The birds and almost bees, not to mention a few animals

En route to Kerala from Tamilnadu, we stopped overnight at Theni, a beautiful and cool place in itself. On the way to Thekkadi preserve we stopped by Suruli Falls. It was a waterfall about 50 feet tall and 150 feet wide and it had an artificial look to it. 

They had put steel bars everywhere to let folks bathe and that gave it a very man made feel. The water though was cold and refreshing and given it ran through a bunch of herbs, was supposedly medicinal. 

Those of us who decided to take bath in the falls had a great time. There was no photographing this falls because of the bathing folks! On the way back from the falls (it is almost a mile hike one way with some steep steps at the end to get to the falls), we saw a bunch of vendors selling fruits, cut mangoes, beads etc. 

It was a treat to watch the kids go check all this out.

Took a chance and got a "towel" for the bathing thinking it would be a good souvenir. It has turned all my baniyans and other white garments that went to the laundry load a nice purple! 

Did get to take photos of the monkeys near the falls. They were such a menace, stealing waterbottles, purses and even trying to grab at little kids.

and this one posed nicely for his portrait!

We saw firsthand the problems of having wildlife interact so closely with humans. It was neither good for the monkeys nor us!

Later we were rewarded with sightings of lots of different birds, deer, wild buffallo. On this trip we got to see bee hives that were thrown in the ground, possibly by the monkeys!

The boat ride!

It was raining on and off  every 5 minutes and that made the bird photography challenging, but the weather resistant 70-200mm lens proved itself!

The cormorants (if I got that right) were amazing. They are smaller than the ones we see in US or the ones we saw in New Zealand, but they make up for their stature with speed! The wild buffallo we saw were huge. This is my first time seeing them in the wild in India. 

We got to see baby birds crying out to their parents!

Kerala, is truly "gods own country!" The scenery on the way to Suruli falls was pretty much this for a good 25 miles. 

The Thekkadi lake itself is a sight to behold. The colors are vibrant, the sky was perpetually ominous and the constant rain makes it difficult to forget that even though you are on a large boat, you are not secure..

and my favorite photo in HDR of the lake!

It is not easy to do multiple exposures on a moving boat in the rain. It was worth a try. Unfortunately it did not work out. This shot though is a single exposure tone adjusted using PS5.

We had a great time in Theni, Thekkadi and on Thekkadi lake. Would strongly recommend this as a three day trip without time deadlines.

This is not one to be rushed. We will definitely try to revisit this place in this lifetime!

Two elephants, two hours, memories for two lifetimes

We did two trips within trips this year. The first one was a trip to Kerala with my parents, brother and sister and families. 

We stopped first at Thekkadi and went for an elephant ride to view the Western Ghat mountain range from vista points along a ridge. 

There were two elephants, one male and one female that took the family in batches of four through a 30 minute ride. The male elephant is apparently the fourth largest elephant officially known in Kerala. 

They were magnificent creatures and were happy to take the 4-5 kilograms of bananas divied up and distributed through everyone in our group. 

There were pictures.. lots of them.. here are a few.

Throughout the trip Jr. was a very serious person. The only time I saw her smile, even blush was when she was on the elephant! 

Then came the session where we fed the elephant and the kids got blessed by them. They were happy and scared to go near the giants but soon realized that the animals were gentle creatures. 

That was a kid who is scared and happy at the same time! Should caption that image "Scrappy"! 

Jr. did warm up to the elephant and fed it first. Did not expect her to be that bold. She surprised me.

and once she did it, was all proud. "Did you see what I just did?" 

The little one was really scared and needed a little help from the adults to go near the elephants. 

Then she was their "best friend"!

She got up close and personal !

There were many unforgetable moments on that trip. My parents who were not sure of joining us because of their health concerns, jumped in last minute to join us. Watching them go around on an elephant made my day! 

The views from the ride were breathtaking as well. You could see the mountain ranges, the towns and farmlands below and the sunlight doing a spotlight show through the break in the clouds. 

This reminded me of the views on the way back from Whittianga to Auckland in New Zealand. There is so much sightseeing to do in India. Don't know when we will get time to go soak it all in..

After this we went on a boat ride in the lake to spot wild animals and birds. That is a post for another day!

A new normal

July 2014 is going to torment me and posssibly the family for a long time. If there was one period in our life that deserved a "love hate" relationship, this would be it.

Early on in the month, we were wishing July had 60 days and by the time 15th rolled in, we were hoping to move over to August!

Our emotions were competing with the monsoon rains while we were in the middle of the monsoon rains in Kerala and TamilNadu

Since then we have seen a lot of turbulence literally and figuratively. Now that everyone is sleeping in their own bed and the work, home, yoga routine is coming back for me, there is hope that we will settle down in time for the school year that starts next week. 

I have taken a break from almost all social media in the last month for multiple reasons. Someone on my Facebook list is not who they claim to be. Either that or there is some hacking going on when I try to log on to Facebook from Airport wifi's in Asia. If you read this and have had friend requests from me in July, promptly take that down. 

The other reason for not getting to blog was simple. Wait till the negative tide turns and then start blogging. 

This is not the first time we went on a trip or a trip within a trip. There is no single picture that stands out as a trip highlight, but this one comes close.. 

Have always found that writing about a travel experience in bits and pieces, long after the travel actually happened is a cathartic experience in itself. Don't know why, though!

We will pick up the narrative, from the TamilNadu Kerala border...

Sita Mardi

On the way back from Allahabad, the driver strongly recommended a stop at Sita Mardi.

There are signs to this place from the time you leave Allahabad and a lot of hype. What beat us was that we had never heard of this place before as an important historic place in connection to the Ramayana. Ayodhya yes! Panchavati, yes! etc. etc. Sita Mardi. . not really.

Still curiosity and the fact that we had exceeded the daily limit of 200 km and were paying extra anyways made us say "okay. it is on the way and a small detour.. so take us there"

Amazing artwork on the dome!

Was told by driver that the wall work was done by Japanese artists. Do not know if it is true..

Some really nice bas relief murals on the walls..

Shiva with the ganges from his head flowing on steps into a pond. Nicely done!
The place definitely had some unique artistry compared to typical temples.. There was almost a feeling that a FengShui expert had designed the whole premises!

Shopping for trinkets. What would any trip be without it?

Flit like a butterfly, sting like a bee?
Jr. boxes flies like Mohammad Ali!

It was so funny to watch her being so mad and angry and trying to box the flies away with her fists!

The Giant Hanuman was nice but there was no place to stand in a shade and admire it. Lot of concrete around the statue, that was too hot to step on barefoot. No footwear and lot of heat with no shade was difficult for me to walk around and take photos, and it was impossible for the kids. So it was a one minute trip around this statue.

We went through a one lane mud road for 9 km and finally reached a market. There was a beautiful temple there (built by Birla is what we were told but could not see any signs there) in what was a gorgeous setting. A small river, temple on the river and a bunch of shops around it. Apparently the small temple has been built over many times and the later attractions like the Giant Hanuman statue were built by Japanese architects. The Hanuman for some reason looked more like a Japanese Hanuman than an Indian Hanuman!

The kids were not impressed what with the heat and the flies in the place. We stopped there for an hour and enjoyed the temple. On a cooler day with some breeze, this would have been a great outing.

Definitely recommend a visit if you are going on the Varanasi - Allahabad route!

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Even tigers eat grass

There is a saying in Tamil..

இந்த புலியும் புல்லை திங்குமா?

Indha puliyum Pullai thinguma? (will this tiger ever eat grass? in reference to a change of preference when it comes to dire circumstances)

Jr. did it in our India trip. A girl who has never had a penchant for planes, trains and automobiles when it comes to toys, a girl who uses purses and handbags as her only props for playing daycare, or school or hospital or anything for that matter..

had to make do with boys toys because that is all my nephew had! Planes, train sets and cars and vans of every kind.

The little one did nor care what the game was as long as there was fighting for ownership involved!

It was a treat to watch Jr. play train!

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