Bay of Bengal

We have a gorgeous view of the Bay of Bengal with a lovely beach just steps away from the hotel. Here are our feet in the Indian Ocean which is way warmer than Lake Huron in July or the aquatic centre on a Monday night in January! We have taken a few dips in as well!

Today’s tour took us to the Sri Aurobindo ashram in town. We didn’t get to see much of the property but were able to send a few moments at the shrine to this revered mystic who died in 1950. I’ll have lots of reading to do when I get home. I’m trying to figure out how yoga fits into this landscape and culture.

From there we toured another temple dedicated to Ganesha, the elephant headed god, no pictures allowed. Outside the temple many women were seated on the ground making jasmine garlands or small bouquets of pink lotus flowers which are stacked up about 2 feet deep. This image alongside people begging or selling tacky souvenirs made in China.

Only two more sleeps on the tour which brings up so much emotion – gratitude, sadness, some relief as we are getting road weary, and overall such complete happiness. We will have three nights in Chennai then back to Kuwait and home from there. Looking forward to seeing everyone at home and sleeping in our own bed!

Subash Walks On Water

Our tour guide Subash continues to perform miracles for us – getting us on the right train, finding tea and “pee pee” stops on the wild roads, helping us run the gauntlet of hawkers and beggars at the tourist sites, finding ATMs in unlikely places, making sure the lime sodas have no ice, helping us understand the culture, advising when it is okay and not okay to take photos, sharing his philosophy of life, entertaining us with his many hilarious stories and helping us see the beauty and wonder of it all. We think that he walks on water and that was confirmed this morning while I was swimming a few laps at the spectacular swimming pool here at Le Pondy Resort!

The past several days have continued to amaze us.

Internet access and access to computers has been very limited so I am not able to share many photos at this time. I will post more photos as soon as I can access a reliable computer with a high speed internet connection.

We spent Feb 13 & 14 at a wonderful resort in Periyar and explored the tiger reserve. The day we arrived we took a tourist boat on Periyar Lake and viewed many kinds of birds and wildlife, including wild boar, deer and water buffalo.

The next morning turned out to be one of the top highlights of our trip to India. We went for an early morning hike in the forest reserve with a park guide to do some bird watching and about halfway through our walk we encountered a group of 8 wild elephants. This was very exciting and, at the same time intimidating for all of us – including the guide. We retreated a safe distance away from the path the elephants were following and then quietly observed them from a distance. It will be extremely hard to top that one!

On Feb 15 we arrived in Madurai and toured the Hindu temple complex. This site is very significant to Hindu devotees and is comprised of 4 main towers plus dozens of passageways and shrines. It averages between 20,000 to 60,000 visitors each day – depending upon the time of year. The energy we felt from all of the within the temple was very special.

On Feb 16 we departed Madurai for Pondichery. This portion of our journey featured a 5 hour train ride. We were all very glad that our guide Subash was with us to help us find the platform and assigned seats. The crowds preparing to board with us were substantial and we would not have made it without him. We departed the station at 6:45am and had a very pleasant trip. Vendors selling tea, coffee, cold drinks and an amazing variety of hot foods passed through the car frequently. No danger of going hungry or thirsty on this trip!