Christmas away from Denmark for First Time in 22 Years!

Christmas away from Denmark for First Time in 22 Years!

Sunday, Dec. 24, 2006 (Christmas Eve)--San Antonio, TX

Normally I only make entries to the blog when I am traveling. Tonight I am home. But it FEELS as if I am traveling. Why? I haven't had a Christmas in the U.S. in 22 years. Instead, I have been in Copenhagen each Christmas during those years. What I know as tradition these days is not part of my life now. What might have been tradition in the U.S. so many years ago is long gone. So I thought I would write about it even though there may be no one to read it (since people don't expect me to blog when at home).

When Arne, my life partner of 20 years, died of a stroke 2 1/2 years ago, my life changed. During my years with him, we had commuted during our vacations to maximize our time together. That meant that as a university professor with about a month of free time around Christmas each year, I traveled to Copenhagen. There, Arne, his family, and our friends introduced me to the traditions of Danish Christmas. And what tradition they have. I have never had a more atmospheric Christmas than one in Copenhagen. That's due to so many things--the fact that it is dark from 3:30 p.m. until 8:30 a.m. each day, the fact that they string lighted garlands of REAL greenery across their shopping streets, the fact that the TV stations show serials daily through December based on the myths of nisser (elves) who live in the attics of homes making toys for the Juleman (Christmas Man) to deliver at Christmas (myths that developed as farming people developed explanations for their children for why there were scratching noises in the ceiling after cold weather had arrived without using the dreaded words "mice" or "rats"), the fact that every church has a Christmas concert for the public sometime in December, the fact that there are fairly set menus and set guidelines for who is present for the THREE days they celebrate Christmas, etc.

I must admit that this has not been totally a Christmas away from Denmark. As my readers know, I stopped there for 5 days in early December. That trip allowed me to see my friends, enjoy the street decorations, see an episode or two of the Christmas serials, taste some of the traditional homemade butter cookies, see the annual display of Christmas table designs by artists at the Royal Copenhagen Shops, etc. But there is so much I missed. I didn't have gløgg (hot drink of wine, aquavit, citrus, cloves, raisins, and almonds) at all, and I especially missed having it at Hviids Vinstue, a bar that has been there since the early 1700s. I missed walking the streets of the atmospheric village of Kongens Lyngby. I missed going through Tivoli Gardens with its Christmas market, ice skating rink, and wonderful twinkling lights. And those are all things I could have done while I was there if I had just had the time.

Mostly tonight I am missing the tradition of the three days of Christmas themselves. Today, the 24th, is called Christmas Day in Denmark. All shops are closed. It's a day for preparing for the big feast. People put up their Christmas trees with the live candles on them. They cook the food that will be served--roast duck, roast pork with crispy skin, caramelized potatoes, pickled red cabbage, and brown sauce for the main meal and rice-almond pudding (with one whole almond inside which everyone hopes to get as they dip from the common bowl because it will give them good luck and result in their getting the almond table prize which is usually chocolates) with cherry sauce for dessert. Dinner will last about 3 hours. Afterwards, there will be singing of traditional Danish carols around the tree as the candles burn. Then gifts will be distributed and opened. Finally, there will be coffee, tea, beer, butter cookies, chocolates, dates, etc., around the coffee table. This night is only for immediate family members.

Tomorrow, the 25th, is called First Christmas Day. It is the day for extended families to get together. More distant relatives and even close ones who had their own celebration the night before, come for a long Christmas luncheon that lasts all afternoon. Starting around 1 p.m., the table will be set with mostly cold items--Danish meatballs, salami and other cold cuts, boiled eggs, pickled herrings of various kinds (plain, in wine sauce, in curry sauce, etc.), smoked salmon, smoked eel, various brown and white breads, butter (to seal the bread as open-faced sandwiches are made from all the items on the table), etc. Luncheon continues for about 3 hours and usually ends with a plate of cheeses and crackers. Eventually, everyone goes to the living room for a repeat of the drinks and sweets buffet.

The 26th is still a holiday in Denmark with stores closed and is called Second Christmas Day. This is a day to go beyond family and be with friends. There are no set traditions for it. It could be a repeat of the day before with friends invited. Or it could be an outing to the cinema to see the newest film that has opened.

It's the Christmas Day and First Christmas Day celebrations that I miss. But my First Christmas Day memories are not of the traditional celebration, although that's what I enjoyed last year with Arne's family. Instead, Arne and I created our own tradition. We always spent a traditional Christmas Day with Arne's step-sister's family. We would take only 1-2 gifts for us to open while we were there. Being an American, I encouraged us to have more gifts. Those we saved for First Christmas Day. We got up in the morning and Arne made a breakfast buffet for us--fried eggs, smoked herring, smoked salmon, various cheeses, various cold cuts, etc. It was a huge feast of things for making open-faced sandwiches. On our table would be a Christmas centerpiece with a candle that was homemade by Arvind, Arne's brother-in-law, and given to us the night before. We would have a long, leisurely breakfast. Then we would bring out our other presents which we usually kept hidden from each other, especially since Arne was too good at guessing what something was as soon as he touched it! We would put them in two stacks and take our photos with them while still wrapped. Then we took turns opening one gift at a time. We would try to guess what it was, then we would ohhhhh, and ahhhh as we could see it. We would read about it, try it on, hug and kiss while thanking the other. Then it was time for the other person to open his next present. That process usually lasted a couple of hours, since we often had 10-20 presents for each person. Not all were big gifts. Even a $3 package of discs for inserting in the tops of wine bottles to keep them from dripping was a greatly appreciated gift deserving of all the hoopla! Afterwards, we would place everything out and take another photo of each of us with the items we received unwrapped and on display.

Unfortunately, those days are gone. The last two years I returned to Denmark and had Christmas there without him. The first year, I returned to his sister's home to follow tradition as we always had. Last year, I spent Christmas Day with our friend Nurse Grethe and then went to Arne's sister's home for First Christmas Day. This year, I am in Texas and am not having a traditional Danish Christmas.

Tonight, I was alone at my condo. I purposely created a dinner that I thought would be nice but would be a change from the traditions with Arne. I had a ribeye steak with cooked onions on top, a baked potato, mixed vegetables, hot crusty bread with garlic in olive oil for dipping, and a nice red wine. When I finish writing here, I will have homemade eggnog and shortbread. I have a DVD of a film from Netlfix, a rental service via mail, which I will watch. It was a good meal. I enjoyed it while also remembering the wonderful Christmases Past with Arne.

Tomorrow, I will attempt to recreate our First Christmas Day breakfasts. I have brown bread, white bread, smoked salmon, two kinds of salami, sliced dry ham, boiled new potatoes, chopped fresh onions, crispy fried onions, scrambled eggs, sliced beef (from a portion of my steak from tonight), etc. I've saved the gifts I have been given to be opened afterwards. Later, I will have homemade Danish butter cookies with more of the eggnog from tonight. Throughout all of this, I will put my CDs of Danish Christmas music on the player. Again, I will be alone. That's not a problem for me, however. I think I will take down the photo albums and go through them remembering the Christmases year-after-year with Arne and seeing the photos of the gifts we gave each other. Later, I have a Danish film (Kinamand) on DVD from Netflix that I will watch.

I am spending Christmas in Texas. It is not the same as I have known for years. But a little of it is. Of course, Arne will always be on my mind, and I will always wish that things could be as they used to be. Time moves on, however, and I must do so also. For those of you who see signs in events, I must tell you what happened this morning, though. As I left home to run an errand, I pulled on my black leather jacket which Arne used to wear occasionally when he was here. I felt a lump in the pocket and knew in general what I would find there. Sure enough, it was Arne's usual stash--a package of Dentyne cinnamon-flavored gum, an open package of facial tissues, several bunched up paper towels, wrappers from a granola bar and a mini-Mounds he had eaten, and his shopping list in his own handwriting for tomatoes, green peber, "Baulian" cubes, champignons in "tinn," and 2 deep plates. It was only a coincidence, but isn't it strange that it happened on Christmas Day when I was remembering times past?

Christmas Season in Denmark/Back in Texas

Christmas Season in Denmark/Back in Texas

Thursday, Dec. 7, 2006--Copenhagen (Cont.)

Kurt and Finn came for dinner in the evening. It was nice to see them and learn about what is happening in their lives. We had a nice dinner--a first course of goat cheese on toast spread with a tomato tapenade, a main couse of roast beef with gravy and boiled new potatoes, and a dessert of fruit salad with creme fraiche.

Friday, Dec. 8, 2006--Copenhagen

I left the apartment around 10:45 a.m. to explore town. I took the train and metro to Kongens Nytorv, one of the main squares in town, to start my remembrance tour for seeing the Christmas decorations in town this year. I went through Magasin du Nord Department Store; walked down Strøget, the main shopping street; went into the Royal Copenhagen Shops to see the special exhibit of Christmas tables set up by artists this year; walked through Illum's Bolighus to see the contemporary furniture hoping to find something that I might want for my new apartment in San Antonio; and wandered through the Bohemian section of Copenhagen with its narrow streets and quaint shops. Then I walked past Tivoli Gardens on my way to Arne's sister's apartment.

Evy, Arvind and I drove to Farum to the campground where they have their trailer which serves as a summer house. I had not been there since they had moved there almost 3 years ago. They wanted me to see the changes they have made which included building a small guest house and installing a shower and toilet. Arvind and I wandered around the campground as he told me about the work he had done to help various people. Then Evy and I sat inside by the heater and visited as Arvind did some small maintenance work needed to prepare for the winter snows that will come.

Back in Copenhagen, we had dinner with their daughter and her husband. Evy made a very tasty dish that consisted of ground beef with a thick brown gravy. We poured it over mashed potatoes. Then neighbors from their summer house joined us and we all had coffee with Evy's homemade Christmas cookies.

Saturday, Dec. 9, 2006--Copenhagen

I had three engagements today in my effort to see as many of my friends as possible while here. I started by going to Old Grethe's at 11 a.m. She suffers from macular degeneration, so it is more and more difficult for her to cook. Therefore, I took smøreebrød (Danish open-faced sandwiches) and we had them for lunch while we visited to catch up on the happenings of the year.

I left there about 2:15 to head to Paulett's, one of my friends from WHO where Arne worked. I took the metro to Kongens Nytorv, then I walked past Nyhavn and down Bredgade, one of Copenhagen's more fashionable streets with lots of auction galeries and nice home furnishings stores, before catching a bus to continue to her apartment. We had coffee and dessert while visiting. She has moved to her present apartment since the last time I visited her, so it was nice to see how beautiful it is and how well she has furnished it.

The final stop was dinner with Jens and Robert, my friends who are coming to San Antonio as Winter Texans for two months this year beginning Jan. 28. Nurse Grethe was already there when I arrived. We all had a nice welcome drink. Then we had a wonderful dinner that started with each of us having half a lobster with garlic mayonnaise. That was followed with slices of beef served with the drippings and boiled new potatoes. For dessert, we had a chocalate tarte.

Sunday, Dec. 10, 2006--Copenhagen

Today, Nurse Grethe and I took the train to the northern part of Zealand for a Christmas luncheon hosted by our friends Ejgil and Preben. There were 10 people there for the luncheon which began at 1 p.m. It was a big production with four first courses, four main courses, two desserts, and then various snacks--fruits, dried fruits, chocolates, cookies, etc. Among the first courses were two kinds of pickled herrings and two kinds of smoked salmon. The main courses included duck, glazed ham, roast beef, spinach in cream sauce, potatoes in cream sauce, tartelettes filled with chicken and asparagus, etc. Desserts included tiramisu and Preben's homemade shortbread. The luncheon lasted from 1 p.m. until 7 p.m. Along with all the food were servings of beer, aquavit, gin and tonic, coffee, cognac, etc.

Fortunately, a couple who attended the party gave Grethe and me a ride that was more than half way back to town. They dropped us at a major train station, and we only had to wait about 5 minutes to catch a train that would bring us back to our local station.

Monday, Dec. 11, 2006--Copenhagen to San Antonio

Well, today is finally here--the day for returning home to Texas finally arrived. My flight from CPH was not until 12:20. I left Nurse Grethe's apartment around 8:45, because I wanted to get to the airport to see if SAS would give me an Economy Flex seat on my flight to Washington Dulles Airport. Although I had called SAS and the man said he could see on the computer that I was qualified for an Economy Flex seat (further apart and more services), the man at the check-in counter and whoever he called would not agree to it. I, therefore, have decided to give up on SAS. They are the ONLY airline that will not give me seating in Economy Plus/Flex with my around-the-world tickets; all the others (United, Thai, ANA, etc.) do it automatically. And I have had the same problem with them year after year. Anyway, I had to accept the situation for today, but I will try to avoid the airline in the future.

The flight to Washington Dulles was only about 1/2 full. I moved across the aisle so that I had no one sitting beside me. It was a LONG trip followed by a horrible experience at the airport. Immigration and customs at Washington Dulles are the worst I have ever experienced. The area is too small, the number of agents is too few, the re-screening of transfer passengers is in too tight of an area without enough machines. And there were no toilets from when one left the plane until after one had gone through the whole process. People were all complaining and many said they were missing their connecting flights. It took me 1 1/4 hours to complete the process. That's about twice what it takes at any other airport. And because it was so uncomfortable, it seemed as if it were even longer.

I was lucky and made my connecting flight on United to San Antonio. My seat was Economy Plus with lots of leg room, just as it should have been. I didn't even have to ask for it; they could tell by looking at their computer screen. Although there were only 2 empty seats on the entire plane, one was beside me (due to none of the other economy passengers qualifying to move up to Economy Plus, I guess). I arrived back in SA at 7:45 p.m. which was about 30 minutes earlier than scheduled. It took a while for the luggage to come out, however, so it was about our scheduled arrival time when I got mine.

I brought back one of Arne's suitcases with some things I have had stored here. I also had some gifts I had been given along the way including some Christmas decorations Paulette gave me Saturday, a mobile that Nurse Grethe gave me, and an advent candle holder that Evy and Arvind gave me. Everything made it here fine. I was so surprised, since the Christmas ornaments are delicate.

It is so nice to be home. I am tired of traveling. I enjoyed South Korea and Vietnam, but I planned too much time in India. I was looking forward to leaving there about 3 weeks before I actually did. It was a short visit in Copenhagen, but I think it was just the right length of time. I didn't seen all my friends, but I don't have to see them on each visit here. I don't expect them all to entertain me when I am here, and I don't want to make the effort to entertain all of them every time I am here. Some of them are planning trips to Texas which will make it easier for me to return their hospitality, and I am encouraging others to do so since it is too difficult for me to entertain them there without a place of my own. Now, I look forward to being at home and enjoying the Christmas season here for the first time in 22 years. (I've had Christmas in Copenhagen every year during that time.)

My travels will resume in May. My friend Wes from Corpus Christi and I will go to Alaska together for 12 days, then I will have 3 weeks in Taiwan and up to 6 weeks to travel the Indonesian archipeligo. That will take me back to Bangkok no later than Aug. 1 to end Around-the-World VII. I will buy a new ticket then. I'm not sure where I will travel from there on Around-the-World VIII. But I will be updating the blog and you can read about it here if you continue to follow my travel notes.

Danish Remembrances

Danish Remembrances

Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2006--Bangalore (Cont.)

For my final meal, I ordered a good one. I went back to the nearby Andhra-style restaurant and ordered chicken tikka masala, naan, and a fresh lime soda. The chicken was authentic. It was reddish from the seasoning, I could see the holes in the chunks to indicate that they actually had been cooked on a spit, and they were so tender. The sauce was very spicy. Delicious!!

I should have stayed longer at my hotel. I checked out about 9:30 to head to the airport. Well, I still had to pay the 50% bonus for night trips in autorickshaws, and I wasn't allowed to enter the airport terminal for two more hours after I got there. The problem is due to the fact that the airport is a small, old one. A new one is under construction far out of town and will open in a little over a year. In the meantime, they control entry to the terminal based on whether the airline has a flight soon and has started checking people in for it. It was a nice evening, and there is a covered area with concrete seats in front of the domestic terminal, so I sat there and finished reading A Frolic of His Own by William Gaddis. It won the National Book Award a few years ago. It's a satire on law firms and how they operate, on people who are suing and how they get caught in the costs of it, on insurance firms and how they operate to try to keep from paying off appropriately, on contemporary Americans who lead self-centered lives, etc. Unfortunately, I don't have much interest in any of those topics. Instead of being greatly entertained like most of the critics were, I found it to be too close to the truth and unfunny. I gave the book 2 1/2 stars out of 4 and passed it on to an American traveler who was there to catch a flight, too.

Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2006--Bangalore to Frankfurt to Copenhagen

They let me into the terminal just after midnight (of Dec. 5). The flight still didn't leave until 3:40 a.m. So I began reading the last book I had carried with me on the trip. I was lucky that I got a seat in the terminal. An Air France flight to Paris was delayed, so there were people from two flights waiting with only enough seating for people from a little over one flight. Many people had to stand as they waited for our flight. Then both flights were boarded at the same time through adjacent doorways which made it crowded and confusing.

I was lucky on the flight. No one sat between me (on the aisle) and an Indian woman by the window. And no one sat in the seat in front of me. Two lesbians sat up there in adjacent inside seats. So there was no seat back pushed against me, and there was room for me to turn sideways during the night while trying to sleep. I did sleep off and on. It was never long at one time, because I kept waking up and turning. Every little bit helps, though.

Before I started sleeping we were served dinner. It was so nice to have good western food. We had chicken in a brown gravy with pasta and fresh steamed vegetables. There was chocolate mousse for dessert. But what was nice was that there was a roll to go with it all which tasted so good when I would sop up the brown gravy with it. An Indian man across the aisle saw me doing it and did the same with my roll, but I bet he didn't appreciate the taste as much as I did. The Indian lady beside me was going to Houston for a month for work, so we talked about the city, I suggested she should try to make a weekend trip to San Antonio and Austin, and I introduced her to Baily's Irish Cream when they served it after the meal.

Because of the time zones, our flight was over 8 hours, yet it still arrived in Frankfurt by 8:00 a.m. We were served breakfast around 6:30, and I wolfed it down, too--poached eggs with a tomato mixture, potatoes, yogurt, vanilla pudding, and roll with cream cheese, butter, and jam.

I only had 1 1/4 hours before my flight to Copenhagen, so it was nice to go through immigration and customs, find my gate, and board my flight within just a few minutes. We even got to Copenhagen early because of a tailwind. I took the train and metro and was at the apartment of my friends Jens and Robert about noon. They served us sandwhiches--one with smoked salmon and one with ham. Then Robert and I went to his bank and arranged for the transfer of funds to cover their costs when they visit as Winter Texans in San Antonio in February and March of next year.

I brought my things to Nurse Grethe's apartment around 4 p.m. She was already home. Her place was very Christmasy with deorations out, music playing, etc. She told me all about her recent 12-day trip to Japan, then she made dinner for us--pickled herrings in honey mustard sauce on brown bread; Danish meatballs, boiled new potatoes, and salad; and rice-almond pudding. It all tasted so good to me. I had been starving for traditional Danish food.

I made a couple of phone calls to talk to Torben and Erik, because I was told earlier in the day that they were going out of town for the weekend and I wouldn't be able to talk to them if I didn't connect with them soon. I was tired soon after that and went to bed about 9 p.m., but it was so nice to be back here and to be able to drink the water straight from the tap!!!

Thursday, Dec. 7, 2006--Copenhagen

I was up at 5:30 this morning. I had a bit of trouble sleeping due to the right side of my nose being stuffy. But that was late enough that I had a good 8 1/2 hours of sleep and have done fine the rest of the day. I just got on the computer and started taking care of checking accounts, sending e-mails, etc.

Grethe had left two Danish pastries for me, and I ate one of them just after getting up. Then I ate the other one about 3 hours later. Finally, at noon, I ate a meatball and some potatoes on brown bread with mayonaise. I seem to be hungry all the time!!!

The day has been one of remembrances for me. I needed to go shopping for some things for dinner tonight, so I went to the supermarket in the apartment building where Arne and I lived. It's easier to be here now that 2 1/2 years have passed since his death. Still, it hurts to be in the old building. I wasn't in the supermarket long. Images of watching Arne stand around the meat counters checking out the possibilities of what we might have for dinner came to me. Then, there were memories of him all over the place.

I left and went to a nearby small shop to buy what I needed. From there, I crossed the street and went to Arne's gravesite in the cemetary. Of course, being anywhere like that just reminds me of how much I miss him and how my life has changed since he died.

I returned to Nurse Grethe's, because I have to start the preparations for dinner. Grethe has planned it all, but she left instructions for when to put the meat on the stove to start cooking. And I need to help by putting away the computer and setting the table. Kurt and Finn are coming for dinner. Grethe likes them a lot, so I'm sure we will have a lively evening.

Spending Update for India and Whole Trip: Now that I am in Denmark and am returning to Texas on Monday, I will stop maintaining records of my costs. Here is the final summary for this trip of the expenses. Through Dec. 6, I have traveled 67 days in India and spent $836.40 for an average of $12.48 per day. Since leaving Texas on Aug. 18, I have traveled a total of 111 days and spent a total of $1937.32 for an average of $17.45 per day.

Last Day in India

Last Day in India

Saturday, Dec. 2, 2006--Bangalore (Cont.)

I ate at a nearby restaurant in the evening. They specialize in chicken and had lots of choices on their menu. I ordered Punjabi chicken with gravy and got steamed rice to go with it. The chicken was boneless and in a rich golden sauce which was spicy with both green and dried red chile peppers. I gulped it down.

Sunday, Dec. 3, 2006--Bangalore

I got a haircut this morning. I have been needing one. The last one I got was in Vietnam about 10 weeks ago or more. But when I had asked in other cities, I had been quoted a high price as a foreigner. I knew that a haircut should be 20-25 rupees from my time at the school last year and from asking people on the streets. Today, the guy asked for 25 rupees, so I sat down quickly. As usual with any haircut I get, I had to clean it up some when I got back to my room, but it was essentially a good haircut for about 60 cents.

I walked to the Botanical Gardens from the barber shop. I looked for a restaurant along the way but never saw anywhere that appealed to me. I hoped there would be one inside the gardens once I arrived there, but there wasn't. I was happy, however, to see that the admission price was the same for everyone. I bought my 7 rupee ticket and entered. It's a very nice, large garden area that is very popular as a Sunday destination. Like everyone else, I spent part of my time wandering the gardens and part of my time sitting in the shade. There is a big lake, a Japanese garden, a glass house (only a glass roof, since the weather here is so nice that a hothouse isn't needed for plants), etc. There are fountains, statues, formal gardens, open fields, etc. It was a pleasant place to wander. But it was also a nice place to relax. I took my book I'm reading with me and sat on a bench that allowed me to read while also glancing up occasionally to watch the parade of people wandering through the park.

On the way back to my hotel, I passed the summer palace of Sultan Tippu (with a foreigner's entrance 20 times that of the local's), Bangalore Fort (closed), and the City Market (a hive of activity spilling out into narrow streets for several blocks going away from it). I didn't eat until I got back into my neighborhood at 4:30, so it became my only meal of the day. I returned to the chicken place where I ate the night before. Almost everyone there was having the chicken biriyani, so I had it, too.

The cyber cafe was closed, so I couldn't get on the Internet. Instead, I returned to my hotel at 5:15 and stayed in for the rest of the day.

Monday, Dec. 4, 2006--Bangalore

I had to use earplugs for most of the night due to loud talking and a TV playing in a nearby room. Normally, I can put my earplugs in to go to sleep and take them out an hour or so later when the hotel is quiet. I'm sure the noise last night continued until 2:30 or 3:00 in the morning! I took the plugs out at least 3 times only to find there was still noise.

I went to Cubbon Park this morning to read. On the way, I went by the Queen's Palace--the parliament building for the Karnataka. They have built a new building beside it in the same style, so i got a photo showing the two. I also went by the High Court building, a colonial red-brick building across the street and on the edge of the park. The park is halfway between my hotel and downtown. So after relaxing and reading for a while, I walked to town and ate lunch at KFC. I had their spicy chicken sandwich with fries and a Coke. It was good--better than either of the chicken sandwiches at McDonald's here. I was still a little hungry, so I went to an ice cream place nearby and had a hot fudge sundae. It was good, too.

I tried to buy gifts to take to Denmark as dinner party house gifts, but I ran into trouble. I had already decided what I wanted--specialty products from a particular shop. But when I went to the shop, they didn't have enough of my first item on the list. I prepared a list of everything I wanted and asked if they could have it all tomorrow. He told me that he could do it. I hope so, or I will have to leave the country without what I intended to take with me. Anyway, I am to check there again tomorrow at 6:00 o'clock and pick up the items (IF he has been able to get them for me).

Ate an early dinner at a fast-food place. Had a spicy fried rice with vegetables done in a Chinese style.

Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2006--Bangalore

Today is my last day in India. My flight to Franfurt where I will connect to a flight to Copenhagen leaves tonight early tomorrow morning (late tonight). I paid for my hotel room for the night and will stay there until about 11:00 p.m., I guess. Then I will head to the airport via an autorickshaw.

Last night, I washed my pants, underwear, and socks I had worn. All my other pants, underwear, and socks were clean. The shirt I had worn yesterday and two others I have worn recently are getting old and are rather faded, so I plan to just leave them in the room. The boys who do the hotel cleaning will be happy to have them, I think.

I have packed everything except my toothbrush and the gift items I hope to pick up tonight. I have no plans for the day, however. I will eat lunch and then spend the afternoon at the hotel, I think. I hope I can take a nap. It would help with the fact that I will sleep little tonight. I'm looking forward to being in Copenhagen tomorrow and seeing everyone there.

Sunny, Nice Days

Sunny, Nice Days

Friday, Dec. 1, 2006--Bangalore

Met Shabbir, an architect I've been communicating with, at a nearby restaurant at 11:00. We had a late breakfast and visited. We ate the set dosa which was three small, soft unsweet pancakes served with a green coconut chutney and with the usual spicy vegetable curry that is eaten in South India. We followed that with a cup of milk tea. He's a Muslim, so he had to leave at 1:00 for the main Friday prayer session in the afternoon. We had fun visiting, however, and he said he would try to call back on Sunday and maybe meet me again.

I took the bus to the airport, since I was having trouble getting Lufthansa. There city office was not where it was supposed to have been. And I had tried about 6 phone numbers that didn't work. I wanted to get a seat assignment for my flight Tuesday night/Wednesday morning before all the aisle seats were taken. At the airport, I found there is a charge just to go into the terminal. I went to the manager's office to try to see how to reach them. He gave me two more numbers. Neither of them were correct either, but one was to their cargo office, and they gave me two more numbers! One of those numbers did not answer. The other answered and told me they could only sell tickets. I had to keep calling the first number until someone answered. Finally, I got through and got a seat. Unfortunately, it is fairly far back in the plane, but it is an aisle seat.

The route to the airport was fairly interesting, and it was only about 10 km (6 miles) from my hotel. So I decided to walk back. It went past military installations, malls, parks, etc. It took me about 2 1/2 hours to get back to the hotel. It would have been a bit quicker, but I took a turn when I was almost back that took me out of the way a bit.

For dinner, I went to an Andhra-style restaurant. That means the food was cooked with recipes from the state of Andhra Pradesh where Hyderabad is. They are known for their spicy foods and particularly for their biriyanis. I ordered the mutton biriyani and got the full size (3 pieces of mutton) instead of the smaller plate with only 2 pieces. It came with a spicy gravy to put over the rice and with a small bowl of yogurt-onion salad. The meat was very tender and tasty. It was so nice to have something other than chicken for a change. I washed it all down with a fresh lime soda.

Indians use the word "bucks" as slang for rupees just as we use it for dollars in the U.S. They probably adopted it from its use in U.S. movies. My mutton biriyani was 55 bucks here (which converts to just over 1 buck in the U.S.).

Saturday, Dec. 2, 2006--Bangalore

I stayed in the room and read almost all the morning. Finally, about 11:30, I went out. I first walked to the YMCA nearby because my guidebook had said they had a nice cafe there. But they didn't. I guess it closed sometime after the guidebook was printed or there is another YMCA elsewhere. Anyway, from there, I decided to walk to town and try to find the Subway Sandwich Shop near Commercial Road. I did find it and had a chicken tikka sandwhich. It was so nice to have all the fresh vegetables. The chicken was very tasty, too. And they made the sandwich spicy for me. It was about $3 U.S. for a 6 inch sub, a bag of chips, and a medium Coke.

That area of town was too crowded. The streets are narrow, yet traffic is not stricted. Cars and people filled the roadway and made me uncomfortable. I headed back toward the hotel walking through Cubbon Park, a really nice, but park that has lots of trails and wooded areas.

When I got back to the hotel, my room still wasn't cleaned. After using the toilet, I left to come here to the cyber cafe. It's now about 4:00 p.m., so I will be heading back to the hotel to rest until time to go to dinner tonight.

Bangalore, The Last Stop in India

Bangalore, The Last Stop in India

Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2006--Hyderabad to Bangalore (Cont.)

I walked to the Public Gardens, a nearby park to spend the afternoon after being on the Internet and then eating Chinese noodles again for lunch. I sat in the shade of a tree beside a lake and read from my present novel. For a while I visited with a young man who was also there. He said I was the first foreigner who had spoken to him. He said he had tried talking to foreigners before and that they wouldn't talk to him. My bet is that they thought he was trying to be a guide or to sell them something. Anyway, I'm glad it was a positive experience for him.

I returned to the hotel and got my luggage at 6:00. Then I was at the bus station at 6:10. The mini-van arrived at 6:35 and took us to the edge of town where we were met by the bus. It's not as impressive as it should be. First, it's not as new as they implied it would be. And second, there is no place for luggage except overhead or under the seat. Fortunately, my small suitcase just barely fit under the seat and left just a little leg room for me to sit okay. The man sitting in front of me is one of those who likes to move his seatback back as far as it will go and do it quickly without looking to see if it will create a problem. Of course, when it is that far back, there is hardly any room for me to maneuver.

The ride during the night was rough. I had hoped there might be a nice highway between Hyderabad and Bangalore, but there isn't. It's rough, bumpy, and generally miserable for those who have to travel over it.

Wednesday, Nov. 29, 2006--Bangalore

The night wasn't as bad as I had feared at the beginning. I slept some. And the hours passed. There were plenty of stops for the toilet, and we stopped once for a meal.

We arrived in Bangalore at 8 a.m. in the area near the train station and bus terminal. This is the area with the budget hotels, too. But the more active part of town is about 5 km east from there. Because hotels in India are on a 24-hour checkout system (meaning you have to check out at 8 a.m. if you check in at 8 a.m.), I wasn't in a hurry to check into a room. I decided to walk to the center of town and check out the hotels there that my guidebook recommended before deciding whether to stay there or to return to the train station area. It was a nice walk through a big park, by some impressive governmental buildings, through a newly developing area with fancy shops and office buildings, etc. But the hotel rooms were over-priced and depressing. I could tell they were quoting a price far higher than they could get for the rooms. And I didn't want to spend my last 6 days in a dark, dirty, depressing hotel room. I returned to the train station area.

It took 3 tries, but I found a nice hotel in that area that is quiet, clean, and bright. It's at the top of my budget range: 600 rupees ($13 U.S.). I checked in at 10:30. I immediately took a nap. About 1 p.m., I forced myself awake from a deep sleep. I went out to explore the neighborhood and to have lunch. I ate pav bhavi, the same vegetable mixture (red peppers, garlic, tomatoes, etc.) with buns warmed on the griddle, that I had a week or so ago at the tea shop in Bijapur. It was really garlicy this time!!

After lunch, I wandered the streets and found a cyber cafe. Then when I tried to find my way back, I realized I was lost. My map in my guidebook has this area on a big map showing most of the inner city. Therefore, there are no details; it shows only a few major streets. I guessed which way to come. When I thought I might be near, I asked someone for the street of my hotel, and I was only 3 blocks away.

When I went out in the evening, I concentrated to learning the neighborhood. I went to a Chinese restaurant I had seen in the afternoon. I ordered two things I had never eaten before: sour and pepper soup and chicken in green sauce (along with white rice). The soup was a rich, heavy broth with chicken, egg, shredded carrots, fresh parsley leaves, etc. It was delicious. The chicken dish was a little bland. But the sauce was made with fresh leaves of some kind. It was a dark, bright green sauce. I have no idea what the leaves were that gave it its color and taste.

I returned to the room for an early bedtime, because I was tired from lack of sleep on the bus last night. I watched a little TV. But I didn't stay up late.

Thursday, Nov. 30, 2006--Bangalore

I walked into the downtown area again today. Bangalore is nicer than most places in India. There are many stylish stores, restaurants, etc. The city itself has lots of green areas. There are no cows on the streets. There are nice sidewalks. And many of the intersections have pedestrian crossing lights--something very unusual in India.

I wanted to go to Lufthansa to get my seat assignment for my return flight home. I went to the street where their city office should be, but couldn't find it. I walked the steet twice. From there, I went to the tourist office and asked them for the address. All they had was the street where I had been. But then they called around and found that they only have an airport desk now. They called about 4 numbers trying to reach Lufthansa while I was there, and none worked. I had seen a Thai Airlines office yesterday, so I walked to there. They have given me another number which I will try tomorrow unless I decide to go to the airport on my own.

I stopped at an Italian place for lunch. I had Pizza a la Rustica. It was okay, but it wasn't anything special. It needed more seasoning, I think. But it was a clean, nice place.

Leaving for Bangalore

Leaving for Bangalore

Sunday, Nov. 26, 2006--Hyderabad (Cont.)

I got a call from Dominic, one of my Internet friends who has been communicating with me for quite a while. He said he and some of his friends were going out for the evening. He had to drop another friend off at the airport, so he asked if I could meet them at the entrance to the Public Gardens, a big park with museums near the government buildings. It's just a short distance from my hotel. I met them there at 8:30. We went from there to a nearby mall by motorcycle. On the way, I asked Dominic about his not wearing a helmet, since I have been reading about the new helmet law here in town. Just a moment later, a policemen pulled him over. It wasn't an "official" stop, it was one to get a bribe to let him go--a typical occurrence here in India. He had to pay 50 rupees (a little over $1) before we were allowed to continue to the mall.

The guys wanted to see a film, but all the ones Dominic was interested in seeing were already sold out. Here in India, there are huge crowds at cinemas, and it is common for the sign out front to say "Sold Out." Anyway, the four of us ate at a Subway there in the mall. It was a good sandwich--better than I have gotten when I have tried Subway in the U.S. It was filled with many more vegetables, and it didn't have the wedge cut which I hate; it was cut straight across the bun. Anyway, it was chicken terriyaki and was great. It was the Sunday night special at 50 rupees for a 6-inch sub.

The friends found two seats available for a movie they wanted to see, so Dominic and I set out on our own after exploring the mall. It's the most modern and fanciest here in Hyderabad. Still, it is small compared to malls in the U.S. Essentially, it was about 5 floors in a building with a footprint about the size of a small department store (a Mervyn's, for instance). It had shops on two levels, a multiplex cinema and game area on a third level, and an IMAX (the newest and largest in India). It also has features like a climbing wall so that people milling around waiting for their films can be entertained.

Dominic took me on a tour of Hyderabad and Secunderabad on his motorcycle. We went to the Old Quarter to see the Islamic-inspired architecture. We stopped at a popular ice cream shop that is open until 3 a.m. I had a 3 scoops of mango ice cream for 10 rupees (about 20 cents). He drove me out to Hi-Tech City to see the many new office buildings housing all the American and European companies that have service centers located here. It was an impressive area on the edge of town which reminded me of how the medical center was in San Antonio at the beginner. But in less than 10 years, this place has far more buildings and employs far more people than the medical center does. We went to Secunderabad after that; it's his hometown and was where the British established their military bases and lived during colonial times. We didn't get back to my hotel until 3 a.m.!

Monday, Nov. 27, 2006--Hyderabad

I slept until 11 a.m. with my earplugs in! I feel a little sluggish, but I'm really just passing time until I leave here so I was glad that the morning was already passed.

I ate Chinese noodles for lunch. I went to a small hole-in-the-wall I had seen before called the Shanghai Express. It's a small storefront place. The cook has a wooden cooking station which is stored inside the storefront during the night. Then it is pulled onto the sidewalk during the daytime. He has a big wok and offers only noodles or rice with the same seasonings--cabbage, carrots, spices, and dried tomato chunks. A plate costs 15 rupees (about 33 cents). It was spicy and good. Inside the storefront are small plastic stools where one sits to eat. There's room for about 8 people, and it was full with the seats turning over constantly as people finished and left. He has a very successful small business. I may go back there again.

I didn't post to the blog although I was online today. I had a very slow connection. The problem, I think, is that too many people were online in the shop trying to use ONE modem line. The cyber cafes here in Hyderabad are not as nice as the ones where I have been elsewhere. Often they are just local shops that also provide other business services. They have one high-speed line for the Internet and 3-5 computers hooked up to it.

I finished reading Soul Mountain by Gao Xingjian in the evening. Although it won the Nobel Prize for literature, I was disappointed in it. Although supposedly a novel, it was more like a collection of essays and short stories. Each provided interesting information about customs, myths, localities, etc., but the lack of a continuous story made it seem like a long, less interesting book than I wanted to be reading. I gave it 2 1/2 stars out of 4. I think he was honored with the prize more for the fact that the Chinese government was unhappy with his writings than for the quality of that book as literature.

Dominic came at 10:00 and picked me up. He wasn't supposed to report to work until 1 a.m., so we went out for ice cream and were going to spend more time together until he had to leave. Unfortunately, one of his supervisors called him just as we were served our ice cream. (I had fig this time; he had pistachio.) Apparently, there had been a miscommunication about his working hours. One supervisor had told him to come to work at 1:00 rather than at the usual earlier time, because he had been there in the morning at 10:00 for a training session and would be attending another training session tomorrow at 10:00 after finishing his night of work. Anyway, this supervisor wanted to know why he wasn't at work. (He apparently hadn't read the messages that had been sent to him.) To settle it, Dominic had to leave and go to work. He was frustrated. It just served as a reminder to me that it is much better to be retired than to be an employee!! I went back to my hotel and got to bed at a decent hour.

Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2006--Hyderabad to Bangalore

Well, today is the day I leave for Bangalore, my last stop in India on this trip. My bus isn't until 6:30 p.m., however. I checked out of the hotel at 11:00 and paid them to keep my luggage until 6:00. I am spending the day just waiting for the time to go to the bus station. I've been on the Internet for a couple of hours. I will go have lunch. I have started a new book, so I will probably go to the Public Gardens and sit and read a big part of the afternoon. Then there will be the long night of the miserable bus trip ahead of me. My ticket, however, is for a modern, a/c bus with only 3 seats--1 on one side of the aisle and 2 on the other. I have one of the single seats reserved so that no one will be beside me.

My flight to Copenhagen departs a week from tonight. And I will be back in Texas a week from LAST night. The trip is finally coming to a close. I'm looking forward to the few days of seeing everyone in Copenhagen. And I am really looking forward to being back in Texas. I need to be sure not to plan more than about a month in any one country and not to plan more than about 3 months to be away at a time in the future. Next summer, I already will break those rules, but it should be better. I will be in Indonesia for 6 weeks, but that should be much easier than being in India. And I will probably be gone for about 4 months again. When I plan future trips, however, I will try to adjust to the new plan.

Quiet Days

Quiet Days

Saturday, Nov. 25, 2006--Hyderabad

Zubeen, one of my Internet contacts who have helped me plan my travel, met me in the evening yesterday. He works for Dell Computer here. We had a nice, long conversation. He is a Muslim and comes from a family that used to be royalty here in India. He has a great personality and smiles with his eyes. I think we both enjoyed the evening.

Today, I have felt tired. I went to the train station in the morning to try to get a ticket to Bangalore on the night train. I gave up after a while. Train reservations are so disorganized here. First, one must fill out a reservation form that includes the number of the train, the name of the train, the date wanted, the class of service wanted, your name and address, etc. Then you wait in a long line with people always trying to cut in ahead of you. When you get to the window, if that particular request is unavailable for any reason, then you must fill out another form (for another class of service, for a different date, for a different train, etc.) and do it all over over again. No one will work with you to investigate possibilities and then tell you what is available: that they can get you a sleeper on that train, but not in an air conditioned car, for instance. I was sent to a second window because the first man didn't want to deal with a foreigner. Then from that window, I was sent to a third one. AT that window, I was told I was on waiting list 5 and should go back to the second window. That window was restricted to foriegners and group purchasers. Well, 4 men were in front of me from travel agencies making huge group purchases that were taking about 20 minutes each. I just left out of frustration. It won't be as confortable, but I will just try to get a night bus for Tuesday.

I went back to my hotel along a long route. I stopped at a bakery and had a horrible pizza. The cheese was like a white version of Cheese Whiz, and the chicken topping was strange tasting. By the time I got to the hotel, I was tired. I fell into a deep sleep for about 2 hours.

I worried that I wouldn't sleep at night after that. I stayed in the room except for going to eat quickly in the evening. But around 10:30, I was tired and fell asleep easily and slept the whole night.

Hyderabad

Thursday, Nov. 23, 2006--Bidar to Hyderabad

Hyderabad is very conjested. It took forever to get into town after reaching the edge of the city. Out on the edge are many new apartment buildings and buildings for hi-tech industries. This is one of the top 2-3 cities in India for the American companies that have out-sourced their IT business.

I had trouble getting a hotel. I stopped at a place that I had seen on the Internet for 550 rupees and that one of my travel website correspondents had told me would be about 500 rupees. Well, when they saw me they immediately wanted 800. The place didn't look nice enough to be more than 400, so I walked away without even looking at a room. I went around the corner to a place that is new and looks much like the places where I have been staying for 250-600 rupees. The first thing out of his mouth when I asked how much a room for one person would be was, "What country are you from?" That told me he was going to give an inflated price, and he did: 1500 rupees! I walked from there to the Abids section of town which my guidebook says is the center of the budget hotels for backpackers. I went to one I had selected from the guidebook and got a room for 495 rupees, but I didn't really like the room. It was dark and depressing, and the TV was too small too far from the bed. I was tired, however, and just wanted a place for the night at a decent rate.

I walked back to a restaurant I had passed on the way to the hotel and ordered what I saw another diner having. It was a steamed mound of meal (cornmeal?) with vgetables in it. It reminded me of mofongo (spelling?) from Puerto Rico without the seafood inside it. It was tasty. I should have ordered a second one, since it was rather small, but I didn't because it was already about 3 p.m. and I knew I would eat dinner within 4-5 hours.

I broke down and did something that I seldom do in the U.S. I went to McDonald's for dinner. I was just craving anything that was different from what I have been eating. They have no beef on the menu, so I ordered a value meal with a grilled chicken burger. Then I ordered a second grilled chicken burger, since they were so small--only about 3 inches in diameter (a little bigger than a Krystal's burger, but only about half the size of a normal U.S. burger). I got all that (including the medium fries and medium drink that came with the value meal) for 90 rupees--$1.93. The grilled chicken burger was interesting. The patty was thin and orangish in color. It had a spicy green sauce, tomato, and onion inside the bun with it. I wolfed it all down and was sorry that the medium drink was so small!

I don't feel well tonight. I'm very tired. The trip to town with all the traffic was stressful. So was trying to follow our path through the city on my guidebook map so I could get off at the right spot without going all the way to the bus station. Add to that the hotels trying to take advantage of the "rich" American and the fact that I actually considered just leaving town if hotel rooms were going to be so expensive, and it exhausted me. In addition to feeling tired, there is a slight flu-like ache in the bones. Hope I will be okay after a night of sleep.

Friday, Nov. 24, 2006--Hyderabad

I switched to another hotel this morning. I found an alternative place just about 4 blocks from where I am staying. The room is a little brighter. And the price is only 60% of what I was paying. It's still not what I would prefer, but it is better.

I walked to the Old Quarter of town. My guidebook map is so poor that I got lost on my way and crossed a bridge that was 3 bridges away from where I intended to be. But it was easy to ask for help and head the right direction.

I stopped at a local Arabic restaurant for lunch and had mutton masala. It was chunks of mutton (without bones, thank goodness, since mutton here often is not without them) in a spicy green sauce. I ate it with a piece of roti bread (like a big, round flour tortilla). It was nice and different from what I have been having and really filled me up.

I finally found the center of the Old Quarter. It, like areas in the last two cities I visited, had a very Middle Eastern feel. Almost all the people there are Muslims. And the architecture of the buildings is very Islamic in general with pointed arches, geometric stone grillwork, etc. I saw the Charminar (the "gate" of Hyderabad--a large arch in the middle of the roadway done in Islamic-style and providing a high viewpoint for looking over the city), a couple of old mosques, an old hospital, the court buildings, etc. There's a lot of character in the area.

It's now late in the afternoon and I will return to my hotel and relax. I have communicated with some people here via my travel sites, so I hope to hear from 1-2 of them while I am in town. One in particular, Dominic, a computer company professional, and I have communicated a lot.

Fantastic Fort

Fantastic Fort

Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2006--Bidar (Cont.)

I spent the rest of the day at my hotel yesterday. Unfortunately, the cable TV has only one movie channel, so I didn't watch much TV. Instead, I read a lot in my current novel from China that I am reading.

I did go out to eat dinner at the hotel underneath my hotel. I wandered the area and didn't find anywhere better to choose. I had vegetable fried rice, and it was good with lots of peppers in it. Afterwards, I walked across the street to a juice bar and had a pineapple juice for dessert.

Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2006--Bidar

I have developed a bad problem lately. It seems that I awaken in the early morning (maybe 3-4 a.m.) and my mind starts racing through plans and ideas. I have a problem going back to sleep. Fortunately, I do fall asleep again, but it is frustrating when I and lying there wanting to sleep and can't get relaxed to do so. I thought I might avoid it last night, since I only slept about 5 hours the night before. I went to bed at 10 p.m. and was very tired. But it happened again. I did fall back to sleep, however, and it was 8 a.m. before I awakened again. I felt very rested even if I did have the moment when I was awake sometime during the night.

My sightseeing this morning brought a surprise. My guidebook had recommended coming here, but it hadn't rated it as highly as it had Bijapur. Well, the old fort here is better than the ruins at Bijapur. It is a massive fort with intact walls around it. There are multiple moats and a twisting entrance that used to have a draw bridge. Once inside, there are also lots of standing buildings and ruins of others. It's quite impressive. Here are more photos.

I visited with lots of people today, too. Two brothers on bicycles befriended me and walked with me for a while. Some art students inside the fort doing water color paintings were friendly. While I was in the fort, the way I entered was closed and locked. I approached some other men who seemed to be studying and asked how to get out. They were secondary education students planning to teach mathematics. One of them took me on his motorcycle back outside the walls. And at least 2 shop owners stopped me and talked to me as I wandered through the old town which reminds me as much of Egypt as it does any place I have visited in India. That's due to all the Islamic-style architecture and all the men wearing their Muslim caps.

Another beautiful building I saw here is the Madrasa of Mahmud Gawan from 1472. It used to be covered in colorful tiles, and a few are still there--enough to give an idea of how impressive it must have been when first built.

I ate idly (thick, spongy pancakes) with sauces for lunch and had another of those lime juices that tastes like a margarita. I think I will go back to the same place for dinner, too. In the meantime, I will spend the afternoon at my hotel now. I will read the newspaper that was placed under the door this morning, watch BBC News, read from my novel, and maybe watch a film or TV program.

To those of you in the United States, Happy Thanksgiving tomorrow!

Moving On

Moving On

Monday, Nov. 20, 2006--Gulbarga (Cont.)

I ate a mini-meals at one of the vegetarian restaurants for lunch. That's just the wording used here for the set luncheon plate. It had rice and about 4 sauces. It was good and filling. Then for dinner, I ate at the Garden Restaurant at my hotel. I had vegetable fried noodles which I seasoned with both soy sauce and green chile sauce. Then I followed that with a thick, rich banana shake. Ummm.

Had an interesting visit with several of the guys who work at my hotel when I returned. There was a reason for it; I could tell that they try to be friendly to the foreigners in hopes of getting a nice tip. Of course, they HOPE that someone will just hand them a bundle of dollars and solve all their problems. But they are nice guys, and they weren't pushy about talking about how difficult things are for them financially. It's obvious that they are poor, however; they wear rather worn clothing. What surprised me was their ages. I knew they were young, but I just figured they were young college boys. Instead, they represented three grade levels in school--one in Standard 8, one in Standard 9, and one in Standard 10. They were 14, 15, and 16 years old respectively. What a shock to find that out. India has a new child labor protection law. But they are good about passing laws that sound good and then never enforcing them here. And those laws were passed because kids were missing school. These guys work and sleep at the hotel and then leave at 10 a.m. for school each day. I don't imagine the law covers child labor in that case. Anyway, they asked about where I had visited. I showed them on the map. Then they told me places I still should go. Finally, we took some photos of me with each of them and them in groups. I promised to send them copies when I get home.

Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2006--Gulbarga to Bidar

I thought I would get out of the hotel this morning before the boys saw me. But two of them were already at work in the hallway when I left my room around 6:45. They rushed to help me carry everything downstairs. They were so pleased when I gave each of them 10 rupees for helping me. That's just 21 cents U.S., but this is a country where even a teacher is lucky to make $100 a month.

The roadway was nice all the way from Gulbarga to Bidar. What a relief. It even had striping!! We made the trip so much faster than we would have on the types of roads I've been encountering.

My guidebook had warned me that there are no nice hotels here in Bidar. I found a decent one, though. It's not as nice as where I have been staying, and it costs more. But it's still reasonable. And it is cleaner than some places where I have stayed. It's near the bus station, so it will be easy to leave when it is time to move on to Hyderabad in a couple of days. But it is far from town. It takes quite a walk to get to the walled city. I explored part of it around noon, but I could feel the heat and decided to postpone any more exploration until tomorrow morning.

I returned to the area of the hotel and had a paper dosa (very thin and crispy with two sauces) for lunch along with a lemon juice. I asked for a sweet juice, but they brought me the salty version. It was a surprise. It tasted like a margarita without the tequila. In other words, it tasted like most margaritas that one gets when ordering in a bar or restaurant since they tend not to put enough tequila to make a difference anymore. It was delicious considering that it cost me just 21 cents.

Oh, my hotel is owned by Hindus. There are some rules posted on the wall in the lobby: Absolutely no alcohol to be brought onto the premises. No card playing on the premises. No non-vegetarian food to be consumed on the premises.

Slow Days

Slow Days

Saturday, Nov. 18, 2006--Bijapur (Cont.)

Today is 3 months since the date that I left Texas.

I had trouble with the cyber cafe. One of the websites where I communicate with people about travel planning wasn't working. Every time I tried to send a message to someone, the screen would close. I had that problem in Vietnam, and just figured that the Communist government had decided that was a site it didn't want its citizens being able to access. But this is the first time it has happened here in India.

I met some nice young men just around the corner from my hotel. They were all medical students at the ayurvedic college. Ayurvedic is the Indian form of holistic medicine. It depends on massage, oils, herbs, etc. They were all on their lunch break with nothing to do, so they were eager to have me stop and visit with them. They all spoke English quite well and looked nice in their white shirts and red ties with blue slacks.

I went back to the local tea shop for both lunch and dinner. For lunch, I had a seasoned rice. It came with a dark, thick sauce that looked like chili. It was very spicy and was good with the rice. It also came with a yogurt-tomato-onion salad. All of that cost me 19 cents. I spent another 19 cents for a lime flavored soft drink. For dinner, I had Gobi Manchurian. It was pieces of cauliflower and broccoli that had been cooked so they were coated with a thick, spicy, dark red covering. On the side was catsup to dip the pieces in. It, too, was delicious.

Sunday, Nov. 19, 2006--Bijapur to Gulbarga

The trip was so promising when it started. The roadway was wide and smooth and even had striping on it. But that only lasted about 1/3 of the way. The rest of the trip was more like what I have been used to here in India--old, rough, pot-holed, one-lane roadways. It was a jarring trip that rest of the way.

Gulbarga was a bit of a surprise. First, there was a new bus station that was in a different location from where the guidebook had shown we would arrive. Fortunately, it was on a major road which was marked on the guidebook map. Second, the town is very spread out. It is more like a town in the western part of the U.S. in which walking is not very practical. But I did walk. I rolled my suitcase behind me as I headed into town. I passed a few lodges that didn't look good enough on the outside to satisfy me. I stopped at one and was quoted a rediculous price of 300 rupees for a room that I wouldn't pay more than 150 rupees to occupy (and still wouldn't want to stay there because of it being dark, dirty, and depressing). I saw a lodge that looked okay at a major intersection and looked at it. It was about like where I have been staying, but it was 50 rupees more. So I left just to look around some more. I quickly decided that it would be the best place for me and returned. It really is a nice place--nicer in some respects than others. And it is a good bargain at $5.40 per night. So I am staying there and am happy with it. The boys who provide the room service are a little aggressive--stopping by to see if I want to order food for each meal, checking to see if I want to have laundry done--but it's not really a problem.

I ate at the hotel's dining room for lunch. It had a good crowd, so I figured it was a good place to eat. I had one of my old stand-bys--palak paneer (spinach and cheese) with naan. Then I stayed in the room the rest of the afternoon and watched TV and read in my book. The town was too spread out for me to want to explore it in the heat of the day. In the evening, I just went next door to a bakery and bought two samosas (pillows of dough stuffed with a potato-onion mixture and accompanied by a slightly sweet sauce and two chili peppers) and two kinds of pastries. I took them back to the room to eat them.

Monday, Nov. 20, 2006--Gulbarga

Well, it's been a long morning of walking. I left the hotel around 8 a.m. and walked along a roadway that curved to the eastern side of town where there are several large tombs. The local people (Muslims) were all very friendly. They seemed surprised that I am an American traveling alone and that I have never liked George W. Bush and have never voted for him. They seemed almost proud that I was walking through the small walkways among their homes.

From the tombs, I went to the fort at the center of town. The walls are still there, but inside the walls, not much stands. There is a huge fortress-type building inside. And there is an unbelievably large mosque with many domes inside. That's about it. People have homes and are raising goats and other animals in there. It was interesting to see, however.

There are more tombs west of the fort, but I didn't go to see those. I could see them in the distance from the top of the fortress, and they didn't look as if they would be different enough for me to want to make the walk. By then, it was already almost noon. Instead, I went to a juice stand and had a creamy, delicious pineapple juice. Then I came here to the cyber cafe.

The internet service here is having a problem with their Google connection. It doesn't take me to the sites I want to use as a link so you can read about Gulbarga and/or see photos of it. Therefore, I could not provide any links. So if you are interested, you need to do your own search for it. Here is a website that ought to work but doesn't on this computer: www.karnataka.com/tourism/gulbarga/

Passing Time

Passing Time

Thursday, Nov. 16, 2006--Hospit (Cont.)

There is a wonderful juice place 2 blocks from my hotel. It has anywhere from 5-10 customers at any given time, so others realize it is good, too. I stopped there this afternoon and decided to try something different. A man was having a dark red drink, so I asked him what it was. It was grape. So I ordered that. It was so tasty. Then I saw that the apple juices were thick with pulp, so I returned in the evening after I ate dinner and ordered an apple juice. I asked them to leave out the sugar, and that was a mistake. It was okay, but it would have had much more flavor with sugar in it.

I went back to the same restaurant for dinner where I had eaten the night before. This time, I tried their rice biriyani. It was good with cashews and lots of vegetables. And it came with a side salad of tomatoes and onions in yogurt. I was so hungry that I gulped it down.

Friday, Nov. 17, 2006--Hospet to Bijapur

There are the cutest boys who sell newspapers at the bus station in Hospet. I talked to a couple fo them yesterday morning before going to Hampi, and one of them was there this morning as I waited for my bus. They are both about 11 years old. Ahmit told me yesterday that he leaves home at 4 a.m. to come sell papers. Then he goes to school starting at 10:00. He and the other boy both speak English so well because of their experiences of talking with foreigners (and probably because he also reads the English papers he sells). And Ahmit had a nice sense of humor, too. After he asked me the typical question of what country "is my native place," I asked him the same. He said, "France." When I said, "So you speak French," he started jabbering in French making it obvious that he speaks it as well as he does English. There's no telling what other languages he speaks. Probably German, too. Both boys were clean and neat with their hair slicked down into place. They are the kinds of kids that one wishes there was a way to help. Instead of begging for pens, chewing gum, rupees, or whatever they might get free, they are working and going to school. They were both nice when I told them that my hotel had the newspaper already. And both of them rushed back up to me when my buses arrived to tell me that this one was the bus I wanted.

The further northward I go, the poorer things seem. People seem less clean and wear clothes that are definitely dirtier and more worn than people in the South. Also, many people are living in fields in tent structures made of either plastic or palm fronds. The poorest houses in the South are at least houses with wovan cane walls.

Bijapur is an old walled city with lots of mosques and, therefore, lots of Muslims. Most of the walls around the city are still in good condition. My bus entered through one of the old one-lane-wide gates. I found a nice hotel that is fairly new. Then I went out exploring. Unfortunately, the two main sites to see here have implemented the now traditional Indian custom of gouging the tourists through admission prices for foreigners that are 20 times what the locals pay. I've now gotten to the point where it has become a principle with me. I just walked away from both places. My life will be a good one whether I ever see the insides of such places or not. I just refuse to submit to this form of cultural rape. Imagine if an Indian walked up to a museum in San Antonio and it said Locals $7; Foreigners $140!

For lunch I ate a thali plate. It was good with chipati flat bread, papadum crispy bread, rice, and four sauces. It was the first time I had done that in a couple of weeks, so I enjoyed it. In the evening, I had something totally new for me at a tea stall across the road from my hotel. It is called pabaji and is a thick vegetarian mixture (or sauce) that is dark red. It was served with two soft rolls which had been sliced and slightly toasted and chopped red onion. The taste of the mixture was a little like brochutta. My guess is that it was made from red bell peppers, onion, garlic, tomatoes, and other spices. I ordered a Sprite to have with the meal. That was my first American soft drink since leaving Texas. Wow, it tasted sweet!

Saturday, Nov. 18, 2006--Bijapur

Well, I am really just biding my time for the most part. It is still 2 1/2 weeks before I leave India. The only places I really want to see are Hyderabad and Bangalore. My guess is that I will not want to be in either more than 5-6 days. So I am staying an extra day here in Bijapur even tough I have nothing left that I want to see or do here. The hotel is good and cheap. And I want to go back to the tea shop where I ate last night and try some other things. Then I will go to two more towns on my way to Hyderabad. Both are old historical places. I don't know if there will be much for me to see (meaning places either free or with admission prices I will accept) or not. But going to each will pass some of the time. I hope the kids won't be as much of a problem there as they are here in Bijapur where 90% of them who talk to me ask me for a pen, chewing gum, rupees, or "anything else." The tourists have spoiled this place as far as having any meaningful interaction with the locals. Even a college-age guy asked me for a pen today!

Hampi, the Ancient City

Hampi, the Ancient City

Tuesday, Nov. 14, 2006--Hospet (Cont.)

After being at the cyber cafe, I wanted to eat. It was only 5:30, but I had eaten nothing all day because of the long bus trip. I was starving. I went to a local place recommended by my guidebook. I knew it was really too early to eat, but I knew I could get something. My only choices were dosa, idly, and puri. Well, I've had dosas too often. So I went with puri. It's like having dosa in that all the side dishes are the same but the bread is different. Instead of a crispy, thin pancake with dosa, puri is three fried flat breads that puff up. Actually, they are almost exactly the same as Mexican soapapillas without any sugar or honey to sweeten them. They came with coconut chutney, masala sauce, and the potato-onion mixture that is usually inside the dosa. I will still hungry, so a little later, I had some fresh pineapple juice with some butter cookies.

I walked out to the river and back just to mingle with the local people. Actually, there are two parallel channels to the river. One is a wide channel that has been paved with steps down to it for women to do the laundry and people to bath. The other channel is the bath room. As I walked by, at least 5 people were squating with their asses in the air out over the channel so that the waste would drop in and float away. Of course, every town probably uses the same system, so the waste from town upstream is already in the water that goes into the washing/bathing channel here!

There is a power problem here that is worse than most places in South India. The power goes off often and for long periods of time. Tied to it is a cable TV problem. Sometimes half or all of the channels (probably brought in by two satellite dishes) go off after a power problem. I've learned not to try to watch movies while here. I was in the middle of a thriller tonight when the power went off. The hotel started a generator a few minutes later, but after about 10 minutes, half of the cable channels, including the one I was watching, went off and stayed off until after I went to bed.

Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2006--Hospet/Hampi

The main reason for coming here is to visit Hampi. It's a huge area holding the ruins of an old capital city. Here are more pictures. It is much like similar places I have visited in Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Myanmar. UNESCO is helping pay to restore the ruins. It's impressive with its old stone roadways, ruins of a huge bridge, many huge market areas, more temples than anyone would ever want to see, etc. It reminds me a little of Efesses in Turkey.

I ate lunch while I was there in Hampi. It's a backpacker center, so there are many restaurants with food other than Indian food. It's easy to find pancakes, muesli, noodles, etc. I ordered vegetable momos (steamed dumplings). They were made from scratch while I waited. And they were delicious. I also had a banana lassi--a yogurt-banana drink.

I was rather miserable all day unfortunately. I was suffering from allergies on the right side only. My right nostril and my right eye were watering all day. I had toilet tissue with me and had to keep blowing my nose. It was raw by the end of the day, and blowing it didn't help much, since I was sniffling again within a minute or two. I'm sure it was a reaction to all the dust from two days of bus riding over roads that were under construction.

I was still starving after two days of one meal each. So I went to dinner early again. This time, I found a place that would serve me fried vegetable rice even thought it was early. It was spicy and came with a sauce to put over it. I enjoyed it. And to deal with my hunger, I followed that with a slab of mango ice cream.

I had a nice visit in my hotel in the evening with Raghu. He's a 22-year-old software engineering student who I met over one of my travel sites. He helped me plan the rest of my stay here in Hospet and the rest of my travels here in India. But we had a great time together, too. He's an enthusiastic person. He has a bit of a sad story, though. His father had a stroke and is parallyzed. Therefore, his sister is postponing marriage and is working until Raghu finishes his schooling two years from now. Then it will be his turn to work while a marriage is arranged for his sister. It's going to be a while before any of them live well. He's hoping for a job overseas. He would like to go to the US, but he says it is more likely it will have to be in the Middle East or Asia.

Thursday, Nov. 16, 2006--Hospet/Hampi

Caught the 7:30 a.m. bus to Kamalapur--the beginning of the Hampi ruins I didn't see yesterday. It was about 4-5 km from the center of Hampi. I spent the next 4 hours slowly walking towards Hampi and seeing each of the main sites for ruins. There were some spectacular ones--bathing halls, ceremonial pyramid, underground temples, mosques, etc. It was a good morning of exploring. See some of the photos at this site.

I had lunch in Hampi before returning to Hospet. Today, I had fried noodles with mixed vegetables at the same restaurant where I ate yesterday. (I had seen the cook eating this dish before I left yesterday and thought it looked good.) It was spicy and tasty. I couldn't have a lassi, because the electricity was out and the blender wouldn't work. So I followed the lunch with a milk tea.

I wandered the back streets of Hampi. It's an interesting town. It's definitely a backpacker area. All the housing is in small places. Baths are often shared. My guess is that rooms there cost only 100-200 rupees per night (about $2.25-4.50). But I am paying only 200 here in Hospet and have a private bath and cable TV. But there are interesting shops, bakeries, etc., in Hampi that make it a backpacker's delight. It's too bad there are some nicer places to stay there, too. There's no reason to be in Hospet other than the fact that Hampi doesn't have "normal" hotels.

Bus Accident

Bus Accident

Sunday, Nov. 12, 2000--Mysore (Cont.)

I tried again to go back to the good, cheap vegetarian restaurant after leaving the cyber cafe, and it was still full with a waiting line. Then I tried going to the fancy restaurant only to find it is not open until 7:00 p.m. I went back to the room and ate some snack mix.

I left the hotel about 6:50 to go to the City Palace for the Sunday lighting ceremoney. The palace, its gates, its temples, etc., are outlined in 50,000 light bulbs. They are lighted for 30 minutes starting at 7 p.m. on Sundays and holidays, and it draws a huge crowd. It's one of the great bargains of India, since there is no admission fee for the lighting. Also, there is a band that plays in the courtyard in front of the palace. Everyone mills around looking at the lights and taking photos of them. I arrived at the front gate just as the lights flickered on at 7. Even though I had seen it before, it was a wonderful sight. I seem to recall that some of the bulbs were missing last time I was here. Tonight, it looked perfect.

I didn't spend long looking at the lights, because I was hungry. I also knew that it is necessary to get to the nice restaurant early if one wants a table without waiting. (And I would be miserable taking up a table by myself with others waiting.) So, I took my photos and appreciated the lights and rushed off for the restaurant.

I asked the waiter to recommend something new for me. I got kalimirchia with butter naan. The dish was a chicken dish (boneless chunks) in a spinach-pea sauce. It was much like the sauce I get when I order palak paneer. I throughly enjoyed it. And I especially enjoyed the slaw salad which was served again. I made a mistake of ordering a beer to go with it, however. I hadn't had any alcohol for 7-8 weeks, and it sounded good. But I couldn't even finish the beer (650 ml), because it affected me too much and because it made me feel bad. (I've always been somewhat allergic to alcohol and feel bad if I drink too much.)

Monday, Nov. 13, 2006--Mysore to Shimoga

I decided not to go all the way to Hospet in one day. It's about a 10-12 hour trip, and that's just too far. Shimoga is a town a little over halfway there, so I bought a ticket to there. Unfortunately, the bus was late arriving in the station, and there was a huge crowd for it. Indians are not people who queue. Instead, they push and shove. And the women are worse about it than the men. (They definitely are not the weaker sex when it comes to commanding the right to get on an Indian bus!) Anyway, I just waiting back, because it is difficult to get on a bus anyway with my suitcase. When I did enter, however, I had a pleasant surprise. A man and his family I had asked earlier for help finding the right bus had saved me a seat on their 3-seat bench. I pushed my suitcase under the seat and sat down while others were already starting to stand in the rear of the bus. By the time we left, it was sardine time in the aisle. And it remained that way for about 4 hours. I'm so glad I had a seat, even though some of the people in the aisle were pushing against me and leaning over me.

It was mid-afternoon before I arrived and found a hotel. It was too late to eat lunch, so I went to an ice cream parlor. I ordered a gud bud. It was a layered concoction in a drinking glass: mango-cherry ice cream with a cherry on top, followed by nuts (cashews and another kind), followed by strawberry ice cream, followed by jello and candied fruits, followed by vanilla ice cream, followed by fruits (grapes, chopped apples, bananas) and marshmallows in a syrup. It was tasty and good. But I still wasn't full. So I ordered a pineapple juice to drink.

My hotel is cheap and nice. It is only about $4.50 per night, but it has cable tv, is clean and bright, has good curtains, has nice sheets and a waffle-weave towel, etc. It even comes with a morning paper under the door. These non-touristy towns are more of a bargain than the ones I have been visiting. I looked at a room in a place that was only $1.75 per night. But it was so depressing. I'm glad I splurged and paid $4.50!!

I noticed that the restaurant in the hotel was busy when I arrived. So I went there for dinner. No one spoke English. There was no English menu. So I ordered a dosa. It was so good. The sauces and chutneys that came with it were much tastier than normal--more of a homemade taste. My dinner cost me 43 cents.

Tuesday, Nov. 14, 2006--Shimoga to Hospet

We had a bus accident today. The drivers here are agressive, and the roads are busy. The highway we were following today was especially bad. It was either old and worn out, or it was under construction. We were entering a section where one lane had been paved and work was progressing on the rest of it. I saw two boys ahead on bicycles obviously enjoying playing on the smooth surface of the new lane. One was in front of the other. The younger boy was behind. Both were in the middle of the lane. They heard the bus honk. The younger boy looked around and saw us. I think he panicked. Anyway, he wobbled. Then as he tried again to take off, I saw that his rear end was too far to the side to be balanced. He started wobbling again just as the bus pulled off to the side to pass. I feared for the worst, and it happened. We heard a crunch. The bus stopped and almost everyone ran off. (I stayed inside.) I saw then lift up the boy and carry him to the front of the bus. He was limp. They moved the bicycle to the side, too, and it didn't look badly bent. I think the boy wobbled and fell into the bus, but the driver may have slightly sideswiped him, too. Anyway, they rushed the boy (still completely limp) to the hospital via an oncoming bus. After about an hour, we drove back into town to the police station. Because I was sitting in the front seat and had seen what was happening, they asked me about it and I told them. There was an angry crowd there. In India, crowds have been known to kill a man for hitting a child while driving. The family were arguing that it was the driver's fault. The policeman pointed to me and told them, I guess, my version of the event. Anyway, the police served me a glass of tea and then stopped the next bus to hospet and put me on it. It was over for me. I hope the boy is okay. He was too small for his bicycle. I guess he was no more than 8 years old.

I had trouble finding a hotel here in Hospet. I went to two of the nicer places, and the rooms were expensive and depressing. I found only one place where I was willing to stay. It is a local lodge with squat-style toilet and no phone in the room. But it is bright and clean and has cable TV. So I should be fine there. Will update you more later.

Mysore Days

Mysore Days

Saturday, Nov. 11, 2006--Mysore

I went to a vegetarian restaurant last night and did I find a good one!! I ordered vegetable fried rice and ate it with lots of chile sauce. It was hot and fresh and tasty. Best of all, however, was my fresh lime soda. It was the best one that I have had on this whole trip.

This morning, I took the bus to a nearby town named Srirangapatnam. It's an old fortified town on a river island that is 1 km wide and 3 km long. It has the old summer house for the local sultan whose palace is here in Mysore. The trip was a mistake, however. The town has far too many people trying to make a living off tourism than there are tourists. There were beggars, rickshaw drivers, tour guides, etc., bothering me most of the time. And the local kids were more persistant: Can I have a pen? No pen? Can I have 10 rupees? No? Can I have ____? Then beyond all that, the admission price for foreigners to see the summer house of the sultan was 18 times the price it is for local people!! The town is just a rip off and a mess. I was happy to catch a bus back to Mysore realizing that my life will be a good one whether I see anything in that town or not!

I sat with some Muslim men on the way back. Their wives and mother were in another seat. (Women and men do not sit together on buses in India.) They were brothers and nice guys. They were coming into Mysore for a day at the zoo--an outing they said they make about once a month. They were very curious about me and asked lots of questions and had me take their photos.

I returned to the vegetarian restaurant from last night for lunch when I got back to town. I ordered a paper masala dosa. It was thin and very crispy. And there were four bowls of chutneys and curries to eat with it. Again, it was one of the better meals of my trip. And the dosa cost less than 50 cents. I ordered another fresh lime soda, and this time it had pepper sprinkled in it. Like pepper in pepper nut cookies, it added a nice tingle to the sweet taste of the drink.

Mysore has so many huge wonderful buildings. I walked around the medical center during the afternoon. There is one impressive building after another for blocks. Then I returned to the hotel and rested and watched TV.

In the evening, I went to a fancy restaurant in a hotel near mine. My guidebook had recommended the chicken tikka there, so that's what I had. It was another good meal. The chicken was so tender that at first I wondered if it had even been cooked. The sauce on it (masala) was spicy and good. I had garlic naan to go with it. And it came with a side salad of slow--cabbage, carrots, green pepper--with lime slices to squeeze over it. Man, it was good, too. I've lucked out with the food in Mysore.

Sunday, Nov. 12, 2006--Mysore

After a lazy morning in the hotel, I left to wander town. I took some photos of some of the impressive buildings. Then I walked to the zoo. I didn't remember going there before, but the entrance looked familiar, and I knew I had been there once I was inside. It is a good zoo, though. And Sunday is a good day to go to a zoo even if you have been to it before. I wandered and watched the people as much as I did the animals. The zoo is known for its propagation of tigers and leopards, and they have many of them--each living in an area with a label giving its date of birth. It has the only gorilla in India. It has wonderful, huge grassy areas for its animals. Any city anywhere would be proud to have such a nice zoo.

I tried to go back to my vegetarian restaurant when I left the zoo. Unfortunately, it was full with a long waiting line of people. So I'm not the only one who appreciates its good food and cheap prices. Instead, I walked here to the cyber cafe. It's already 4:30 p.m., and I haven't eaten yet today. When I leave here, I will try the vegetarian place again, I guess. If it is still full, I may try to eat at the fancy place where I ate last night, although it will be an awkward time to go there. It's cheap, too, really. My meal of chicken tikka masala, salad, garlic naan, liter of mineral water, and 20+ percent tip came to less than $4 last night.

Tomorrow, I will catch a bus to Hospet. I will leave off my earplugs so that the mosque noise will awaken me around 5:30. I want to get a bus around 6:30, because it is at least a 10-hour trip to there. It may be longer taking a regular bus. All the "fast" buses go in the afternoon (arriving in the middle of the night) or overnight. I didn't have anything to do here all day tomorrow waiting for a night bus, and I didn't want to arriving in the middle of the night. So I will take my chances with the regular day bus tomorrow morning.

Elephants in the Wild

Elephants in the Wild

Thursday, Nov. 9, 2006--Ooty (Cont.)

I went back out in the evening and forced myself to eat, since I had only one meal yesterday. I wasn't hungry, though. And my stomach ached a little--not from being sick from something I ate, but just a slight pain. Anyway, I had palak paneer (spinach with paneer) and naan. It was tasty even though I wasn't hungry.

I discovered a problem after I was back in my room. I have lost the section of my guidebook for Andra Pradesh, one of the states I will visit toward the end of the month. I tear each section of the guidebook out and staple the pages. That way, I don't have to carry the whole heavy guidebook all the time, and the individual section just rolls up and sticks in my pants pocket. It is very convenient that way. I took that section out recently to see if I could find a hotel on the map that was recommended by a friend who has been communicating with me via a travel website. I will only go to one city there--the capital city of Hyderabad. But I feel lost without my guidebook. I have no maps, no information about tourist information offices, etc. Fortunately, I have the recommended hotel within my price range where I can go when I arrive. In the meantime, I guess I will try to do some research when I am at cyber cafes during the next coupl of weeks.

Friday, Nov. 10, 2006--Ooty to Mysore

I was lucky to catch a bus as soon as I arrived at the bus station. But it was one with BAD suspension. We traveled for hours over rough, muddy, potholed roads through the mountains. I was bouncing in my seat most of the way. And there was a delay of about 45 minutes when we came upon two trucks that had both bogged down beside each other due to their heavy loads. Each had a wheel in a pothole that was too deep for it to get out of. Lots of men from buses and trucks that were backing up on either side of the obstruction were looking and giving advice. I don't know who finally figured out what to do.

There was such a pleasant surprise on the trip. We passed through a huge nature preserve. I saw three herds of wild elephants, three herds of spotted deer, peacocks, monkeys, a red-headed woodpecker, large termite mounds, etc. The preserve also has tigers, leopards, other antlered animals, etc., but those were no where in sight. Everyone on the bus was craning his neck as we passed animals. It was a wonderful experience.

There were three Buddhist monks from the Himilayan region on the bus. What was interesting about it was that I was no longer the center of attention for children we saw at stops. They all pointed and looked at the monks and totally ignored me.

We didn't get to Mysore until 4:30 p.m.--about 7 hours after leaving. I was so tired from the rough ride. Then I had trouble finding a room that was acceptable to me. I found plenty that were okay and at good prices, but they were always just a little too dark or depressing for me to accept them. I finally went back to where I stayed before when I was here. I got a bright room that is clean (other than the windows which seem to never be clean anywhere in India) with a good TV and lots of light coming through the window for reading. It's 2 times the price of the darker, dreary rooms I saw, but it is worth it.