Okay, so this entry has nothing to do with India, but those of you who know me well, will understand completely. Tuesday is the release of Sarah Brightman's new album "Symphony". I find this funny, only because the last album she released, "Harem", I was in Australia at the time. I was very lucky in that she releases things usually one continent at a time, and that time, Australia was the first continent to get Harem, so I had the album before all my friends back home did. In fact I was home before it was released to North America. This time however, North America gets it first! Thank god for itunes! So for me, around noon my time, midnight Eastern Standard Time I will be downloading the new album, and will probably hold up in my room for the next few days listening to the album. There is a great promo video at her web site; www.sarah-brightman.com then click on new releases.
So Susan, let me know what you think as soon as you listen to it!!!
Sunday, January 27, 2008
The Jungle
If you have not read Ponmudi first, I suggest you read that blog before this one. The trip through the jungle to get to the mountain top was a drive that for many reasons, I will not forget! It really began with the hike up to the water fall as that was the last time we drove through any kind of village. We did pass small areas where people lived, especially near the tea plantations, but for the most part we left civilization.
As we went up the read and climbed higher and higher, the road continued to get narrower and narrower. Long before we reached the top it was only one lane wide at best, and of course this is a two lane road. Passing other cars, and tour buses for that matter were sometimes a little hairy! One side is a dirt wall, the other side, nothing except maybe a 300 foot drop. They don't know what guard rails are and at places the hill/road was slowly washing away. When ever I get into these situations I always think to myself - Discovery Channel! I'm here with a camera and by God I'm going to make it! Seems to work so far. The road has 22 hairpin curves on the ascent, and we know this for a fact because they actually number them. 1/22, 2/22, etc. with signs so you know how many more to go. This would be something we would call a switchback, and yes there were 22 of them! There were places that the pavement was no longer pavement and other places they looked like it was brand new.
From here on out, nothing will go in order, because it was so overwhelming that I can't remember what was when - so here it goes. On our way up there were trees that first off looked like they have been planted because they were all in perfect rows, then the other thing that stood out was they didn't have any leaves on them. I'm going to look up what the tress do, like if they have a winter cycle even here in the tropics, because technically it is winter here. We soon realized that they were rubber tree plantations. When the road got closer to the trees you could see the little buckets on each of the trees to collect the sap so they can transport it somewhere to make rubber. (Once again, now I'm interested in this so I'm going to google it later.) The trees don't look very pretty, but being mixed within the jungle gave them a unique contrast. I figure this is what a maple tree farm looks like as well, only the maple trees are so much more beautiful.
The main industry for this part of India is tea, and that is what we ran into next. As we wound our way up the mountain side, the tea plantations were everywhere. The bushes are kept very small and not allowed to grow very tall at all. I would say that they were cut at a maximum of about 3 feet high and maybe four feet in diameter. This makes it very simple for the works to reach the entire bush and get all the leaves from it. Keeping the plant pruned also promotes growth in the leaves to keep the plant alive instead of wanting to grow higher, so the leaves are bigger and I would assume full of more flavor. The same reason they keep orchard trees pruned small, and even grape vineyards for the making of wine.
As we climbed higher, the tea plants continued for most of the trip as that is the perfect growing conditions for the tea. As we climbed however, other harvested plants started to show up within the tea, and along the road. The first thing I noticed was coffee trees! Of course these really are not trees either, but large bushes that like the shade of a type of palm that was growing in the area, but not sure what kind. It was fun to see the coffee trees like this, only because I've only seen pictures of this. It was not the right time of year for there to be flowers on the trees or beans for that matter, but we did manage to buy some coffee beans that had been grown in that area, harvested, and roasted! Can't wait to get home and try it out. Coffee is not a strong industry in this part of the world. The climate is perfect for the trees, but the soil is not the best as coffee enjoys very acidic soil like the sides of volcanos. Tea also likes the acidic soil, but is not as fussy about it like coffee.
After rounding one of those hairpin turns, somewhere in the teens, the driver started pointing out the different plants in the area, mentioning tea, coffee, cinnamon, cardamom and pepper. Just was went went around yet another hairpin turn Daren and I both looked at each other and yelled cloves! The air was literally scented with cloves! Have you ever put some cloves into a tea kettle and just let it slowly simmer on the stove, especially during the holidays, and your entire house has that wonderful warm smelling feeling? Imagine an entire mountain side smelling like this! We couldn't get over what we were smelling, and here on the mountain side. The driver then stopped, got out, walked over to a plant and picked several leaves and the seed pod and brought it over to us, which was of course the reason for this incredible smell - an actual clove plant. I thought they grew in small glass jars and just showed up at the grocery store all packaged and ready to buy! Incidentally, the four main spices used to flavor chai tea is pepper, cinnamon, cardamom and clove. The combination of these spices together are called Masala spices. If you are in a restaurant and it mentions masala, like masala curry, or masala tea, etc then this is the flavor you are going to get. Heaven on Earth!
Often, the road would wind into a small canyon like area that could not be planted for harvest as the ground was so steep. These are the areas where the jungle came out in full force. The size of the plants where something to behold. There was ferns, that looked similar to palm tree leaves, but were ground plants and the leaves would easily by 20 feet long! Some the the single fern plants would be the size of small houses. (Single lever houses in the states, not here in India.) The trees were so thick that to say you were in the shade was an understatement. It was very dark in some parts and I even took some pictures that didn't turn out very well because of how dark it was, in the middle of the day, with no clouds. The flowers came in every color of the rainbow and then some. Most of the flowering plants were in the area not affected by the heavy growth of the trees, so the sun would shine on them and they would almost glow they were so vibrant. The type of flowers growing this time of year, remember winter, were usually small, but there would be stalks of them, so even though the flower itself was small the overall impression they gave was of grandeur. The whole time was thinking to myself, this is something you would read about in one of J R R Tolkien's books, perhaps Rivendale or something. Then the cab driver said one thing and Daren and I both completely agreed the minute he said it - "Jurassic Park" At any moment a T Rex could come right out of the jungle! Okay, maybe not a T Rex, but the driver said that there were a few tigers in the area, and they actually had problems with wild elephants in the area. He showed us the type of plant that is their favorite to eat and then he showed us areas where they would walk through the jungle and mash down all the growth. It certainly looked like a T Rex had gone through there. We stopped several times to take pictures, and the sounds coming from the jungle were incredible. Insects that I'm sure we have never seen before, making sounds that gave the jungle a musical life all its own. There were birds of all kinds, including ones that we only see in cages like parakeets. This truly was God's country, and Mother Nature at her very best.
The last surprise for the trip, which we seen both going up and coming back was real live, uncaged, wild and happy monkeys! Now I've seen monkeys before, in Costa Rica, and if the truth be know these were not cute, but because they were small an in the wild, they were so cute! They were on the side of the road just hanging around, so Daren threw some crackers out the window to see what they would do and of course we got the response we wanted. They came over in droves. Grabbing the crackers and eating them and wanting more. We didn't hang out for long, but enough to get some good pictures of them very close up. There were even young ones in the trees watching us. On the way back down, we think the same group, but in a different place were once again hanging out, and we of course gave them more crackers and they were happy! They were kind of grey in color and perhaps just a little small than a Chimp. They didn't make much noise while we were there, but was happy to play in the trees for us.
I'm having so many challenges with uploading pictures, that I'm going to put a slide show together on flickr. When I get that going, I will post the web address and you will be able to see some of the great pictures in slide show format. We are entering out last week of practice here in Kovalam, and are not sure what we plan to do next weekend. We wanted to spend about 4 days in an ashram, but the one near by is full until the middle of March. I'll let you know when we figure it out!
As we went up the read and climbed higher and higher, the road continued to get narrower and narrower. Long before we reached the top it was only one lane wide at best, and of course this is a two lane road. Passing other cars, and tour buses for that matter were sometimes a little hairy! One side is a dirt wall, the other side, nothing except maybe a 300 foot drop. They don't know what guard rails are and at places the hill/road was slowly washing away. When ever I get into these situations I always think to myself - Discovery Channel! I'm here with a camera and by God I'm going to make it! Seems to work so far. The road has 22 hairpin curves on the ascent, and we know this for a fact because they actually number them. 1/22, 2/22, etc. with signs so you know how many more to go. This would be something we would call a switchback, and yes there were 22 of them! There were places that the pavement was no longer pavement and other places they looked like it was brand new.
From here on out, nothing will go in order, because it was so overwhelming that I can't remember what was when - so here it goes. On our way up there were trees that first off looked like they have been planted because they were all in perfect rows, then the other thing that stood out was they didn't have any leaves on them. I'm going to look up what the tress do, like if they have a winter cycle even here in the tropics, because technically it is winter here. We soon realized that they were rubber tree plantations. When the road got closer to the trees you could see the little buckets on each of the trees to collect the sap so they can transport it somewhere to make rubber. (Once again, now I'm interested in this so I'm going to google it later.) The trees don't look very pretty, but being mixed within the jungle gave them a unique contrast. I figure this is what a maple tree farm looks like as well, only the maple trees are so much more beautiful.
The main industry for this part of India is tea, and that is what we ran into next. As we wound our way up the mountain side, the tea plantations were everywhere. The bushes are kept very small and not allowed to grow very tall at all. I would say that they were cut at a maximum of about 3 feet high and maybe four feet in diameter. This makes it very simple for the works to reach the entire bush and get all the leaves from it. Keeping the plant pruned also promotes growth in the leaves to keep the plant alive instead of wanting to grow higher, so the leaves are bigger and I would assume full of more flavor. The same reason they keep orchard trees pruned small, and even grape vineyards for the making of wine.
As we climbed higher, the tea plants continued for most of the trip as that is the perfect growing conditions for the tea. As we climbed however, other harvested plants started to show up within the tea, and along the road. The first thing I noticed was coffee trees! Of course these really are not trees either, but large bushes that like the shade of a type of palm that was growing in the area, but not sure what kind. It was fun to see the coffee trees like this, only because I've only seen pictures of this. It was not the right time of year for there to be flowers on the trees or beans for that matter, but we did manage to buy some coffee beans that had been grown in that area, harvested, and roasted! Can't wait to get home and try it out. Coffee is not a strong industry in this part of the world. The climate is perfect for the trees, but the soil is not the best as coffee enjoys very acidic soil like the sides of volcanos. Tea also likes the acidic soil, but is not as fussy about it like coffee.
After rounding one of those hairpin turns, somewhere in the teens, the driver started pointing out the different plants in the area, mentioning tea, coffee, cinnamon, cardamom and pepper. Just was went went around yet another hairpin turn Daren and I both looked at each other and yelled cloves! The air was literally scented with cloves! Have you ever put some cloves into a tea kettle and just let it slowly simmer on the stove, especially during the holidays, and your entire house has that wonderful warm smelling feeling? Imagine an entire mountain side smelling like this! We couldn't get over what we were smelling, and here on the mountain side. The driver then stopped, got out, walked over to a plant and picked several leaves and the seed pod and brought it over to us, which was of course the reason for this incredible smell - an actual clove plant. I thought they grew in small glass jars and just showed up at the grocery store all packaged and ready to buy! Incidentally, the four main spices used to flavor chai tea is pepper, cinnamon, cardamom and clove. The combination of these spices together are called Masala spices. If you are in a restaurant and it mentions masala, like masala curry, or masala tea, etc then this is the flavor you are going to get. Heaven on Earth!
Often, the road would wind into a small canyon like area that could not be planted for harvest as the ground was so steep. These are the areas where the jungle came out in full force. The size of the plants where something to behold. There was ferns, that looked similar to palm tree leaves, but were ground plants and the leaves would easily by 20 feet long! Some the the single fern plants would be the size of small houses. (Single lever houses in the states, not here in India.) The trees were so thick that to say you were in the shade was an understatement. It was very dark in some parts and I even took some pictures that didn't turn out very well because of how dark it was, in the middle of the day, with no clouds. The flowers came in every color of the rainbow and then some. Most of the flowering plants were in the area not affected by the heavy growth of the trees, so the sun would shine on them and they would almost glow they were so vibrant. The type of flowers growing this time of year, remember winter, were usually small, but there would be stalks of them, so even though the flower itself was small the overall impression they gave was of grandeur. The whole time was thinking to myself, this is something you would read about in one of J R R Tolkien's books, perhaps Rivendale or something. Then the cab driver said one thing and Daren and I both completely agreed the minute he said it - "Jurassic Park" At any moment a T Rex could come right out of the jungle! Okay, maybe not a T Rex, but the driver said that there were a few tigers in the area, and they actually had problems with wild elephants in the area. He showed us the type of plant that is their favorite to eat and then he showed us areas where they would walk through the jungle and mash down all the growth. It certainly looked like a T Rex had gone through there. We stopped several times to take pictures, and the sounds coming from the jungle were incredible. Insects that I'm sure we have never seen before, making sounds that gave the jungle a musical life all its own. There were birds of all kinds, including ones that we only see in cages like parakeets. This truly was God's country, and Mother Nature at her very best.
The last surprise for the trip, which we seen both going up and coming back was real live, uncaged, wild and happy monkeys! Now I've seen monkeys before, in Costa Rica, and if the truth be know these were not cute, but because they were small an in the wild, they were so cute! They were on the side of the road just hanging around, so Daren threw some crackers out the window to see what they would do and of course we got the response we wanted. They came over in droves. Grabbing the crackers and eating them and wanting more. We didn't hang out for long, but enough to get some good pictures of them very close up. There were even young ones in the trees watching us. On the way back down, we think the same group, but in a different place were once again hanging out, and we of course gave them more crackers and they were happy! They were kind of grey in color and perhaps just a little small than a Chimp. They didn't make much noise while we were there, but was happy to play in the trees for us.
I'm having so many challenges with uploading pictures, that I'm going to put a slide show together on flickr. When I get that going, I will post the web address and you will be able to see some of the great pictures in slide show format. We are entering out last week of practice here in Kovalam, and are not sure what we plan to do next weekend. We wanted to spend about 4 days in an ashram, but the one near by is full until the middle of March. I'll let you know when we figure it out!
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Ponmudi
It seems like every weekend we go somewhere and somehow the experience seems like its simply out of this world, and I just can't imagine anything getting better or at least living up to the last weekend, but every weekend seems to do just that. Yesterday we traveled to Ponmudi, which the destination itself is nice, but the journey there and back is what made this trip so memorable.
The journey of course begins in a taxi and on these roads! Its actually getting hard for me to want to get into the taxi. At the same time however when a bus is only 6 inches from our car moving towards us and what seems like break neck speeds I no longer flinch or tense up or even gasp for that matter. We drove through Trivundrum on our way to Ponmudi and we stopped at a super market. The local super market was going to be a blog entry, and still will be, but now I will be able to compare the difference between here in Kovalam, and one in the city. Very big difference.
Ponmudi is basically a mountain top at about 4500 feet in elevation. Its about 60 km from Kovalam, but takes over two hours to get there because of, well, the road! After leaving the city, going through the smaller towns, what we would call suburbs, life is so different in each and every one of the little towns. You can always see what their main industry is, by what is on the street. Weather they are farmers, or mechanics, or masons - everything of course being done by hand. Just outside of the city, the main highway to Ponmudi they were in the process of widening the road. They were tearing down brick fences and wall of homes. Now if you lived in one of these homes, this doesn't mean you are going to move or even need to. It simply means that if your main room in the house was 10 feet long, its now only going to be say 6 feet long! We widen streets, not force people to move. Now there were some housed that were coming down completely because they were so small, and we were afraid to ask what happens to those families.
On our way, as we were traveling through one of these small villages, there was a motor bike heading our direction and the sight caught me off guard, as I could see the driver, and sticking out from both sides of him I could see hooves! As the bike passes us, sure enough, there was the driver up front, then not one, but two goats side by side facing opposite directions on the bike, then another man in the back holding onto the goats. The very strange thing was that the goats did not seem at all upset, and were just sitting there like this is an everyday occurrence. Had we been going the same direction I would have taken a picture, but it was over before I realized how strange it was. After that, only several minuets later, a rickshaw was driving by with a baby cow riding along in the rickshaw. Once again, just like this was the everyday think and enjoying the ride since it didn't need to walk anywhere. Now, just to move forward to the trip home, near the same place as these two scenes occurred, we were riding along and in front of us this time was a small truck with an adult cow in the back. This really in itself was not unusual or strange, but as the drive began to pass the truck the cow decided it was time to use the restroom and since the driver and I were on the other side of the vehicle, Daren go a full view of what the cow was up to, and both the river and I found this to be funny and laughed!
We stopped at some waterfalls on the way up. This required a short hike on our part off the main road. We started into the jungle in search for this water fall - of course following a well designated path. The hike itself was beautiful. By this time, I'm not sure what the elevation was, but the coconut trees were gone, and in their place was another kind of palm, one of which I haven't seen before. Plus there were a variety of other trees, huge vines that grew up into the trees and the vines themselves in some places were wider than the trees themselves, and of course the underbrush with large leaves to catch what little sun they could get. On our way, there was a school field trip up to the water falls, and the student were in high school. One of the teachers came over to us and started talking to us, and we instantly became his best friend. At first all the students were shy to talk to us and just smiled, but over time they did warm up to us. There are three main questions that Indians like to ask westerners, and there are the same three no matter where you go. 1-whats your name? 2-Where are you from? 3-What do you do? Then depending on how good their English is and how well the conversation goes they want to know what religion you are.
Right after meeting this large group of students the path came to the river which required us to cross using a rope to hold on to while you cross over the rocks. So, off the shoes went and across the river we go! It was quite simple, and we then go ahead of the group and there were about 30 or so of them, and of course the teachers needed to make sure the students got across okay. This is a trip that would never have happened in the states, because of this part of the trip alone! Even the girls where crossing, dressed up! The falls were beautiful, and must have cascaded about 80 or so feet from up above into a crystal clear pool of water before going down the river. The Jungle was so thick in this part that you couldn't see more than about 10 feet into it. There were a few of the guys in the water wadding, and we went in to wade as well. Soon the school group caught up with us, and since the teachers, two by now had talked to us, were talking to us, the students that could speak English started coming over that talking as well. Already at the pool was another large group of people, not sure if they were school or family or what, because there were varying ages.
Of course they all asked us the same three questions, and then I got out the camera and you would think I had just struck gold! At that point everyone that could get around us did, and we started taking pictures of them and us and the groups, then the teachers started taking pictures with us and them and it was a good old photo shoot! We even had this really young boy who wanted to say Hi to us, but was very shy and every time we looked at time he would hide behind his mother and we would all laugh. However, once I pointed the camera at him, he came out from behind her and posed! We all started laughing at that one. Shortly after that it was time for the group to leave so they all came over and shook our hands and said goodbye, and even the ladies came over to shake our hands - and they would all laugh every time we finished shaking their hands. Once it quieted down again, Daren wanted to go for a swim. So he went into the pool, and there were four other guys there that were not part of the group and three of them followed Daren in, while myself and one other guy stayed just up to our knees in the water. It was very cold water.
Soon after, we headed back towards the main road to pick up our taxi and continue on to Ponmudi. Of course passing the group on more time as a party that large tends to move slowly. This of course meant shaking hands again, and talking again, but it was very enjoyable to talk to these students. The teachers invited us to have lunch with them at the restaurant on the way up there, but we missed it, and didn't see this group again.
I will talk about the rest of the car ride up and down in my next blog; the Jungle, because it is worth its own entry. We made it to this government hotel very near the to of Ponmudi, and was excited to get there because by this time we were really hungry and really needed to get out of the car, as you will understand in the next blog - just remember we go to 4500 feet starting from sea lever! Of course we are in India and this place was run by the government, so lunch was from 12 - 2, and we were there about 2:30 - so that meant no lunch! Lucky for us there was what we would call a convenience store in the area and so we raided it for some food. Crackers, mango juice (in a box like we have in the states for lunches), and a candy bar. Doesn't that sound like a great lunch?
We ate our crackers on the way to the top of the mountain. Once we got to the end of the road there was about another 40 feet or so we needed to hike to get to the top. There were lots of people around looking out in the various directions, of course being smarter than us, having picnics that they had packed, laughing and enjoying the day. At the top, even with the elevation it was still very comfortable temperature wise, but because of the humidity there is not much to see. The mountain tops in the distance were covered by mist (fog). The sky was not cloudy, but that high up is air was very moist. It was a different type of humidity that happens down here on the cost. Even though there was water in the air, it didn't feel heavy as it does here down by the ocean. It also didn't feel muggy - like just standing there you would sweat. It was rather comfortable, but I'm sure the nights can get very cold there.
Once again, several young guys, about high school age, came over and started talking to us, and slowly but surely we had a very large crowd of people around us. All wanting the shake our hands, ask us the three standard questions and practice their English on people who actually speak English. The group that was talking to us was a Christian Church group up there on a little outing. All of the sudden one of the Fathers came over with some biscuits, that were similar to corn, but they don't have corn here so we are not sure what it was, then they brought over my favorite desert here, payasam. The best way to describe this desert which is offered in almost every restaurant is imagine combining warm rice pudding and the spices of chai tea! Its truly incredible and I can guarantee you that I will be working on making this when I get home! Payasam can be made several different ways. Some places use rice, you can also use rice noodles/pasta or tapioca. Most restaurants use rice, but this was homemade and was made of both rice noodles and tapioca. It was incredible and every time I finished mine they would bring me more! I had three helpings! We talked to everyone including the Father of the group, and of course I got the camera out and the excitement of the crowd went crazy. After taking several pictures of them, us, us and them it was time to go. We must have spent at least 10 minutes trying to leave as once again they all wanted to shake our hands, give us hugs, say good bye, over and over. At last we got away and headed towards our taxi. The feeling you get when this happens is that you are some huge Hollywood star and the crowds just want to be next to you and talk to you and take your picture. That truly is how it feels when you are in these groups - they are just so excited to be near you... A very strange feeling, and even though I enjoyed talking to everyone, it can get old quickly and I truly feel sorry for celebrities who deal with this everyday.
So the next entry will be of the Jungle. The state we are in is called Kerala, and their slogan for tourists is "God's own country" and after the trip through the jungle I can honestly say that I have to agree with them.
The journey of course begins in a taxi and on these roads! Its actually getting hard for me to want to get into the taxi. At the same time however when a bus is only 6 inches from our car moving towards us and what seems like break neck speeds I no longer flinch or tense up or even gasp for that matter. We drove through Trivundrum on our way to Ponmudi and we stopped at a super market. The local super market was going to be a blog entry, and still will be, but now I will be able to compare the difference between here in Kovalam, and one in the city. Very big difference.
Ponmudi is basically a mountain top at about 4500 feet in elevation. Its about 60 km from Kovalam, but takes over two hours to get there because of, well, the road! After leaving the city, going through the smaller towns, what we would call suburbs, life is so different in each and every one of the little towns. You can always see what their main industry is, by what is on the street. Weather they are farmers, or mechanics, or masons - everything of course being done by hand. Just outside of the city, the main highway to Ponmudi they were in the process of widening the road. They were tearing down brick fences and wall of homes. Now if you lived in one of these homes, this doesn't mean you are going to move or even need to. It simply means that if your main room in the house was 10 feet long, its now only going to be say 6 feet long! We widen streets, not force people to move. Now there were some housed that were coming down completely because they were so small, and we were afraid to ask what happens to those families.
On our way, as we were traveling through one of these small villages, there was a motor bike heading our direction and the sight caught me off guard, as I could see the driver, and sticking out from both sides of him I could see hooves! As the bike passes us, sure enough, there was the driver up front, then not one, but two goats side by side facing opposite directions on the bike, then another man in the back holding onto the goats. The very strange thing was that the goats did not seem at all upset, and were just sitting there like this is an everyday occurrence. Had we been going the same direction I would have taken a picture, but it was over before I realized how strange it was. After that, only several minuets later, a rickshaw was driving by with a baby cow riding along in the rickshaw. Once again, just like this was the everyday think and enjoying the ride since it didn't need to walk anywhere. Now, just to move forward to the trip home, near the same place as these two scenes occurred, we were riding along and in front of us this time was a small truck with an adult cow in the back. This really in itself was not unusual or strange, but as the drive began to pass the truck the cow decided it was time to use the restroom and since the driver and I were on the other side of the vehicle, Daren go a full view of what the cow was up to, and both the river and I found this to be funny and laughed!
We stopped at some waterfalls on the way up. This required a short hike on our part off the main road. We started into the jungle in search for this water fall - of course following a well designated path. The hike itself was beautiful. By this time, I'm not sure what the elevation was, but the coconut trees were gone, and in their place was another kind of palm, one of which I haven't seen before. Plus there were a variety of other trees, huge vines that grew up into the trees and the vines themselves in some places were wider than the trees themselves, and of course the underbrush with large leaves to catch what little sun they could get. On our way, there was a school field trip up to the water falls, and the student were in high school. One of the teachers came over to us and started talking to us, and we instantly became his best friend. At first all the students were shy to talk to us and just smiled, but over time they did warm up to us. There are three main questions that Indians like to ask westerners, and there are the same three no matter where you go. 1-whats your name? 2-Where are you from? 3-What do you do? Then depending on how good their English is and how well the conversation goes they want to know what religion you are.
Right after meeting this large group of students the path came to the river which required us to cross using a rope to hold on to while you cross over the rocks. So, off the shoes went and across the river we go! It was quite simple, and we then go ahead of the group and there were about 30 or so of them, and of course the teachers needed to make sure the students got across okay. This is a trip that would never have happened in the states, because of this part of the trip alone! Even the girls where crossing, dressed up! The falls were beautiful, and must have cascaded about 80 or so feet from up above into a crystal clear pool of water before going down the river. The Jungle was so thick in this part that you couldn't see more than about 10 feet into it. There were a few of the guys in the water wadding, and we went in to wade as well. Soon the school group caught up with us, and since the teachers, two by now had talked to us, were talking to us, the students that could speak English started coming over that talking as well. Already at the pool was another large group of people, not sure if they were school or family or what, because there were varying ages.
Of course they all asked us the same three questions, and then I got out the camera and you would think I had just struck gold! At that point everyone that could get around us did, and we started taking pictures of them and us and the groups, then the teachers started taking pictures with us and them and it was a good old photo shoot! We even had this really young boy who wanted to say Hi to us, but was very shy and every time we looked at time he would hide behind his mother and we would all laugh. However, once I pointed the camera at him, he came out from behind her and posed! We all started laughing at that one. Shortly after that it was time for the group to leave so they all came over and shook our hands and said goodbye, and even the ladies came over to shake our hands - and they would all laugh every time we finished shaking their hands. Once it quieted down again, Daren wanted to go for a swim. So he went into the pool, and there were four other guys there that were not part of the group and three of them followed Daren in, while myself and one other guy stayed just up to our knees in the water. It was very cold water.
Soon after, we headed back towards the main road to pick up our taxi and continue on to Ponmudi. Of course passing the group on more time as a party that large tends to move slowly. This of course meant shaking hands again, and talking again, but it was very enjoyable to talk to these students. The teachers invited us to have lunch with them at the restaurant on the way up there, but we missed it, and didn't see this group again.
I will talk about the rest of the car ride up and down in my next blog; the Jungle, because it is worth its own entry. We made it to this government hotel very near the to of Ponmudi, and was excited to get there because by this time we were really hungry and really needed to get out of the car, as you will understand in the next blog - just remember we go to 4500 feet starting from sea lever! Of course we are in India and this place was run by the government, so lunch was from 12 - 2, and we were there about 2:30 - so that meant no lunch! Lucky for us there was what we would call a convenience store in the area and so we raided it for some food. Crackers, mango juice (in a box like we have in the states for lunches), and a candy bar. Doesn't that sound like a great lunch?
We ate our crackers on the way to the top of the mountain. Once we got to the end of the road there was about another 40 feet or so we needed to hike to get to the top. There were lots of people around looking out in the various directions, of course being smarter than us, having picnics that they had packed, laughing and enjoying the day. At the top, even with the elevation it was still very comfortable temperature wise, but because of the humidity there is not much to see. The mountain tops in the distance were covered by mist (fog). The sky was not cloudy, but that high up is air was very moist. It was a different type of humidity that happens down here on the cost. Even though there was water in the air, it didn't feel heavy as it does here down by the ocean. It also didn't feel muggy - like just standing there you would sweat. It was rather comfortable, but I'm sure the nights can get very cold there.
Once again, several young guys, about high school age, came over and started talking to us, and slowly but surely we had a very large crowd of people around us. All wanting the shake our hands, ask us the three standard questions and practice their English on people who actually speak English. The group that was talking to us was a Christian Church group up there on a little outing. All of the sudden one of the Fathers came over with some biscuits, that were similar to corn, but they don't have corn here so we are not sure what it was, then they brought over my favorite desert here, payasam. The best way to describe this desert which is offered in almost every restaurant is imagine combining warm rice pudding and the spices of chai tea! Its truly incredible and I can guarantee you that I will be working on making this when I get home! Payasam can be made several different ways. Some places use rice, you can also use rice noodles/pasta or tapioca. Most restaurants use rice, but this was homemade and was made of both rice noodles and tapioca. It was incredible and every time I finished mine they would bring me more! I had three helpings! We talked to everyone including the Father of the group, and of course I got the camera out and the excitement of the crowd went crazy. After taking several pictures of them, us, us and them it was time to go. We must have spent at least 10 minutes trying to leave as once again they all wanted to shake our hands, give us hugs, say good bye, over and over. At last we got away and headed towards our taxi. The feeling you get when this happens is that you are some huge Hollywood star and the crowds just want to be next to you and talk to you and take your picture. That truly is how it feels when you are in these groups - they are just so excited to be near you... A very strange feeling, and even though I enjoyed talking to everyone, it can get old quickly and I truly feel sorry for celebrities who deal with this everyday.
So the next entry will be of the Jungle. The state we are in is called Kerala, and their slogan for tourists is "God's own country" and after the trip through the jungle I can honestly say that I have to agree with them.
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Practice
I'm now in my fourth week of the practice, and sad to say this is the last week for the practice with Lino. The type of practice that we have been doing does not come easy and even as an instructor I find myself doing the same things that students do all the time. That is think I can do it all and push myself sometimes harder than I should. In my classes I'm always saying "Its all about the journey, not the destination." So I keep telling myself to practice what I preach!
For the first several weeks one day I would feel really good, warm and loose so I could go very deep into the poses, then of course I would be sore from that practice so the next day I'm tight and hurt, so that practice wouldn't be as good. Week three I learned to take advantage of the journey, and not worry about the destination. Getting to that thought process has helped me move farther into the practice sometimes without thinking about it.
In Ahstanga Yoga practice, there are four parts to the practice. Surya Namaskara A & B (Sun Salutations) In the west we consider these the warm up for many of the yoga classes. We preform A five times, then B from 3 - 10 times depending on how you feel and how cold/warm it is. Because of the temperature 3 or 4 is usually enough. Next come the standing asanas (poses). There are several of these asanas that are coming along great. The hardest one for me is reversed side angle. (Utthita Parsvakonasana B)
After the standing asanas, you move into the seated asanas - I am practicing the primary series. There are actually 6 different series in Ashtanga yoga. Getting through the second series takes years and actually getting to 6 is a lifetime. The seated asanas is what changes as you progress through Ashtanga Yoga. It wasn't until the third week that I was able to go all the way through the seated asanas. The way Ashtanga is taught is you go to the point where you can no longer do the asanas, then you move onto the finishing asanas. I was so happy the day I went through the entire series by myself I felt like I was walking on water. My personal greatest accomplishment in the asanas is Marichyasana C, (seated, bound spinal twist). I just never thought that pose would come as fast as it did. Now, I still need help getting into it, but once there I am comfortable. I'll continue to work on that one so I can get into it by my self, hopefully before I return home.
The finishing sequence is designed to restore you. Shoulder stand, head stand, and several other inverted asanas. The finishing sequence is just as hard as the seated because you do about 60% of the asanas upside down! The majority of these asanas are not taught often in western classes because of risk of injury if not done correctly. However, they are very beneficial once you learn how to do them.
The last pose of the seated sequence is Urdva Dhanurasana (wheel pose, or full backbend) In the perfect series you go into the back bend from a standing position and return to a standing position. As you are learning this pose you go in and out of it from laying on your back on the floor. After taking my third back bend, as you do the asana three times, 5 breaths each, Lino came over and told me I was ready to try the standing portion, assisted by him. So I was able to do Urdva Dhanursana with the help of Lino, but from standing and back to standing!
Friday's are a led class by Lino, very western in thought as we all go through the asanas as Lino leads us. During the whole practice we have been doing half vinyasas between the poses. Basically going through up-dog down-dog asanas. This Friday is a full vinyasa class, which means between every pose we do a full vinyasa or Surya Namaskara. The practice will take about 2 1/2 hours to go through and I think we will all head back to bed after that!
I have learned much from this practice that I can't wait to bring back to the states not only for myself, but for my classes! It seems like its been a very long time since I was the student, and being assisted into asanas, and not having to think about what everyone is doing in each pose has been very beneficial to me. I am however, looking forward to teaching once again!
For the first several weeks one day I would feel really good, warm and loose so I could go very deep into the poses, then of course I would be sore from that practice so the next day I'm tight and hurt, so that practice wouldn't be as good. Week three I learned to take advantage of the journey, and not worry about the destination. Getting to that thought process has helped me move farther into the practice sometimes without thinking about it.
In Ahstanga Yoga practice, there are four parts to the practice. Surya Namaskara A & B (Sun Salutations) In the west we consider these the warm up for many of the yoga classes. We preform A five times, then B from 3 - 10 times depending on how you feel and how cold/warm it is. Because of the temperature 3 or 4 is usually enough. Next come the standing asanas (poses). There are several of these asanas that are coming along great. The hardest one for me is reversed side angle. (Utthita Parsvakonasana B)
After the standing asanas, you move into the seated asanas - I am practicing the primary series. There are actually 6 different series in Ashtanga yoga. Getting through the second series takes years and actually getting to 6 is a lifetime. The seated asanas is what changes as you progress through Ashtanga Yoga. It wasn't until the third week that I was able to go all the way through the seated asanas. The way Ashtanga is taught is you go to the point where you can no longer do the asanas, then you move onto the finishing asanas. I was so happy the day I went through the entire series by myself I felt like I was walking on water. My personal greatest accomplishment in the asanas is Marichyasana C, (seated, bound spinal twist). I just never thought that pose would come as fast as it did. Now, I still need help getting into it, but once there I am comfortable. I'll continue to work on that one so I can get into it by my self, hopefully before I return home.
The finishing sequence is designed to restore you. Shoulder stand, head stand, and several other inverted asanas. The finishing sequence is just as hard as the seated because you do about 60% of the asanas upside down! The majority of these asanas are not taught often in western classes because of risk of injury if not done correctly. However, they are very beneficial once you learn how to do them.
The last pose of the seated sequence is Urdva Dhanurasana (wheel pose, or full backbend) In the perfect series you go into the back bend from a standing position and return to a standing position. As you are learning this pose you go in and out of it from laying on your back on the floor. After taking my third back bend, as you do the asana three times, 5 breaths each, Lino came over and told me I was ready to try the standing portion, assisted by him. So I was able to do Urdva Dhanursana with the help of Lino, but from standing and back to standing!
Friday's are a led class by Lino, very western in thought as we all go through the asanas as Lino leads us. During the whole practice we have been doing half vinyasas between the poses. Basically going through up-dog down-dog asanas. This Friday is a full vinyasa class, which means between every pose we do a full vinyasa or Surya Namaskara. The practice will take about 2 1/2 hours to go through and I think we will all head back to bed after that!
I have learned much from this practice that I can't wait to bring back to the states not only for myself, but for my classes! It seems like its been a very long time since I was the student, and being assisted into asanas, and not having to think about what everyone is doing in each pose has been very beneficial to me. I am however, looking forward to teaching once again!
The City
I suggest you read "Trivundrum" before reading this post. After leaving the museum is was time for lunch. We went to a location named "Casa Bianca" or "The White House". The lady who owns this restaurant is a friend of the lady who owns "The German Bakery" and "Fusion" both of which we frequent in Kovalam. The main reason for visiting these two all the time is because they are run by westerners and the kitchens are always clean and their level of food expectations are higher than that of the locals.
Casa Bianca is literally a white house that was turned into a restaurant. On the main floor the kitchen is where the kitchen was, and the living room is a large sitting area. Upstairs there are two bedrooms which have also been turned into sitting areas. There are probably only ten tables in the whole place. We sat upstairs overlooking some neighbors garden, which was actually taken care of. The kitchen was closed from 3-6 and the only thing they could offer us, was the salads, sandwiches and pizza. Kitchen's closed between lunch and dinner, but they can make pizza? So I had pizza! Pineapple, and a mild chili pepper. I actually enjoyed the sweet and hot flavor the pizza had. We also had ice cream for dessert!
After a late lunch we headed down to the Central Train Station. (Of course we did!) The people coming and going from this place and the number and length of trains arriving here made Grand Central Station look deserted. It was packed with people. The majority of people here in India do not commute to or from work so these people for what ever reason were traveling. We read in the paper, just this morning, that India wants to have 20 new airports by the end of next year. The only airports this country has, for the most part are international airports into the cities. For a country the size of the United States, or most of Europe, thats not many. The people here in India for the most part can't afford to fly. For those of you that remember, When I bought my ticket from Bangalore to Trivundrum the ticket itself was $35.00. Taxes on that ticket were $42.50. Everyone travels here by train or bus. I could have spent hours at the train station, but was only there about 20 min. I did get some good photos of the place, and some of the unusual practices they have. They are allowed to cross the tracks, even though there is the sky bridge that will get them safely to each platform, and they stand in between trains while boarding! Just amazing.
We then headed to the main Hindu Temple of Trivundrum. This temple stands about 60-70 feet high, and is about 1000 years old so not only is it made of stone, but is also shaped like a pyramid, with Hindu carvings covering the outside instead of step-like. This is the temple that is closed to the general public because of the fundamentalist Muslims. They have had threats on the temple in the past. So here is their thinking; We will close the temple to anyone who is not Hindu. Now, they don't have cards or ID's that say "Hindu in good standing" so they literally take everyones word that they are Hindu. The catch is, because you cannot by tradition, convert to Hinduism, you must be born into it, they do not allow any westerners into the Temple. If you have white skin basically you're out. So, people like us can't go into the temple, people who would completely appreciate the place. This does not however stop a fundamentalist Muslim from acting like he is Hindu and walking in with bombs around their legs. Remember from our last temple visit, men can't wear shirts in the temples. Now, my thinking is that if a fundamentalist Muslim is going to high-jack a plane and ram it into the side of a building, then he would most likely walk into a Hindu temple with a bomb and blow it up. Indians however, don't think this way. (okay, off my soapbox now.) So we walked around the outside and sat on the steps for sometime and talked to a few of the natives. They truly are incredible people.
On our way back we stopped at another smaller temple and they were just starting some chanting for one of the gods - sorry not sure which one is was. I stepped back and watched while Daren, knowing what was going on, took part in the process. They would go up to different shrines, that had the doors closed and would begin to chant something in Sanskrit. After a time the doors would open to reveal the god inside, and then a man would take a lantern (with fire), and move it around the god, so the god could bless the fire, then would walk out into the crowd and the people would reach over and figuratively pull the fire into them as to cleanse their spirits. They did this with about 5 gods inside the temple. The temple walls were covered in ceramic tiles with mantras written on them in what I could tell was at least 5 different languages. This was a modern temple with steal beams for the ceiling so not very old, and didn't have the feel like the older temples do, but was non the less, Holy. After that was over several of the men talked to Daren for a moment and gave him some blessed food (several banana slices) and then waved me over and gave me some as well, just for being there. This truly amazes me, for they know that I'm not Hindu because I can't be, and even Daren, but yet they welcomed us with open arms, had no problems with us being in their temple, and evening wishing us well for the evening. The last man we saw as we were leaving the temple said "Namaste!"
Each temple is a little different on how it is run. We stopped at one more, and could have gone in, but we were not wearing the right clothes. Men are only allowed to wear a lungi, basically a piece of cloth about the size of a towel wrapped around their wast, like a dress. Women wear something similar, but of course, covers the top of their body as well. Had we been able to go into the main temple we would have needed a lungi as well. The temple we had just come from where we were treated so warmly, they didn't care! I'm trying to post the pictures still, but remember that cameras are not allowed into any of the temples - thats the one thing that is consistent, so sorry about that.
By this time is was almost 7:30 and we wanted to get back to the hotel as Friday mornings are the led class which means Lino instructs us through the whole series, and you are not be be late for this practice which starts at 7. Not early, but when you have been in the city for the whole day, especially one like this, its easy to sleep in. Needless to say we were at class on time, but did also get 10 hours of sleep that night. If you are reading this Bruce I thought about you several times and remembering our first trip to NY. The comment you kept making about how dirty the city was. After spending a day here in Trivundrum, I would eat scrambled eggs on the side walk in NY, compared to this place! Dirt was an understatement.
Casa Bianca is literally a white house that was turned into a restaurant. On the main floor the kitchen is where the kitchen was, and the living room is a large sitting area. Upstairs there are two bedrooms which have also been turned into sitting areas. There are probably only ten tables in the whole place. We sat upstairs overlooking some neighbors garden, which was actually taken care of. The kitchen was closed from 3-6 and the only thing they could offer us, was the salads, sandwiches and pizza. Kitchen's closed between lunch and dinner, but they can make pizza? So I had pizza! Pineapple, and a mild chili pepper. I actually enjoyed the sweet and hot flavor the pizza had. We also had ice cream for dessert!
After a late lunch we headed down to the Central Train Station. (Of course we did!) The people coming and going from this place and the number and length of trains arriving here made Grand Central Station look deserted. It was packed with people. The majority of people here in India do not commute to or from work so these people for what ever reason were traveling. We read in the paper, just this morning, that India wants to have 20 new airports by the end of next year. The only airports this country has, for the most part are international airports into the cities. For a country the size of the United States, or most of Europe, thats not many. The people here in India for the most part can't afford to fly. For those of you that remember, When I bought my ticket from Bangalore to Trivundrum the ticket itself was $35.00. Taxes on that ticket were $42.50. Everyone travels here by train or bus. I could have spent hours at the train station, but was only there about 20 min. I did get some good photos of the place, and some of the unusual practices they have. They are allowed to cross the tracks, even though there is the sky bridge that will get them safely to each platform, and they stand in between trains while boarding! Just amazing.
We then headed to the main Hindu Temple of Trivundrum. This temple stands about 60-70 feet high, and is about 1000 years old so not only is it made of stone, but is also shaped like a pyramid, with Hindu carvings covering the outside instead of step-like. This is the temple that is closed to the general public because of the fundamentalist Muslims. They have had threats on the temple in the past. So here is their thinking; We will close the temple to anyone who is not Hindu. Now, they don't have cards or ID's that say "Hindu in good standing" so they literally take everyones word that they are Hindu. The catch is, because you cannot by tradition, convert to Hinduism, you must be born into it, they do not allow any westerners into the Temple. If you have white skin basically you're out. So, people like us can't go into the temple, people who would completely appreciate the place. This does not however stop a fundamentalist Muslim from acting like he is Hindu and walking in with bombs around their legs. Remember from our last temple visit, men can't wear shirts in the temples. Now, my thinking is that if a fundamentalist Muslim is going to high-jack a plane and ram it into the side of a building, then he would most likely walk into a Hindu temple with a bomb and blow it up. Indians however, don't think this way. (okay, off my soapbox now.) So we walked around the outside and sat on the steps for sometime and talked to a few of the natives. They truly are incredible people.
On our way back we stopped at another smaller temple and they were just starting some chanting for one of the gods - sorry not sure which one is was. I stepped back and watched while Daren, knowing what was going on, took part in the process. They would go up to different shrines, that had the doors closed and would begin to chant something in Sanskrit. After a time the doors would open to reveal the god inside, and then a man would take a lantern (with fire), and move it around the god, so the god could bless the fire, then would walk out into the crowd and the people would reach over and figuratively pull the fire into them as to cleanse their spirits. They did this with about 5 gods inside the temple. The temple walls were covered in ceramic tiles with mantras written on them in what I could tell was at least 5 different languages. This was a modern temple with steal beams for the ceiling so not very old, and didn't have the feel like the older temples do, but was non the less, Holy. After that was over several of the men talked to Daren for a moment and gave him some blessed food (several banana slices) and then waved me over and gave me some as well, just for being there. This truly amazes me, for they know that I'm not Hindu because I can't be, and even Daren, but yet they welcomed us with open arms, had no problems with us being in their temple, and evening wishing us well for the evening. The last man we saw as we were leaving the temple said "Namaste!"
Each temple is a little different on how it is run. We stopped at one more, and could have gone in, but we were not wearing the right clothes. Men are only allowed to wear a lungi, basically a piece of cloth about the size of a towel wrapped around their wast, like a dress. Women wear something similar, but of course, covers the top of their body as well. Had we been able to go into the main temple we would have needed a lungi as well. The temple we had just come from where we were treated so warmly, they didn't care! I'm trying to post the pictures still, but remember that cameras are not allowed into any of the temples - thats the one thing that is consistent, so sorry about that.
By this time is was almost 7:30 and we wanted to get back to the hotel as Friday mornings are the led class which means Lino instructs us through the whole series, and you are not be be late for this practice which starts at 7. Not early, but when you have been in the city for the whole day, especially one like this, its easy to sleep in. Needless to say we were at class on time, but did also get 10 hours of sleep that night. If you are reading this Bruce I thought about you several times and remembering our first trip to NY. The comment you kept making about how dirty the city was. After spending a day here in Trivundrum, I would eat scrambled eggs on the side walk in NY, compared to this place! Dirt was an understatement.
Trivundrum
Yesterday we went into the city of Trivundrum. This is about 20 miles from Kovalam Beach and is the city that we fly into to get here to Kovalam. This was the first time after being here three weeks that we went into the city. Trivumdrum has the population of about 1 million people, and the best way to describe this city, is the same way that I described the roads - organized chaos! We decided to take the bus to get into the city. First off, I wanted to experience the bus here in India, and second much cheaper. The cab fare into the city is 300 Rupees, the bus, 17. And that is for both of us! Riding the bus isn't as bad as I thought. However, because it was in the middle of the day, the bus was not busy. If you travel at peak times - we would call it rush hour- the buses look more like cans of sardines than buses. So we got a seat and everything. In fact, nobody was standing on our bus into the city. Riding the bus is very similar to riding in a taxi on the roads, however the advantage is that the bus is usually the biggest thing on the road so other vehicles tend to move out of your way...nice.
In the states, because we are such a lawsuit happy country, and god forbid that we take responsibility for our own actions, buses are only allowed to drop you off and pick you up at the designated bus stops, and no other place. You know, in case you fall or something and you are not at the bus stop then you will own the buses! Anyway, here, the bus is cruising down the road at a good pace and you decide you want on that bus - just wave your hand! If you have seen the movie Harry Potter and the Order of the Pheonix, the bus ride he takes in the begining of the book, yeah, thats what its like. The driver will just slam on the brakes to stop for you, and hope there is not a taxi, or better yet, a rickshaw right behind the bus, because then the rickshaw would be up the exhaust pipe. Same goes for if you are in the bus and just ring the little bell, and its a real bell, not some bell like sound from a speaker. On go the brakes! And lets just talk about those brakes - they do work really well, however they need to work on the sound of them. Daren's comment would be "I would rather here nails running down a chalk board than the brakes!" and I couldn't agree more.
Arriving in Trivundrum, we get off the bus at the main bus terminal for the city. Our first stop is to be the main city market - where if we want, we can do some shopping. The nice thing, is the market is simply across the street from the bus stop. The challenging part is the market is simply on the other side of this very big, very busy, chaotic, unorganized street! Now, I think to myself, I've been in New York City, and I can cross a very busy street! No traffic lights (unless you count the traffic cop who only about 10% of the drivers actually see him. Remembering there are no lanes per say, and we are at at intersection! So the best thing that comes to mind is the very old video game "Frogger". Across the street we go and for some reason, I think a bus, teh intersection became congested for a moment at traffic came to a stand still. There were about 40 people who took advantage of that pause in the traffic and went for it. We made it with no problems. Of course we were in the big city so we didn't need to watch out for ox, cows, elephants, or other forms of wild life.
The market really wasn't anything spectacular, or funny to write home about. It was a very long street, and someone at some point in time had the brilliant idea to make the road only one way, so you only needed to watch traffic coming from one direction. A good example of what the marked was like is think "China town" in San Francisco. Very busy with tons of people moving everywhere, and some cars but mostly motor bikes and rickshaws moving through the street. Shop after shop after shop of stuff. Sometimes I wonder what some of these shops are thinking, and if they really do sell anything, but I guess they do or they wouldn't be there. The majority of the locals are buying their fruits, vegetables, and flowers for the day. The Indians like gold, considering it the best investment, so there were lots of jewelry stores, and lots of shoe stores as well.
We went into a hotel to get some bottled water, (hotel here in India can be used for restaurant as well. There is a sign here in Kovalam that says Hotel and Accomidations.) and really confused the man because he wanted to get us a soft drink of some kind. Coke, sprite, etc. It took him a moment to realize we wanted water. Daren made a very good observation about the Indians, at least here in this part of the country. They don't drink soft drinks. Now, there are everywhere you go, but the only people you see drinking them are the westerners. Indians drink tea and coffee most of the time. While we were looking around, a place that sold items for school children, pens, bags, etc was selling a poster about healthy food. It wasn't simple as there were about 18 different things, or pictures, on the poster. They did include things like meat (for non Hindu's), milk, rice, wheat, fruit, vegetables, sweets, I really can't remember everything. This was given to school children, similar to when we had the four basic food groups, now the food pyramid. One of the items listed was PEPSI!!!!!! Soft drinks were apart of that list! Daren and I started to laugh really hard and pointing to the picture. The man asked was was so funny in broken English, and we told him in America we are working at getting soft drinks banned from schools because they are not good for you. You could tell he thought we were crazy, because this poster said Pepsi, it must be okay! I wonder who paid for those posters to be made?!?
After the market, our next trip was to the Trivundrum museum. This meant riding in a rickshaw for the first time! Several things come to mind when seeing/riding in a rickshaw. First off, the sound they make. For those of you from Utah, or have even been to an amusement park (Lagoon) that has those little cars that you drive around on a track, well that is what they sound like. Enhanced lawn mower engines with bad mufflers! They don't go much faster, and when going up hills I'm ready to put my feet on the ground and help out, kind of like in the Flintstones! The way the rickshaws are designed, one wheel up front and the two in the back, they so remind me of "Doom Buggys" (These are the vehicles you get into at the Haunted Mansion at the Disney parks to go through the attraction.) Of course the Doom Buggys are not as scary to ride in - no pun intended! The trip to the museum wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, and our driver could speak English so he was good at pointing out things.
The museum was an incredible looking building that was built for the purpose of being a museum, unfortunatly the government can't keep up these kind of places so it is a bit run down. The cost per person into the museum was 6 Rupees (12.5 cents). Most of the items within were of statues of Hindu and Buddist figures and such dating back up to several thousand years. They even had a replica of some stone stamps showing people in specific yoga poses that date to 2500 B.C. Thats 4500 years ago. Everything was metal, wood or stone, and there were several pieces of cloth the Bali, and a few other odd things. It only took about 25 min to go through the whole place.
Time for lunch, I will continue with another post this afternoon! Hope you are all well.
In the states, because we are such a lawsuit happy country, and god forbid that we take responsibility for our own actions, buses are only allowed to drop you off and pick you up at the designated bus stops, and no other place. You know, in case you fall or something and you are not at the bus stop then you will own the buses! Anyway, here, the bus is cruising down the road at a good pace and you decide you want on that bus - just wave your hand! If you have seen the movie Harry Potter and the Order of the Pheonix, the bus ride he takes in the begining of the book, yeah, thats what its like. The driver will just slam on the brakes to stop for you, and hope there is not a taxi, or better yet, a rickshaw right behind the bus, because then the rickshaw would be up the exhaust pipe. Same goes for if you are in the bus and just ring the little bell, and its a real bell, not some bell like sound from a speaker. On go the brakes! And lets just talk about those brakes - they do work really well, however they need to work on the sound of them. Daren's comment would be "I would rather here nails running down a chalk board than the brakes!" and I couldn't agree more.
Arriving in Trivundrum, we get off the bus at the main bus terminal for the city. Our first stop is to be the main city market - where if we want, we can do some shopping. The nice thing, is the market is simply across the street from the bus stop. The challenging part is the market is simply on the other side of this very big, very busy, chaotic, unorganized street! Now, I think to myself, I've been in New York City, and I can cross a very busy street! No traffic lights (unless you count the traffic cop who only about 10% of the drivers actually see him. Remembering there are no lanes per say, and we are at at intersection! So the best thing that comes to mind is the very old video game "Frogger". Across the street we go and for some reason, I think a bus, teh intersection became congested for a moment at traffic came to a stand still. There were about 40 people who took advantage of that pause in the traffic and went for it. We made it with no problems. Of course we were in the big city so we didn't need to watch out for ox, cows, elephants, or other forms of wild life.
The market really wasn't anything spectacular, or funny to write home about. It was a very long street, and someone at some point in time had the brilliant idea to make the road only one way, so you only needed to watch traffic coming from one direction. A good example of what the marked was like is think "China town" in San Francisco. Very busy with tons of people moving everywhere, and some cars but mostly motor bikes and rickshaws moving through the street. Shop after shop after shop of stuff. Sometimes I wonder what some of these shops are thinking, and if they really do sell anything, but I guess they do or they wouldn't be there. The majority of the locals are buying their fruits, vegetables, and flowers for the day. The Indians like gold, considering it the best investment, so there were lots of jewelry stores, and lots of shoe stores as well.
We went into a hotel to get some bottled water, (hotel here in India can be used for restaurant as well. There is a sign here in Kovalam that says Hotel and Accomidations.) and really confused the man because he wanted to get us a soft drink of some kind. Coke, sprite, etc. It took him a moment to realize we wanted water. Daren made a very good observation about the Indians, at least here in this part of the country. They don't drink soft drinks. Now, there are everywhere you go, but the only people you see drinking them are the westerners. Indians drink tea and coffee most of the time. While we were looking around, a place that sold items for school children, pens, bags, etc was selling a poster about healthy food. It wasn't simple as there were about 18 different things, or pictures, on the poster. They did include things like meat (for non Hindu's), milk, rice, wheat, fruit, vegetables, sweets, I really can't remember everything. This was given to school children, similar to when we had the four basic food groups, now the food pyramid. One of the items listed was PEPSI!!!!!! Soft drinks were apart of that list! Daren and I started to laugh really hard and pointing to the picture. The man asked was was so funny in broken English, and we told him in America we are working at getting soft drinks banned from schools because they are not good for you. You could tell he thought we were crazy, because this poster said Pepsi, it must be okay! I wonder who paid for those posters to be made?!?
After the market, our next trip was to the Trivundrum museum. This meant riding in a rickshaw for the first time! Several things come to mind when seeing/riding in a rickshaw. First off, the sound they make. For those of you from Utah, or have even been to an amusement park (Lagoon) that has those little cars that you drive around on a track, well that is what they sound like. Enhanced lawn mower engines with bad mufflers! They don't go much faster, and when going up hills I'm ready to put my feet on the ground and help out, kind of like in the Flintstones! The way the rickshaws are designed, one wheel up front and the two in the back, they so remind me of "Doom Buggys" (These are the vehicles you get into at the Haunted Mansion at the Disney parks to go through the attraction.) Of course the Doom Buggys are not as scary to ride in - no pun intended! The trip to the museum wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, and our driver could speak English so he was good at pointing out things.
The museum was an incredible looking building that was built for the purpose of being a museum, unfortunatly the government can't keep up these kind of places so it is a bit run down. The cost per person into the museum was 6 Rupees (12.5 cents). Most of the items within were of statues of Hindu and Buddist figures and such dating back up to several thousand years. They even had a replica of some stone stamps showing people in specific yoga poses that date to 2500 B.C. Thats 4500 years ago. Everything was metal, wood or stone, and there were several pieces of cloth the Bali, and a few other odd things. It only took about 25 min to go through the whole place.
Time for lunch, I will continue with another post this afternoon! Hope you are all well.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
massage
Its been over a week now, but I had a foot massage at one of the ayurvedic centers here in Kovalam. I scheduled it on a day that I thought I was just really sore from the practice and just needed a good massage to relax the muscles for the next day. I ended up being sore because my immune system was going into hyperdrive as later that day I realized that it was from something I had eaten. I slept the rest of the afternoon, and was very happy to realize I was hungry for dinner that night. I slept through the whole night, and I did miss practice that morning - the only one I have missed so far. By that afternoon I was feeling myself again, so my body took care of it very fast, which I was grateful for.
So the foot massage is not what you are thinking of. I didn't sit in a chair and someone massaged by feet for an hour - which I would not complain about at all, but this is how it went;
After signing in, the therapist comes and greets you. Then we went up to the third floor into the massage room. This building, as most in Kovalam, is made on concrete. There are no trees in this area that are suitable to use for lumber, so everything is either built out of cement, brick or tin. The roofs of many places are palm leaves however. The leaves for the palm tress are the only thing usable for construction material. Each floor of this place is divided into small rooms by bamboo. The bamboo is woven together somehow, to it makes a good partition, but that would be the best way to describe it Once in the room there was a table off to the side, a large mattress on the floor, a small bamboo stool, and a diffuser on a table gently heating the oil. In ayurvedic medicine they use lots of oils and herbs, so the table and mattress on the floor were both made of vinyl so that the oil would not be absorbed by the mattress, and could easily be cleaned.
Once in the room, you remove your clothes and sit on the stool and the therapist asks you several questions about your health. Then he begins by giving you a scalp massage with some kind of oil that is infused heavily with herbs. The massage is not rough, but definitely not gentle. It works the oils into your hair, scalp, and neck. It really felt good even though the pressure was quit hard. This lasted 5 or so minutes. Then you lay down on the mattress on the floor, face down. He then pours, and I mean pours, warm oil all over your body. Legs, arms, and core. Then he holds onto ropes hanging from the ceiling and begins to massage you using his feet. The main reason they do it this way, instead of on a table with their hands, is they work at balancing your energy throughout your entire body, and they are able to run their foot starting from your foot all the way up your leg, body, and arm overhead to your hand, and back down again. So instead of massaging your core (back), leg, then arm, they get everything at once and this helps move the energy all the way through your body.
Its amazing at how well the therapist can feel where your tight spots are just like a therapist using his hands. He will often stop and work the places that you need it the most. I would not consider this massage similar to a Swedish massage, but closer to a very deep tissue massage, as they can use their entire body weight to work the muscles. If you are looking for something simple and relaxing, this is not the massage for you. He also changes the direction of your hands half way through. You start with palms down, and then he changes them to palms up, and it completely changes the way the massage feels.
When he is completed with the back he has you turn over and starts over on the front side. Pours the warm oil all over you and begins the massage. Unlike a Swedish massage, he also massages the abdomen really well. The intention is to keep everything moving, and to help to body flush out the toxins. It is always advisable not to eat at the very least two hours before this kind of massage, and even no liquids, and make sure you make a toilet break before having this done. He does the same thing with your hands, and also with your feet this time. They face out half the time and in the other half. Once the massage is done, he hands you a towel so you can wipe off the excess oil, but you still are very oily as you should be, and allow the oil to absorb into the body, and you smell like a great tasting stir fry! They use sesame oil and herbs for this massage!
I do plan on getting one more massage before I go. Not sure if I'm going to get a foot massage or something else as they do offer several different kinds, we shall see!
So the foot massage is not what you are thinking of. I didn't sit in a chair and someone massaged by feet for an hour - which I would not complain about at all, but this is how it went;
After signing in, the therapist comes and greets you. Then we went up to the third floor into the massage room. This building, as most in Kovalam, is made on concrete. There are no trees in this area that are suitable to use for lumber, so everything is either built out of cement, brick or tin. The roofs of many places are palm leaves however. The leaves for the palm tress are the only thing usable for construction material. Each floor of this place is divided into small rooms by bamboo. The bamboo is woven together somehow, to it makes a good partition, but that would be the best way to describe it Once in the room there was a table off to the side, a large mattress on the floor, a small bamboo stool, and a diffuser on a table gently heating the oil. In ayurvedic medicine they use lots of oils and herbs, so the table and mattress on the floor were both made of vinyl so that the oil would not be absorbed by the mattress, and could easily be cleaned.
Once in the room, you remove your clothes and sit on the stool and the therapist asks you several questions about your health. Then he begins by giving you a scalp massage with some kind of oil that is infused heavily with herbs. The massage is not rough, but definitely not gentle. It works the oils into your hair, scalp, and neck. It really felt good even though the pressure was quit hard. This lasted 5 or so minutes. Then you lay down on the mattress on the floor, face down. He then pours, and I mean pours, warm oil all over your body. Legs, arms, and core. Then he holds onto ropes hanging from the ceiling and begins to massage you using his feet. The main reason they do it this way, instead of on a table with their hands, is they work at balancing your energy throughout your entire body, and they are able to run their foot starting from your foot all the way up your leg, body, and arm overhead to your hand, and back down again. So instead of massaging your core (back), leg, then arm, they get everything at once and this helps move the energy all the way through your body.
Its amazing at how well the therapist can feel where your tight spots are just like a therapist using his hands. He will often stop and work the places that you need it the most. I would not consider this massage similar to a Swedish massage, but closer to a very deep tissue massage, as they can use their entire body weight to work the muscles. If you are looking for something simple and relaxing, this is not the massage for you. He also changes the direction of your hands half way through. You start with palms down, and then he changes them to palms up, and it completely changes the way the massage feels.
When he is completed with the back he has you turn over and starts over on the front side. Pours the warm oil all over you and begins the massage. Unlike a Swedish massage, he also massages the abdomen really well. The intention is to keep everything moving, and to help to body flush out the toxins. It is always advisable not to eat at the very least two hours before this kind of massage, and even no liquids, and make sure you make a toilet break before having this done. He does the same thing with your hands, and also with your feet this time. They face out half the time and in the other half. Once the massage is done, he hands you a towel so you can wipe off the excess oil, but you still are very oily as you should be, and allow the oil to absorb into the body, and you smell like a great tasting stir fry! They use sesame oil and herbs for this massage!
I do plan on getting one more massage before I go. Not sure if I'm going to get a foot massage or something else as they do offer several different kinds, we shall see!
Daily Life
Okay, so now lets talk about daily life! Nothing is really that hard around here, and as you can see the culture is very laid back with no stress about whats going to happen next. The locals will sit in front of their shops for hours and sometimes days before they will get a sale and this is all part of their world. The hotel sits at the end of the paved highway into Kovalam Beach, so there are lots of taxi's just sitting around here waiting for someone who needs a ride someplace. Most of the drivers now recognize us so they have stopped asking if we need to taxi or rickshaw - now they just say HI or Good Morning!
Practice is at 6:45 in the morning so we are up about 6:30. Just about the time that the sun is coming up. Practice runs about 2 hours give or take and then its off to breakfast. We almost always go to a place called "The Lonely Planet." The main reason we started going there is because the kitchen is clean! However, over the weeks the people know us very well now, even to the point that we no longer need to order, because they know what we want. Me - Chai Masala Tea and Banana Pancake. Daren - Lemon Ginger Tea and Vegetable Ottapham. The main server is a young guy that doesn't speak English, but can understand some. One day the "manager" was no where to be found when we were ready to leave so the server just said "tomorrow". Meaning we can pay for breakfast tomorrow when we come. That is how laid back it is. Just try to imagine that happening in the states! Its also very quite at the restaurant in the mornings which is another reason we like going there. Its off the beaten path so there are not many people. Often we will go with some other students from class, or we meet there. It comes and goes not everything the same day. They also have a great view of the jungle from the seating area, including a small pond with fish in it. Living around the pond are some geese, heron and something else that no one can name except it really looks like a cross between a duck and a goose!
Our days are spent doing various activities. Checking email, writing in the blog and making sure bills are paid are the next main focus, after a shower that is. Then, sometimes I head down to the beach, if I'm in the mood for some sun and if the waves are good. I have found I don't like the ocean unless I can play in the waves so if its calm I don't want to go down there. The one thing I completely dislike about the beach is the sand! I don't mind laying on it, or running in it, or anything while I'm there, but when I get back I'm covered in it, and for some reason that just drives my crazy. So now I only go when I know I'm going to have tons of fun in the ocean. You can rent boogie boards for 50 Rupees an hour ($1.00), and so I'm getting pretty good at that as well.
I have also been doing quite a bit of reading, and have several books going at the same time. I've have finished 3 books already and almost done with the fourth. The one I'm almost finished with was one that many of you had recommended I take along with me on the trip; Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. I can't thank you guys enough, and for mom for letting me borrow it before you had the chance to read it! It is a book that I think everyone should read. I think there is a little of everybody in that book.
Every so many days I do laundry. Now that means putting my clothes in the sink with a little shampoo and washing them by hand. I'm sure this sounds just awful when you are on "vacation", but I'm only wearing a pair of shorts and sometimes a shirt, so I don't have baskets full of laundry. Besides, the alternative is this... take your laundry down to someone to do it for you! Simple enough. They beat the hell out of your clothes in water that we are not sure where it came from, and on rocks! Yeap, no wash board here, just the good old rocks. Now, I hang my clothes to dry over the railing of the porch as we are on the third floor. They lay your clothes out to dry on the very rocks they washed them on! Yeap, on the ground. If you are lucky the entire article of clothing will be on a large rock, otherwise parts of the article will be in the dirt.....you decide. Oh, and you pay them to do this! (the picture is of towels being laid out to dry on the rocks! If I can get it to load.) Yes, just in case you are wondering, this does include our towels and sheets. However we think that our hotel hangs them to dry on the roof of the hotel, but are not sure!
We have decided that eating dinner early is best for us all the way around. First, because in the restaurants the food is prepared per order, if you go with the regular dinner crown about 7 or so, the wait can be up to 2 hours for your food. If you go at say 5:30 you almost have the place to yourself, and the food is out in 20-30 min. Plus you get the table of choice and here in Kovalam most of the views are of the sunset! That is an interesting spectacle in itself. Because of the humidity in the air, the sun turns an incredible color of burnt orange, and then actually disappears BEFORE it gets below the horizon. It is swallowed by the atmosphere itself before the horizon can get to it... simply amazing! Last but not least, at least for me, I have found its much better to eat than to be eaten, and be back in the hotel before it begins to cool off because that is when the mosquitoes come out, They just treat me like a buffet at Circus Circus! Those little beer bellied, back woods mosquitoes just look at me and say check that feast out! I even think they wear little t'shirts that say "Westerners taste best!" At night, when everything is quiet you can even hear them flying around when they pass close to your head almost as if they are teasing you saying "You are trying to sleep and I'm going to have dinner with you as the main course!" So of course you swat and thrash in bed and they are up by the ceiling watching you act like a lunatic before you calm down again, then they strike! I think they do that on purpose because all that movement gets your heart going and blood pumping so there's more for them. They go to school to learnt his kind of stuff I'm quite certain. I do use spray, even with "deet" in it and I'm sure it works but there are the few out there that could really care less. My body however is getting used to them and I'm not swelling up like I did on the first week I was here. After about the third night, just for kicks and giggles, if we could have found a pen, Daren and I were going to play connect the dots on my body! Okay so really not that bad, much better than I thought, but when you come from someplace where they don't live, they sure can mess you up.
A tidbit I forgot to mention in the last post. This is about the town we were in with the temples over last weekend. The town itself is a small fishing town, its really not a tourist place at all, so only locals head there. Because the town itself is actually located on the Eastern side of the continent, the year of the tsunami the locals were amazed that day when all of the sudden the water started receding out into the ocean, only to come back moments later with vengeance. Many locals headed out onto the sandy base because lots of fish could be had all of the sudden and that is what they were thinking... fish! The village lost about 1000 people that day.
One last thing for this entry, and I've been meaning to put it in since the first entry when I got here to Kovalam, but I have forgotten with each post until just now. It was very funny to me at the time because first off I had just spent the last 22 hours in the air, but also because you realized you are no longer in the US. Below is the actual statement made on the boarding pass after arriving in Bangalore and getting ready for the last leg to Trivundrum:
Boarding gate closes 15 minutes prior to departure. Frisking of persons and checking of hand baggage is mandatory for all passengers. Please co-operate with security. After I finished laughing I said to myself, "Welcome to India!"
Practice is at 6:45 in the morning so we are up about 6:30. Just about the time that the sun is coming up. Practice runs about 2 hours give or take and then its off to breakfast. We almost always go to a place called "The Lonely Planet." The main reason we started going there is because the kitchen is clean! However, over the weeks the people know us very well now, even to the point that we no longer need to order, because they know what we want. Me - Chai Masala Tea and Banana Pancake. Daren - Lemon Ginger Tea and Vegetable Ottapham. The main server is a young guy that doesn't speak English, but can understand some. One day the "manager" was no where to be found when we were ready to leave so the server just said "tomorrow". Meaning we can pay for breakfast tomorrow when we come. That is how laid back it is. Just try to imagine that happening in the states! Its also very quite at the restaurant in the mornings which is another reason we like going there. Its off the beaten path so there are not many people. Often we will go with some other students from class, or we meet there. It comes and goes not everything the same day. They also have a great view of the jungle from the seating area, including a small pond with fish in it. Living around the pond are some geese, heron and something else that no one can name except it really looks like a cross between a duck and a goose!
Our days are spent doing various activities. Checking email, writing in the blog and making sure bills are paid are the next main focus, after a shower that is. Then, sometimes I head down to the beach, if I'm in the mood for some sun and if the waves are good. I have found I don't like the ocean unless I can play in the waves so if its calm I don't want to go down there. The one thing I completely dislike about the beach is the sand! I don't mind laying on it, or running in it, or anything while I'm there, but when I get back I'm covered in it, and for some reason that just drives my crazy. So now I only go when I know I'm going to have tons of fun in the ocean. You can rent boogie boards for 50 Rupees an hour ($1.00), and so I'm getting pretty good at that as well.
I have also been doing quite a bit of reading, and have several books going at the same time. I've have finished 3 books already and almost done with the fourth. The one I'm almost finished with was one that many of you had recommended I take along with me on the trip; Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. I can't thank you guys enough, and for mom for letting me borrow it before you had the chance to read it! It is a book that I think everyone should read. I think there is a little of everybody in that book.
Every so many days I do laundry. Now that means putting my clothes in the sink with a little shampoo and washing them by hand. I'm sure this sounds just awful when you are on "vacation", but I'm only wearing a pair of shorts and sometimes a shirt, so I don't have baskets full of laundry. Besides, the alternative is this... take your laundry down to someone to do it for you! Simple enough. They beat the hell out of your clothes in water that we are not sure where it came from, and on rocks! Yeap, no wash board here, just the good old rocks. Now, I hang my clothes to dry over the railing of the porch as we are on the third floor. They lay your clothes out to dry on the very rocks they washed them on! Yeap, on the ground. If you are lucky the entire article of clothing will be on a large rock, otherwise parts of the article will be in the dirt.....you decide. Oh, and you pay them to do this! (the picture is of towels being laid out to dry on the rocks! If I can get it to load.) Yes, just in case you are wondering, this does include our towels and sheets. However we think that our hotel hangs them to dry on the roof of the hotel, but are not sure!
We have decided that eating dinner early is best for us all the way around. First, because in the restaurants the food is prepared per order, if you go with the regular dinner crown about 7 or so, the wait can be up to 2 hours for your food. If you go at say 5:30 you almost have the place to yourself, and the food is out in 20-30 min. Plus you get the table of choice and here in Kovalam most of the views are of the sunset! That is an interesting spectacle in itself. Because of the humidity in the air, the sun turns an incredible color of burnt orange, and then actually disappears BEFORE it gets below the horizon. It is swallowed by the atmosphere itself before the horizon can get to it... simply amazing! Last but not least, at least for me, I have found its much better to eat than to be eaten, and be back in the hotel before it begins to cool off because that is when the mosquitoes come out, They just treat me like a buffet at Circus Circus! Those little beer bellied, back woods mosquitoes just look at me and say check that feast out! I even think they wear little t'shirts that say "Westerners taste best!" At night, when everything is quiet you can even hear them flying around when they pass close to your head almost as if they are teasing you saying "You are trying to sleep and I'm going to have dinner with you as the main course!" So of course you swat and thrash in bed and they are up by the ceiling watching you act like a lunatic before you calm down again, then they strike! I think they do that on purpose because all that movement gets your heart going and blood pumping so there's more for them. They go to school to learnt his kind of stuff I'm quite certain. I do use spray, even with "deet" in it and I'm sure it works but there are the few out there that could really care less. My body however is getting used to them and I'm not swelling up like I did on the first week I was here. After about the third night, just for kicks and giggles, if we could have found a pen, Daren and I were going to play connect the dots on my body! Okay so really not that bad, much better than I thought, but when you come from someplace where they don't live, they sure can mess you up.
A tidbit I forgot to mention in the last post. This is about the town we were in with the temples over last weekend. The town itself is a small fishing town, its really not a tourist place at all, so only locals head there. Because the town itself is actually located on the Eastern side of the continent, the year of the tsunami the locals were amazed that day when all of the sudden the water started receding out into the ocean, only to come back moments later with vengeance. Many locals headed out onto the sandy base because lots of fish could be had all of the sudden and that is what they were thinking... fish! The village lost about 1000 people that day.
One last thing for this entry, and I've been meaning to put it in since the first entry when I got here to Kovalam, but I have forgotten with each post until just now. It was very funny to me at the time because first off I had just spent the last 22 hours in the air, but also because you realized you are no longer in the US. Below is the actual statement made on the boarding pass after arriving in Bangalore and getting ready for the last leg to Trivundrum:
Boarding gate closes 15 minutes prior to departure. Frisking of persons and checking of hand baggage is mandatory for all passengers. Please co-operate with security. After I finished laughing I said to myself, "Welcome to India!"
Friday, January 18, 2008
Hindu Temple
Note: I suggest reading Shiva Temple before reading this entry. The next place we went to was a very old and famous Hindu Temple. The site which is located on the mainland - the most southern point without going over to the island, has been considered sacred for over 3000 years and the temple is about 1000 years old, and still used as it was the day it was built. The best way to describe it is think either Mayan or Egyptian temples. The entire building is made out of stone with carvings in the wall of the ancient sanskrit language but written in the Indian Alphabet which made it that much more interesting. Knowing that the locals now can't read it any better than we can, but scholars know exactly what it says. All the Pillars, and walls are carved with different symbols, monkeys and elephants are used often, as is statues of the different gods. This is the temple where I actually had to check my camera in, so there are no pictures what so ever of this event. Of course the shoes go off even before you get to the entrance. Once we got to the entrance (okay visual here. We are the ONLY two white men that can be seen for miles!) We were told by one of the brahmin priests that the wait (people in line to get into the temple) was over an hour long. I was so excited about being there that I really didn't care how long the wait was. Of course he had something up his sleeve and said to us for 100 Rupees he would personally guide us to the inner sanctum of the temple. (100 Rupees = about $2.50) Of course we said yes. So shoes off, camera check, and men are required to remove their shirts, we were ready to enter the temple. He basically took us up the way out all the way in to the inner temple where the worshipping was talking place.
As we entered the inner sanctum there was a stillness in the room, and it was very quite. The room itself was not very large, maybe about 20 X 20 feet. It was very warm in the room because of all the lamps that were lit for both light and specific meaning. The lanterns were on columns which were either of brass or something looking similar to gold. There were four columns with about four lanterns on each. In the middle of this four columns was a space of about 10 square feet that was left open, marble floor only. The line of people entered the room looking at this area and straight ahead on the other side was a small chamber with a Hindu god located on the inside of the chamber. At this point in time we got in line to move around to view into the chamber. Inside the chamber was more lanterns and a god at the back of the chamber. The god was Ayappa. This from google: Sri Ayappa is considered the third son of Lord Shiva, and the brethren of Ganesha and Murugan or Kartikeya. The deity is steeped in legend and is unique to Hinduism, particularly to Kerala. (Kerala is the state we are in) When we got to the front of the chamber there is a man sitting there with a tray of talik, a red powder which you place on your forehead between your eye brows or the third eye center, which allows you to see god. Unlike in the western world where we always think of symbols of god weather it be the cross, or a statue, or a picture, they are just that; symbols. Here in India, when inside this temple the statue of Ayappa is not a statue, but the god himself. They are seeing and bowing down to the God with no thought that this is just of symbol of him.
Once we were finished with the inner sanctum we then moved back out and walked around inside the temple for at least another half hour and Daren was pointing different things out to me. The large columns, the carvings on the walls, some of the statues, the designs in the floor, etc. Remember, think very old stone temple here - just amazing! At one point in the temple (of course for a small fee) you can lite a small oil lamp for a wish or blessing you would like. This is similar to the Catholics having candles at alters in the larger cathedrals. We did that as our final view of the temple before we left.
What am amazing place. People flock here 24/7 to pray to Ayappa, and will wait in line for hours, because they feel that it is god himself there listening to them.
Once outside the temple we walked over to this other priest who was covered in body markings - made from ash or some other powder and was watching over a shrine in the courtyard. Daren asked about the body art and then wanted to be painted as well. The priest said he couldn't do it, Daren had to by himself, but that he would show him how. It was very specific as to the order and how you did it. That is the picture - the only one of the area that is posted. I chose to watch the ordeal which was comical because Daren didn't listen very well and the priest would tell him very loudly not to do it that way, do it this way, then I would laugh and the priest would say don't laugh! Of course I would laugh harder!!!
I truly appreciated meeting the Saint Amma, and getting a hug from her, but being in this temple was by far one of the most amazing experiences of my life. The feeling you had when inside the temple, the feelings of the people all around you, and knowing that this has been going on for 1000's of years was simply amazing!
I forgot to mention something about the island. Under neath the large temple was a meditation room which the people were allowed to go into if they choose to meditate. The room was very dark, no light except for a back lit large symbol of OM. There were speakers and a very soft chant was playing all the time. The floor was made of marble so not comfortable, but we went in for about 10 min and meditated. Once again an amazing place only because this is exactly what the room was made for and its all that happens in the room. (Body Pump doesn't follow!)
To end the story of this little day trip - what a trip for one day! If you recall the entry about the taxi, and the roads and what we had to share the roads with - well I thought the ox and cart where amazing. I have several up on that one now. On our way we shared the road with cows. Now, keep in mind that cows are considered sacred here in India, so if a cow decides it wants to lay down in the middle of the road to sleep, then we find a detour because thats where the cow wants to lay. Just hope that a taxi driver never needs to make the decision between hitting you or a cow because the cow will ALWAYS win. However, on the way back, passing through a small village (it was dark by this time so no pictures) we needed to make way for an elephant! It was a pet, and seeing that it was much bigger than anything else on the road it had the right of way.....which we gave it! The funny thing about this however, is that Indian's don't think anything of this. It would be like us moving over for a fire truck or something. So not really sure what to think of the next trip we take that will involve a taxi!
Shiva Temple
Friday we took a trip down to kanyakumari, the very southern tip of India/Asia. Looking out across the vast Indian Ocean, which is the smallest of the worlds oceans. In route we stopped at the last noble families palace to take a tour of the place. We arrived at 1:10 pm, and the box office is closed from 1-2 for lunch. The man was actually sitting in the box office eating his lunch, but would not have sold us a ticket to save our lives, because it was lunch time. This is how India works - they don't think about having someone else do the job for an hour, we just close the box office.... Welcome to India. We decided it was not worth the wait and so we left. What we think of palace and what they think of palace here are different. Yes, the place was very large, but there was nothing that would have been worth seeing with and hour wait.
The journey there was down back roads, not the main national highways; the only difference, no strip down the center of the road! We did pass however very large banana plantations, that went on for miles which were fun to see. In between the banana trees would be small rice fields and between properties would be coconut trees. Very low land with lots of small rivers and bridges that we would cross which are only wide enough for one vehicle at a time. Some of the scenes were so incredible. As we crossed over one bridge the river forked and you could only see the water in the middle for all the coconut trees. Very thick like the forests of the Pacific Northwest. the waters are very calm, and moving up the river was a small boat. It should have been a picture on the cover of some magazine. Alas, I didn't have my camera ready, and we could stop on the bridge.
Once we got to Kannvakumari, the taxi driver took us right up to the place where we were to get our tickets for the boat ride out to Shiva's temple. They treat westerners very different sometimes than Indians. If you were an Indian the taxi would have parked well before the ticket area and we would have needed to walk, but not us. There will be other points I will tell about being a westerner.
While waiting in line to get on the boat the building we were in was very nice and built specifically to hold the passengers, waiting for the boat, cool during the hot summer months. The way it was built and the way the que ran reminded me completely of Disney. It would be something they would do. The boat however was not very Disney! It was a little scary, and Daren told me that last year one of the boats capsized! Thanks! The waters on the ocean were a little rough and the boat ride was interesting to say the least.
Once you get to the island the first thing you do is buy a ticket to be on the island. Now, in the states, if you bought a ticket at the box office usually you could get a multi pass ticket that would get you on the boat and the island because that is the only place the boat takes you to. Nope! Not here - stand in another line and buy the ticket to get you onto the island you are already on! (Keep in mind, that saying get in "line" is also a figure of speech, they don't really know what lines are.)
The next thing you do after passing through the gates is take your shoes off. (I can't remember if I have mentioned this before or not, so just in case. Here in India, your shoes come off before entering anyplace expect restaurants. Shops, most hotels, ours is run by some British people so we don't take our shoes off until we get to the room, and the shoes stay outside the room.) So shoes off, we go up the steps to the visit the temple of Shiva first. This temple is very new, within the last 8 years. The reason for this temple is that on the rocks there is a foot print that the Indian's say is Shiva's. The foot print is not imprinted into the rock but sticks out like like a mold. And it really looks like a foot print, toes and all. When Daren first came to this island 9 years ago, you could sit next to the print or stand on it, or whatever, but now they have built a temple around it and encased the print itself in glass. The temple is small and made of a dark almost black marble. The picture is of Daren and I in front of the Temple. (Going forward, pictures are not allowed with in the temples and one we went into we had to check the camera in before we entered so no pictures of the insides!)
There was a group of men there all dressed in black that are Shiva Devotee's, and come to the temple almost to worship the footprint. We started talking to them, they wanted pictures of them with the "white men" so we all took turns taking pictures of groups of us. Many of them spoke broken English so we were able to communicate with them. We ended up on the boat ride back with them as well. They are very interested in westerners and always want to know where we are from. Its funny because sometimes the locals know where Chicago is, but so far everyone has smiled at the name Las Vegas!
The second temple on the island is of Vivakananda. This was actually not a temple to him as would the temple to Shiva, but it was a very large building, much bigger than the one for the Shiva footprint. Vivakananda was the man who has been credited for bringing yoga to the western world. He made a speech in Chicago in 1893 at the first international religion conference. (The next time that conference was held was in 1993.) Here is some info of him from Goggle:
Swami Vivakananda was a great saint of India . The unknown monk of India suddenly leapt into fame at the World Parliament of Religions held in Chicago in 1893, where he represented Hinduism. His vast knowledge of Eastern and Western culture, as well as his, deep spiritual insight, eloquence, brilliant conversation, colourful personality and handsome figure inserted an irresistible appeal to people. He was born in 1863. He was spiritually inclined right from his childhood. He was pained at seeing the suffering of the people. He met Ramakrishna Paramhamsa and became his disciple. In 1893, Vivakananada went to Chicago to attend the World Parliament of Religions. With his brilliant speech, he impressed a great number of Americans. He was welcomed wherever he went in America . Many people Ramkrishna Mission. He wrote many books including ‘Hatha-Yoga’, Bhakti Yoga’, karma-Yoga’ and ‘Raja-Yoga’. He attained Samadhi in 1902.
After the visit there, we took to boat to another island only about 50 feet way. (Building a bridge would require years of talking with the Indian government and questions as to why build a bridge they have always used boats!) On the second island is a statue of Thiruvalluvar, a famous poet, and the best way to describe that is think "Statue of Liberty" (The whole time I was there I was thinking about Ellis Island and Liberty Island, almost the same thing. Here is a description from a web page:
Thiruvalluvar is built exactly of that of the statue of Liberty in America. The statue is 133 feet tall which symbolizes the 133 chapters in his Thirukkural. This statue is built on a rock which is near the Vivekananda Memorial. This was constructed by 5000 craftsmen. This a typical example of the modern Dravidian sculptures.
Besides being a different statue, the only main difference between him and Liberty, is that he is made of solid marble, so you can't climb up to the crown, or in this case turban. (This is where you are supposed to laugh!) Otherwise it is so similar to Liberty Park its amazing.
After which we took the boat back to the mainland and headed for the Hindu Temple which is a story all to itself....
The journey there was down back roads, not the main national highways; the only difference, no strip down the center of the road! We did pass however very large banana plantations, that went on for miles which were fun to see. In between the banana trees would be small rice fields and between properties would be coconut trees. Very low land with lots of small rivers and bridges that we would cross which are only wide enough for one vehicle at a time. Some of the scenes were so incredible. As we crossed over one bridge the river forked and you could only see the water in the middle for all the coconut trees. Very thick like the forests of the Pacific Northwest. the waters are very calm, and moving up the river was a small boat. It should have been a picture on the cover of some magazine. Alas, I didn't have my camera ready, and we could stop on the bridge.
Once we got to Kannvakumari, the taxi driver took us right up to the place where we were to get our tickets for the boat ride out to Shiva's temple. They treat westerners very different sometimes than Indians. If you were an Indian the taxi would have parked well before the ticket area and we would have needed to walk, but not us. There will be other points I will tell about being a westerner.
While waiting in line to get on the boat the building we were in was very nice and built specifically to hold the passengers, waiting for the boat, cool during the hot summer months. The way it was built and the way the que ran reminded me completely of Disney. It would be something they would do. The boat however was not very Disney! It was a little scary, and Daren told me that last year one of the boats capsized! Thanks! The waters on the ocean were a little rough and the boat ride was interesting to say the least.
Once you get to the island the first thing you do is buy a ticket to be on the island. Now, in the states, if you bought a ticket at the box office usually you could get a multi pass ticket that would get you on the boat and the island because that is the only place the boat takes you to. Nope! Not here - stand in another line and buy the ticket to get you onto the island you are already on! (Keep in mind, that saying get in "line" is also a figure of speech, they don't really know what lines are.)
The next thing you do after passing through the gates is take your shoes off. (I can't remember if I have mentioned this before or not, so just in case. Here in India, your shoes come off before entering anyplace expect restaurants. Shops, most hotels, ours is run by some British people so we don't take our shoes off until we get to the room, and the shoes stay outside the room.) So shoes off, we go up the steps to the visit the temple of Shiva first. This temple is very new, within the last 8 years. The reason for this temple is that on the rocks there is a foot print that the Indian's say is Shiva's. The foot print is not imprinted into the rock but sticks out like like a mold. And it really looks like a foot print, toes and all. When Daren first came to this island 9 years ago, you could sit next to the print or stand on it, or whatever, but now they have built a temple around it and encased the print itself in glass. The temple is small and made of a dark almost black marble. The picture is of Daren and I in front of the Temple. (Going forward, pictures are not allowed with in the temples and one we went into we had to check the camera in before we entered so no pictures of the insides!)
There was a group of men there all dressed in black that are Shiva Devotee's, and come to the temple almost to worship the footprint. We started talking to them, they wanted pictures of them with the "white men" so we all took turns taking pictures of groups of us. Many of them spoke broken English so we were able to communicate with them. We ended up on the boat ride back with them as well. They are very interested in westerners and always want to know where we are from. Its funny because sometimes the locals know where Chicago is, but so far everyone has smiled at the name Las Vegas!
The second temple on the island is of Vivakananda. This was actually not a temple to him as would the temple to Shiva, but it was a very large building, much bigger than the one for the Shiva footprint. Vivakananda was the man who has been credited for bringing yoga to the western world. He made a speech in Chicago in 1893 at the first international religion conference. (The next time that conference was held was in 1993.) Here is some info of him from Goggle:
Swami Vivakananda was a great saint of India . The unknown monk of India suddenly leapt into fame at the World Parliament of Religions held in Chicago in 1893, where he represented Hinduism. His vast knowledge of Eastern and Western culture, as well as his, deep spiritual insight, eloquence, brilliant conversation, colourful personality and handsome figure inserted an irresistible appeal to people. He was born in 1863. He was spiritually inclined right from his childhood. He was pained at seeing the suffering of the people. He met Ramakrishna Paramhamsa and became his disciple. In 1893, Vivakananada went to Chicago to attend the World Parliament of Religions. With his brilliant speech, he impressed a great number of Americans. He was welcomed wherever he went in America . Many people Ramkrishna Mission. He wrote many books including ‘Hatha-Yoga’, Bhakti Yoga’, karma-Yoga’ and ‘Raja-Yoga’. He attained Samadhi in 1902.
After the visit there, we took to boat to another island only about 50 feet way. (Building a bridge would require years of talking with the Indian government and questions as to why build a bridge they have always used boats!) On the second island is a statue of Thiruvalluvar, a famous poet, and the best way to describe that is think "Statue of Liberty" (The whole time I was there I was thinking about Ellis Island and Liberty Island, almost the same thing. Here is a description from a web page:
Thiruvalluvar is built exactly of that of the statue of Liberty in America. The statue is 133 feet tall which symbolizes the 133 chapters in his Thirukkural. This statue is built on a rock which is near the Vivekananda Memorial. This was constructed by 5000 craftsmen. This a typical example of the modern Dravidian sculptures.
Besides being a different statue, the only main difference between him and Liberty, is that he is made of solid marble, so you can't climb up to the crown, or in this case turban. (This is where you are supposed to laugh!) Otherwise it is so similar to Liberty Park its amazing.
After which we took the boat back to the mainland and headed for the Hindu Temple which is a story all to itself....
Monday, January 14, 2008
Food!
Most of you should have know this would be a subject at some point in time. The food here is not at all what I expected. Because we are in a very popular tourist location, food is easy to come by, and good (meaning safe to eat.) We do tend to eat at several places over and over because of their reputation, but the selections are great. The thought process in India at restaurants are completely different from that of the US and most other western countries. Lets talk about taking orders. Most places will prepare you anything they can if you just ask, weather it is on the menu or not. This comes in very handy when nothing on the menu looks good or you are not sure what it is. Most of the restaurants use the old fashion ticket books like they used in the diners, only here they always write your order down in at least duplicate and sometimes triplicate. Not really sure why they do that, except that the book comes with carbon paper so they must feel they need to use it. You might be thinking well, one copy is for the cooks, the other copy is for the cashier and one copy for us. Not the case at all, because when you ask for the bill (they don't know what the word check is), they come back over to your table and rewrite everything down that you ordered on another ticket to give you with prices on it. This is almost always consistent in every restaurant. The next thing that they do here which is actually very nice is they make everything to order - and I mean everything. If you order coffee they ask if you want a pot or a cup and they brew just a pot or a cup, and if two of you order the same thing, they would brew one cup or one pot at a time so you get them at different times. Food comes out the same way. They make one dish at a time, so if you are there and the restaurant is very busy, expect to wait up to 1 hour before your food comes out. Nothing is premade. They don't mass chop veggies or have large pots of curry waiting for the customer, everything is prepared per order. We ordered a starter one night, but there were several of us at the table so we ordered two, and they came out one at a time, and even the entrees come out usually one at a time. So everyone gets their food at a different time. They do focus on one table so usually things come out right after the other, but still not at the same time. The advantage is the food is always hot, usually to hot for me to start, and you know its fresh. They use a type of bread which would best be described as a tortillas here and of course I'm eating tons of those, they are great dunked in the curry sauces. They can have on the menu 6 different types of sauces and if you ask them what they are they always say gravy. Even if you point to different ones they say "gravy"! So far there is nothing I haven't tried that I didn't like, some I don't think I would order again, but I have been able to eat everything I order. I have stayed away from meat, except I have tasted when Daren orders fish, but that's the only meat he eats. The fish are caught here on a daily basis, so at dinner you know it is fresh. The catch is they put in on display at the front of the restaurant for you to see, and sometimes choose the fish you want to eat....yeah, I can't do that!
Fruit salads are very popular here, especially for breakfast and lunch, which usually is composed of pineapple, mango, banana, red banana and pomegranate. They also offer fruit juices and yes they are juiced to order with only fresh fruit.....nothing that was made in Brazil, pasteurized and shipped here six months ago!
So, unlike what I thought I was getting into, the food here is great and I'm eating plenty of it.
I was going through the blog yesterday and noticed a mistake on one of the pictures (Casey, you of all people should have caught the mistake!) The picture is of a plane that I said was taking me to India from Heathrow and it was a Qantas plane - on its way to Australia. I decided not to change the picture, but I do have one of the British Airways 747 that brought me here!
Sunday, January 13, 2008
STARBUCKS!
This post won't be any fun if I can't get the picture loaded so trust me I am trying! After arriving in Varkala we went looking for a hotel and decided to stay in the first one we came to. It was very nice, freshly painted, bright orange with paper lanterns hanging everywhere. The room was on the second floor and it had A/C. I'm realizing over here that they don't offer things, you must ask for everything. This includes soap, toilet paper - which the locals don't use. There are sprayers near every toilet, like the ones in our kitchen sinks and the locals use them to clean after using the restroom. We also had to ask for a blanket. They are always happy to get these things for you and as much as you want, but you must ask. After getting settled, we went for a walk along the cliff where all the shops and restaurants are, and came across an actual American style espresso bar. Being this is the first one I've seen since Heathrow Airport I just had to have a latte. Made just like back home and tasted almost as good. the cost in US$ was 1.10. If I can't get the picture uploaded, the reason for the headline is they actually use discarded Starbucks cups. The kind that go through the making process where to logo is upside down, or sideways, something like that. They are perfectly good cups, they just don't look right. We were using the holiday cups from this year. The next morning while Daren was still sleeping I went for a walk again and of course just happened to find myself at the bar. I know hard to believe. While I was walking around with the drink in my hand, many people came up and asked where I go that - as they could see the Starbucks logo.....It really is a small world.
The beach in Varkala is about 80 -100 feet below the cliff shops and the only way down are some nice concrete stairs. The beach itself is great, the waves were very strong and fun to play in. In Kovalam the beach is somewhat protected by a cove, but in Varkala the beach is wide open to the Indian Ocean so the waves are larger and stronger. Dinner that night was good. We ordered guacamole for starters and when we got it, it was only fresh salsa so we sent it back and it came back with very small chunks of avocado in it, but still looked like salsa. Shopping in Varkala is better than in Kovalam because they don't pester you as much, they let you actually look at things. I think if Varkala wasn't as far as it is, we would head up there more often, but alas, the taxi ride is way to much on the nervous system. After a late breakfast that morning, we found our driver and headed up to the ashram.
Taxi !?!?
Okay, so lets talk about that taxi ride up to the ashram yesterday. First lets set up the picture in your head. The national highways here in India are at best two car widths wide. When you get into towns the roads do widen up, sometimes quite a bit, if you consider all the people walking along the sides as they don't know what sidewalks are. Then there is that white line that they paint down the middle of the road. In the US that little line weather stripped or solid tells you many things like what side of the road you should be on, weather its safe to pass or not, etc. The Indian government could says millions every year by not wasting time putting the lines down on the road because the only thing I could figure out about what that line is for here is that yes indeed that is the road. I'm quite certain that if you asked a taxi driver what the line in the middle of the road was for he would ask you "What line?" (Note to mother: for you to ride in a taxi here, we would need to blind fold you, put ear plugs in, place you in the back on the floor and then sedate you!) To compare riding in a taxi here vers the states, if you have ever been in a cab in New York (Las Vegas would be a close second) that would be compared to riding Its A Small World at Disneyland compared to the cab ride here. So the roads here are shared by everyone, and everything! Cars, trucks, buses, motorbikes, peddle bikes, rickshaws (motored ones), carts being pushed by ox, and yes carts being pushed by people. Of course everything is going at different speeds so everybody needs to pass everybody else and its always at the same time! I honestly think that out of the 3 hour ride we were on the right side of the line at least 40% of the time and thats the wrong side! They literally drive down the middle of the road unless something is approaching ahead then they move over. The best way to describe the roads here is complete and total controlled chaos!!! I must admit it was fun for the first 20 min, then when I realized that my hair was standing on end and I wasn't breathing I should maybe watch the scenery go by and not watch the road. Coming home that night was even worse because headlights don't tell you much about the object in front of you coming at you! For the rest of the week we will be walking every where we go!
We traveled to Varkala on Friday afternoon and spent the night there before going on to the ashram. I can't wait to share with you about Varkala only because of the headline I have picked, and hope I can get the picture loaded. When we planned the trip there were going to be 6 of us so we rented a taxi specifically for 6 people and that had A/C. By Friday morning it was just Daren and I - but we didn't care, and off we went. While we were in Varkala we ran into some ladies that were also doing the practice here and they said they traveled to Varkala by means of rickshaw. Daren and I both went "WHAT?" So imagine spending two hours (we didn't take that long) riding in something slightly larger that a go cart, open to the heat, dust, and pollution and on these roads! Needless to say, talking to them this morning at practice they took the train home.
Last but not least. So we rent the taxi here in Kovalam Beach, and the driver takes us to Varkala where we get in, find a hotel, play on the beach, go have dinner, sleep all night long, breakfast in the morning, and get ready to leave at noon for the ashram and yes the same taxi driver, with a smile is waiting for us......this is considered normal here in India!
We traveled to Varkala on Friday afternoon and spent the night there before going on to the ashram. I can't wait to share with you about Varkala only because of the headline I have picked, and hope I can get the picture loaded. When we planned the trip there were going to be 6 of us so we rented a taxi specifically for 6 people and that had A/C. By Friday morning it was just Daren and I - but we didn't care, and off we went. While we were in Varkala we ran into some ladies that were also doing the practice here and they said they traveled to Varkala by means of rickshaw. Daren and I both went "WHAT?" So imagine spending two hours (we didn't take that long) riding in something slightly larger that a go cart, open to the heat, dust, and pollution and on these roads! Needless to say, talking to them this morning at practice they took the train home.
Last but not least. So we rent the taxi here in Kovalam Beach, and the driver takes us to Varkala where we get in, find a hotel, play on the beach, go have dinner, sleep all night long, breakfast in the morning, and get ready to leave at noon for the ashram and yes the same taxi driver, with a smile is waiting for us......this is considered normal here in India!
Saturday, January 12, 2008
AMMA - The "Hugging" Saint
We traveled yesterday up to Saint Amma's Ashram about 3 hours north of here. This was an amazing experience, that everyone should be able to have. The ashram is not like what most of us think. I always picture some small, quiet meditative place similar to what monks live in. A place that is very tranquil, with ponds and maybe a fountain. Try again! Amma's ashram is quite literally a city within itself. There are many buildings one of which is about 15 stories high, and this is located in the middle of nowhere. There are two temples, one being small and not used anymore as a temple because of the crowds she receives daily, and the new temple is more like a convention center - huge! There are literally thousands of people, followers and travelers that come to the ashram, sometimes for just a night other times for months at a time. The walk ways are full of people at all times, from all over the world. She sits up on stage and people wait not only hours but sometimes days for receive a hug from Saint Amma. Because we were foreigners we were granted access to the Saint sooner than Indians. We waited in line about 2 hours before finally getting down on our knees in front of the Saint, and receiving a hug. What a woman, who hugs everybody she sees with the same look of intense sincerity weather it was the first hug of the day or the 1800! (Thats not an exaggeration!) While we were in line we chatted with an Indian family, and even a guy from England, comparing our journey's throughout India. After the hug we ate at the ashram and the food was not bad at all. We had a veggie burger with real fries! There is no meat allowed at the ashram. Here is her official website if you are curious about who Amma is. She builds hospitals, schools, and homes for the homeless - she helped out with Katrina, and even though her ashram ended up under 3 feet of water after the tsunami she sent aid to the locations hardest hit. The world truly needs more "Hugging" Saints. www.amritapuri.org
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
The Hotel
We are staying at a place called Green Shores Apartments. It is located on the main road ( the one with cars and taxis and rickshaws). We are on the 3rd, top floor of the hotel. The room is very nice as we have marble floors, (this is actually more common than you think. They don't have vacuums here so your floor is either wood or marble and marble is found here locally so they use it all the time. If you find a place with carpet, the use a broom to clean the carpet anyway, so marble is good. We have windows on two sides of the room, one overlooking the main beach and the light house, and the other over looking the rocky shore which gives us the great ocean sounds at night to fall asleep to. We also have a balcony that wraps around in the shape of an L. The beds look nice, which are foam pads on a board, but the headboard is nicely painted/stained. One fitted sheet and one flat sheet and a pillow. We do have a ceiling fan in the room which is the life saver because there is no AC. We also have a small fridge in the room, similar to a bar fridge which of course we keep the peanut butter in! The bathroom is better than many hotels I've stayed at in the states. Nice clean shower, western toilet and sink. Marble floors and ceramic tile walls. We even have a television in the room that has yet to be turned on and don't think it will.
Here is the kicker about staying at this place. When we leave for the day, we turn the key back into the front desk, if you can call it that, and when you return, they give you your key for the room! The key itself is one of those really old skeleton type keys you see in old mystery movies! This is not the normal practice for hotels, it just depends on where you are staying and what part of town you are in. Some of our friends actually place locks on their doors, locks that they brought from the US.
Because we are near the shore and up on the third floor mosquitos are not a real problem at night. They are out there, but we don't need a net around the bed like some of the hotels down near the swamp area. During the day they are no problem at all which is very nice.
My next entry will be in several days as we are heading to an ashram tomorrow after practice to meet the "Hugging Saint". In the Hindu religion you don't need to be dead for centuries before you can become a saint - so we are going to meet one! I will enter about that trip, and about the way restaurants work here when we return.
Please remember, the internet is slow here and I have challenges uploading the pictures, so they are coming but I will continue with the posts, and put pictures on when I can....
Here is the kicker about staying at this place. When we leave for the day, we turn the key back into the front desk, if you can call it that, and when you return, they give you your key for the room! The key itself is one of those really old skeleton type keys you see in old mystery movies! This is not the normal practice for hotels, it just depends on where you are staying and what part of town you are in. Some of our friends actually place locks on their doors, locks that they brought from the US.
Because we are near the shore and up on the third floor mosquitos are not a real problem at night. They are out there, but we don't need a net around the bed like some of the hotels down near the swamp area. During the day they are no problem at all which is very nice.
My next entry will be in several days as we are heading to an ashram tomorrow after practice to meet the "Hugging Saint". In the Hindu religion you don't need to be dead for centuries before you can become a saint - so we are going to meet one! I will enter about that trip, and about the way restaurants work here when we return.
Please remember, the internet is slow here and I have challenges uploading the pictures, so they are coming but I will continue with the posts, and put pictures on when I can....
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
Wonderful!
So I'm here several days into the adventure and things are going great! The practice is very good, and I've even already been able to get into several poses I couldn't do prior to leaving and its only been 3 days. I am also sore, especially in the hamstrings which is my challenge spot. Today was the new moon, and in very strict Ashtanga practice one does not practice on new or full moons. That only means about 30 of the 150 didn't show up today. Also today was no time slots so you showed up when you wanted to. Thats not a big deal for me as my time slot is 830 anyway - a little late for me but the time will change next week.
I'm getting to know my way around Kovalam Beach. It's hard to explain because other than the main road into town which is Lighthouse Road there are no roads to speak of. You walk everywhere through places we would consider alleys. One such alley is the picture I have chosen to post today for you. Getting lost could be very easy as there is no rhyme or reason for the directions paths lead, and you are also in the jungle which can throw you off. Having been in other places similar to this (3rd world) I guess my expectations were very low, because its much cleaner than I thought it would be and the beggars, homeless, etc are not as much as I thought. Now, not saying its not dirty because it is, and I know there are probably other places with more homeless, etc, but Kovalam Beach is much better than expected. This seems to be one of the places that the British come to on holidays like we could go go Mexico or the Caribbean.
The food is not bad, I haven't had anything I didn't like. (That should come to no surprise!) But there are things that I won't order again. I found what I like best for breakfast and that is a banana pancake. Now the only thing thats similar to what you are thinking and what I eat is that it has bananas in it! But they put honey on them and served with some real chai tea is incredible! Okay all for now...We are traveling this weekend to an ashram north of here to see a living saint!
I'm getting to know my way around Kovalam Beach. It's hard to explain because other than the main road into town which is Lighthouse Road there are no roads to speak of. You walk everywhere through places we would consider alleys. One such alley is the picture I have chosen to post today for you. Getting lost could be very easy as there is no rhyme or reason for the directions paths lead, and you are also in the jungle which can throw you off. Having been in other places similar to this (3rd world) I guess my expectations were very low, because its much cleaner than I thought it would be and the beggars, homeless, etc are not as much as I thought. Now, not saying its not dirty because it is, and I know there are probably other places with more homeless, etc, but Kovalam Beach is much better than expected. This seems to be one of the places that the British come to on holidays like we could go go Mexico or the Caribbean.
The food is not bad, I haven't had anything I didn't like. (That should come to no surprise!) But there are things that I won't order again. I found what I like best for breakfast and that is a banana pancake. Now the only thing thats similar to what you are thinking and what I eat is that it has bananas in it! But they put honey on them and served with some real chai tea is incredible! Okay all for now...We are traveling this weekend to an ashram north of here to see a living saint!
Saturday, January 5, 2008
Welcome to Kovalam Beach!
It's now Sunday late morning, we have finished practice, and have had breakfast. The trip down here us very long, but gratefully, uneventful. The picture I have posted today is of the 747-400 that brought me here to Bangalore, India. This picture was taken right before they announce boarding. When we touched town in London I said to my self with a slight laugh - "Hey this looks like Seattle!" I realized that the last 5 meals that I had eaten, before arriving here in India were all at about 40,000 feet and at about 700 miles per hour! Talk about fast food! (Okay, I know, bad joke.)
After getting to the hotel and getting a little settled we went for a walk along the beach front with all the shops and restaurants. In some ways its completely what I expected, and in others not even close. The landscape is very tropical with coconut trees almost being a weed here. Its warm and very humid, but not as bad as I thought it would be. We had a small dinner at a German cafe (they treat food closer to us westerners) and it was only soup. Toured a little more, when to a temple, and then headed back to the hotel. Went to bed about 9 and I slept through the whole night....very good.
I will have more pictures coming soon, but just wanted to get settled before I lug the camera around, but wanted to let you guys know what I think of the place! So far, incredible.
The internet is very slow here and sometimes I have problems getting the pics to upload, so they will show up, but not always when the post goes on line.
Thursday, January 3, 2008
On My Way!
Its January 3rd, I'm in Chicago now about 4 hours before leaving for the airport. The flight to Chicago was very smooth with no hold ups. That was the worst of my fears was getting to Chicago because of bad weather or something like that. The day here is perfect, not a cloud in the sky. Of course it's only 5 degrees outside, but at least no rain or snow. I had breakfast this morning at a place called Earwax. LOL - its a really good mom & pop type restaurant with good service and the food is great - plus they cook real food the way I like it!
Many of you asked how much do you take on a journey for two months. Here it is.....This is all I'm taking with me. hard to imagine isn't it. Much of the stuff in the large case is things like shampoo, vitamins, shave gel, yoga mat, etc. Oh and of course peanut butter! the large bag weights in at 35 lbs and the backpack 30 lbs!
The day before I left Las Vegas, Jan 1st, I came down with a minor case of food poisoning! Sorry to the friends that I had made plans with that night - I came home from work early, and after getting rid of what was in my stomach, I slept from about 5 pm until 6 am the next morning, the big day. I had an 8 a.m. massage at CR, then a haircut.....yeap, didn't want to deal with hair while I was gone so off it came! After that I took Gonk over to Edie's house who is taking care of her while I'm gone, and then off to the airport.
This is the last blog I will be able to enter until I reach my destination of Kovalam Beach, South India. I have 20 more hours of air time with a 5 hour layover in London and a 3 hour layover in Bangalore. I will enter a new blog when I arrive - I hope you are all well.......
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