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Wayanad: elephants and flowers
We spent a long day on the road from Mysore to Wyanad in the mountains of Kerala, watching not only the landscape but also the economic welfare of the residents change. The state of Kerala boasts 92% literacy and a Communist government. Private ownership of resources is permitted, in fact the tea plantations that roll…
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Mysore Day 3: more temples and palaces
Our last day in Mysore included a visit to a government silk factory, a temple high above Mysore in the Chalmundi hills and a tour of the Mysore Palace – the one that lighted up on Sunday night.
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Mysore Day 2: temples and a trip to the market
I think Road Scholar planned this entire tour so we could be in Mysore last evening. Every Sunday evening the Mysore Palace compound is lit up at 7:00 pm with 90,000 lightbulbs. I am showing two photos, one before lighting up and one after. The compound was crowded with tourists and with Indian families who…
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Mysore Day 1: miscellaney and photos
Wake-up call was 3:30 this morning in order to make our 6:10 am flight to Bangalore (now called Bengaluru, the original and more Indian name). Road Scholar thinks of everything – the dining room had been opened for us for coffee and tea, and we had box breakfasts of fruit, pastries and two hard boiled…
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Jaipur Day 2: snake charmers and elephant rides
Today dawned clear and cool, and soon warmed up to a temperature my tour-mates and I expected when we signed up for this tour. To a person we are now all warm, the first time since our arrival in India. What wimps we are! Okay, I can understand the folks from Florida, Texas and California…
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Jaipur Day 1: Bollywood and traffic madness
Today we travelled from Kalakho to Jaipur, a city of just over 3 million people – not large by Indian standards as Calcutta, Delhi and Mumbai have populations around 15 million. But still more than twice the size of greater Vancouver!
