This post I wanted to tell about some of the places
we have visited while here. This post is
just for fun and I hope you enjoy the information and pictures. I accidentally uploaded the pictures as a
post so you’ll have to look at the post before this one, titled vacation
pictures, to see them.
One weekend we took a trip to a neighboring town
called Mysore. If you’re a history buff
you’ll remember the sultans of Mysore and their battles against the
British. We visited a palace, saw albino
peacocks in the zoo, and hiked in a bird sanctuary. The girls were excited to ride an elephant
and a camel. Elephant riding was on
their India to do list. Jeff and I most
enjoyed the bird sanctuary, a peaceful and green place, very unlike the city of
5 million we are living in. I think the
greatest attraction at the zoo, for the Indians, was Martine’s braids. Mysore is much smaller and less cosmopolitan
then Bangalore and we caused quite a stir.
Several times we noticed we were being videotaped and all of us were
asked at one time or another to pose for a picture with someone’s baby. This is similar to the behavior we
experienced in Bangalore nine years ago but now that city has more foreigners
than any other in India so we aren’t such an oddity. People often do come up, even in Bangalore,
and feel Nephtalie’s hair. There are
many African students here but few children and I guess they wouldn’t be so
bold as to feel an adult’s hair! The
funny thing is they always then ask how we made her hair like that. They don’t seem to understand its genetics.
Last weekend we took four days to travel south to a
town on the coast called Fort Cochin.
Fort Cochin a very old city.
Vasco de Gama lived and died there.
It was by turns controlled by the Portuguese, Dutch and English so there
are all kinds of architecture. There was
even a Jewish community there. We went
to two palaces where Rajahs had lived.
They are pretty run down now but still interesting. We visited churches over 500 years old. We saw the port where fishermen were using
Chinese fishing nets and selling their catch on shore.
This town is on the Arabian Sea so we also went to
the beach. This was a bit of a
disappointment to the girls. They were
hoping to swim in the sea as they do in the Gulf when they visit their
grandparents. When we got to beach we
noticed only males were swimming in the water.
A few girls were wading in the edge but only boy were really getting
wet. This had also been true at a lake
we visited. It is interesting that none
of the boys had swimsuits. All were in
their underpants. But girls couldn’t
even don a pair of shorts and a t-shirt and go into the water. Our girls did have fun walking in the shallow
water and playing in the sand but really wanted to swim which they haven’t
gotten to do all summer.
By far the most fun was visiting an elephant
training camp. We saw the elephants
being washed in the river, baby elephants being fed by hand, adult elephants
learning to carry logs (elephants are still used in the forest service). We touched them and rode them too. Getting to be up close and personal with
these animals was certainly a special experience and one we will never forget.
After visiting Cochin we went on a boat down the
river, or backwaters, as they call this area.
It is a large lake with a series of interconnected waterways leading
eventually to the sea. Boats which used
to carry rice (the local crop in this area) have been converted to
houseboats. This was a wonderful
experience. It was beautifully quite and
green. Bangalore and suburbs has about
10 million people packed into a very tight space so we really cherished this
time in such peaceful surroundings. This
area receives a lot of rain and was full of palm trees and bright green rice
patties. There are many villages along
these rivers where no land motor vehicles are present. Because of the slow pace of the boat one is
able to take in the village life in a way not possible in a speeding car. Jeff was in heaven in the calm and
peace. We also loved the food they
served, river fish and tiger prawns.
It was great to spend some time away and see more of
India. People are always surprised when
we tell them we are only in Bangalore while here. The girls were thankful for a change of pace
too. It is hard to believe we have only
one month left. We all miss our boys,
our friends, our dogs, but are sad at the thought of leaving. Don’t forget there are lots of pictures of
the things I described in this post on the post labeled “vacation pictures”. Not in the photo gallery J.
