We took a last look around our hotel …

The headed up for a quick breakfast before our plane. There was something new that morning on the juice bar. ‘Sour Goard Juice’. Sounds yummy, no  Diane got me a big cup

Does Gabe like it …. ? 

Does Diane  like it …. ? 

Truth be told it was the most unimaginably vile stuff I’ve ever put in my mouth.. and that’s saying something.. but I drank most of it anyway..  We finished up and left the rest of our meal to the aggressive crows and checked out of the hotel… 

The ride to the Trivandrum airport was less than a half of an hour.  We spent the time getting ready to say good bye to Manooj. It was hard for us to say goodbye to him.. We’d spent so much time together for the past week..   I told him we’d try to find him a good wife somewhere (any takers ladies  ? he’s a real nice guy !!!!)  Seriously.. We would highly recommend going to Kerala.. if you do go.. we would very highly recommend you use the Travel Planners agency (ask for Santhosh).. and if you do that.. we would highly, highly, highly recommend that you ask specifically for Manooj !  He really made the trip special for us… Anyway.. we had to leave and so did he..

It was cute.. he hung around and watchied us from outside making sure we knew where we were going.. Goodbye Manooj.. Namaste !

The Trivandrum airport was nice and modern.. we had no trouble getting to our plane. This is the second time we’ve flown Kingfisher air.. I swear.. it’s been the best service and best airplane food of any airline I’ve ever flown..

The flight to Bangalore was a short hour and twenty minutes.. Soon we were back in the packed, noisy chaotic Bangalore airport.

We collected our bags and wandered out to the road.. I hadn’t gone 10 feet when someone yelled John.. it was Gajendra, the driver that our good friend  Chandu had hired to pick us up. He said he had no problem picking us out from the crowd.. Chandu had said look for the guys with crazy hair. 

Gajendra drove us about 40 minutes through a section of Bangalore I’d never seen out to an area that was a little less packed. As we drove we saw many of the cars decorated for the Hindu Pooja festival.

We got to Chandu’s sister Sushi’s house at around 11:30 . Chandu and I have known each other for 19 years.. He and I went to graduate school together at CMU.. in fact.. he helped me get through my first linear systems/simulation class…He now works at IBM research.  He’s a great, great guy funny, interesting and absolutely brilliant. He’s basically created an entirely new field in my industry and is know  around the world for that. I’d told him that we were going to be in Bangalore and it just worked out that he was going to be here at the same time.. Even better, his sister Sushi and brother in law Tilak were  holding a house blessing ceremony for their new house the very day we were coming through. Chandu invited us to come over and watch.. What a pleasure and an honor !

When we got there, the Pooja’s for the house were just about to begin. We were interoduced to many members of Chandu’s family.. Here’s Chandu and his father.. Chandu’s father is a retired contractor and is a Sanskrit scholar and author.  He’s an amazing guy.

In fact all of Chandu’s family is very technical (and accomplished !)  . His sister Sushi’s a professor at IISc, His sister Lakshmi’s a Pathologist, His Uncle’s a mechanical  engineer. His niece is an aero/astro major at MIT, His other niece will begin studying engineering when she enters university in two years.. It was nice to be among nerds like me !  As soon as the nuclear family was there, the blessing (pooja) service began. The priest offered flowers, incense and coconut mil to a statue of Ganesh and asked him in Sanskrit chant  to banish any evil spirits that might be lurking on the site of the new house..

The priest lit an oil lamp and each of us wafted the smoke into our eyes ad onto our heads.

The priest then walked all the rooms of the house chanting and sprinkling coconut water using a bunch of leaves.

When the pooja service was over, the family climbed up to the third floor roof of the new building for a traditional feast.. Many more relatives (about 100 !) showed up at that point.

The cooks had been working outside since the day before..

The view rom the roof was really nice.. you could see the center of Bangalore in the distance  (and Chandu’s niece in the foreground)

A giant colorful tent had been set up on the rrof to house the guests.

You can see the houses solar water heater here.. it provides all the service hot water for the building. Most homes here have them.

The tent had been set up with many tables.. set with banana leaf ‘plates’ . The food was all lined up on one end.. We all sat down and the cooks spooned ut a beautiful array of foods I’d never seen.

Let me see what I can remember.. Right to left.. Pasam (sweet rice porridge) on the right.. to be eaten first, curried yams. Chopped green beans with chilies.. rice, raita (yoghurt) rice  and pomegranate salad, rice and corn salad, curried grapes, mango pickle, fried noodle balls, roasted chilies, papadom, pekora, potato chips, dhal,  rice, ghee. what did I miss ? It was all wonderful.

And… you eat it with your hands.. actually.. your hand.. righthand only… left hand is a big no-no..

Man.. we were stuffed !. They even had something for that.. ‘pan’.. I’ve shown it before. It’s beetle tree nut, with a little slaked lime wrapped in a beetle leaf.. These had silver foil on them that you ate ! Pan is supposed to stimulate digestion.. It’s weird but I like it.

As we were sitting around down stairs tow different people with Oxen came by. You’re supposed to give them a little money for luck then they go to the next house. Seems a little like Mariachis .

We then had some  time talking to uncle Chandra and his daughter Poppi and her husband Pravinder (I’m sure I’m butchering all their names)  We really enjoyed getting to know them. I’ll be sure to look them up next time I’m in town… 

As we chatted, our hosts finally had a chance to eat up stairs.. They’d been on their feet the entire afternoon !

Here’s Chandu’s nephew.. he was the official photographer for the day.. He’s about a half year older than Gabe.

At that point the party was winding down. We helped carry the gifts that Shushi and Tilak had received into Gajendra’s van and we drove off to Chandu’s parents.  They live in an apartment building that stands on the sight of the house that Chandu and his sister’s grew up in.   

The relatives showed up there and everyone stood around trying to figure out what to do with the leftovers…   That’s Tilak, Sushi, Regina, and Chandu’s mom in the photo. 

Around 6:30 we headed back out to get  one of the bags we’d checked at the Bangalore Leela before we went to Kerala.. Traffic was fierce even on a Sunday night. Everything was jumping because of the Hindu holiday. Many doors had smashed pumpkins on them as signs of good luck..

Even the busses had been adorned with Vermillion for luck
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We came across a parade of kids in trucks dancing and chanting along with blaring loudspeakers. It was wild !

We eventually made it to the Leela.. Diane and Gabe went out to the fountain to see if the SamStone was still there. It was .. but it had been moved.. a bit.. someone had picked it up. That’s the idea after all. 

As I walked through the foyer of the hotel someone yelled out ‘hey john’ it was my good friends Guru from Poughkeepsie and Mohan. Mohan lives here, but I had no idea Guru  was coming to Bangalore . In fact.. I’d sent him and email yesterday morning to ask him something.  As if that weren’t enough a few minutes later I was walking out of the hotel and my friend Rahul A and his wife walked in. This is the third random meeting I’ve had on this trip.. no wait.. forth. The world is truly flat..

As we left the hotel we notice a Lamborghini parked out front. Now there’s a practical car for a town with round the clock bumper to buper traffic !.

We headed through that traffic down to Brigade street.

 We were all Jones-ing pretty hard for Pizza.. Don’t know why.. but it’s become a minor family tradition to end a family vacation with Pizza.. We inched our way to the restaurant past all sorts of western icons. Note: They have many vegetarian items on the menu at McDonalds here.

At last we got to the gourmet restaurant we’d been seeking.. Pizza Hut !  My buddy Geetha A. had agreed to meet us there. Geetha was one of the rotational assignees in the IBM Academy. It was so good seeing herhere. She’s now working on a big deal for IBM that has here commuting every week back and forth to Delhi.. yuck.

Pizza was good, but they kept screwing up our order.. Overall it was a bunch of fun.

From there. We drove back to Chandu’s folks house., grabbed a quick shower , said good bye to them and headed to the airport. 

We breezed through check-in and baggage screening then had 2 hours to wait in the Bangalore airport.. one of my least favorite places.. the new airport is due to open next spring.. and boy is it needed..   We sat on the floor and played cards until our plane was called..

The flight to Frankfort was pretty uneventful.. The most noteworthy part was probably my last Indian meal for at least a week or two

Gabe slept the entire way.. he’s a real contortionist on planes.

We had about a 5 hour layover in Frankfort.. We ate a bit..  ahhh sandwiches.. now that’s new !

Gabe noticed that their Red Bull pull tabs were different..   He’s kept the can

One more SamStone in the Frankfort airport before boarding..

Lots of long wooden fishing boats are also parked on the beach.

Here’s the back side of our hotel room. It’s a cute and spacious place.. only about 50 yards from the beach.

We did make breakfast before it closed. Gabe used it as a chance for packing in some meat eating.. he made a Max-style sandwich (he said) flled with bacon and sausage.  I think he’s getting tired of Indian food.

We then went on another explore of the hotel. We found a good place to out a SamStone.. in a fountain in one of the hallways.

We came back o find our room had been cleaned.. but this guy had taken up residence with us.. Ick.

We then out and walked the length of the beach.> We came across these guy making a beautiful nude mermaid in the sand.. (but is it art ? )

The walk along the beach was nice.. the wind was whipping pretty good. The waves looked fun … and dangerous.

So.. we went in anyway.. it was a blast.

We think this rock looks like an elephant.

It’s fun watching the Indian families come and enjoy the beach. Most of them stand around nicely dressed and look at the sea. Some of them go in the water fully dressed. The women are so beautifully dressed.

We took a short walk midday to explore the public beach area. It’s nice but a little honky-tonk for us.

After our explore we went up tot the main building for a swim in the  ‘horizon pool’

Then walked down to the badminton court for some 2 on 1 swatting. This fiberglass woman guards the entrance to the badminton and tennis courts.. she gives me the creeps.

Gab ecreamed us most games.. and we were really trying !

Around 5:30 Manoj came and picked us up and we did some last minute shopping. The ride to travandrum was pretty interesting. The streets were really full of water.

Manooj took us to see a famous Hindu temple on the way.. It was several hundred years old and was right outside the Maharaja’s palace.

THths woman is selling colored paint for bindi’s, the dot that Hindu’s put on their forehead

The place felt good so we placed a SamStone there.

I think this looks like and angry face.. even though the statues I photographed was a deer and a hunter.

Just as we were leaving all the lights in this section of the city went out.. A few minutes later.. a few buildings came back on with their own private generators.

From there we headed into the center of Travandrum to finish our shopping.. Diane and gab made quick work of that.. We then headed back to Kovalum for dinner.  It’s a Hindu holiday today so the streets were colorfully lit.. and there were many Pooja (prayer) meetings going on.

We found a nice restaurant on the strand at Kovalum beach and ate a fantastic meal of fish and burgers (for Gabe) . I think it was the best meal I’ve eaten on the trip..

I particularly liked this bottle of chili sauce.. I think I ate half of it in the course of the meal..

Dinner with Manj was fun.. We’ve really enjoyed traveling with him.. We’re really going to mis him !

OK.. we’re leaving at a quarter to 7 tomorrow morning.. so I need to end now. I suspect I may have trouble blogging tomorrow due to our 24 hours of travel.. I’ll do my best.. It’ll be nice to be home..

Love you all.. see you soon. Gnite Sam

-us

Before we left Thekkady, Gabe put a SamStone in the pond at Spice gardens.

The folks at Spice Garden were so attentive and so sweet. It took a half an hour to say goodbye to them !. Many of them had come to us to talk about Sam.. I’ll never forget their kindness.

Here’s Deepestra and Jobin, the guy who helped us get our charger back.. Thank you !

They all lined up to wave goodbye .. it felt like a family send-off !

The rains last night flooded the streets even more.. it was nearly to the doors of the car.

We got out on the road about 9:15.. I realized that my camera was now broken (my backpack fell on the floor).. We switched to Gabe’s camera.   Here are some sights from the road.

We caught and passed Patrick Linda and Raj.. Ha !

We stopped at a tea processing factory . Here are the houses where soem of the pickers live.

Today was a Keralan Hindu holiday. This car was on a pilgrimage. You can tell by the flowers. 

Here come Patrick and Linda again !

This is strong communist country. They say it was he first deomcraticlly elected communist government in the world. It’s pretty cool.

Here’s the tea factory.. we got there about 10 minutes before it opened.

Here are the leaves in a washing hopper

This machine takes out the sticks and stems..  The tea then goes through a grinder, fermentor  and dryer. 

The dried tea is graded by grain size. This factory only makes powedered teas.. not leaf teas.  Tea dust was everywhere.. they had broom to keep cleaning the wall. Everyone had face masks on.. except us !

We took off from the tea place and started decending from 1000 meters towards sea level. Lots of twists and turns. Small towns, big towns, crazy drivers.. etc.

We came across this beautiful church on top of a hill. The setting was unbelievably gorgeous

We passed our friends Freida, David and Roddy  from Scotland. Everyone is doing about the same things so we keep bumping into one another. They’re great !

Another (!) beautiful waterfall

We stopped for tea and Linda and Patrick, Frieda, David and Roddy stopped too.. they hadn’t met so that was fun. We ate fried bananas and Chilli-graham fritters and drank masala tea.

Hey Chai.. this picture is for you !  (We miss you doggy !)..(You too Scott !)

We came across a cattle market.. Too bad the camera doesn’t capture smells ! Some of these things looked more like water buffalo’s than cows.. They’re horns were painted beautiful colors.. They could all stand to gain a bit of weight too.. We still haven’t  figured out which cows are holy and free and which ones are for meat.. 

Here’s a truck being loaded with raw rubber from one of the many rubber plantations.

We came across a working elephant on our travels.. he must have been working in the forest.

Shortly after that we turned down one of the small tracks that lead along the canals. Our houseboat was moored there.

Here’s our boat and it’s friendly crew !

The place is crisscrossed with canals instead of roads.

Bye Manooj.. see you tomorrow !

Mathew guides us out of the canal and we’re on our way.

Here’s our room.. nice !

There are tons of small boats in this lake… most being poled or paddled, but a few under sail.

Nothling we had to do now except watch the beautiful scenery roll by.

Fisherman kept approaching the boat asking if we wanted to by tiger prawns. None for us..

The first of several meals ..  they were all delicious.

We’d moored for lunch.. we got off on this concrete peer in the middle of nowhere.. water on all sides. No people. We’d thought about hiding from the crew as a joke.. but the prospect of getting left there wasn’t very fun. Gabe found a great place for a samstone..  High on the trunk of a tree.

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Linda and Patrick again !

They let Gabe steer for a good long while. His second boat piloting experience for the trip.

We saw so many cool things.. Like this beautiful 400 year old church out on the jetty.. accessible only by boat.

The boats are so nicely built. Ours is one of 650 that are working the backwaters of kerala. 

Here are some more of the crazy houses perched on these narrow jetties. These houses may be remote.. but they are not without creature comforts.

Here’s why we didn’t want to eat the prawn’s… Sanitation is not priority number 1 here.

Here’s a bunch more scenes from inside and outside of the boat.

Diane caught the sun just right so it gave her green stars in her eyes.

We came up to this power pole just moments after it fell into the water. Even though the power was out, everyone was pretty nervous about crossing it with the motor running.. so they backed up…took a run at it.. and killed the motors and coasted over

The law says they have to stop moving by 5:30.. so we docked on a jetty in the middle of nowhere.  There was a great subtle sunset beginning. 

Patrick and Linda again !. They parked a few meters up from us.

We all took a walk up the jetty to near the end. There was a boat taxi stop there even though there was only about 3 houses in walking distance.

We got back on the boat and started in on the beer/soda with our  friends.

The boat guys worked it out so that Linda and Patrick could eat with us.. Both sets of cooks did their stuff and we shared all the dishes. It was fantastic.. chapatti, okra curry, dahl, mixed veggie curry, pickle, kerala rice, chicken curry and papadoms. Yum

After dinner, Gabe did some more work on his homework… He’s really doing his work on this trip. I’m proud of him.

Around 8:30 our friends headed home and we went into our room. We watched a few parts of some ‘Bollywood’ Indian musicals then  put in one of our videos.. I lasted about 5 minutes… then was fast asleep.   I woke around 4:30 as I’ve been doing every day for a while.. I lay in bed until about 6AM.. then went out on the deck to watch the sunrise.. which is where this blog began..