Bangalore, India – January 23 & 24

Bangalore is a major city in India with about six million inhabitants in the city and its outskirts.  The city has grown rapidly as a prominent area for information technology and call center industries.  Many large IT corporations have large campuses located in Bangalore.

Our hotel in Bangalore was the Lemon Tree Hotel.  When we got there, they up-graded our room to one with a spectacular view – probably because of our last name.  The room overlooked a rather large park and lake in the center of the city, where we walked and enjoyed the evening our first day there.

The next morning we had a guided tour of the city.  Bangalore has a surprising number of large parks.  One, Lalbagh Botanical Garden, was commissioned in 1760 by the father of Tipu Sultan and then later finished by Tipu Sultan.  It covers 240 acres and is truly beautiful with many old and stately trees and beautiful flowers.  There was a flower show going on when we visited, and a large green house was the center of the show with many whimsical flower creations.

Tipu Sultan was a major figure in Bangalore.  His summer palace was built in the Arabic style, and though relatively small, was beautifully adorned, built entirely of teakwood.  He was the last Sultan in Bangalore and was defeated by the British as they took over the sub-continent of India.

Our last evening there we walked down “Commercial Street” with many shops crammed into a street about three blocks long.  There was everything from McDonalds and Krispy Kreme to very high end silk clothing stores – everything an Indian with a pocket full of Rupees could want.

Bangalore was our last stop in India.  It has been a long a varied trip with many experiences and contrasts.  Many memories shared with you and many more we didn’t have the time or space to share.  Tomorrow, it’s off to Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

Our grateful thanks to our friend Smita Bhargava and her company Diverse Destination Pvt. Ltd. for arranging this wonderful tour of southern India, and to our driver Dhana Shekhar for taking such good care of us.

Mysore, India – January 21 & 22, 2014

Mysore is a city of about 1 million people in central southern India and its major industry is tourism.  Most tourists in southern India are French, German, Dutch, or other Europeans.  Americans are few and far between.  Every time Sue hears an American accent, she wants to talk to them to feel a little less unique. Mysore also attracts many Indian tourists.

On the drive to Mysore, we traveled through a jungle tiger preserve.  We didn’t see any tigers, but we saw deer, monkeys of varying varieties, and wild elephants.  The law prohibits stopping while you are traveling on the highway through the preserve, so all our sightings and pictures were as we were going by. 

The morning of the 22^nd, we drove outside of Mysore to the Keshav temple built in 1268 A.D.  Although small, it is one of the most beautiful and intricate buildings we have visited.  It reminds me of a mini version of the temples at Angkor Wat in Cambodia.

We also toured the Mysore Palace, completed in 1912 by the Maharajah of Mysore.  It is described as “possibly the most ornate and exuberant palaces built by the maharajas in India.”  It has also been described as second only to the palace of Versailles in France.  We concur that this palace truly is stunning.  No pictures are allowed inside, so here are some pictures from the internet of the interior and one of mine of the exterior.

Behind the palace is a museum with items from the palace.  These Maharajahs really knew how to live!!!  Everything is so opulent and over the top.  Unfortunately, no pictures were allowed here either.

We also visited the local market that runs for blocks and is open from 4 a.m. to 11 p.m.  It is very colorful, busy and noisy.  It also is a stark contrast to our visit to the palace earlier in the day.

Ooty, India – January 19 & 20, 2014

Ooty is a 5 hour drive from Calicut, from sea level up the mountains to 8500 feet, from sweltering hot – even in winter, to a cool, even chilly, climate.  Ooty was established by the British for a summer escape from the heat at lower levels.

The mountains are covered with tea plantations for mile after mile.  The area is also very fertile and wonderful carrots, onions, beets, and other vegetables are grown there.   






Nature rules there and we visited two beautiful botanical gardens with many varied and stately trees.  

We also toured a tea factory to learn how tea, which is harvested from only the three youngest leaves at the tip of a branch, is processed into white tea (the most expensive), green tea, and black tea, then packaged for sale at auction to the various brands of tea marketers.

There is a narrow gauge train that travels between Ooty and Coonoor – affectionately known as the Toy Train.  The train is no beauty, and although we had a first class ticket, to American standards, it was anything but first class.  The real attraction of the train is the view along the 18 kilometer ride.  The ride was my birthday present.  The hotel knew it was my birthday from my passport, and when we returned to our room, a birthday cake was waiting for us.

Calicut, India – January 17 & 18, 2014

Wow!!  I thought that our previous lodgings were a change of pace.  In Calicut we were in a home-stay in a Kerala style home that was an ayurvedic, strictly vegetarian center.  The owners are husband and wife that are both doctors and have created this center for ayurvedic treatment.  Although we were not there for the treatments, we were subjected to the dietary offerings.  The experience confirmed our omnivorous life style.  The beds were also interesting.  I’ve slept on concrete that felt softer. 

Beyond the housing, Calicut was an interesting place.  We visited a beach named Kapped beach where Vasco de Gama first landed in India in 1498.  He died in India during a subsequent trip while serving as the Dutch envoy to India, and was entombed in Kochi (our pervious stop).

India also has gypsies.  They set up camp along a road and then manufacture metal implements.  They were not too appreciative of our taking their pictures, but it was too interesting to pass-up.

 

We went to another Kathakali dance performance, but this one was not tourist oriented.  It was for locals.  In fact, there were only two other non-Indians in the audience besides Sue and I.  Inadvertently, I became a participant in the dance.  There is a part of the story where the “hero” is chased around the auditorium by a demon.  The “hero” grabbed me and stood me up and hid behind me while the demon (with two burning torches) tried to get at him.  All the Indian audience thought watching the American be sucked into the action was great fun.

Kochi, India – January 15 & 16, 2014

Another change of pace.  Instead of the usual hotel, in Kochi we stayed at a place called the Tea Bungalow.  It is a small boutique hotel with only 10 rooms and is a restored 1912 British bungalow.  The room was large and beautiful.  They had a lovely small pool which we used to cool off when the day was too hot.  They had their own small restaurant with seating around the pool.  The cook was wonderful.  One evening we had Rosemary Chicken that was the most delicious either of us have ever tasted.

Kochi is located along the sea shore, and the locals have constructed ancient Chinese cantilevered nets operated by 5 to 6 fishermen.  The nets are about 60 feet across and about 30 feet high, and can only be used at high tide.  They have used this method of fishing there for the past 500 years.

Surprisingly, there is a long Jewish history in Kochi.  The earliest Jews arrived in the area about 2500 years ago as traders.  Some came after 70 A.D. when Rome destroyed Jerusalem.   Another influx occurred after 1492 when the Jews were expelled from Spain.  Since the creation of the State of Israel, the numbers have dwindled until now there are only a few families in Kochi.  They have a small ancient synagogue that we visited with hand painted Chinese floor tiles installed during a renovation over 500 years ago.

This area was ruled at various times by the Dutch and Portuguese.  When the Portuguese bullied their way in, they destroyed a local Hindu temple and did other damage.  To make amends and curry favor with the local Raja (ruler or king), they built a palace for the Raja and provided him with a gold crown.  The palace still exists and is now a museum with original palace murals and artifacts from the days of the Rajas.

Before leaving Kochi, we attended an ancient Kathakali dance.  It is notable for the elaborate make-up and the meaning communicated by the eyes and facial expressions.  These dances tell ancient stories involving gods, deamons, and heros.  Some of the ancient dances could last up to 12 hours.  Thankfully even with an explanatory introduction, ours lasted only about one hour.  We capped the night off with a dinner of Red Snapper on the wharf.

Alleppy, India – January 14, 2014

This morning was a long drive of about 4 hours.  We crossed the mountains and dropped down into the low lands.  Sue and I boarded a houseboat with a captain and a cook with us as the only passengers.  We sailed onto the Vembenad Lake, the largest lake in India, and in the canals surrounding the lake.  There are hundreds of these houseboats on the lake.  Some houseboats have one, two, four, six, and up to ten bedrooms.  We saw a number of extended Indian families on the larger boats.  We stopped at a fish market along the shore and purchased two tiger prawns for our dinner.  They were monsters!!  It was like eating an entire lobster.  We are feeling VERY spoiled with a boat to ourselves and two men catering to our every need.  It is beautiful here and it’s just too bad we have only 24 hours to enjoy such leisure. 

Periyar, India – January 13, 2014

 

This morning we drove southwest, leaving the State of Tamil Nadu, entering the State of Kerala.  Unlike the United States of America, in India when you enter a new State, you must stop at a check point and pay an entrance fee.  Kinda makes you appreciate the good ol’ US of A.  All the area of India we traveled up to now has been rather flat.  Kerala, however, is mountainous.  Not quite like our mountains in Utah, but fairly good sized.  We visited a spice plantation and saw pepper, vanilla, cardamom, nutmeg, ginger, allspice, and a whole variety of other spices growing.  They weren’t grown in their own separate patches, but were interspersed with each other.  It was these spices that lead to the discovery of America.

Following our visit to the spice plantation, we traveled to a State Park nature preserve.  We took a ride on a double decker boat on a manmade lake created in the 1890s.  Even though the lake is over 100 years old, the trunks of trees that were flooded by the creation of the lake still rise out of the water, creating places for birds to nest and perch.  We did not spot any tigers, but did see monkeys, a wild boar, deer and antelope along the shore.  Back in the parking lot, our driver spotted a Malabar squirrel, the biggest squirrel we have ever seen.

We stayed in a beautiful facility called The Elephant Court.  I could learn to live like this…..

We walked around the small town outside of the park that evening and were greeted by two small wild boar along the side of the road – no more than 10 feet from where we were standing.  They didn’t seem to be too worried, so we decided not to worry either.  One even obliged and posed for a picture.

Madurai, India – January 11 & 12, 2014

When we first arrived in Madurai, we stopped at the flower market.  This is unlike any flower market you may imagine.  The flowers have almost no stems and are stuffed into large gunny sacks.  These flowers are not purchased for purposes of decoration or to give to a loved one.  They are being sold to be presented as offerings in the temples, some made into large leis to be draped around the idols.  This is an especially busy time for these merchants because there is an upcoming festival on January 14, 15, and 16.  Fortunately for us we will not be in the area when it happens because there will be thousands at the temples throughout the area and there is a real danger of being crushed in the crowd, and what’s worse, not being able to see what we came for.

That evening we went to the Meenakshi temple to watch the closing ceremonies.  The Brahmin priests take the image of the god Shiva and place it in a carrier borne by the priests with curtains so no one can see inside.  The god is then taken to the shrine of his wife, the goddess Meenakshi (also called Parvati) to spend the night with her.  This is all done with much pomp and ceremony involving drums, trumpets, incense, and chants.

The next day we returned to the Meenakshi temple for a more thorough tour.  We also visited the palace of the area ruler.  After his grandson inherited it, he had some rather unworthy friends that convinced him to dismantle most of the palace to rebuild elsewhere.  The dismantled pieces never arrived, and the “friends” suddenly became much wealthier.  Now, only a quarter of the original palace remains. 

Almost as spectacular and just as interesting are the street scenes in the cities -- especially the markets.  They are colorful and vibrant and full of the daily life of the people who live here. This may be what India truly is.

Chettinad, India – January 10, 2014

A group of southern India merchants became rich in trading with Southeast Asia countries.  After they lost their homes and families to a tsunami while they were away trading, they decided to rebuild inland – away from the perils of the ocean.  During the 1800s they went to Chettinad and built mansions befitting their status and wealth.  Now, today, many of their descendants maintain the mansions for family gathering places on weekends and special occasions.  Many of the mansions have fallen into disrepair, and a couple have been turned into hotels.

We over-nighted in Chettinad and visited one of the mansions that was turned into a hotel and walked around the small town to see the remaining mansions.  This was a very different experience from our trip so far – to see the wealth that had been accumulated in the small, well planned community of merchants.

 On our way to Chettinad, we visited a couple of other Hindu temples.  One was in a small village where the temple had no structure but was located in a grove.  The pathway to the shrine was lined mainly with terra cotta horses about three to four feet high that had been purchased by the villagers as offerings.  At the end of the pathway was a makeshift altar that constituted the shrine.  We understand that this type of “horse temple” is not uncommon in small villages.

The second temple was one where there was a fort type enclosure on the top of a good sized sandstone hill and a part of the temple was cut into the rock at the bottom of the hill.

Tanjore, India

As we traveled to our next destination, Tanjore, there were fields and fields of rice and sugar cane.  Also, groves of bananas, coconut trees, eucalyptus, and other trees.  Ox drawn carts were common, as well as over-loaded trucks with sugar cane.  But most importantly, I glad I don't have to drive in Indian traffic.  Roman traffic is horrible, in Cairo they think the lines on the road are just suggestions, but in India they think those lines are decorations -- truly scary.  We stopped by a small dam to watch some fishermen cast their nets, fishing in the traditional way.


 
Also, on the road to Tanjore, two more temples.  Temples seem to be endless in southern India.  However, once in Tanjore, there is one temple that is a UNESCO World Heritage Site constructed in the 10th century.  It is called the Brihadeeswara Temple.  The main tower is 13 stories high, and has a bull weighing 27 tons carved from a single piece of stone.