Day 59 - 01/03/19
Dear Friends,
I have had some wonderful experiences with locals on recent train journeys. On our overnight train, from a station near Pondicherry to Madurai, we met a trio who were all heading for a concert but had never played together before. There was a singer, a percussionist, and a string instrument that I couldn't name. They put on a mini little concert for us in the little section of our carriage. It was a special moment, as we rolled past the beautiful Indian countryside. That evening in Madurai we experienced local street food that most foreigners have been talked out of trying, guided by Aathi (our guide) he took us on a walk around the centre to about 10 different street food stalls. We tried sweet and savoury dishes and even the local drinks. What a memorable experience, and not one of us had any stomach issues the day after!
You don't have to go to the wild to see an elephant, there was one at Sri Meenakshi temple in Madurai, as it was a special festival on the Friday. We all paid a bit to get blessed by the elephant via a tap on our head from its trunk. It was quite a sad sight seeing the elephant standing there under control with no freedom, but there was no denying it was a magnificent sight, with a percussion instrument being played on an ox beside it and statues of the gods been carried behind it. The Gandhi museum was also fascinating and its certainly important whilst in India to learn about the role your country played in its history, even if it is hard to read. We had a delicious lunch, kindly prepared for us by our guides mother, her shortened name was Lakshmi. She then proudly showed us her sons wedding album, it was in pristine condition and made with such care. It was so nice being invited into their home and not something I was expecting, a lovely treat. We had bought his mum a bunch of flowers beforehand, and on the way to the market I had sat in the front of the shared tuktuk and had driven us for half of the way. It was just like revving a handheld boat engine, the driver kept telling me to slow down which I thought was unusual for India!
We spent a morning in Mysore before heading to Bandipur national park that evening. As soon as we arrived three of us visited the local market and met a lovely guy called Sahaib, who wooed us into his incense and perfume shop, he showed us his collection of notebooks he has for every single country he receives visitors from, in which they comment and right down what they bought. I was so enthralled I ended up buying 4 oils for 1,200 rupees, which you can either keep in that form or turn into perfume using alcohol. For the rest of the day we crammed in Mysore Palace, one of the most beautiful buildings I have ever seen, especially the intricate interior designs. We also visited a very friendly local families' home who made us a mouth watering veg biryani, with an eggplant dish to go along with it. For dessert, we tried a simple dish called mixed fruit custard, which sounds so simple but was actually delicious and a new favourite of ours. That afternoon we all had one of the most magical experiences of our lives. In the first half of our safari all we had seen was some deer and a peacock, then suddenly there was a leopard roaming down a bank on the left, after 15 minutes it came back out and we watched it stretch out in the afternoon sun next to the river bank. Mindblown! Our luck continues and we sore a little family of 3 elephants, at one point the male elephant seemed as if he was going to charge at us and we weren't in the sort of position where we could turn around easily - luckily we escaped unharmed! It is the next day now and I am sitting outside our guest house in the hills in Coonoor near Ooty, which we arrived at this afternoon from Bandipur, it is pretty downcast but you can see the breathtaking mountains stretching out in the distance. I am surrounded by tea hills, and I am excited to learn more about them in our day here tomorrow.
bye for now,
Phoebe
I have had some wonderful experiences with locals on recent train journeys. On our overnight train, from a station near Pondicherry to Madurai, we met a trio who were all heading for a concert but had never played together before. There was a singer, a percussionist, and a string instrument that I couldn't name. They put on a mini little concert for us in the little section of our carriage. It was a special moment, as we rolled past the beautiful Indian countryside. That evening in Madurai we experienced local street food that most foreigners have been talked out of trying, guided by Aathi (our guide) he took us on a walk around the centre to about 10 different street food stalls. We tried sweet and savoury dishes and even the local drinks. What a memorable experience, and not one of us had any stomach issues the day after!
You don't have to go to the wild to see an elephant, there was one at Sri Meenakshi temple in Madurai, as it was a special festival on the Friday. We all paid a bit to get blessed by the elephant via a tap on our head from its trunk. It was quite a sad sight seeing the elephant standing there under control with no freedom, but there was no denying it was a magnificent sight, with a percussion instrument being played on an ox beside it and statues of the gods been carried behind it. The Gandhi museum was also fascinating and its certainly important whilst in India to learn about the role your country played in its history, even if it is hard to read. We had a delicious lunch, kindly prepared for us by our guides mother, her shortened name was Lakshmi. She then proudly showed us her sons wedding album, it was in pristine condition and made with such care. It was so nice being invited into their home and not something I was expecting, a lovely treat. We had bought his mum a bunch of flowers beforehand, and on the way to the market I had sat in the front of the shared tuktuk and had driven us for half of the way. It was just like revving a handheld boat engine, the driver kept telling me to slow down which I thought was unusual for India!
We spent a morning in Mysore before heading to Bandipur national park that evening. As soon as we arrived three of us visited the local market and met a lovely guy called Sahaib, who wooed us into his incense and perfume shop, he showed us his collection of notebooks he has for every single country he receives visitors from, in which they comment and right down what they bought. I was so enthralled I ended up buying 4 oils for 1,200 rupees, which you can either keep in that form or turn into perfume using alcohol. For the rest of the day we crammed in Mysore Palace, one of the most beautiful buildings I have ever seen, especially the intricate interior designs. We also visited a very friendly local families' home who made us a mouth watering veg biryani, with an eggplant dish to go along with it. For dessert, we tried a simple dish called mixed fruit custard, which sounds so simple but was actually delicious and a new favourite of ours. That afternoon we all had one of the most magical experiences of our lives. In the first half of our safari all we had seen was some deer and a peacock, then suddenly there was a leopard roaming down a bank on the left, after 15 minutes it came back out and we watched it stretch out in the afternoon sun next to the river bank. Mindblown! Our luck continues and we sore a little family of 3 elephants, at one point the male elephant seemed as if he was going to charge at us and we weren't in the sort of position where we could turn around easily - luckily we escaped unharmed! It is the next day now and I am sitting outside our guest house in the hills in Coonoor near Ooty, which we arrived at this afternoon from Bandipur, it is pretty downcast but you can see the breathtaking mountains stretching out in the distance. I am surrounded by tea hills, and I am excited to learn more about them in our day here tomorrow.
bye for now,
Phoebe
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