Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Advice about Cockroaches

On climbing aboard our second train between Villapuram and Trichy we found our places amongst the crowd. Seats numbered 25 to 28 in carriage D12. Every place was taken by fare paying passengers and there were a great number of non-paying passengers as well.Cockroaches.Angie spent the entire 3 hour journey making the minimum contact possible with the seats. The journey went well and was punctuated by the passage of innumerable sellers of coffee, chai, crisps, peanuts, masala sandwiches, samosas and I don't know what else. When we were about half an hour out of Trichy a gentleman asked us where we would be staying. When we told him the name of our proposed hotel he pulled a face and suggested that we think again. It was once owned by a friend of his but he wouldn't stay there because of the, you've guessed it.Cockroaches.We checked into the Femina Hotel which has a splendid foyer and rooms at reasonable prices. The splendour however only extends to the foyer. The rest of the hotel, rooms included, is on the slippery road to decay. We installed ourselves in the room and settled down under the mosquito nets strung from the wardrobe to the bars on the window. A hot night but awaking refreshed, my first job of the day was to kill the, wait for it.Cockroaches.I called this post "Advice about Cockroaches" but I don't really have any. In a country as hot as India, where decay is behind all facades, these companions of humanity are inevitable. You just have to live with them as they have to live with you.

2 comments:

  1. Hello les globetrotteurs

    Les cafard mais pas le cafard !!!
    Ah les plaisirs de l'Inde ..... C'est un pays attachant et pourtant parfois éprouvant .... mais nous aussi on l'aime et on vous comprend !
    Les "cockroaches", ils font partis de ma pire des phobies, cela me rappelle les 20 h de traversée en bateau entre les Célèbes et Flores en Indonésie, j'ai passé une nuit blanche à tuer des cafards avec une claquette (tong), pendant que Philippe & Théo dormaient comme des bébés !
    "You just have to live with them as they live with you" !!!......... Moi qui me croyait tolérante .... là j'ai trouvé une faille !!!!
    Bon, à part ça, ici toujours froid mais avec un beau soleil... donc faites le plein de chaleur, de sourires (ici c'est plutôt "faire la gueule" qui est à la mode), de souvenirs et de photos.
    Pleins de Bizouxxx de PaThéoPhil
    Savourez ce bonheur de découvrir le monde en famille... c'est génial !

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  2. Dear Children,
    "Come home,all is forgiven". Home to clean beds cockroach and mosquito free and good home cooking. Apart from my little joke we look forward to all the blogs and hope you have a wonderful holiday.
    Lots of love,
    Grandma. XXXX

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