Our non A/C bus arrived at Mitramandal Hall promptly at 8 am for our departure on the 26th of September. Destination: Karnataka! Although this week-long trip was over a month ago now, I still remember it vividly, as it was indeed the first Indian Rotary tour for our group! It was a week of long bus rides, lots of temples, and most of all, very little sleep. But it was definitely a good first trip. We saw a different part of India, one with less wealth and connection to the greater community in India and the rest of the world. It was not as well-kept, and there were a lot more animals roaming the streets than we have in the city. The landscape was beautiful, ever-changing as we rode the bumpy and windy roads through different small towns and bigger cities. Most of all though, we saw the Indian Countryside. Greenery everywhere, except for the coincidentally dry-looking fields, and huge boulders up on high hills as well as rivers running through valleys. The trees changed from palm and coconut to evergreens and more foresty-looking ones. The one thing that didn’t change throughout the entire trip was my fear of coming across a snake! Luckily, I didn’t see one. :) Here is a link to my pictures from the trip, mostly my friend Carolin took them because her camera broke, and I’m lazy about taking pictures anyway.
A few highlights from the trip: After a few days of only listening to music on the bus rides, we somehow finally managed to get comfortable enough to catch up on some sleep! It involved positioning the suitcases in the back of the bus in such a way so we could lay down. Haha.
We had so many laughs over the ridiculously bumpy roads, screaming out, “OH! BIG ONE!” whenever we left our seats or hit our heads on the side windows. And many more about the misspelled words on signs EVERYWHERE. And also about almost anything else that we found amusing, which was a lot.
The day we visited the beach! It was so nice out, the water was warm, and when we were collecting shells on the beach, Amol got us some chai! On the beach! It was weird. But also really tasty. That night I ate some extra tasty food (chicken tikka and butter naan!) and we went to the temple that was right on the beach. There was a gigantic statue of Shiva, and inside was some sort of ceremony we got to witness. The atmosphere inside was really neat. You could tell it had a history and that many people had worshiped there before. That night there were people walking around the center of the temple clockwise, banging on drums and playing different flute-like instruments, and they were throwing leaves and different plants around while singing their song. I felt quite lucky to have been able to bring that day to a close with viewing such a tradition. All in all, it was a great trip, with a tight schedule and an overabundance of things to see! Needless to say, I was wiped out for a few days upon our return home. Especially because our bus broke down in Kolhapur, about a 4 hour drive away from Pune, and so we had to take a different bus overnight to get back home. That wasn’t the best night of sleep I’ve ever had! :)
A few things coming up for me: Just got done celebrating Diwali with the family (and rest of India!)..blog to come.
Prez BO visits India!
My holidays are ending and I’m going to Goa with my family for a few days, before I come back to go on our South India Tour for two weeks!
These are exciting times, no doubt. I hope everyone is doing well and staying busy! I’ll talk to ya later, Raena
Wow, what a trip. The bumpy ride reminds me of the time I was hitchhiking from St. Paul to Frazee, MN, a total of 200 miles. I got a ride from a gasoline transport truck. I was about your age at the time. Highway 10 was an old time cement road with lots of buckling, holes and bumps. When we hit a bit one, my head would go up and bump on the ceiling. There were no seat belts then. I put on a stocking cap to soften the blows.
Thanks for the wonderful blogs and pictures. We really appreciate them.
Paul and Delia were over for about an hour this evening. I went through 17 pages of a beginner’s piano book with her. She catches on fast and we both enjoyed it. Paul was into his usual science fiction. He reads at a high school level already!
I golfed 18 holes with Loren Baumbach today. It got up to almost 70 degrees and with a strong breeze. We played best ball and carded a 43 and 42 for an 85 which is very good for some old codgers. I am 75 and Loren is 70.
Grandma keeps busy as usual with child care, cleaning, women’s Bible Group, cooking, shopping, bicycling, walking, etc. Her stamina has really improved and her eyesight much better with 2 knee replacemens (Dr. Clint Muench) and 2 cataract surgeries (Dr. Michelle Muench), a husband and wife. Do you have an email address? Please send it.
God is Good! I love you, GPA.