On Mulberry Street

   Growing up we had this book about a boy who walked home from school everyday on Mulberry St. He never saw anything interesting, but everyday his mother would ask him what he saw on the way home. So one day while walking home he was imagining all kinds of amazing things, but when he got home he just said, "I only saw a horse and carriage on Mulberry Street."
   Here in India, you don't even have to use your imagination to see all kinds of interesting things along the road. Here are a few pictures of some things that we have seen. Keep in mind that these are just everyday sights to the people here, even though they seem strange to us.

Let me begin by saying that just driving is an experience in itself. Not only do they drive on the left side, but all the buses, cars, and motorbikes are weaving in and out, constantly honking their horns. If you can drive for five consecutive minutes without fearing for your life and thinking that you're going to crash, you're doing good. It really seems like madness at first, but there is a method to it. It takes getting used to though, and I still close my eyes a lot. lol

   You also have to be careful not to hit the pedestrians and animals that share the roadway. Animals we have seen crossing the road: cows, horses, monkeys, elephants, water buffalo, sheep, donkeys, peacocks, dogs, deer, wild boar, and dolphins. (jk about the dolphins lol)

didn't know animals could survive on trash, but apparently...

Why did the peacock cross the road?

   One of the most common sights you'll see along the way are Hindu temples. They are literally everywhere. Only certain castes are welcome in certain temples, and tourists are not allowed inside except by special invitation. Not that that's a problem with me, they seem really creepy.

Hindu temple

   Modes of transportation are very diverse. Trucks, buses, three-wheeled taxis, ox-carts, motorbikes, bicycles, cars, tractors, boats... (jk again)

three-wheeled taxi

the loads we've seen are incredible

truckload of sugar cane

share the road

   You also see different kinds of plants growing. Coconut trees, banana trees, rice patties, sugar cane...

   Then there's the random stuff...

washing clothes

In The Jungle

We got to stay two nights at Quiet Corner, in the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve. It was soooo cool to be in the jungle. Some of the terrain actually kinda reminded me of Texas, dry with lots of prickly pear cactus. But there are vast areas of bamboo/banyan tree forest. All the official safari trails were closed, but we still got to see a lot of animals just from the road.

Guar, wild Indian bison

horses (no, they're not wild)

Indian tractor

wild elephants (no it's not a trick, look closely :))

cute monkey family, we also saw langur monkeys but didn't get a good pic

jungle cock, wild Indian chicken

this guy saw two tigers in his yard a couple days ago

spotted deer, and peacocks were everywhere

aren't the low clouds so pretty?

A Day in the Mountains

Above: Here we are at the highest point on the mountain, 8,500 ft. elevation. That's the town of Ooty behind us, nestled on top of the mountain range. On a clear day you can see for a very long way from here. The day we went was cloudy, but even then the view was really awesome. It was really neat being in the cloud and feeling the moisture blowing on our cheeks. It was much cooler up here than were we are staying in Coimbatore. We wished we had brought our jackets.

Above: We got to tour a tea factory. It was a really neat experience seeing all the machines they use and the process for making the tea. I felt like Mr. Rogers lol.

Above: We also got to go inside a couple really old Churches. This one was built in 1895. C.T. Studd pastored here for a while. Amy Carmichael also spent a lot of time here. They were actually having a service inside so we were careful not to disturb them.

Above: Inside the botanical gardens. I thought this was a really neat map of India made out of plants.

Above: Vendors selling roasted chickpeas, cut pineapple, and other snacks. It smelled really good.

Above and below: Seems like everyone wanted their picture taken with the white people. lol Pretty random to me.

Trip to Ooty and Mysore

This past weekend we took a sightseeing trip up and across the mountains to Ooty and Mysore. We had such an awesome time!!! And took a LOT of pictures :). It'll take me a few days of posting to get enough pictures on here to give you a feel for the trip. Hope you enjoy it!

Heading toward the mountains, Thursday afternoon

Yes, those are donkeys crossing the road

We saw many animals, domestic and wild, on and along the roadside on this adventure including donkeys, cows, horses, water buffalo, elephants, pigs, chickens, guar (wild cattle), mongoose, peacocks, wild boar, spotted deer, jungle cock, monkeys, turkeys. I'll be posting pictures of many of them in the next few days.

reaching the foot of the mountain, the terrain is beginning to look like jungle

just beginning the ascent, you can see the view is already beautiful

crazy monkeys, they were all along the side of the road, waiting for a handout

glad this wasn't us!

There were very dangerous hairpin turns all the way up and down the mountain. Huge buses like this one have to swing way out in these narrow lanes, and I'm sure accidents happen often.

my handsome husband

climbing higher

These pictures really cannot do justice to the awesomeness of the view. Every time we came around a curve, we wanted to stop and take more pictures. Our driver was really great, and had this uncanny sense for when we were getting out our cameras. He would stop (whenever it was safe) and let us soak it in.

tea gardens

This area is famous for their tea gardens. You can see them in these pictures. The tea grows on short bushes. The dark lines are footpaths.

waterfall

Houses and gardens were build right into the mountainside. Gave everything a story book look. With all the colors, it kinda reminded me of a patchwork quilt.

I love the terraced gardens

To be continued...

View from the Roof

   Friday we climbed up to the very top of the library roof. It's still under construction, so we had to scale this rickety little bamboo ladder but it was so worth it. The view from up there is spectacular! There was a nice cool breeze blowing, as we watched the sun sink behind the (not very) distant mountains. We could see and smell the smoke from many cooking fires. Reminds me of a quote by David Livingstone, "I see at time's the smoke of a thousand villages..."
    All you you in Texas can be jealous of the nice weather we are having here. Stays between 80 and 90 degrees during the day and cools down nicely at night. That may sound hot to some people, but compared to the sweltering 100+ degrees we were enjoying in Texas, 90 degrees is really nice. :) They say it does get REALLY hot here, but this is a cooler season. Nice for us. :)