Om Beach in Gokarna

That is where we were. We have now moved one beach north, we're renting a hut for 2.50 a night and this one has a concrete floor! What an upgrade. Derek bought us tickets for a night train heading south tomorrow and has told me to figure out what we should do when we get there. More of the same, I imagine. We were lucky to meet up with another traveler (hi Dan) to hang out with for a while. Three months is a long time to hang out with just one person. I asked Derek what we'll be doing when we get back and he just stares at me. Probably not a good sign.

We're both looking forward to going home. I don't know how someone could travel around India for one or two years, hell, even the four months we had originally planned. There's just not that much going on here. It's kind of boring. Can someone keep an interest in temples for that long? Maybe if they were all rat temples.

There are herds of local men on the beaches that wander around asking women in bikinis if they can get a photo with them (there is actually a large sign before the beach telling men not to do that. I am serious), something that happens everywhere here and confuses me. What are you going to do with all these photos of yourself with some white lady you'll never meet again? Are they telling people they slept with her? I can't imagine any other purpose so it always really creeps me out when they ask, though thankfully due to the scantily clad young women here who seem to have missed the cultural sensitivity memo they've been leaving me alone. Except that time I was walking to the hut and a group of about 8 guys stopped and slowly turned to watch as I walked by. I'm wearing a shirt and long board shorts into the water, what the fuck am I supposed to do. It's probably a good thing they keep the beaches so clean, I couldn't find a rock to throw at them and so I flipped them the bird and stormed off.

I'd be really interested in reading some sociology studies on this kind of behavior. What can be done to prevent it, mainly. There are plenty of other patriarchal societies where men aren't so freaking creepy, what's happening here that's so different? I keep thinking about how in Paris I got stuck in a turnstile on the subway with my large bag and a group of men materialized out of nowhere, lifted me and my luggage over, and then disappeared again. If I got stuck in a turnstile in India a group of men would appear out of nowhere and stick their hands up my shirt.