Travel Week: Days 5 & 6

Following the overnight train back to Bangalore, we began what was supposed to be a 4-5 hour van ride to Ooty. However, as it always seems, India is full of surprises. A friend of our coordinator mentioned a parade  to celebrate Mahatma Gandhi's birthday beginning shortly after our arrival in Bangalore. So, with as much energy as we could muster, the search for the parade began. I found myself surprised looking around the streets as we sped along because all of the shops were closed. There weren't even blocked off sections on the infamous M. G. Road (Gandhi's initials). It took much questioning of our driver, government officials, and random persons on the sidewalk to come to the following conclusion: this "parade" was not, in fact, a parade; instead, it was a decoration ceremony and the small park dedicated to Gandhi and only government officials could be on the grounds. Without further hesitation, we gladly loaded back in to the A/C van for our next destination.

The second surprise along the way was a significant detour due to construction. This probably added one to two hours of our total journey as the nicely paved road was blocked off and an impromptu, awfully maintained dirt/rock road was its alternative. The one bonus of this road was a nice restaurant we discovered around 10:30am. Initially it was intended as a bathroom stop but, per usual, we were hungry. Teas, toasts, and eggs covered the table before we knew it! And to top it off, there were individual huts over each table providing a natural air conditioning.

The final surprise was the border issue between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu (the state Ooty is in). Tamil Nadu is known for having issues with sufficient water, even after monsoon season. According to articles we later read, Karnataka was mandated to give Tamil Nadu a massive amount of water. Karnataka refused to give the full amount, which was causing much conflict between the two states. As a result, any Karnataka registered vehicles couldn't pass into Tamil Nadu and vice versa. Keep in mind this wasn't simply affecting tourists like us. Deliveries of perishable items were kept at the border for up to 4 or 5 days! If a delivery could not be transferred to a truck of the other state's, it was stuck there until the issue was resolved. Well, we were no exception. After waiting 45 minutes and making frantic calls to taxi drivers in Tamil Nadu, a swap was arranged. While it was unfortunate to tack on yet another hour of travel, we crossed borders in a truly amazing area: a tiger reserve! We essentially went on a free safari tour on perfectly maintained roads. There were no tiger sightings, but plenty of elephants, monkeys, peacocks, and cows.

After re-loading our bags and settling in to new vehicles we made it in to Tamil Nadu What a vast difference in scenery! We went from tropical with palm trees to urban to mountainous and cool within 24 hours. Being that the roads wound up and down mountains, there were tons of switchbacks, making for an overly curvy ride. There was no way I let myself feel any motion sickness, however, because this was a constant view:

See the staircase-like lines in the hills? That is how tea is
grown in this region.

I was nearly in a state of awe our entire trip from the border until arrival at King's Cliff Hotel. A beautiful British/Shakespeare-themed stay complete with working fireplaces and a breathtaking view of the valley. And, for anyone looking to get a taste of India but with a more New England climate, Ooty is your hill station! I would love to visit this place again in the future because it was truly one of a kind.

Each night, not only was our fireplace lit, but
complimentary hot water bottles to keep in
bed were offered.

The sitting area.

Breakfast was served in the glass house each morning.

Or, if you want to eat breakfast outside, this is your view!

I was shocked how cool the evenings got (50-55 Fahrenheit) but it was a welcome change to my 4 months of summer weather. After settling in and bundling up, we headed to dinner at a delicious restaurant in the center of town. Here we met with a former Manipal University professor who would take us to visit two local tribes the next morning. He has spent several years studying tribes in this area and has developed a strong rapport. This is important because otherwise, we would not be allowed to spend time in the tribe. We cozied up in bed shortly after eating and called it an early night.

Breakfast was bright and early at 7:30 am but certainly worth losing sleep over! While there was regular Indian items, the amount of "typical" Western foods made for a special treat. From croissants to chicken sausage (for all of those who didn't know, I'm no longer pescetarian) to cornflakes - yum :-) A very welcome change in routine indeed.

Around 8:30 we left for the Kota tribe. Roughly thirty minutes away, the roads we took wound smoothly through tea estates, pastures, and forests. Our arrival drew the attention of all the members as they greeted us with huge smiles. It was such a beautiful day - crisp 70 degree air, blue skies, and incredible scenery. The Kota tribe is a group known for their pottery and artistic abilities. Additionally, they hold many beliefs unique to their tribe. For example, there is a special root a woman uses to style her hair once she starts her menstrual cycle. From that moment on she must wear that root given to her every single day until death. It is believed if a woman feeds her husband or children without the root in place the family will experience bad luck. Here are some photos from our visit:

A skilled craftsman shows us musical
instruments and a cane he crafted out of
a single piece of tree root.

The root a woman wears in her hair each day.

Here the root is in place.

Several of us tried using the wheel. It is much
harder than it looks!!

Tired from the sun, we took refuge in the A/C bus and re-hydrated before visiting the second tribal community: the Tora. This community is known for embroidery and a rock-lifting tradition for young men. Historically, young men had to lift a rock of  sometimes 100 kg (220 pounds) or more and roll it over his shoulder to prove fitness for marriage. These days this practice is simply for fun but the boys were eager to show off their strength. Another unique aspect of the Tora community is they worship buffalo. Two temples on their land are dedicated to the buffalo. Only the priest is able to enter the temples during a very specific time of the year. Otherwise, no person may come too close to the tribe. You also must remove your footwear from a far distance of at least 200 or 300 feet. A few of the girls in my group joined the young men for a game of soccer while the rest of us admired embroidered fabrics and played with two very cute little puppies!

Photo credit: Miranda Fadden

Temple 1

Temple 2

Once we got our fix of puppies, we headed to a wonderful lunch in the middle of town. Rather than an Indian restaurant, it was Chinese - and it sure was delicious. The rest of the afternoon we had to ourselves for shopping or relaxing. I spent most of my time with Erica and Moira as we wandered through the streets and poked in to shops here and there.

Two more bonuses about Ooty: they are famous for their tea and chocolate. Let me say that again. Tea and chocolate. Everywhere.

Every 2nd or 3rd shop either sold or was entirely dedicated to each. It's safe to say I got my fix of goodies that afternoon. It was so difficult to decide which ones to purchase. Because of that, we had many samples. One store owner was so generous I left feeling as though I had eaten an entire meal! Dinner that evening was average, except for dessert - sizzler brownies. You know how fajitas come on an unreasonably hot cast iron plate? Same idea, except add a giant brownie, ice cream, nuts, and chocolate sauce.

Photo credit: Alexandra France

I think it's safe to say Ooty was my favorite stop so far. Perhaps it was because of climate which reminded me of home. Regardless, I had a wonderful time and hope to return in the future!

Next stop: Fort Cochi

Travel Week: Days 3 & 4

After a seamless train ride to Hospet, we clambered into our van for Hampi - roughly 30 minutes away. As we got closer to this city of ancient ruins the landscape became more and more astounding. With giant boulder mountains on every side, I spotted temples and structures built into the precariously perched rocks. Our drop off point was about a ten minute walk to our home stay. In the town of Hampi, only auto rickshaws and motorcycles/mopeds are allowed the the primarily dirt roads. It was such a nice change of noise from Bangalore - no incessant beeping horns or screeching tires!

Once rooms were decided, we had a delicious breakfast on the upper deck of Vicky's Home Stay. Yet again, no rest for the weary. After quickly showering and changing clothes, our group was up and out for a day of exploring. We walked on foot to a variety of sites before breaking for lunch some hours later. What's truly amazing is Hampi used to be the most prosperous city in the world second only to Rome. Now all that remains are memories in the form of remnants of palaces, temples, and structures throughout the landscape. Hampi used to be famous for its bazaars, as well. In several places one can see pillar after pillar where vendors used to sell their products. The final bazaar was unfortunately shut down two years ago to prevent nearby monuments.

Hampi is an adventurer's paradise. When you are unsure where to go, keep walking or climbing in any direction - you will surely find a ruin. Just when I thought we'd arrived at our final abandoned temple, I turned left and saw a former bazaar as long as a football field! The bazaar further off from the roads are eerie because few tourists want to walk the distance to see them. Monkeys have taken over many of the bazaar sites and now call them home.

This was one of the first rock "mountains" we climbed.

The view of boulder "mountains" and various temples below.

With monsoons each year, I found myself wondering how
such structures have survived 600 or more years.

One example of many, many, many structures like this temple.

Monkey bazaar!

And just to demonstrate how you truly cannot run out of sites to see, our guide continued past the bazaar only to find a river and more boulder mountains! The specialty of this location is carvings on the rocks. We more or less rock climbed (in flip flops) to the water's edge. Perhaps the coolest aspect was an abandoned temple along the water. Unless you are in the water or climb to the exact location, it is hidden from sight. We even got to go inside and look at the intricate carvings!

Carvings like these were all over the boulders near the river. It was like a game to find them!

Photo credit: Miranda Fadden

Photo credit: Erica Cross

While admiring the water and surging boulder mountains, a peculiar boat came around the river bend. I quickly learned this "coracle" is found around the world but is better known in Southern India. Bowl shaped and simply awesome, we bribed the driver (with his single paddle) to give a ride to shore. Without hesitation the ten of us piled in and then perched like statues. With all of the extra weight, the boat's upper lip hovered uncomfortably close to the water. It was such an awesome experience! Being so much lower made the rock formations that much more incredible and giant than I imagined possible. Once we made landfall, we called it a day and walked back to Vicky's.

Little did he know how many foreigners were about to bombard his coracle (10)!

Credit: Alexandra France

With two to three hours to burn, that meant one thing: shopping! The time we visited Hampi is the very beginning of tourist season, so all vendors we eagerly trying for our attention. For example, they insisted 700 Rs. ($14) was a very good price for a mass-produced wall hanging the size of two sheets of paper (it's really an awful price). Needless to say, I bought very little during my stay here.

The Mango Tree is probably on my list of "Top 5 Coolest Restaurants I've Ever Been To". Had it not rained, we could have eaten outside at a table under the stars. Tables were set in to the hillside in a stadium seating fashion. Trees gently arced over the seats and oil lamps was the single light source. To top it off, the food was incredible! The occasion for dinner was for Alexandra's twentieth birthday - and no birthday is complete without dessert! Since they had no cake, employees carefully created a giant crepe with banana, Nutella, flowers, and a candle. It was a sight to see. After a rainy walk back to Vicky's, most of us went straight to bed - it was our first train-free night since Friday!

The next morning it was awfully hard to get out of bed. Since Hampi has a very hot and humid climate, and we were going on a bicycle tour, our day started out early. By 8:30am we had showered, eaten, and seen our bikes. I probably should have expected it, but these bicycles were one-geared, rusty, had gunk-covered chains, faulty brakes, and I'm fairly certain my back wheel was close to falling off. On the bright side, only two of us got flat tires! My rear tire was a close call but thankfully it held out like a trooper.

Credit: Moira Dhaliwal

The "Princess Castle"; Photo credit: Erica Cross

Rachel and I! Photo credit: Meg Reid

The Queen's Bath; Photo credit: Meg Reid

Looking for elephants in the elephants stable; Photo credit: Moira Dhaliwal

Throughout the course of our five hour bike ride, we had the chance to visit many varieties of structures. One of the most famous sites Hampi is known for is the "Chariot". I was so pleased to see it in person! Other ruins and inner room we visited were incredible. The only problem was guano, (bat poop). It has the most pungent and repulsive smell I have ever experienced. Unfortunately, bats take refuge in most of the darker rooms of ancient ruins.

We had to take a ferry to reach the final portion of our bike trip. I certainly came to the river with an altered image of what this so-called ferry would look like. Rather than a boat massive enough for cars to board, this was a tiny 15 person boat with a tin roof and enough room in the middle for motorcycles or bicycles. Here, Moira and I are squished behind the stack of bikes.

Photo credit: Moira Dhaliwal

After another 3-4 miles of biking, a brief stop at two handicraft shops, and the second flat tire, we FINALLY arrived at our lunch destination. Good thing, because all were either rationing water or already out. The food was definitely worth the sweat and exhaustion! Following our feast, we struggled on our bikes for a five minute ride to the second ferry. This time the trip was much less pack. We hauled the bicycles out, pulled them up the hill, and victoriously dropped off our bikes. In a few hours was another night train. Next stop: Ooty!

Travel Week: Days 1 and 2

My apologies for such a long gap between my posts! I've been keeping extra busy since returning from travel week. To make it easier (and more manageable) for you to read, I will break down travel week in to smaller posts. Here goes:

Epic travel week began on Friday, September 28th. After a full day of classes and field visits, we loaded into  a bus for Mangalore. This city is something like going to Boston - everything you could ever need for miles and miles. We have made a few trips here before, but this time it was simply to get to the train station. Around 8:00pm we boarded an overnight train. En route to the station, we were given some general advice and expectations to have for the train. Perhaps the most highly stressed tip was: avoid the toilets if at all possible. While this was not feasible because the ride would last nearly 12 hours, I certainly did my best to avoid any and all water I could. Generally speaking, the bathrooms were smelly, dirty, had no toilet paper, and emptied on to the tracks.

There are several classes one can choose from when purchasing a ticket. We were in 3 A/C. This was a wonderful place to be because the compartments were cool, windows were sealed to block noise, complimentary pillows, sheets, and blankets were given, and privacy curtains could be pulled. I had the top bunk on a triple bunk wall which I really enjoyed. Being so high up gives you both privacy and control of when you want to call it a night. Before passengers are ready for bed, the bottom bunk is used as a bench and the middle bunk folds down as a back rest. After an hour or so of chatting with other passengers and my group, we clambered in to our beds, took melatonin/Dramamine/Benadryl, and drifted off to sleep.

Following a night of somewhat un-interrupted sleep, we arrived in Bangalore, the capital of the state of Karnataka (Manipal is also in Karnataka) around 7am. After waiting for our taxi driver's arrival, we spent around two hours at a hotel to eat breakfast, shower, and prepare for the day. It was beyond wonderful to have a hot shower, brush my teeth, and eat something other than crackers or cookies! Unfortunately, I didn't have enough time to sneak in a nap. However, no rest for the weary! Around 9:30 or 10 we hauled our bags (and selves) back onto to bus for a full day of sightseeing.

Long story short, our tour guide was amazing. In the span of roughly 7 hours we saw and learned more than I imagined possible! Our first "stop" was walking through the fruit and flower markets. For several blocks, there were stands chock full of fresh produce, beautiful flowers, and ovwhelming scents. In past years, Bangalore was known as the "Garden City". Due to modernization, though, the once "Garden City" has now become a "Concrete Jungle" as our guide said (cue Jay-Z...).

Our fantastic tour guide.

These days, very few parks remain in the city. We were lucky to walk through one known especially for its bat population. Imagine looking up into trees to see what you think are birds chirping only to spot thousands of upside-down bats. This will give you a visual:

See all of the bats?

Our next few hours consisted of visiting temples and a palace. The Sri Big Bull Temple, as its name rightly declares, is huge. Built is 1537, the statue of Nandi (Lord Shiva's bull) stands roughly 15 feet tall and 20 feet long! It was quite a sight to see.

We spent time at Dodda Ganesha Temple where a very surprising practice of worship occurs. Legend states Ganesha was quite fond of butter so every day over 100 kg is applied and coated over the statue! At roughly 275 Rupees ($5.50) per kilogram, this is no small investment. The final temple visited was Sri Govardhana Temple, which was probably the coolest temple I have ever seen. It is built like a cave and entirely underground! We entered during a service, hence why there are no pictures, but it is certainly worth looking up.

Our final stop before shopping with Tipu Sultan's Palace. While it was nothing compared to Mysore Palace's size, this was a beautiful structure with intricate detailing and precision. Built in 1790, it was ingeniously constructed with natural air conditioning. Even in the sweltering heat, I felt cool and comfortable once inside.

After a busy morning bustling around the city, we were pleasantly surprised by our lunch destination. What appeared to be just a hotel restaurant soon became an elaborate buffet thirty or more feet long. From stir-fry to salad with cheddar cheese (Can you BELIEVE IT?) to fruit salad with figs, it was everything and more we could have hoped for...even if it was $20 a head.

Photo credit: Erica Cross

Photo credit: Danielle Pelaez

Following our leisurely "splurge" lunch, we rolled out of the hotel to our final destination: the famous Lalbagh Botanical Garden. Our tour guide was so knowledgeable about identifying plants and explaining the meaning, origin, and/or purpose behind each one. My favorite thing I learned was about the Glass House pictured below. Initially the private 40-acre garden of Hyder Ali, Lalbagh is of royal origin. In 1889 the Glass House was built so plants foreign to the climate, or even continent, could be nurtured in a protected environment. It is because of this house that plants from Australia and many other continents and countries flourish in Bangalore. We had a quick dinner after the sun set and headed to our second consecutive overnight train. Next stop: Hampi!

There were over 200 varieties of roses!

Krishna's Buttercup

View from the hill/boulder of Bangalore