copyright Karen Abrahamson.

What I didn’t realize was that there is no city named Goa. Instead the main commercial area is called Vasco de Gama, and the heart of the state is a small city called Panaji. There is Old Goa, but it is mainly a park of lawns set amongst the trees filled with –count ‘em—four churches/cathedrals. We wandered Old Goa in the heat of the day amongst too many tourists. I ducked out to go down to the river (I’m not a huge cathedral fan) and then wandered past a lovely old archway that had once been the entry to the Sultan’s Palace before the Portuguese arrived. From Old Goa we visited Panaji which, unlike the cathedrals, is a bustling town where people live and frequent a vibrant market for fish caught from the river and the ocean, vegetables and stacks of fruit and kaju (cashew) vendors who also sell almonds, pistachios and dried fruit. Yum. There are plenty of small market stalls selling everything from the ubiquitous plastic shoe or thong, to caskets and undertaker services.

At the old Panaji market. Photo copyright Karen Abrahamson.

The neighbourhoods are old here and full of cock-eyed streets lined with brightly colored houses. We drove through to a scenic point that wasn’t that scenic and then went back to our hotel. I’d intended to return the next day to photograph the lovely streets, but the next day we decided to avoid the heat and the hour+ drive to Panaji. So instead we arranged to visit a couple of old Goan mansions closer to Colva (the beach town where we were staying.)

Half of the Bragancia Mansion and its gardens. Photo copyright Karen Abrahamson.

Turns out it was a treat. The Bragancia house has to be Olympic sized figure skating rink in length. It has lovely Juliet balconies lining the front and the place, though showing its approximate 250 years of age, is gently being restored by the owners who are direct descendants of the Bragancias. One of the Bragancia sons toured us around a blue painted ballroom and lovely gallery filled with rosewood furniture, chandeliers, paintings and portraits, and a pair of chairs that were a gift from the Portuguese king. There was even a pair of palanquins used to carry the husband and wife when they left the house. The family was Goan, but were wealthy landowners and were actually gifted with a coat of arms from Portugal.

The Bragancia House blue ballroom with the chairs given as gifts by the Portuguese King at the end of the room. Photo copyright Karen Abrahamson.

The second home, the Fernandes House was more run down, but far more fun. Again, the home is still owned by the Fernandes family and the youngest son, Ranjeev toured us around. He had an infectious enthusiasm for his home, that had a similar design to Bragancia though it was about half the size in length. The fun side was Ranjeev pointing out old bullet holes in the walls and taking us through a secret passage that led from a ladies dressing room to the basement and out to the river so the family could escape attack. It was lovely and sad and I donated 500 rupees to help the restoration cause.

From there we visited Chandagahr (sic) hill and the temple at the top. The hazy air prevented any views of the ocean or the old mansions at the foot of the hill, but it was cool and breezy and the sun was setting. Back at the foot of the hill the green rice paddies glimmered between the trees in the amber air.

The other thing I learned about Goa is that I can’t figure it out. I didn’t see any thriving commercial centre like in Chennai or Mysuru. Instead, the 115,000 people of Panaji live sleepily amongst the trees. So did the people around the beach town of Colva and in the city around the main train station. I kept wondering whether Goa was sinking into forest dotage, or just growing out of the jungle foliage. I still haven’t figured it out, but last night driving to the train station I settled on syncretisation. The animistic tribes held Goa first and this was ploughed under by Hindu kings who accepted local practices, but placed their own beliefs above the old religions. The Islamic sultans who destroyed the Hindu empires did much the same, practicing tolerance of Hindu worshipers. And then the Portuguese came and Catholicism. So now Goa is largely a Christian place with cathedrals so frequent you could trip over them though Muslims and Hindus still are here. There are convent schools and places of education dedicated to Jesus etc. so I suppose you could say that Christianity is the latest ‘winner’.

But not totally.

Last night as we rode to the train station alongside the road there was Hindu shrine with garlands draped over the god image and a brass bell that was rung and a small fire to bring light into the world. A hundred feet farther back down the road we’d passed a non-descript stone Christian cross draped in similar floral garlands so that it appears that far older cultural practices are being woven into Goan Christianity today.

Marigold garlands at the Old Goa Basilica. Photo copyright Karen Abrahamson.

Postscript:

My favorite sign from my time in Goa: All Goan Toddy Tappers Association. It doesn’t refer to tap dancing, but to tapping the toddy palms to get the sweetness of their blossoms. From this comes chaggery sugar and a powerful liquer. That was something else I learned about Goa in my short stay and non-exploration—it’s the most liberal minded place about alcohol of any of the places we’ve visited in India.

Sunrise, Salutations and Slow Trains

By Karen Abrahamson | January 19, 2019

Along Hampi’s River. Copyright Karen Abrahamson.

I’m sitting here on the train to Goa from Hampi. The train came from Calcutta and is already three hours late. That’s India. Nothing ever turns out as you expect.

Like the day before yesterday when at the end of the day we visited a hilltop temple that overlooks the Hampi ruins. Hampi is an ancient capital (early 1300s) that is actually mentioned in the epic Ramayana. By the 1600s it held over 500,000 people, but then it was sacked by a confederacy of rival sultanates. The ruins of the city remain today and are spread over 36 square kilometers around other-worldly mounds of boulders that seriously look as if they’re the remains of another, far older, civilization.

To see the sunset we went up beyond the temple’s rear gate where the light was turning pale gold and illuminating the heaps of boulders. We stayed there awhile with a family having a picnic. The light wind filled my face and the ubiquitous Indian haze softened the distance. Standing there, I felt like I could inhale the softness, especially after the music started playing in the temple. We headed back down to the temple and sat down to enjoy the peace. Then an orange-clad priest invited me up into the temple to take a seat and take part of the music. I don’t know quite what I was playing—small metal cups that you clap together in a syncopated rhythm. I was very bad at it, but I was still offered puja and a blessing. An unexpected welcome to Hampi.

View from beyond the temple. Copyright Karen Abrahamson.

On the other hand, yesterday I wanted to take photos of the sunrise over the Hampi ruins. Maybe it was my need to book end the visit—sunrise and sunset—so I was up at 5 am and had a driver arranged to take me to the ruins. We drove to Hampi and he dropped me at the stairs/trail that led up a very tall hill to the optimistically named ‘Sunrise Point’. The stairs were made of huge, uneven, pale slabs of stone that I could barely see through the darkness of pre-dawn. By the time I made it to the top of the stairs I was panting. Then I was faced by a conundrum—carry on, on a wide dusty path, or follow a sign that pointed off the main trail to Sunrise Point. Being Canadian, I followed the sign and found myself on a spider web of trails that led up and over boulders and through the brush. I found another set of stairs leading upward and headed up. And up. Over bounders. Up rough stairs. And up some more until I found a young French girl perched alone on a boulder like a messenger in a Dungeons and Dragons game. Above her was an even bigger boulder with vague indentations chipped into them as stairs.

She said she’d stopped where she was because she was afraid to go further, but more afraid of trying to get down. Looking at those half-formed stairs I totally got what she was saying and decided to stay there to photograph, if not the sunrise, at least the landscape as the sun turned it gold.

The main temple at Hempi in the early light. Still a place of veneration. Copyright Karen Abrahamson.

When the light changed, it seems that her assessment was correct. I headed down the rough stairs until I reached the place where I’d left the brush. Then I struck out on the path back towards my original stairs.

Only to have the path run out.

I retraced my footsteps and took another fork. It ended, too, and so did others so that eventually I had to make a decision: Go back to the second set of stairs if I could find them again (given the first set had mysteriously disappeared,) or get to the base of the mountain and hopefully find a path. I chose the latter and after much battling with cactus and thorn trees, bloodied, sweating and actually wondering what I would do if I fell and broke something, I found the bottom and a well-worn path next to a field of banana trees. That path eventually led me back into ruins where I enquired of a Japanese tour group what direction I should be going. I did find my way back, but I bear the thorn and cactus scars of my adventure.

The path that finally got me free of the sunrise mountain. Copyright Karen Abrahamson.

So the lesson I’ve learned (actually, I should have remembered from my previous visit to this country) is that (for good or bad) in India nothing ever happens the way you expect.

Oh yes, and the train—we lost another three hours on our journey to Goa, arriving six hours late. I guess I should have expected it.