After Darjeeling we headed on to Sikkim, our last state in India and the second smallest of the Indian states. Originally founded in the 17th century and ruled by a Buddhist priest-king, Sikkim only recently officially joined India in 1975 after the Indian military deposed the Sikkimese monarchy. Once we got to Gangtok, the capital of the region, I tried to find the locally made millet beer like I had on our last hike, but was repeatedly told that none…
We arrived from Hyderabad to Darjeeling expecting two things – some good tea and a good first trek into the Himalayas. We arrived in Darjeeling to freezing weather, at least it was to us, it was a max of 50 degrees during the day – about 50 degrees colder than our last stop… plus you have to consider that most of the budget hotels don’t have heat or double paned windows so the rooms are cold!!! All I can say…
After leaving Cuddapah at the end of our volunteer experience, we were very much looking forward to a break from the heat and a room with climate control. We found both at the office of FCN (Foundation for Children in Need) where we stayed in a spare bedroom kept just for visiting volunteers or donors. And let me tell you, having A/C again was absolutely heavenly. I didn’t want to leave the room for any reason, but Jen said we…
When we committed to volunteering in India we had little idea what adventure that we were in for. We found the FCN (Foundation for Children in Need) through our friend Mary, and on her advice and with her help, we contacted the founders Tom and Geetha and forced ourselves into their lives as volunteers. We didn’t really know what we would be doing but wanted to be helpful and do something good for the world…. We really didn’t know how…
Hi folks, this post was actually written weeks ago but we had no internet at our last stop so it had to wait until now for upload. Sorry about the wait, but these things happen… The old post: We arrived in Kadapa today to begin the volunteering portion of our journey. We’re hoping we can be useful so wish us luck. More about that next time. In the last week we have gone houseboating, explored a 600 year old trading…
We left the peaceful tea fields of Munnar and started our harrowing journey along the tiny (one and 1/2 lane) roads but in a bus this time. As we hurtled down the little roads, with a short honk as we turned blind corners, in hopes of alerting on comers that there was a giant, slightly out of control, bus coming. My friend Claudine had told me many years ago about a bus journey that she was on in India –…
Leaving Ooty, we decided to get a private bus to Kodaikanal in the state of Tamil Nadu as the public bus did not go directly there. That meant a $10 ticket instead of a $2 ticket for the 9 hour ride, which we thought was worth it for a guaranteed seat and not crammed full of people standing, as is usually the case for public buses. When we got on the bus we noticed there were speakers all around the…
After leaving the laziness of the beaches of Gokarna, we took the local bus and headed south into the state of Kerala (pronounced Carol-a). After a night in the beach town of Kannur, where everything was closed due to a government official having died, we made our way up into the Western Ghats. The Western Ghats are a mountain range that extend along the west coast of India. Per Wikipedia : “The area is one of the world’s ten “Hottest…
The trip from Hampi to Gokarna sounded easy. A straight shot on an overnight bus, and we even booked far enough ahead in advance to get a sleeper cabin. What could go wrong?
Imagine the scene, we are sitting in a riverside café gazing down at the Tungabhadra River while the villagers and pilgrims gather at the banks to chat, wash themselves and their clothes and while their little boys scream and jump into the water. We are lucky to have arrived just in time for Pongal (the Harvest festival) where thousands of pilgrims congregate to make offerings to the Gods (we were told this is primarily celebrated in the South of India.)…