In the meantime, just wanted to share and sum up the rest of my land journey to get to Chennai. Last I left off I was flexible, relaxed, calm, and felt great after eating only ayurvedic food at the 1-week yoga retreat I did in Mysore. My next stop was Ooty, or Udhagamandalam. Phew, try saying that... or spelling that 3 times. Hence you see the common nickname, Ooty. Ooty is in the Nilgiris Hills and is considered a hill station retreat that all the Indians flock to around this time of year to get away from the simmering heat. The "high" season literally starts April 1st... I got there April 2nd. And yes, that day new menu's came out with the higher prices. Welp, you can't win them all!
When I got there it wasn't just getting used to the HONKING and NOISE again, it was also.... COLD! Gasp! These last 6 months I've been in at least 80+ degree weather everyday. Here it was a balmy 50-60 degrees. Eek! Out came my one long-sleeve t-shirt and my one shall for my "winter wear." I'm ashamed to say how frigid I felt despite being born and raised in Chicago. I even had to sleep with 3 blankets! Anyhoo, Ooty is known for the hiking and trekking and I was eager to get moving again. I joined a group that ventured into the cool hills, which was beautiful.
It was back to my Sri Lankan days being in a "tea country," and I fondly reminsced my days there. I fortunately had a fun group of Germans, Dutch and French.
It was hiiii-larious (okay, fine, you maybe had to be there) because the Germans and Dutch were expats and they spoke English with Indian accents because they had been living in India for some several months. One of them had such a good head wobble, I almost gasped in surprise. I asked her for some tips as when I have attempted I've gotten neck cramps, ha ha, and she willingly obliged and I practiced in the mirror later. I must have not gotten the technique down because later when I tried to use it, people just looked at me strangely and didn't break out into a huge grin when she did it. Oh well.
So off we trekked for just a couple of hours and then.... were met by RAIN. Again, gasp - I haven't seen rain since my Indonesia days. But as soo many of my travel experiences have shown me, even this unexpected weather change had special moments. We were running to cover ourselves from the rain, couldn't even see where our guide and rest of the group was, and out in the clouds was a man standing in his little hut waving us in. We ran in, and it was just sooo cute. We were in this tiny village and his hut was pretty much the size my bedroom at home. He immediately moved this sofa-like thing from across the room so we could sit and although he didn't speak much English, was just so sweet in offering us tea and other little goodies he had (which weren't that much). He also had this TOTALLY winning smile and I loooooved it!
As our trek got cut short, we stopped for thali,
and then headed back. The rest of the afternoon (of course, the minute we got back to town, the weather cleared up to be this beautiful sunny day) I went to this Thread Garden, which, as you may have guessed, was this whole garden made of thread! As it is called a "miracle" and took 12 years to make and 50+ crafts people, it is quite impressive when you see the detail (and keep in mind that there were NO needles, all done by hand!). Wow.
Also passed by the Reflections Lake and the Boat House, which is pretty much like a mini (very mini) Navy Pier in Chicago with ummm.. shacks to sell stuff, bumper cars, and family and couples hanging around.
So from hill station to JUNGLE! Again, I love the diversity of landscape in India (will be talking more about it in my next blog). 2 people in one day (random) told me about this Jungle Retreat in between Ooty and Mysore, and I took that as I sign and booked it right away. I ended up getting a dorm to myself at this Jungle Retreat. Again, soo nice to be IN nature and to fall asleep to frogs chirping and other "jungle noises." Of course a few of these creatures came into my room, but it wasn't too bad :-) Spent afternoon on a sarfari where saw elephants in the wild and in captivity (including a baby elephant!), peacocks and wild boars. Of course was hoping to add to my wildlife collection that I've seen so far on this trip (Big 5 in Africa, whales and polar bears in Scandinavia, dolphins in Indonesia, elephants in Sri Lanka, etc) by seeing TIGERS, which are in this area, but no such luck :-( There are supposedly more tigers up North of India, so I hope to go there some day and see these big o cats.
Anyway, also did a "mountain trek" which really was a work-out for me. Boy am I out of shape! Not much wildlife but good to get my heart rate up and see nice views. Ended up back at the same village I was before, but at least this time it was sunny!
Here is some home-made masala chai I had in the village...
After jungle comes... TOY TRAINS! A UNESCO World Heritage site, this miniature toy train from Ooty to Mettupalayam was actually really spectacular. This steam engine pushes rather than pulls and although jerky at times, the views were really fantastic!
I then went to Pondicherry, the former French colony. It is super interesting because the French Quarter is super quaint, many cute colonial buildings, relatively low key and quiet. Then you literally cross one street, a "canal" which is pretty much a sewer, and you get more "typical" India, chaotic, LOUD, and busy. I pretty much spent the few days there wandering around and mostly enjoying the colonial architecture in the French Quarter, some good food, including delicatessen's and sweets (helloooo crepes!). Yum.
(sniff sniff, the above reminds me my Oak Park hometown!)
(Gandhi statue above!)
(As it happens at least 5 times a day, people ask to take a picture with me. So sometimes I return and ask to take a picture with them as well. ha!)
(This is actually in Auroville, near Pondicherry. It is a "universal" township that was built off of 124 donations of soil from other countries. The "Mother" a big guru here, wanted to build a community of harmony, peace, and universal acceptance. It's a little New Age, but also very interesting! And no, I am not going to get eaten up by this 'space ship' :-)
After that French flavor, I headed to Mamallapuram. The 1st day I pow-wow'd through the famous cave temples, of which most were constructed in the 7th century, including the Five Rathas, which was supposedly built from a single piece of rock.
The lighthouse was pretty cool as well, and the Shore Temple is one of the most photographed temples in all of India!
The Shore Temple was.... would you believe it? Right by the shore and I ended up there right around sunset, and boy was that a fiasco! Below are some pics from the crowded and populated beach. No romantic strolls here!
Sniff sniff.... after Mamallapuram was my last stop, Chennai. Stayed with a friend that I stayed with when I first got here and also met up with a friend that I met 3 years ago when I was here. Which is always nice to see some familiar faces!
So alas, India, old and new, poor and rich, quiet and loud, it is time to say goodbye and am ready to embark on the next leg of my seemingly neverending trip, he he... off to Dubai!!!!
