The train trip here was a good experience...I had lazed around the hotel a little before leaving Madurai and I was in the mood to travel. After a short exchange with a rickshaw driver I chose to walk to the train station ,a 5 minute walk that he had wanted 20rupees for .It felt like I was heading out to conquer the world!!Mind you I was doing that in 2ndclass reserved AC ...no hardship there . I really enjoyed the journey. We went through farming country most of the way. Plains actually ...where there were grains of varying kinds being grown [View Full Entry]

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Yesterday I spent an interesting morning travelling about in an auto rickshaw with the same driver who had taken me out to the Gandhi Museum. My agenda had been to go to the Napier palace and the church that you can see from the rooftop restaurant of the hotel. I negotiated that at a price I considered reasonable. The Palace was Magnificent ! It as built in the 1500's and the largest secular building in Madurai. There are only 2 parts left but they are works of art.HUGE ...carvings of mythical creatures up pillars ,over arches, across ceilings and down again [View Full Entry]

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I'm back in India!! The train ride here was really quite uneventful . I rode in 2nd class reserved sleeper and shared the space with 5 other people. I had requested a lower birth but could only get an upper (of 3 on each side) and I think that was a good thing. I got on the train at Varkhala at 6:40pm and arrived in Madurai at 5:30 in the morning. I slept most of the way in spite of the many stops. It was good...basically a horizontal space of my own with my own pillow and a sarong as a [View Full Entry]

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I have so enjoyed my time here.. For any of you interested in a beach holiday in this part of the world I recommend it highly.One can fly into Trivandrum take a 40 minute train ride and be here !! I have read a Danielle Steel novel and half finished one by David Baldaci ,wrote MANY pages in my journal , seen Borat and The DaVinci Code and had fresh Butterfish ,Tuna, barracuda ,Tiger Prawns and Kingfish . I have walked on the beaches twice a day done a little shopping and watched the dolphins play while I ate breakfast this [View Full Entry]

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The tourism slogan for Kerala is ' Visit God's Country' and I must say that it has been truly magnificent country and when I arrived here yesterday I thought I was in Paradise. I enjoyed my 2 extra days in Trivandum walking the streets and seeing how the people live , work and interact with each other ...and with the various vehicles on the roads . I sucessfully negotiated rickshaw rides , shopped a little and learned my way around a train station...it was all quite fun !I also met with fellow travellors and got tips on where to go , [View Full Entry]

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Meanwhile back at the ashram... The ashram was home to the hugging mama...amma...and it was an interesting place. This woman has been responsible for MANY good works here in Kerala. She has established many schools , colleges , hospitals , feeding and housing programs . The area we were in was one that was devastated by the tsunami a few years ago. There are still people living in temporary housing but many have had their homes rebuilt by the amma. I really don't know what to make of the ashram .There are several 1000 students that live there and attend the [View Full Entry]

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thIt has been an interesting few days. The drive from Cochin up to Munnar was an education . Sam ,our driver talked and stopped along the way to point out different crops. Rubber trees that are currently being tapped and then dried into sheets. A farmer of this sort can make a living with 20-25 trees. Then it was tapioca plants. Amazing things that grow to about 8 feet in 6- months , are pulled for the root and then cuttings replanted for a new crop in 6-8 months!Nutmeg trees ,cardamon ,pepper plants ,Vanilla ,cumin ... Kerela has them all. Arriving [View Full Entry]

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A quick note . Travelling with a driver and tour guide is a new way of going for me and I am enjoying myself. Cochin is a great little city. ..only 1.3Million people... but traffic seems orderly and relatively calm. The people we have encountered are very friendly and helpful. We enjoyed the churches,synagogue ,chinese fishing nets and a Kathakali Dance production. Today we have driven into the mountains and are staying in the midst of tea plantations. It really is beautiful!!(Maybe someday I'll get my photos on line).It is quiet and serene as well. The traffic is sparse and after [View Full Entry]

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I had written a most descriptive entry yesterday and it disappeared into the ether as I was tring to publish it...I'll try again. I left off blogging when I was preparing to go to Cirque de Soleil .WOW what a show those people put on. The strength ,agility ,control and focus of the performers was amazing. I had never been to one of their performances before and Now I understand why peoople wax eloquent about them . The show was Quilam and there were about 45 performers involved...each more accomplished than the next. The show was more than 2 hours long [View Full Entry]

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Dubai is in the midst of the annual 45 day shopping festival . There are people here from all over the Arab world shopping for everything from private airplanes ,gold,diamonds,silks and satins ,cars and ALL things that are found in malls ,and entertainment. The city has been compared to both Hong Kong and New York visually and for the goods it has for sale. In addition to shopping there are cultural activities including the Heritage Village which we explored last night that has many demonstration sites , food creation ,arabian horses , pearl diving ,traditional clothing design and music [View Full Entry]

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