sayhitojohn

Well, it's a wrap.  Sitting here in the Paris airport and waiting for our connection to Atlanta and then to CO.   Time seemed to move slowly when we were in India and it really seems like a long while since we've been home. The most apt word to describle our experience here would be 'Incredible'. Hard to put into words all that we have seen, it was like information overload so many times and I wish I could have captured even close to all of it in some way. One of the things that stuck with me in a converstation that I had early on in the trip was with a man that said it was his dream to come to American.  Then he said "But it is only a dream."  Only a dream. That interaction brought to my mind the words in the 17th chapter of the Acts of the Apostles when Paul addresses the men of Athens - "And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwell

Tuesday 1/15 We flew in from Kochi last night on Air India and had an uneventful flight.  Part of the seat selection process included designating which type of dinner you would like served.  Patti and Riley have food allergies for which they selected as appropriately as they could while Tara and I picked what sounded best from the most extensive list I have seen yet: - Bland Meal - Childrens Meal - Diabetic Meal - Fruit Platter Meal - Gluten Intolerant Meal - Hindu Meal - Infant Meal - Kosher Meal - Low Calorie Meal - Low Lactose Meal - Low Salt Meal - Muslim Meal - Vegetarian Hindu Meal - Vegetarian Jain Meal - Vegetarian Lacto-ovo Meal - Vegetarian Oriental Meal - Vegetarian Ram Meal - Vegetarian Vegan Meal Patti was delighted to see her favorite right on top - 'Bland Meal'.  As it turned out we were all served the same thing which means that that a couple dinners once again made their way to my seat. While we waited for our bags we were a bit alarmed

Water Closet Most places we have stayed in India and for that matter most places outside of the U.S. give new meaning to the term water closet.  Or maybe this was the intended definition all along.  We have found that once you take a shower in the bathroom the water on the floor seems to stick around nearly indefinately and your feet seem to be prepetually wet.  Not so good for this sock wearing dude ;-). Detraining I have hauled around the TRX on all of our travels and have tried to stay somewhat regular so I am not taking a complete month off of everything.  About a year and a half ago I began a training scheme where I weight train only 10 minutes a week.  This is the most difficult 10 minutes in the week by far.  It sounds crazy but it works great for me with how it mixes in with the other things that I do.  I am experimenting on this trip and not using the TRX but using a muscle tension workout that I made up through the same 5 exercises as my 10 minute workout.  We will se

Monday 1/14 Today was another water day for us.  Not the surf of the Indian Ocean, but the murky backwaters around Alleppey.  We had the option to spend a night or more on a houseboat which we decided against as we really had a spectacular time in Vietnam on a cruise and these trips sounded like little more than being a captive piece of meat for a legion of mosquitos. The day started before 6:00 which we have discovered is as close to legally waterboarding Tara as we can get. Our launch point was right next door to a Hindu temple.  If you will recall our time in Munnar where the temples in the valley we were in started cranking out music at 5:45.  From a distance it was an interesting addition to our experience, being right next door about ended my already questionable hearing.  About 30 minutes later, when the ringing stopped, Riley and I watched the sun rise from our boat. Tara and Patti manned the other kayak.  Well manned might be too strong a word as they logged almost

Sunday 1/13 Today we landed in Alleppey for some beach time this afternoon and kyaking tomorrow.  This beach was much better than our first try and Riley and I got out to enjoy the surf for about 90 minutes.  Tara did not want to get in and took some fun shots including this one. Now Patti did want to get in but Tara and I had to strongly encourage her to keep her clothes on.  Literally.  Riley was the only female actually swimming in the water for as far as the eye could see.  We had her wear her clothes in, which she had over her suit, so a not to draw too much attention. Over time as Riley and I played in the waves Tara and Patti drew enough attention with their clothes on that it was a really good idea that they did not come in.  There was a selfie snowball effect that took place where they were in at least a dozen selfies.  Men just kept coming up and asking for this privledge.  Tara and Patti were sitting on the towel that Rye and I were going to use but that went out t

Saturday 1/12 We arrived in Periyar yesterday and took in a few sites including a martial arts exhibition.  When we were in China we visited the Shaolin Temple which is the birthplace of Kung Fu.  A particular style of Karate is said to have orginated in Kerela and this was a demonstration of some of that.  It started out with some forms which were not too exciting and culminated in some acrobatics through a burning ring of fire.  Tara snagged a video of the ring lighting.  We were about 15 feet away and it was hot, I can imagine a brush with the metal would have been fun. Todays adventure was through the Periyar Tiger Preserve.  It was a 1.5 hour hike through dense forest out to a lake, a breakfast, a bamboo raft cruise on the lake, then a 1.5 hour hike back to the entrance.  The kids are particularly fond of 1.5 hours hikes and were very disappointed that there were only 2. We saw some wildlife out there including a mongoose, some bison, a giant squirrel (second biggest i

Zoo Life At any attraction we visit, we become part of the attraction.  India has been similiar to our visit to China and a little less so Vietnam.  That is, we are of enough interest for people that they will stop, stare, ask for selfies, etc.  The staring here is a little more pronounced which I suspect is a function of the culture.  In China people tried to descretely look and take pictures.  Here in India they will stop and stare.  Really stare.  Like walk right up to you on the street or in the car and uncomfortably stare.  Before it becomes unbearable for me with my Western perspective the one-sided tension can be broken with smile or a nod of the head.  One man shook my hand, patted my bald head and said "Unique".  In the North the girls were collecting long looks from the boys and counting them as their boyfriends.  Not sure who won that game.  The South sees more foreigners so there is a little less stardom for everyone. Where Are The Women? We have noticed in

Don't Need No Fool T Need Me Some Fixing You Are Only As Fast As The Slowest Cow The Party Bus Chips, Yes.  Mixture, Hmm.

Thursday 1/10 Today we woke once again to the acoustic progression of the last three days.  Just before 5:30 the melodic and rather haunting Muslim call to worship.  Just after 5:30 the Hindu temples in the valley would start kicking out music and vocals which would continue until about 8:30. At 6:00 the shift change siren from the local hydroelectric plant would sound for about 15 seconds.  Then, at about 6:15, the forest would wake up and the sound of many different birds could be heard lingering with the Hindu music.  All of these sounds give yet another interesting vibe to the whole experience.  Google has an auto function that 'stylizes' images.  Here one such shot from our deck that begins to capture some of the morning feeling here, at least in image form. We have had a variety of breakfasts here at the homestay including Dosa, Sambar, rice with coconut, banannas, watermelon and fresh pinapple juice.  We chose to take our dinners here as we are far out of town and

Wednesday 1/9 When we took to the roads today I was thinking that due to the strike we would get around as easily as we did on the way in to Munnar.  Wrong.  Because everyone and their brother was now on holiday, as our driver put it, all the inexperienced drivers were on the road. He said the traffic was much greater than it normally is on the weekend because even folks that would normally work the weekend are not working.  The inexperienced drivers would often stop in the middle of the road to sightsee or not pull far enough over on these tiny roads.  We did get in our first fender bender when another driver was looky louing to the side but still driving straight ahead. Munnar is tea country and we took to the hills around the town which lies in the confluence of three rivers today.  In August the center of town was underwater with some of the worst flooding this area has ever seen.  The tourism and other industries have suffered greatly.  But the tea plants seem to have weathe