Just for fun!

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.