Auroville and Puducherry

Today we drove to Puducherry, aka Pondicherry, a small coastal city that was formerly a French colonial outpost until about 1951. En route we stopped at Auroville for a couple hours to look around. Auroville is a very interesting village where many people from all over the world have been working the past 30 years to form a utopian society. The concept came from a man called Sri Aurobindo who was once a political activist of great renown. He vanished for a spell, then returned to public life as a spiritual teacher. A French woman known simply as Mother came to India and met up with Aurobindo. Together they conceived of a concept of a spiritual community of people of the world intended to be self sufficient in every way, and a model of how people could and work together for a noble, greater goal. They also said the community was to be religion free. The idea being, in my poor description, that religions are not important, but what is important is the divine in everyone and everything. You can read more about Auroville here: http://www.auroville.org/. In the middle of the community is an immense golden golf ball temple like structure. We could not go inside but did see pictures. It looks like a space craft with a huge crystal sphere engine thing in the dead center. The crystal is illuminated with a sunbeam and is said to be quite a beautiful sight. I really recommend looking over the web site http://www.auroville.org/ because it is a truly amazing place. Of course we were not shown by the residents the darker side of Auroville. The property is immense and encompasses several very old villages populated by Indians. I don't know how they acquired these ownerships, but it is quite controversial. The villages continue to have lives of their own, and they actually look quite prosperous, so the value added by Auroville does seem to be considerable.

 

We left our brief stop at Auroville to stop for the day and night in Puducherry. This is a very clean city by Indian standards. There are mostly clear and clean sidewalks and streets that are far safer to walk than anywhere else we have been. The Indian love of chaos was set aside here. Puducherry is also the site of Aurobindo's grave inside a temple. He is revered in eastern Indian, much as Che Guevara is in Latin America, as a first a fierce freedom fighter, then as a modern spiritual teacher. All the factors create an place where tourists and pilgrims travel to from the world over. The result is an interesting and pleasant blend of European and Indian cultures and architectural ideas. Puducherry and Goa, on the west coast of India, are the two main areas where expats from the world come to live cheaply and pleasantly. So far it is the only place in India I have seen where I think I could live, but that is not in the plans!

 

The monsoon rain clouds have come over the city this afternoon. It was sunny and very hot, in the 90's, now it is about 80 and sprinkling a bit. I hope it does not pour, I do not have an umbrella, but if it does it will be a warm rain.

 

Yesterday, in Mammalpuram, we saw the most amazing sight. A young goat's curiosity got the best of him and he wandered out onto the sheer stone face of one of the ancient temple carvings. This was a seriously steep and smooth rock climber's dream/nightmare. The goat skittered all over, sticking to seamless, smooth surfaces as though he had glue on his feet. I finally realized I should be recording a video halfway through this performance and did get a good video. I will be sharing this on youtube as soon as I get home. It is just too much to do from here, now.

 

It is now 6 pm and the sun has set. It is time to begin to wander about looking for a light dinner snack and bottled water for the night.

 

Namaste!

--
Michael & Susan Kuhn
Trip email: indiaadventure2007@gmail.com
Trip blog: www.indiaadventure2007.blogspot.com

Hello from South India.

Hi all,

I thought I could spell the place that we are visiting now, but I cannot. Last night I know Mike wrote, and I did not. I stayed in the hotel room while he went out, and drank beer, and had my third shower. It was a nice shower too. Today we left from there around nine, and took an hour mini bus ride to Auroville, (sp). An experiment in divine  I am sure mike will go into it in detail. It was an interesting place, and I bought a really neat t shirt. Then we came here. I think it is spelled Pondicheri, or something like that. The French thought they owned it, but the Indians really did, and they kicked the French out. It still has remnants of Frenchness. A nice little town. Saw some cool temples, and walked along the Bay of Bengal shore for a while. It was very pleasant there. A nice cool breeze. I think Mike is taking to the heat better then I am. I feel extremely fatigued. But I keep on trekking.

We had a great South Indian lunch. I ate with my hands, and drank this delicious Masala chai. Our guide then took us on a walking tour. He is very nice, very nice and smart young man, about Landon's age. He is not married, and says he has no girl friend.

 

The others in the tour are going to a French restaurant for dinner tonight. We will not go. We had a big lunch, and will find something light for dinner. I want another chai. I had been reading about it, and heard that it becomes addictive. I think it is true. It is sooo good. We will make some for you when we return.

 

It is almost 6pm here, and just about dark, We thought it was going to rain but it seemed to pass us by. Which is good. There has been too much rain here, and the streets are very bad in lots of places.

 

There are a number of people waiting to use the computer. I feel like I am done writing, but am sure Mike is still going at it. I guess it will do something else. Hope all is well.

 

Oh, tomorrow is another big traveling day. We are on the road at seven, for a two hour or so bus ride, and then a five hour train ride. India is so huge it takes a long time to get from one place to the other.

 

Oh yeah, the over night train ride was a snap. Thanks to restoril. I did not even wake up to go to the bathroom during the night. When I woke up in the morning, there were two more people sleeping with us, and I did not even here them get on. It was clean, and we had sheets, pillow and a blanket.We will have one more over night train ride in the north.

Ok that is all for now....

Susan

 

 

 

Mamallapuram

Last night we spent the entire night travelling by sleeper car on a train from Mysore to Chennai. The train car was very similar to the one we used before, but much cleaner. (Much cleaner by Indian standards is still far from what you would consider clean!) The car was full. There are a series of benches on one side of the car, and single seats on the other. About 9 pm you lift the seat back and hang it from a chain so that it makes a bunk bed. There is also one above that, so there are stacks of 3 bunks down the length of the car. I would guess there are about 60 or 70 bunks per car. Every bunk was filled and there is zero privacy. You carry your luggage with you. It is not checked. Everyone tries their best to tuck it under the bottom bunks, but some ends up floating about. Many people are fearful of their luggage being stolen in the night and secure it with a chain and lock to where ever they can near their bunk. There was no partying or noise in our car. It was very quiet and everyone respectful of the others on the car. We both slept very well with the help of a Restoril pill. The worst part of the ride is the toilets are Asian squat pots that reek like the worst outhouse you have been in. At least you can leave them ASAP.

 

On the train we talked to Provin, our guide, about his family. He has one brother, older, who is highly trained to teach, promote, and certify organic and sustainable agriculture practices. He works for various NGO's doing this all over India. He has been able to help raise  the standard of  living in several communities and made them self sufficient, too. Provin and his brother have also purchased land in Darjeeling where they will eventually grow organic tea and oranges.

 

We arrived about 7 am in Chennai, a large city on the Bay of Bengal, the east coast of India. There we transferred as fast as possible to a van to immediately leave the city. We were in a hurry in order to beat the worst of the morning rush hour. The traffic was as insane as any Indian traffic can be, which can only be imagined as a real world action packed computer game like experience. While waiting for the van to leave I noticed a steady stream of hundreds of people walking in one direction into town. I think they were commuting to work by foot. There were so many of them they would almost warrant their own traffic reports on the radio.

 

The trip to Mamallapuram was a pleasant drive near the ocean, but for the most part not in sight. there were quite a few gated enclaves along the way with very new and fancy looking homes. They were small by our standards, perhaps 1500 square feet or so, but only affordable by the most prosperous Indians or the expat folks. Chennai must have a substantial IT economy. I saw two Tata employee transport buses carrying folks to work.

 

Mamallapuram is known for its amazing temples built in about 700 AD. We visited several of them. The area has immense granite formations of solid rock somehow worn smooth as though it had been under a river at some time long past. Several of the temples were carved into these huge rocks. One complex of about 4 temples and several animal statues was all carved from one single stone. Many were in very good condition, but the ones nearest the beach were worn from sand, water, and salt. This town was submerged by the big tsunami of SE Asia a few years ago. At the time when the tide went far out a series of additional carved temples were revealed. These have been since inspected with underwater archeology and found to be in very poor condition.

 

Later we browsed around the shops where we looked mostly at stone carvings. The stone carving art that was used centuries ago to build the temples is still an important part of the local economy. Most of the carvings are large granite and marble statues of Asian religious icons. These are shipped all over Asia for use in hotels, government buildings, parks, etc. They also make a few small carvings the tourists might carry home. I was sorely tempted to buy a really nice Ganesh, the Hindu elephant god statue, but better sense finally took hold and I did not. We already have too many dust collectors around the house and I have another special souvenir in mind to buy in northern India later next month.

 

The weather today was, for India, outstanding. It was cloudy all day with a hint of possible rain, but the normal weather would have been blazing hot sun and high humidity. That is what is expected for tomorrow when we will be heading south for an hour and a half drive to Auroville and Pondicherry. I hope to have a good report about those places. Auroville is known as one of the world's largest utopian communities populated with people from everywhere in the world, and Pondicherry is known as one of India's best expat communities. Both places are controversial with the Indians who don't seem too sure if they like the foreigners or not.

 

We have both been thoroughly enjoying the spicy and delicious Indian food. Perhaps too much so. Susan keeps asking for food that is not spicy. She has not been bothered with it being too hot, but when I tried hers, and she tried mine that I ordered very spicy we found they were the same. While she won't admit it, she too has become a fiery food connoisseur.

 

Neither of us has had the least bit of stomach illness. That is very surprising because it is 100% impossible to maintain a decent standard of hygiene. India is by a good bit the dirtiest place on earth. It is even worse than Tanzania, I think, and that was ghastly. Regardless, my body and mind are adjusting. I just looked around in the internet shop I am in. Until I looked I did not even notice how every surface is caked with grime

Tonight we are having a relaxed evening of doing not much of anything more important than swatting the pervasive mosquitoes. I am doused in DEET, but a few of them don't care and land for dinner anyway.

 

Onward!!!


 

Time travelling

We have one last high tech moment in Mysore. What a day today! The weather was finally nearly perfect. Dry and not hot. This morning we had a long ride into the country to visit an old Hindu temple. Along the way we went back in time several centuries. We travelled along rutted muddy streets through rough villages where people were still working the land and shops the way they have been for a very long time. I managed to get plenty of pictures, but you will have to wait to see them. It is way too difficult to put them online from here. (For example, I typed the last two sentences entirely without seeing them. When they finally pop up I have to go back and fix the typos, which then take a long time to show up.)

 

We finally arrived at an ancient temple that looked very much like Angkor Wat temples of Cambodia. There is a connection. Then Hindus migrated to there and their religion slowly became that of the Khmers. This temple was built in the 1200's AD. It gradually became mostly buried in soil which hid most of it from complete ruin. The details of the carving in the stone of every surface was still quite visible in many places. It was, in a word, stunning.

 

On the way back to Mysore we stopped at the home of a friend of our guide where we were served an excellent halal Muslim lunch. There the Indian culinary connection to the mid-east became clear. Much of what we commonly think of as Indian food has its origins in the food brought here by the Arab Muslims who have been here for centuries.

 

This afternoon Susan and I wandered around the Indian markets. We bought a little incense from a very pushy, but well mannered vendor who showed us how incense is made by hand. That was followed by a Starbuck's break. There is nothing like an iced coffee Americano for a break from the Indian markets. Actually we went into the Modern Cafe in an old English hotel where the help and the clients have all been replaced with Indians. It was another time machine experience. It looked and felt like what I guess it did 75 years ago, well preserved, but aged without pretense.

 

I am finally getting somewhat used to being here. The dry weather certainly has a lot to do with it. Wading through mud and trying to avoid being squashed by traffic from the wrong direction did take some of the fun out of some situations.

 

Tonight is the overnight train to Chennai. We arrive there about 7 am tomorrow and immediately transfer to a van for another 3 hours ride to Mamallapuram. There we will have an easy day of sightseeing around the ancient small village on the coast of the Bay of Bengal.

 

I realized that the stinky, muddy villages are likely similar to the old settlements of the US where there was not a sewer system, or pavement, and humans and animals discarded all their waste into the commons.

 

It is now time to head back to get ready for the train ride.

 

Namste.

--
Michael & Susan Kuhn
Trip email: indiaadventure2007@gmail.com
Trip blog: www.indiaadventure2007.blogspot.com

Hi again from Mysore, again.

Still here in Mysore.We will be leaving in about three hours, on an overnight train to somewhere else. I don't have any names with me now, so I can't tell you exactly where we are headed. Except that it is a long ways away, 11 hours by train, and then a three hour trip in a mini bus. And it is going to be very hot, even hotter, where we are going. In a couple of days we will be in the jungle, wearing special jungle socks so the leaches don't get us. But more of that later, after it actually happens.

I slept very lousy last night. But great dreams, maybe it is the malarial pills. It was very hot in our room, we did not get AC. Had to pay extra for it, and it was not in our budget. We did have a good fan over head, and that was fine. About three am the power went off, as it has every night since we have been here, for about one and a half hours. It was even hotter. At least we had an open window, and it was not too noisy out side at that time of the morning.

 

We took about an hour and a half mini bus trip to a non working (worshiping) temple (Hindu). It was very interesting, I must say. It is not used for worshiping any more, because once it has been destroyed in any way it is no longer Divine, and they can not worship in it. At some point, more then once, the Moslems came and destroyed part of it, and after that it went into ruin. It is 7 hundred years old, or so. It looks something like Angkor Wat.

Then we stopped at this family's house (he works for Intrepid) and had a delicious lunch. We ate a lot, and then left. Came back to Mysore and Mike and I have been walking around since then (about 2pm, it is now five-fifteen.) We did get out of the chaos for a while, with a good cup of coffee. There are no Starbucks to be found. Probably in Delhi. We went to a veg. market, though they had a lot more then vegies. This area is known for its Sandalwood, so we bought some Sandal wood incense. It is very nice. We watched how they make it. The guy that sold it to us, tried and tried to get us to buy oils as well, but we resisted. He looks a lot like Prince. Now we are here typing, and then we will get some goodies, and water, and head back to the hotel, to get the mini bus that will take us to the train.

I think I am tired enough to sleep on the train. I hope so.

Hope all is well... till next time.

Susan

--
Susan Kuhn
Trip email: susanindia2007@gmail.com
Trip blog: www.indiaadventure2007.blogspot.com

Mysore

If you are a fan of incense then you have seen the word "Mysore" on almost every box of Indian incense. It is not the word for what happens to your feet after a week of mucking around sockless in sandals in India. It is actually a large city near Bangalore, which anyone in the computer business would recognize as where 90% of all calls centers of the world live. We are in Mysore. And my feet also have mysore growing on them, too.

 

We left Ooty a two days ago. Ooty was just as nasty when we left as when we arrived. Have you ever seen a US western movie where the streets run with mud and the horses and carts and people just go about their business in and through it? That was just about exactly what Ooty in the rain is like. And it is populated with real honest to goodness Indians, too! And horses and carts. What they gracefully omit from those westerns is the amazing stink. You see, all that water flowing down the streets is not just pure rain fresh water. It is also the overflow of what passes as a sewer system, too. In every city we have been in the sewers lie right below the sidewalks. The sidewalks are literally just a series of concrete planks that bridge over the water below. In many cases the planks have large voids or are missing entirely. It is essential to watch your step most carefully. Now, in Mysore, we have walked a couple miles and found these folks have taken a large step into the future - there are not any visible sewers under the sidewalks. In fact, they have fairly decent sidewalks where one must only watch out for beggars, vendors, dogs, beggars, post card vendors, beggars, wires, lamp posts, beggars, and... uh... a lot of stuff that looks a lot like shit. Certainly it must be something else.

 

Yesterday we spent the day and night at a jungle lodge. It was a popular place for wealthy young Indians to share quality time together with a lot of US rock and plenty of alcoholic beverages. The foreigners were less adventurous and took off in jeeps that love to honk and drive crazy. We spent time looking for wild animals and found some, too. Somehow the drivers can see animals way off the road, talk on their cell phones, avoid hitting each other on the single lane road, and tell their passengers what to see and where. We saw several wild elephants. One of which had killed people as recently as last week. There were some Indians off their motorbikes taunting it until our driver gave them hell. We saw some drunk Indians having a fist fight on the road. We stopped at an elephant training camp where they take on orphaned babies. There was one there only a few months old. It was about 3 feet high and like all babies, very cute. It was rolling around on the ground, going up to people for petting, and sniffing them in embarrassing places with its trunk. There were also a lot of monkeys about. The tourists love to see them, but the guides and locals treat them like common pests, which they are around here. The highlight was a sighting of a leopard. This is apparently a rare sighting. It was lounging on a dead tree about 100 yards away. It was one huge cat. I took a lot of pictures to prove my claim, but none of them are terribly good and you might think it was actually a disney animation.

 

We went to bed fairly early and had to complain to the management about our neighbors loud stereo and obviously drunken party in the dorm room next door. Our room was a dorm room our entire group shared. It was quite comfortable, and with ear plugs and a sleeping pill I was asleep before anyone. Susan said I snored quite loudly, but no one complained today, so she may have exaggerated.

 

This morning we arose before 6 am to head into the jungle for a 2 hour sunrise walk. Only Susan and I went on the walk. The others said they had to sleep in due to being tired from some night noise that I was unaware of from sleeping so soundly. It was a very nice morning for a wilderness walk. We walked on a mostly low shrubby hilly area for a few miles. Eventually one guide spotted something - a pack of wild dogs eating a killed deer. We were about 50 yards away and were able to watch them for about 10 minutes before they saw us. Calling them dogs was generous. They were huge beasts with big bushy tails and stout heads like hyenas. When we were spotted one started growling and barking the strangest noise was indescribable staccato noises. I would have been nervous had the guides not been there and not too concerned. When the dogs left we even tried to follow them a few minutes, but they were long gone.

 

We returned to a late breakfast and then hit the road to Mysore. That trip was uneventful. I am even getting used to seeing my life history flash before my eyes several times a minute. I have had a couple close call maneuvers in my history of driving, neither of which is remotely like the ordinary way everyone here drives all the time. It is incredible there are not a lot more accidents. Perhaps the way drivers here manage is their awareness is so much more intensely on the road conditions than ours is.

 

After arriving in Mysore we checked into the nicest hotel we have stayed in. Then we walked to the Mysore Palace where the local king lived until about 1950 when the new government kicked him out and turned the palace into a museum. It was a very impressive building. We only saw a tiny bit of it. Most of it is closed off and it would take days to see it all. We were going to go see it lit in its weekly illumination ceremony, but after dinner found it was again raining. Rather than endure a mile's walk of drizzle, I decided to inflict a hour's worth of drivel on you.

 

There may be no reports for a couple days. Tomorrow night we are spending the entire night riding a night train to Chennai, formerly known as Madras. That should be a heck of a lot of fun, or something.

 

Susan just pointed out there are lizards crawling on the walls in this internet shop.

 

Thanks for reading, and namaste!

--
Michael & Susan Kuhn
Trip email: indiaadventure2007@gmail.com
Trip blog: www.indiaadventure2007.blogspot.com

Hi from Mysore

Hello everyone,

I just had to ask Mike where we were! I am very tired, and I forgot. It is very hot in this little cubicle. The fan is going, and it is a monsoon out side. We have had rain everyday, or every evening. The Monsoon season has not ended. It was supposed to have, that is why we came at this time. Well, anyway, it is wet, wet, wet out there. I am glad I brought my little travel umbrella. It has not blown away yet.

 

Early this morning, at six, Mike and I were the only ones to go on a jungle walk. It was fun. But sleeping in would have been fun too. Yesterday we were in the jungle, stayed at a very nice "retreat." Even had a beer, which, though warm, tasted very good. We saw a pack of wild dogs just after hunting. They were eating something red and bony. Yum. They were the only wild things we saw then.

 

Last night we went on a jeep safari. We saw a Leopard, lots of elephants, bison, deer. It was in an open jeep, but it started to rain so we had to close it. The rain is warm, so it is not bad walking in it, in fact it is fun.

Our whole group stayed in a dorm last night, which turned out to be fine. Everyone went to bed at a decent time, though we were the first to arise. I am sure Mike is writing in more detail about it.

I wish we could have stayed in the jungle another day. I am not much of a city girl, at least not these cities. (And I have been told, "just wait till you get to Delhi!"

 

So, then, today, after our hike, and a good breakfast, down we came from the mountain. We came down another way, and it wasn't raining, so it was not quite as scarry, though I praised the lord a few times. We got to our hotel, in one piece, put our luggage away, then off to the palace, that Mysore is so famous for. It is beautiful, to say the least. But... there were soooo many people, that it was impossible to hear what our guide was saying, and to even see some of the things on display. Maybe because it is Sunday there were so many people, or maybe there always are. It was very hot, and stuffy, and everyone pushing. We just have to learn to push harder. I am glad we saw it it.l We were supposed to go back tonight to see it illuminated, but Mike and I opted out, to come here, and then get to bed early.

 

Tomorrow we go to a small village, where there is a temple we will investigate. After that most of the day is free. Except that we are going to some one's home for a special Indian meal. Then the afternoon will be free. There are a number of possibilities that we might do. And THEN.....oh dread... is the overnight train to Chennai (formally Madras). We will be on it for a "scheduled" 11 hours. In India, it could be a lot longer. Though I sure hope not. I know where we will be sleeping, saw it last time we rode the train, it looks most uncomfortable, and roaches abound. I was hoping for at least an air conditioned sleeper, but no such luck with Intrepid Travels! Maybe it won't be as bad as I imagine. After that I am not sure what is happening, I think we will stay in a hotel... hope so.

 

Our hotel this evening, is quite nice, though no AC. I don't think we will really need it though. our window opens, and there is a fan above our bed. Hot, and cold running water too. Boy, when I think what we all take for granted! One takes nothing for granted here.

 

I am aching for a hot shower, and sleep... I also am aching for something sweet! I will have to find something. There are lots of cookies around. And bottled water. We have to buy that at least twice daily.

We have to be packed up, and out of our room tomorrow at 9 am. I wish we could have stayed in the jungle another day....

 

I am going to end for another day. Don't know if we will be writing tomorrow, though we should have plenty of time, maybe just nothing to say.

Hope everyone back home is doing well.. stay healthy...

Susan


@gmail.com
Trip blog: www.indiaadventure2007.blogspot.com

Ooty

We are now in a town established by the Brits as a vacation hill station. The Brits are long gone and the Indians have remodeled into their kind of hyper-gritty manic paradises.

We left Kochin on a train. We rode in a mid grade car. It was substantially better than riding a cattle car. I think, as I have not ridden in a cattle car, but feel confident in saying so. It traveled in a tropical area of forests, rice paddys, banana farms, and many more gritty towns. We transferred to a van in a town I don't recall. From there we headed for the hills. The sky was cloudy and obscured the tops of some fantastically rugged mountains. The ride was harrowing. Indians are literally all over the road. Flashing lights and blaring horns seem to make it all ok. Many times we were on the wrong side (the right) passing every kind of vehicle from ox cart to bicycle to motorbike to trucks to busses. At one point I looked up to see a large bus heading straight at us and no where for it to pull over. It flashed its lights and honked, but we had no where to go either. Neither driver was willing to concede an inch. Everyone in our van was gasping "Oh my god!" At the last second the bus careened back into its own lane. It listed and toppled over right onto us. We all died instantly. Actually, it listed, but did not fall over. Fooled you, didn't I? Ha Ha Ha. I am getting an Indian sense of humor.

That was not the end of it. There were 2 1/2 more hours of this to go and it got better. The road narrowed and started to climb a serious grade. It was very narrow, often with room for only one lane. That did not slow anyone down much. With enough blaring of the horn you can do anything. It was very hard to believe any place could have so much traffic - busses, cars, trucks - endless streams of them going up and down the narrow hairpin turns. Adding to the interest was a rather constant rain and frequent pea soup fogs. The mountainsides were covered in dense cloud forest. Monkeys sat along the roadside watching traffic go by. At last we arrived at our hotel about an hour past dark.

Our hotel is the Ratan Tata Officers Resort, or something like that. It is an old British officer's retreat. It is a prize antique building that does not look like it has had many improvements, or maintenance since the Brits left in 1949. There is no heat and it is cold here. When we arrived it was raining and we were rather fed up with the road so did not leave for dinner. Instead we washed out dirty clothing in buckets in the bathroom. That was rewarding because the clothing was crusted from the train ride and splashing through most forms of stinky road debris that are common in India.

This morning we arose to a partly cloudy blue sky. Nice! We walked around the grounds of the hotel and admired the view which included a large pile of rubbish left by decades of cleaning up after hotel guests. I read that this town used to be very charming. That most certainly could be true.

We then headed to the train station for the scenic hour long ride along scenic hillsides above farms and villages to where we would visit a tea farm and factory. It was very nice in how it was described. We missed most, or maybe all of the views due to very thick fog and rain. There were some nice breaths of fresh mountain air when the black diesel smoke went away from the train.

The tea farm was interesting. We saw how Indian tea is grown and prepared for sale. We found out how guests are given small samples of the tea as it goes through the many processes and how after sticking your tongue into it for a taste you must not waste the surplus and so toss it back into the bin you took it from. Now you know why tea is boiled before use. It just tastes better that way.

The van took us all back to Ooty proper. It was still raining off and on. The weather was very much like a Portland spring with cool temperature, fog, and rain. It was a lot like home. The English women thought so, too.

This afternoon we had a very good lunch of Indian food which is one of the local specialties. 7 of us shared a table. We had about 10 people serving us. This may have been due to the Brits with us, or the great expense we were undertaking with about $4 per person on the bill.

After lunch Susan and I took off looking for an Indian tunic for her. She had found one she liked in Kochin, but wanted another one. We could not find a ready made to fit so one shop sold her the fabric to have two custom tailored for her. The silk fabric was about $10 and the tailoring about $2. The whole job will be done in about 1 1/2 hours. I have never had a tailor made anything. It must be nice.

Now we are both writing email to you from one of the fairly rare internet shops. We tried to do so earlier, but every one of them had lost their net connection. The computer I am using is difficult. It is obviously very virus infested and their effects are intrusive every minute or so.

Tomorrow we head out of Ooty. The destination is Masinaguti
National Park where we will have a day safari. I doubt there will be any internet there so the next contact will be a day or two later from Mysore, a city near Bangalore.

Some of you may be questioning our sanity taking a vacation like this. It is a reasonable question I have asked myself, too. No matter, it is not boring. That is for sure.

Namaste.
--
Michael & Susan Kuhn
Trip email: indiaadventure2007@gmail.com
Trip blog: www.indiaadventure2007.blogspot.com

Hello from Ooty.

hi everyone,
Ahh, it feels good to sit down, and get away from the chaos that is India. Seems like any where we are there are billions of people. I know that is a bit of an exaggeration, as India's pop. is "only" about 1.2-6 billion. Way too many people.
We have to wait in down town Ooty until about  five. I am having a couple of tops made (cotton) for the grand total of about 11$. I found some material I liked, and then went ahead with the measurements. It is hard to find anything ready made for me here. (Unless I go into a dept. store). The Indian women are pretty small. We are looking for a coffee shop, actually a tea shop. We have both fallen in love with Masala Chai. It is Indian tea with a number of spices thrown in, milk, water, and sugar if you want, all boiled. It is soo... good. We went to a tea plantation this morning, and tasted the tea they made there. It is a very different process then how they do it in China. I think I am rambling a bit, oh well, blame it on the weather. It is wet, and cold here, just like Oregon. Though tomorrow we head back to the low lands where it is sure to be warmer. We are at a "Hill Station." Supposed to be where they founded snookers. It is around seven thousand feet. It has been raining off and on, and is quite chilly. Luckily we came prepared, we both have fleece, and gortex. We took the "toy train" a little ways this morning. It is supposed to offer beautiful scenery, but the fog was so thick we could see absolutely nothing.  The reason it is called a toy train, you must refer to Mike's post. I am sure he will explain it.


then we came back to town here, and had a good lunch, and then our guide left us, and we are walking around. We tried to do Internet earlier, but there was no power in town. This seems to be a common occurrence. So far it has not remained off for very long. The lights just flickered.

To get here we took about a six-seven hour train ride. Oh boy was that grimy. The train was relatively clean by Indian standards, I guess, but it was pretty bad. I tried not to use the toilet, but I had to give in. And to my pleasant surprise it was not bad. The railway stations are just like I have read about. Tons of people, going every which way, goats, cows, music blaring, and lots of people staring at you, and a few coming up to talk to you. Always men. I am not looking forward to the two overnight train rides we have coming up. One down here inS. India, and then another up north. I guess we just get sleeper class, which is bare minimum. I am glad we brought along our silk liners that Larry brought to us from Vietnam.  The over night ones, are "only" eleven hours, so hopefully it will not be too bad.

After the train ride, we had quite an exciting three hour van ride up to Ooty, this hill station. It was damn scary, but after a while l sort of got used to it, and st oped gasping, and closing my eyes, at every hairpin turn, on the wrong side of the road, with a big bus heading for us. At one point, the whole bus gasped in unison. After that, one of the Spanish ladies asked our guide, Provin, to say something so that we would feel safe. He did say something, but I am not sure any of us felt any safer. This is crazy driving, worse then Peru, worse then Spain, or anywhere else. Our guide said that this kind of driving had relatively low mortality rates, because everyone was going slow, and being careful, whereas they do the same kind of driving, on the freeway, at higher speeds. I can't wait (yes I can) to see that.

Our hotel room is quite rustic. We have a queen sized bed, very, very hard, and lots of wool blankets. The bathroom is huge. There is a shower head, and you just stand under it, and turn on the water. No enclosure of any kind. But it does have a flush toilet, and toilet paper. We stay there one more night, and then we are off again to a jungle retreat in Masinagudi. Hopefully, we will see some elephants, and birds.

So far India is pretty much what I expected. Chaotic to the max. Thus far, I feel the need to escape street life pretty quickly. After walking around for an hour or so, I am more than frazzled.And we have not even reached a big city yet. It is nice to be able to step inside an Internet cafe, or coffee house. I am sure Delhi will be over the top, but maybe I will be more used to it by then. I hope so. I am glad I read what I did, and I read a lot, so that I was not so totally shocked.

Not sure how much of a "retreat" we are going to. Not even sure how we are getting there, but I can tell you, that I am not looking forward to the trip down this "hill."

Hope everyone is well...
Susan


--
Susan Kuhn
Trip email: susanindia2007@gmail.com
Trip blog: www.indiaadventure2007.blogspot.com

Fort Kochi

Yesterday afternoon the fatigue became overwhelming. We both lay down for a short power nap about 2 pm and woke up half past 5. Our initial group meeting was in 30 minutes and so it was a bit of a hurry to get cleaned up and ready. At the meeting we met our leader, a Nepali man named Pravin. A very nice fellow who has been a tour leader for 8 years - a very long time in that work. We are also traveling with 4 Spanish women, only one of which speaks any English and has to translate to the others, an Australian man, and 3 young women from England. They all seemed like good travel companions for the next couple weeks.

After an excellent night's sleep it seemed we have finally adjusted. I feel just about as I should for this time of day. Susan's cold seems to be 90% better, too. So far we have no trace of food borne illness. I have even tempted fate by using tap water to brush my teeth. I did run it through our very nifty portable water sterilizer first.

Right now I am writing you from an island just off the coast of Kochi. It is called Fort Kochi, but we have not seen what may have been a fort. It is MUCH nicer than the city insanity in Kochi proper. (Kochi? or Cochi? It is spelled either way.) We have been here most of the day wandering around old churches, temples, and ancient streets. We saw the grave of Vasco de Gama, who died here. Our guide kept saying it was Marco Polo and was a bit embarrassed to be wrong. It is very much like Zanzibar here. There is little traffic, the coast is right along the town. There are fishers working the water, but not catching much. Many touts try to sell us their wares, but thankfully they are not terribly persistent and leave if ignored. I just had a firey hot chicken stew on naan bread. It was wonderful. Susan had a sandwich that she said was good. We ate with two of the women from England - one is 18 and the other is late 20's, I guess. They are a bit shy, but did share some of their stories from the visit to the north of India, where we will be going in a couple weeks. They said it is even more intense there, and almost like an entirely different country.

It is a bit difficult to get pictures online here, but I will get a few here: http://picasaweb.google.com/indiaadventure2007/SingaporeAndArrivalInIndia

I don't think that the link will work for you. This is a very slow connection and I cannot wait for it to finish collecting pictures.

This evening we are going to attend a traditional regional dance performance. Tomorrow we are on the road. I am not sure when or where we are headed so there may not be any reports for a while.

I forgot to mention the incredibly smart cockroaches. We were walking down the sidewalk along the water. You could not see the bugs as you walked, but as soon as your foot came down they miraculously skittered away from you. They also have tiny little skitter bugs on everything. They don't seem to bother anything and when you put your finger near them they all run away in a frenzy like little animated specks of pepper.

Namaste!

--
Michael & Susan Kuhn
Trip email: indiaadventure2007@gmail.com
Trip blog: www.indiaadventure2007.blogspot.com

Hi everyone,
Here I am, somewhere in S. India. Mike has all the names ofl the places we have gone today. This island, (where Jew Town is) is very pleasant. It is very hot, and very humid. I want a shower and an air conditioned room. We just ate lunch, with two of our new friends, both from Leeds, England. One is 18, and the other is about 22. They are very nice young women. They are on their way back to Jew Town to buy some tunics, which I have to do too.
This here is a very, very old settlement. there are a few Jews left in Jew town, but when Israel opened, most of them went back there. Our guide said there are one or two families left.
I had a chicken sandwhich for lunch. I am trying to be very careful what I eat. However right before that, Mike and I both had a coconut opened for us, and I used a straw to drink from. We shall see.
We took a ferry ride to get here, The one we rode on was not very crowded, but they are the kind you hear about sinking, and all aboard lost to see. Not a pleasant thought!
Our group is nice. Two from England that I mentioned. Four women from Spain, Barcelona and Madrid. One of them speaks a little English, the others not. Manuela is trying to translate for them, but our guide does not give her much time. We are wondering why they booked an English speaking tour. I am assisting when I can, and I have actually managed to help out a bit. Then there is a young man from Australia. I forgot, a third woman from England, forgot where, she is a lawyer and in between jobs. That rounds out our S. India group.
We will soon be getting a ferry to go back to the "mainland." We have a tradition Kerela dance to go to tonight.
Stay well, all, until next time.

--
Susan Kuhn
Trip email: susanindia2007@gmail.com
Trip blog: www.indiaadventure2007.blogspot.com

hot cha cha

It is so bloody hot here! It must be about 90 degrees and 90% humid. Here? We are in Cochin, India. We arrived late last night. When we checked into the flight gate the employee took a double take on us. "Cochin?" "yes" "Are you sure?" "yes" Hmmm. There were only a few pale white faces in the jet. Most were dark skinned men, all with full heads of thick hair. (I wonder if the oil they use would work for me.) When I walked back to the head, every pair of eyes took me in with an expression of... what I am not sure. Bewilderment? A Japanese man sitting next to me truly enjoyed the endless free drinks. On about his 6th one he dumped it into his lap. Shortly afterward he passed out. Susan had to climb over him to get to the toilet.

 

The ride into the city was interesting. It was raining. The street was sometimes 2 lanes, sometimes 4. The driver used whatever one he liked best, sometimes heading straight for an oncoming vehicle until the last moment. I dug around into the filthy crevice behind the seat to find the brand new, unused seat belt for each of us. The road surface changed frequently and was always rutty and rotten. Somehow in the dark rain the driver knew where every pot hole was and avoided them. Most of the way was through grizzly neighborhoods of open garage pool halls, and other late night entertainments. We eventually entered an urban area and soon stopped at our hotel.

 

The hotel is quite clean, but not like anything we are used to in the US. The room is clean and the beds firm. Very firm. They are literally 2 inch pads on wood frames. The shower has two temperatures - cool and 2 degrees above cool. The ambient air is so warm that it does not really matter.

 

Today we scouted about the neighborhood and met our guide. He is a nice Indian man, perhaps 35 years old. Pravin is his name, I think. He said we would enjoy walking around and that everywhere is perfectly safe. That is good to know. Susan bought an Indian outfit with long sleeves. As hot as it is that is needed for various temple visits. I just watched her, and had a coolish soda.

 

That is the report for now. I am really tired and have to go have a bit of a nap.

 

Namaste.

--
Michael & Susan Kuhn
Trip email: indiaadventure2007@gmail.com
Trip blog: www.indiaadventure2007.blogspot.com

Hi from Cochin

Ok then, here we are, it is Tuesday, the 23 of October. I still feel like it is back on Sunday or Saturday. The stay in Singapore was long, but kind of interesting. That is some city. And they have miles and miles of reclaimed land that has been built upon. I asked one of guides what would happen when the water level started rising. She looked at me like I was crazy and said it would never happen. The guy behind me said "global warming, yes." I did not say anything else. we walked around Singapore a bit, took two city tours, and we ate couple of good meals.

Then it was time to board the plane for Cochin, we were all waiting in the waiting area, and they called loading for Cochin, so mike and I moved forward, and the lady said "I said Cochin." I said yes, she said the name again, and I said yes again. She looked at us like we were nuts. It was a four hour ride from Singapore to Cochin, and after eating a very light meal, a beer, I feel into a pretty good sleep for the remainder of the time.The lights came on and we were here. We got to the hotel without incident around eleven or so, Monday night. we checked in, had a shower, did our laundry. I took a sleeping pill, and about two seconds later, I was gone. When I left, Mike was writing in his journal. He said he did not last too long.

 

The bed is as  hard a a rock, the room is nice and cool and clean, though we had no hot water for the shower. oh well. Got up this morning about 10. I woke at 8 but Mike was not ready to get up. We went down and had breakfast, which had lots of nice fresh fruit. Even the coffee was good.

Then back to the room where gravity got the better of us again, for a short time, and THEN we met our guide. He was hanging out in the hotel loby. A nice  young man. We set off to wonder the streets. I bought an Indian outfit, one I could even wear in Portland. It is sooooo hot here. I would say it is in the 90's and the humididty must be just as high. It is very tiring. We went off in search of a temple, but gave up, too hot. Cochin is a very noisy, dirty, smelly city. The only thing that is reallyn pretty our the women's outfits. They are very colorful. Everyone is very friendly. we went into a department store, and everyone, well not everyone, but lots of the sales women wanted to know our names and where we were from, and so forth. We were told this would happen. Are few beggers are out, but not like I expected. I am sure there will be more in Delhi. This town looks pretty much like the other developing cities we have been in. Tomorrow we will see with the group, more that it has to offer, because there is more. Our guide just told us not to go there today, because we will be going tomorrow.

 

Water is cheap, the bottled stuff. That is good, because I will be drinking a lot of it. I think I am going to go back to the hotel now, and get a shower. There are people waiting to use this computer. I hope everyone is doing well. Will write again, soon.

From Susan, Cochin, India.
--
Susan Kuhn
Trip email: susanindia2007@gmail.com
Trip blog: www.indiaadventure2007.blogspot.com

travel tip 64 1/2

Live, learn, forget, learn again. Today I relearned the lesson to double check travel garments to be CERTAIN there are no holes or holes pending in the pockets. We bussed back into the city center to walk around and to find a needle and thread. I had a huge hole in one pocket. Nothing was lost, but it was close. I finally found what was needed and the cut was sutured and healed.

 

I asked a guide why 99% of the cars here are new, or nearly new, and all clean. He says it is most onerous to own a car here. There are a limited number of permits to own a car issued each year and they are extremely expensive. He said they have sometimes run as high as $65,000 US and there is over 100% tax on the purchase price. There is another tax that goes up with the age of the car. This means that only the wealthy own a car and have incentive to not let it age too long. Also, Singapore is on an island and there is simply not too many places to drive. There are remote identification devices in every vehicle. When these cross sensors in the roads to indicate use the owner gets billed. The more they drive, and the more they use the downtown streets, the more they pay. And the public transport system is so good that having a car is not really needed.

 

That is all from Singapore. Next stop is Cochin, India.

 

Namaste!

--
Michael & Susan Kuhn
Trip email: indiaadventure2007@gmail.com
Trip blog: www.indiaadventure2007.blogspot.com

still in Singapore

We are still in Singapore and will be for another 7 hours. We took a bus tour through the downtown. This city is amazingly wealthy. It looks a bit Palm Springs-ish. It is too rich for me. I prefer a 3rd world funk. This is very clean and modern, but the ancient history seems to have been razed for countless skyscrapers. In one area there were more construction cranes in operation than I have ever seen. There were literally several hundred in perhaps a half square mile.

 

Now to kill some more time. We are looking for another free tour that was touted online, but elusive on the ground.

 

Namaste!

--
Michael & Susan Kuhn
Trip email: indiaadventure2007@gmail.com
Trip blog: www.indiaadventure2007.blogspot.com

Hi from Singapore

Well, we have made it this far, which sems like a long ways. The plane ride was fine, very long, but the service was great, everyone really friendly. The food was pretty good, a lot of it. And very hard to sleep even with the sleeping pills. I also have a wretched cold, and I am sure the guy next to me was grossed out (not Mike). I have not been able to sleep much. We arrived around one thirty, went to the transit hotel, and it was booked until 9 this morning (Monday the 21stst). We missed Sunday somewhere up there in the air.  We did get a shower for a couple of bucks, and that felt nice. Came down stairs to the lounge, with those nice lounge chairs. Found a couple, but too much talking and eating going on, in the quite area, to sleep. So here I sit.

We are going on a city tour around eight, and hope to see some of down town whike we are at it. However, it is pouring, looks just like Portland did the morning we left. Thre is also thunder and lightening. The temp is about 80 degrees out, so very humid. It is cold in the airport, we both have our coats on. Mike just looked at the weather report, and this is commom. Scattered thunder showers every morning.

Well, Mike is done, and I don't really have anything to say. We leave for India tonight around 8pm, so we have all day to do something. I would like to sleep, but I don't think that is going to happen.

I hope everyone is well, do write to us, some of you anyway. Sophia, how is Eli?

Talk to you later...

Susan
--
Susan Kuhn
Trip email: susanindia2007@gmail.com
Trip blog: www.indiaadventure2007.blogspot.com

electricity in the sky

Hmmm. I am not sure our day trip plans to see Singapore will amount to much, at least not now. We are now having a rather spectacular rain storm with much lighting and thunder.

--
Michael & Susan Kuhn
Trip email: indiaadventure2007@gmail.com
Trip blog: www.indiaadventure2007.blogspot.com

snort

Well, that was an interesting experience. We are in a remote airport lounge area called the Oasis. It is filled with TV sets, chairs, and lounge chairs in the dark. The lounge chairs were all full but two with sacks of stuff reserving them. An India woman said no one had been in those chairs for hours. Susan took one. I took a space on the carpet by the wall. I slept soundly, with the help of Restoril, for about an hour. Then various machines and noises woke me up. I moved to the other semi-abandoned lounge chair. As I moved stuff off it the fellow next to it took it all with annoyance. It seems he just assumed it his for his stuff. Just as I began to relax more noise started up. The fellow next to me started talking to someone else in a rather loud voice, with no regard for 20 other people resting nearby. Then it was time for his breakfast, something in a very noisy plastic bag. Geeze. That finally wound down and then the famous Indian morning ceremony of throat and nose clearing began from several sectors. They like to use a lot of vigor in the removing of phlegm from their respiratory systems. I am not sure how the products were disposed of - it is quite illegal to spit in Singapore. I looked around and the friendly Indian woman was watching me and laughing. I have been reading of the famous Indian sense of humor that is simple and absurd. Apparently it is one of the means they have found to more or less accept the insanity they live in. And we have not even begun to see that madness yet.

 

As you can see, I gave up the pursuit of sleep. It is now about 620 am here. I am going to wander about the airport a bit while Susan sleeps(?) a bit more. Perhaps I can find some interesting breakfast treat, like a nice bag spiced, deep fried insect larvae. Yum.

--
Michael & Susan Kuhn
Trip email: indiaadventure2007@gmail.com
Trip blog: www.indiaadventure2007.blogspot.com

Singapore Airline stewardesses

Amazing. They are all the same age, size, and temperament. They are all very pretty. They walk with a distinct elegance that looks like they have traditional dance training in their background. The hand flourishes, head turns, posture, all all a delight to watch.

 

OH! One of the best things so far was watching the movie Shampoo. A very entertaining, clean, and clever musical. I highly recommend it.

--
Michael & Susan Kuhn
Trip email: indiaadventure2007@gmail.com
Trip blog: www.indiaadventure2007.blogspot.com

Singapore

We are now in Singapore. It is about 4 AM Monday. Susan is sleeping in a lounge chair. We tried to get a room in the airport hotel, but it was full. It is a very fine airport, so it feels quite safe to sleep here. Many others are doing so, too.

 

We had a very, very long trip so far. There was a 6 hour layover in Los Angeles. I did not catch that when we secured tickets. (I am not all too happy with Azumano Travel at this point. They charged us premium booking fees and did little for them.) The first leg to Asia landed us in Tokyo for my now 5th time there! I was so excited to get a bowl of ramen at my world's favorite ramen shop, but alas, it was in a different terminal too far to get to and back in time. The next leg, to Singapore on the same plane, was about a 6 hour flight.

 

Susan has a full on, soggy nosed cold. She was the seat mate we all dread to have next to us with many sneezes and other bad sound emmisions. Somehow I have avoided it. She thinks she is already getting over the worst of it. I hope so. We have a day of sightseeing to do in Singapore tomorrow. We don't leave here until after 8 PM. (Another crappy booking feature from Azumano.)

 

Now I am going to go try to get a bit of a doze. The sun will be up soon and I am excited to get a glimpse of what is said to be one of the most fantastic tropical cities in the world.

--
Michael & Susan Kuhn
Trip email: indiaadventure2007@gmail.com
Trip blog: www.indiaadventure2007.blogspot.com

Soon

It is just past 3 PM on Friday afternoon, October 19. In 12 hours we will be waking to the alarm clock and the big trip will begin in earnest.

The entire trip to Kochi, India will take about 48 hours of our time, about 26 of which are in the air. That is about the longest trip we have undertaken. The destination is actually not too far from Tanzania, where we were a couple years ago. I don't recall that trip took so long. This trip is long in part due to about 16 hours layover in Singapore. I am looking forward to that. We are planning to take a day trip around the city. Singapore is said to be one of the most modern and fantastic cities on the globe. It is hard to imagine a city more striking than Shanghai, but this might be it.

We leave Singapore in the early evening and arrive in Kochi about 11 PM. A ride has been arranged to pick us up and take us to the hotel. Hopefully, with the help of a sleep prescription, we will get some rest before taking on a new day in India the next morning.

Now there are a few more chores awaiting before putting this final day in Portland to rest.

Namaste (That is Hindi for both Hello and Goodbye)

It starts here

I have been spending the morning going through all the things we have set aside for the trip. We have a cache of travel and hiking related gear assembled mostly in one place. It makes getting ready for either a day hike, or an overseas adventure easier. Still, it is a rather daunting task. There are so many possibilities, and so many decisions to be made. It is easy to decide to take something - first aid kit, pepto bismol, extra underwear. It is not so easy to decide what to not take. India is a 3rd world country, but we have been reading that we can find almost anything we need there and don't need to bring too much or the maybe needed items.

Here are the piles of things I have been sorting through, less clothing:

These piles include binoculars, clothing washing things, personal cleansing (WAY too much in this pile), sunscreens & insect repellents, various medicines, and a basket full of mesh bags into which these items will be put to keep them sorted in our luggage. (The toy trucks won't be packed.)

On the sofa, not shown, are piles of clothing. My pile is larger than Susan's. She has removed many items that she can buy in India. For example, she is going to buy several items of Indian women's clothing. It is suitable for the climate, easy to care for, and helps foster good will with the people we meet. I will likely take what I need and buy little more. I have a good assortment of easy to wash and dry clothing of every sort, most of which is made of microfiber fabric.

Amazingly, most of the stuff shown, and all of our clothing would fit into just one of the two hybrid duffels we are taking along. We are packing light. Most of India is very warm, or hot. It is expected that there will only be occasional need for a sweater or jacket.

A Rough Start

My travel journals have been written during each trip for an audience to read. Because it is sometimes too much to consider the multitude, public speakers, actors, musicians sometime play to one person in the audience. They do this a tool to help focus their mind upon an attainable objective - that the one person get and understand the communication intended. This person has a special role they may not even be aware of. They must be there for the speaker so that the rest of the audience can then come along for the ride.

All of my writing in during travel, and all of the hundreds of photos taken, have been undertaken with an audience of one in mind. This blog was created for that audience of one. There is email of the same content sent to about 50 people, but one name is always the first one I type.

We begin our trip on Saturday, October 20, but yesterday, October 3, profoundly affected the character of the trip when my special audience of one, my dear 99 year old grandfather I call Popo died. I am not sure who will succeed him in that role. I am sure that it will be much more difficult to write without him there to read it.