Our Trip - Final Entry

The overnight train from Mumbai to Goa was on time. Gigi and I had A/C sleepers. I had the upper and she had the lower plank! We were given sheets, a blanket, and a pillow. As long as you didn't turn over you were OK. My head touched one end and my feet touched the other end of the side sleeper. Not much sleep, but at least we were able to stretch out and we were cool! We disembarked at Margao, Goa, and took a prepaid taxi to Panaji, the capital. Arriving at our hotel just before lunch on Friday gave us time to settle in and get our bearings before eating. After lunch we walked about the town and enjoyed the refurbished Portuguese architecture. We melted in the heat and humidity! We quickly discovered you do not move fast! We got tickets for an evening on the river and then headed to Auntie Maria's for some air-conditioning and afternoon iced-tea! The sweets were delicious! We struggled to stay in the shade and took advantage of the various shops which were air-conditioned. Not much was purchased.

Early Saturday morning we made our way to the market which was both outdoors as well as indoors. The smells of the fresh fish were extremely powerful as nothing is refrigerated nor on ice! We were surprised at the lack of animals, dogs in particular, in the market area. Morning coffee was back at Auntie Maria's - more for the A/C than the coffee!

Following lunch our driver took us to the Archbishop's Palace and then to Old Goa where we saw the remnants of the Portuguese town which was decimated in the seventeenth century by malaria and cholera epidemics. At the ruins of St. Augustine's I discovered an altar to St. William . The most impressive feature is the remains of the 46 m high tower which served as a belfry and formed part of the facade of the magnificent church. It was then of to Bom Jesus and then St. Catherine' s Cathedral before a drive back to Margao and the overnight train to Shoranur Junction in nearby Kerala state. We were met by a driver from school and were back in the lovely coolness of Ooty by 3:00 P.M. Sunday afternoon.

It was certainly the trip of a lifetime and one which we will remember for a long time. Now it is back to life in Ooty!

Our Trip - Part 4 - Mumbai

What a fascinating city we found Mumbai to be!

After a great night's sleep due to a very quiet air-conditioning unit, we enjoyed a sumptuous buffet breakfast before our driver arrived to take us on a tour of Mumbai. We certainly enjoyed the comforts of an a/c car. As soon as we left the car our clothes just "stuck" to us! The heat and humidity were most oppressive. We learned later in the day the weather is unseasonably hot for Mumbai in October! Mumbai is very uch a city of contrasts with shanty town on one side of the road and modern high-rise apartments on the other.

The first stop was the Dhobi Ghat. This is the city outdoor laundry. 1000 men work in cement rock cubicles. There is plenty of water and they takes the clothes and beat them against the rock sides and then hang them out to dry. All kinds of clothes and all colour, too. A sight to behold!

We then had a brief stop at the house in which Gandhi had lived. There was his library and other artifacts.

Then on to Marine Drive - a walkway along side the coast with tall, modern apartment buildings lining one side of the street and a beach along the other side. Can you imagine walking out of your apartment, crossing the street and going swimming in the ocean!

Then was on to the Gateway of India constructed in 1911. Of course we had "reserved" parking in front of one of the tourist stores. We had to "shop" before we could sight see! Gigi and I had decided beforehand there would be no purchases this morning. The VISA card was not used! The Gateway to India is an impressive monument and is in front of the Taj Mahal Hotel which was severely damaged about three years ago. There was no trace of the damage visible!

Then it was on to "Leopold's" for lunch. This quaint restaurant has kept its 50's flavour and decor. We enjoyed a vegetarian meal and then had time for some window shopping before our driver picked us up for the afternoon.

We drove through the Malabar Hill district to the Hanging Gardens which were absolutely beautiful. However, our visit was short due to the extreme afternoon heat and humidity. We did our best to stay in the shade. This visit was followed by a drive by the Victoria Terminal, the main railway station built in 1808, which handles 3 million passengers a day as well as 1350 trains! We took a few photos from the car as it is impossible to park anywhere near the station!

A trip across the sea link allowed us to see Hajji Ali, a mosque off the coast completely surrounded by water. It can be quite easily reached on foot at low-tide!

A visit to Mount Mary's Basilica just about completed the tour. A stop at a high-end shopping centre was our last visit before returning to the hotel for a rest, supper and then the taxi ride to the train station for the overnight train to Goa.

More later.

Our Trip -Part 3

Leaving Fatehpur Sikri we started our return to Delhi. We did stop at various other forts and tourist sites along the way. We also stopped at a Government Tourist shopping centre and managed to buy a few things! All I can say is: "Thank goodness for the VISA card!"

One of the sites was a summer palace that was surrounded by water. It was constructed this way in order to keep the occupants cool in the warmer weather! What an idea!!! That was on one side of the road. On the other side of the road was a group of camels in full regalia.

As we made our way back to Delhi we stopped at a restaurant, which I immediately recognized, for lunch. I had stopped at the same location when I was in India in 2007. It had not changed at all.

The traffic was thick and we finally made it back to our hotel after 8:30 P.M. Our driver was great in getting through the traffic tie-ups and other obstructions along the way.

The following day we were taken to the airport for our flight to Mumbai. The plane was late leaving Delhi. When we arrived in Mumbai there was no ground crew to take the luggage off of the luggage cart and place it on the conveyor belt so that we could retrieve our luggage. In spite of the late arrival of the plane and the delay in collecting our luggage, we were met by our new driver and were taken to the Executive Enclave Hotel. Once we had checked in, we took a walk through the neighbourhood amid the countless number of locals who were returning from work or who were just out shopping. Gigi was very interested in a top but found the price of 1800 rupees exorbitant. After bargaining and then walking away, I ended up paying 1000 rupees! Well done, Gigi!

It was back to the hotel for supper on the roof top terrace. The view wasn't much and it was hot and noisy. An experience not to be repeated! And then to bed!

Our Trip - Part 2

After visiting the Taj Mahal which was constructed from 1631 to 1655 we went on to Agra Fort which was begun by Emperor Akbar in 1565. It is constructed of red sandstone with both a dry moat and a wet moat beside the Yamuna (?) River. Once again there was ample evidence of inlaid stone work and translucent marble. We were able to see where Shah Jahan was imprisoned until his death. One of the interesting features of the Agra Fort was the perfumed fountain. It would seem perfumed water was carried to a holding tank and then flowed down through the fountain.

After a visit to a carpet weaver we were on the road to the deserted city of Fatehpur Sikri. this fortified ghost city had been the capital of the Mughal Empire from 1571 to 1585. The many arches and fine stone work in red sand stone were quite remarkable to view. The city was abandoned due to an inefficient water supply. We had to take a tuk-tuk from the car parking lot to the city as it is classified as a Heritage Site and there are environmental concerns similar to those of the Taj Mahal.
Once back in out A/C car we were on the road to Jaipur, the Pink City, which is a real jewel and is worth a second visit. We arrived at our hotel late in the afternoon after fighting all kinds of vehicles and animals, not to mention construction, as we made our way through the city. We had a short walk and did some shopping before dusk fell at 18 h 30. After a good night's sleep and a power failure while Gigi was in the shower we were on our way again and had to wait for the 9 h 00 opening of the Jantar Mantar Observatory built by Jai Singh in 1728. The 27 m high gnomon (sundial) is accurate to within 2 seconds. On the day of our visit it was necessary to add 11 minutes to the shadow for the exact time. It was correct! Jai Singh was very interested in celestial bodies and had all kinds of different structures for viewing the constellations and other heavenly bodies.

The it was on to the Maharajah's Palace (City Palace) all in pink! Highlights were the 2 large silver vessels, 1.6 meters tall each containing over 4,000 liters of water in which Maharajah Madho Singh II took holy water from the Ganges with him when he went to England!

Our Trip - part 1

For those of you who are wondering what happened to the blog, you will notice it is back up and running. Apparently there was some suspicious activity on my G-mail site and so the e-mail and blog were shut down. Upon arriving back in Ooty yesterday I was able to clear up the situation and everything should now be as it was.

On Saturday, October 15, 2011, my wife and I left Ooty by taxi for the 3 hour drive to Coimbatore airport. The taxi arrived at Selborne early and by 8 h 35 we were on our way. There was very little traffic going down the mountains and in just over 3 hours we arrived at the Coimbatore airport. We saw lots of monkeys at the side of the road wherever there was a lookout point. Obviously people have dropped scraps of food. The driver stopped at a veggie restaurant and we had an early lunch before checking in for our flight. We had 2 security checks before boarding our flight for Delhi with a stop-over in Mumbai. Our new driver met us at the airport and took us to our hotel and so approximately 12 hours after having left Ooty we arrived at our hotel in Delhi. We were quite pleased with the hotel with A/C and had a light dinner in the hotel.

At 8 h 15 Sunday morning our driver met us and we started our sight-seeing of Delhi. Our first stop was India Gate and then up to government house and then the parliament building.

We had a stop at the Qutub minar before going on to the Lotus Blossom Temple.

By noon we were leaving Delhi behind to make our way to Agra. We stopped along the way for lunch and arrived at our Agra hotel just after 16 h 00. By 16 h 30 we were on our way to visit the Taj Mahal before sunset. The pictures speak for themselves. Following our visit to the Taj Mahal, complete with bicycle ride as cars are not permitted in the vicinity of the Taj due to environmental concerns, we visited an inlaid stone works to see how the decoration of the Taj was accomplished. Finally we were back at the hotel for dinner and bed! It was a great day and we certainly enjoyed ourselves.

Drama Week 2011

Drama Week 2011 is over! The winners have been announced. The scenery has been cleared out of the auditoriums! The props and costumes have been put away! Cast parties have been held! It's over and now time for a break.

Monday last was the evening for the Standard 7 dramas "The Truth About Geroge" and "Reading, Riting, and Rithmetic." Tuesday was the Standard 9's with "The Diary of Anne Frank" and "Bugsy Malone", Wednesday the Standard 11 groups presented "Murder in the Catherdral" and "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory", and last night the Standard 13 combined group presented "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" Many hours were spent in adapting scripts to fit the talent available as well as the limitations of facility!

"The Truth About George" by "Standard 7-a" was the Junior winner and "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" was the Senior winner.

We have had plenty of parents here visiting with their children as well as former students. It has been a wonderful week and everyone seems to have had a great time. We have had lunch outside every day and the rain has held off. This has given a wonderful festive tone to the Drama Week festivities.

Mid-term break starts at 12 h 10, in fifteen minutes time. We leave for Delhi tomorrow morning with stops at Jaipur, Agra, Mumbai, Panjim (Goa) before getting back to Ooty on October 24. More after our return.

Quiet Corner

So much has happened since I last wrote I scarcely know where to begin.

The week following our Mysore trip was crammed full of drama rehearsals. That's right - drama - my wife and I are assisting with one of the Standard 7 drama productions. We had our first performance last Wednesday and have our final performance on Monday, October 10, for the parents and larger community.

Last weekend Gigi went with the Standard 10 girls to a birthday party not far from Quiet Corner. On Saturday morning I left in a large taxi with 8 students for the journey down the 36 hair-pin bends to Quiet Corner. We were one of 6 groups going for a Leadership Weekend with the Standard 12's. Once at Quiet Corner the fun began. Can you imagine preparing morning tea for your team if one of you is blind and another is mute. That's what the scenario was. The group had to figure out how to communicate as the "boss" was not able to move from location and runners had to transmit messages by signal as to what was available for tea and how many of each item should be ordered. The peanut butter sandwiches never arrived. We did have some bread with some jam placed helter-skelter on it. My 7-Up turned out to be some orange drink!

Different activities throughout the day were designed to have the group of 47 Standard 12's find creative solutions to the problems posed. My job was to make sure the rules of the game were followed and to be a resource person as well as referee! Fun! Fun! Fun!

Gigi did join me in the afternoon and we were able to share some laughs together. One of the highlights was the egg drop contest. Each group received an egg on Thursday and had to look after the egg and make sure "Eggbert" participated in all the activities. It was a real challenge to see how they managed to keep "Eggbert" safe during the ski race! The groups were given materials to prepare "Eggbert" for a fall. Some interesting solutions!

Each group was responsible for serving a meal and for ensuring the clean-up happened.

At night a huge bonfire was prepared and we past the time with skits and stories about "Eggbert" and how he came to be! Some were absolutley hilarious.

Following church on Sunday morning, the service was planned by the group, Gigi and I went for a walk in the area just outside the camp ground. The land is very fertile and we saw some crops being watered. It was an enjoyable experience even if we ate with our fingers all weekend!