Trekking in the Hill Country

Saturday, Vijaya, Aman, Abdul, and I headed for the hills. We start at 7:00 in the morning and traveled North from Chennai. After a few hours of driving we arrived in a small village and turned off on a back road. Parts of the road were so rough that Abdul asked us to get out and walk. We reached the trail head by 11:00.




Behind Abdul, you see our destination, the valley between the cliffs. It wasn't a steep hike, but the first half had no shade and was hot. Before we got to far, we decided to stop for lunch. We had brought food some from Chennai, but not enough as Vijaya and Abdul had skipped breakfast. We found a nice shady spot to eat near a stream. We hadn't been there but a few minutes when a couple of monkeys show up.




I quickly grabbed my camera and started taking pictures. The monkeys circled us and inched in closer towards the food. When they got close, Vijaya repeatedly advised me to be careful. The closer they got, the more anxiety was in his voice. I was naively oblivious to any danger. Aman and Abdul were holding the food and when the monkeys approached them, they surrendered our lunch. This I didn't understand, they're just cute furry little animals. But to be fair, the monkeys were more willing to bite Aman, then he was willing to bite them. From then on, we armed ourselves with sticks and stones.

We were able to recover most of our lunch and moved to a more populated spot to eat. We made several stops along the way. We weren't sure how far away our destination was or what we would find there. It took some convencing to keep out troup moving forward. Once we got into the shade, our spirits were higher.


The trail followed a stream. At a few spots along the way, we stopped to dip our feet.








At the end of the trail was a great swimming hole and a small waterfall. It took us approx. three hours to reach it.






The waterfall is just around the bend. You can only get to it by swimming. I couldn't take the camera, sorry. It was very relaxing sitting underneath the falls and letting the water give me a natural back and shoulder massage.
The water is very deep, except for a ledge where this group of college age kids are sitting. Most of the local are not strong swimmers, so the falls were very private.
It was still a long walk followed by a long drive home, but it was worth the trek.

Cold Showers for Naught

I was gathering up some of my clothes from the back 'washing' deck when I discovered a small hot water heater above and behind the door. Turns out each bathroom has it's own hot water heater. The heater for my bathroom is turned on/off by one of the fifteen switches in my bedroom. Yes, the switch for the hot water heater is on the same panel as the bedroom lights and ceiling fan. I turned it on Friday morning expecting a nice hot shower on Saturday. No luck, while I was at work Friday, someone, I assume the housekeeping crew, turned off the switch. Sunday, my last week in India, I had a nice long hot shower. The fact that I never discovered this before, or bothered to confront the management about the issue, reveals a little to much about my intelligence and character flaws.

Aman's Apartment

Aman lives with his parents in a three bedroom flat on the fifth floor of an apartment in Besant nager. It is the penthouse. It is three times the size of the flats on the floor below. It has beautiful panoramic views of the Bay of Bengal. The ocean breeze and sound of the surf make the two large patios a perfect place to relax.





I had a jovial conversation with Aman's mother about the selection of a bride for Aman. She's researching and taking resumes for four to ten girls per week. So far, she hasn't found one that suits Aman. He's looking for the complete package. Good education, good looks, 5'4" or taller, right background, etc. His mother thinks his expectations are to high. They both expect to find the girl within the year. Aman and his bride will live in the apartment with his parents. That is pretty common here.

For a cultural experience, Aman took me to two local temples. Taking pictures of the idols was not permitted, but I was allowed to take pictures of the structures and the priests. People came mostly to pray, but a few offered food sacrifices. The priest would take the food to the idols, wave it around in the candle smoke, say a prayer, and most of the time, return the offering to the giver. When the offering is returned, it is considered a gift from god.

The second temple was the temple for the goddesses of wealth. There was a long queue to get to this temple, but if you pay a small fee, you can go to the front of the line.

Afterwards, Aman and I hung out at the beach, went to a nice restaurant, and talked about different religions.

Friday Nite Movie

To demonstrate how desperate we are for entertainment, Friday night, Vijaya, Aman, and I went to see the movie D-War. It was the only English movie playing the late show, following our meetings at work. I had very low expectations of the movie, but it was worse then what I had imagined. Clearly one of the worst movies I've ever seen. It is the kind of movie that my boys would want to see. I think they might even be disappointed with this one.

The Theosophical Society

Saturday, Aman and I took a trek through The Theosophical Society. The aim of this society is to "form a nucleus of the Universal Brotherhood of humanity without distinction of race, creed, sex, caste, or color and to encourage the study of comparative religions, philosophy, and science. It was founded in the U.S. by Col. Henry Steele Olcott. There was not a lot of activity there, but the buildings suggested that this place could be used as a retreat center. It was very serene and very different from the city just outside the walls.
Primarily, we went to see the park grounds. A British woman, Anna Besant, who the surrounding area is named after, fought to preserve this area from urbanization. This is one of the largest Banyan trees in the world. It is a single tree. i.e. single root system that extends 238' North to South and 250' East to West.


Another Banyan tree in the park was filled with bats.

Dinner at Jacob's

Wednesday evening, I was invited to the Jacob's for dinner. Mr. Jacob and I drank cognac and visited while his wife, Achamma, cooked. She would come and sit with us for a while, but she is very reserved and more comfortable in the kitchen. We talked about many things, but mostly about our families and about the difference between America and India. Mrs. Jacob prepared a meal for my tastes. At the end of the meal my lips didn't hurt and the back of my neck was not sweating. For them it was very bland.
Mr. Jacob owns six flats in the building where I stay. That is his only income, but I think he does O.K. since property values in Chennai are increasing rapidly. Shaji, my cook, also manages all of Mr. Jacob's flats, so I'm not sure what Mr. Jacob does all day. I asked Achamma what she does during the day. She goes to mass daily and spends four hours in prayer.

POWRTRAK Team Celebration

Last week, the POWRTRAK Best Shore team finished six weeks of knowledge transfer training. The training consisted of daily three hour class room instruction followed by hands on assignments. The class room instruction was facilitated via the Internet by the team members back in the States. (I stand out, since I'm the only one wearing yellow.)

The Great Kabob Factory

We celebrated with lunch at the Great Kabob Factory. This restaurant is located within the Radission hotel. It is a five star hotel equal to any in the States. The gentleman on the far right and the gentleman second from left are new team members, Gopinath and Ashok. (Can you find Flip?)

The menu choices were few: Vegetarian or Non-Vegetarian. Both options consisted of an eight course meal. Maybe you recognize some of these dishes? I did not, but I now know that 'Tikka' means spicy. Murgh Peshawari is a fancy way to say chicken leg. It was all very tasty. The last item was ice cream served in a mud pot.

Fashion Statement

I wasn't feeling self conscious, but I had noticed that not a lot of men wear shorts here. Regardless of the temperature, most men wear long pants and often times long sleeves. So my white legs really stand out when I wear shorts. Alternatively, many men wear dhotes. Mr. Jacob must have noticed as well. He gave me one of his dhotes, so now I'll fit in better. You basically put them on like a bath towel. It takes some practice to wrap them so that they stay on.
Dhotes can also be pulled up and tied as this man is modeling.

Besant Beach

I went to church this morning at the House of Prayer, which is close by, so that Abdul could have the day off. The rest of the day I spent at Besant Beach. I have a dozen shots of this group of kids. My camera was very entertaining to them. Especially the boy in the blue shirt.

On the other side of this hut, there was a group of women sitting in a circle playing a board game. Across the alley in a grass hut, a group of men were sitting around playing a game and a second group playing cards. Maybe its a Sunday evening thing?
I saw one guy jogging on the beach. He inspired me. I haven't run since I've been here. I was on a section of beach that was mostly deserted, so with my sandals in one hand and my camera in the other, I started off. I was just four minutes into my run when this turtle passed me up.

I thought I would run all the way to Marina Beach, but after a few minutes I came to a river and realized I would have to swim or turn back. These guys were swimming there. They wanted to talk.
While I was taking their picture, someone stole my sandals. My $75 Tevas: leather, waterproof, arch support. I was very bummed. On my way home I walk by the fisherman village where practically no one had shoes. Nor did they have the luxury of indoor plumbing. Their bathroom is the beach. Not much privacy. I walked by that as well. So I was able to change my perspective about my Tevas. Although by the time I walked the 30 minutes back to my flat, I was really missing them. Usually, on my walks, at least one rickshaw driver will stop and ask If I want a ride, but not this time.

Saturday in Chennai

I hung out with Vijaya on Saturday. One of the Chennai tourism web sites I visited put the Aquarium at Marina Beach as a must see item. Vijaya said that it was "over billed", but he took me there anyway. It had been moved, when we went to the new location, this is what we found. They are in the planning stages of building it. The rest of the day went better.

We ate at a Chinese restaurant that had beef on the menu. It's the first place I've seen in Chennai. Of course I tried. I'm pretty sure it was beef, but it must have been from a very scrawny cow. I'll stick with the chicken or mutton from now on. We also went to the BM Birla Planetarium. Before the planetarium show we saw a 3D movie. One of those movies where you wear the glasses and snakes come out of the screen to strike at you. It was fun. The planetarium show was geared for elementary students, but the stars were beautiful, the seats were comfortable, and I took the opportunity to take a short nap.




In the evening, we went to City Center mall and saw a movie. Regardless of what I said in an earlier blog, the City Center mall is very much like shopping in the U.S., even the prices are similar. They had some Karaoke going on in the lobby. We saw the movie Vantage Point. I recommend seeing it.

Happy Birthday Jessa!

The night before I left for India, my daughter was crowned Queen of the father / daughter dance. She earned this title for an essay that she wrote about me.
I sent her a birthday card yesterday. I'm told it should arrive within two weeks.
If you see Jessica today, wish her happy birthday.
I love you, precious.

Pondicherry

Vijaya had been planning our trip to Pondicherry all week. He put together a MS Project schedule that outlined each activity down to the minute. The big items on the agenda were:

Mahabalipuram, Auroville, Paradise Beach for a catamaran ride, and Botanical gardens in Pondy. Almost nothing went according to plan.

We got a late start because of the rain. It rained all day Friday and was raining Saturday morning when we left. Rain is uncommon this time of year in Chennai. Many areas in Chennai, including my area, have no storm drainage system, so water fills the streets, which narrows the driving lanes and causes traffic congestion and delayed our start. Our plans included a stop at Mahabalipurum to complete some gift shopping that I had started two weeks earlier. That was the most successful event of the day. Read my earlier blogs on Mahabalipuram. Before I go on, I need to mention that Vijaya is single and hunting for a bride. Traditionally, marriages in India are arranged by the parents, but Vijaya wants to help his parents out in any way he can, so he is advertising. Aman, pictured later, is also single and in the hunt, but he was less enthusiastic about getting his picture taken.

The drive to Pondicherry went smoothly, with only one minor incident. Vijaya drove. He drove very safely since he has no insurance. However, he did come very close to running over a dog. Like cattle, dogs roam freely. Vijaya is trying to cut back on the number of dogs he kills with his car. He has developed a reputation at work as the "dog slayer". This of course is all unintentional. He holds to the Hindu philosophy of not harming any other living thing. For that reason, he is a vegetarian and doesn't even eat eggs. (Plants don't count as living things.)

Once we got past Mahabalipurum, the country side opened to reveal rice fields. I was nice to be out of the city. We forgot to bring water, so we stopped along the way to purchase coconuts. "Young coconuts are sold with the top cut off and a straw inserted to make a refreshing drink."

Auroville is an experiment for celebrating unity in diversity. "It is a universal town where men and women of all countries are able to live in peace and progressive harmony above all creeds, all politics and all nationalities. The purpose of Auroville is to realise human unity." The structure pictured here is a place for meditation, I think. However, due to the rain, they were not letting anyone inside. We couldn't even get close.

Our next stop was Paradise beach, where Vijaya had planned a 2 hour catamaran cruise. However, due to the low pressure system that caused the rain, the catamarans were not running. Instead we took a 5 minute ride on a speed boat in the
Chunnambar backwaters.

If your looking for my pictures of the Botanical gardens, you'll be disappointed, just like we were. Due to the rain (which had stopped hours earlier), the botanical gardens were closed, which left us ample time to spend on the beach in Pondy.

Even though nothing went as planned, it was still an enjoyable day spent with good company.

The biggest adventure was yet to come. Pondicherry is 150 km from Chennai. Appox. a 3 hour drive depending on traffic. The drive at night is just plain scary. On coming traffic rarely bothers to dim their lights, the roads are not marked as well as in the US, so at night it is difficult to see the center line, not that Indian drivers pay any attention to traffic lanes. Most slower moving trucks and rickshaws do not have lights in the rear, so it would be very easy to run into the back of one. Then there's the people walking along the side of the road, and the cows and dogs wondering in the middle of the road. All of which expect the drivers to avoid them. There were several close calls on the way home. The lives of two more dogs were spared.

Movies, Movies, Movies

Friday after work, Abdul took me to the bazaar. About every fourth booth at this particular bazaar sold DVDs. I purchased several. They sold for Rs 20 (50 cents), so I'm not sure if they are authorized copies. The first movie I watched had subtitles. I couldn't find a way to turn them off. A few minutes into the movie, I decided the subtitles were just as much fun as the movie. They were obviously done by someone who did not speak the language well and was not familiar with American culture. Ex. one scene in the movie mentioned a nativity scene. It was subtitled as an "activity scene".
The next movie I put in the DVD player wouldn't play at all. Another movie was the result of someone videotaping at a theater. I could hear the other people at the theatre caughing and laughing. At one point, someone stood up and walked in front of the camera.
The shops sold DVDs with three, four, or sometimes 11 movies per disk for the same low price. I bought singles, expecting to get higher quality.
I watched Ocean's Thirteen on Sunday. It was a quality reproduction.

Besant Beach

Ocean front living in Chennai India...
I took this picture and the next picture while standing in the same spot. Quite a contrast.

Monday through Wednesday were long long days at work. I decided Thursday morning that I needed a walk. So after finishing my morning e-mails I took off on the shortest route to the beach. This is Besant beach. It is an easy 40 minute walk from my flat.




In the middle of the beach was a small field of flowers. I don't know what they are, but I thought they were pretty.

Government Museum

In between shopping excursions last Saturday, Abdul and I visited Chennai's Government Museum. It was interesting. It had several rooms filled with stone carvings, mostly of Hindu gods. That's me with my new friend. I forgot to read his name on the plaque. None of my co-workers recognized him, so apparently he is not very popular.


This is the skeleton of a whale.
Admission to the museum was approx. $7. It cost another $5 to take my camera with me. Admission for Abdul was Rs 15, which is about 40 cents. Abdul complained. When he was young, the museum cost only a couple rupees.



There was an entire room dedicated to Hindu gods made out of brass.

Cold Showers

Yesterday started out as a good day. I had a warm shower. It was the second warm shower I've had in the three weeks that I've been here. I've developed a technique for taking cold showers. After the first few days, I realized I needed a strategy. I was warned not to open my mouth in the shower due to the water impurities. Keeping your mouth shut is difficult when you stick your head under frigid water and are forced to gasp for breath. Now I ease in and get my body accustom to the temperature before I stick my head in. All the time, I'm imagining myself on vacation jumping into Beaver Lake. When my family goes there in early June, it takes some time getting used to the water when you first jump in. After a few minutes, like the shower, the water is very refreshing.
I thought about posting a picture of me in the shower demonstrating my entry technique, but I didn't want to get the camera wet.

New Live Assemblies of God Church

The second floor of the New Life Assemblies of God church is where they hold the English services. They have three services each week. The service prior to this one was even more packed. So far, this church has been the closest to my experience at home. They even sang some songs that I knew. The theme for this month at the NLAG church is "The Lord will go before you".
North and South Indians speak different local languages. The regional language for this area is Tamil. The educated Indians also speak English. I think that is the reason why so many Indians attend the English services. At the new comers class after the service, all the other participants were from Northern India. It's also possible that they attend to improve their English skills.
My Muslim driver attends church with me. We've had small conversations afterwards.

This is the sanctuary where the Tamil speaking services are held. If you look closely, you can see the balcony on all four sides. If I would have taken a picture when I first arrived, you would have seen this place packed. People were overflowing at every door.