On the Road

 

The past couple of days have seen a lot of in-country travel here in India. We left Pondicherry, drove back to Chennai with a few memorable stops along the way, and flew to Bangalore in time for a New Year's Eve celebration. I however, missed the celebration in lieu of much-needed sleep - but was awakened at the stroke of midnight to the thunderous sound of fireworks, seemingly coming from all directions. My roommate Patty and I watched the explosions from our hotel room window in awe - the entire sky was full of fire. Today, it's the dawn of a brand new year, and I'm writing this from our bus as we head to Coorg. We are now in central Southern India, and at a higher elevation than the coast, it's blessedly cooler.

By far the most unique experience of the past couple of days was a stop at one of the Hindu pilgrimage sites (which site exactly I couldn't say - I failed to write it down, and no amount go google searching is turning up the result I need). At any rate, this site was absolutely astonishing, simply due to the sheer amount of devout pilgrims that were there. We had encountered pilgrims ever since we'd arrived - they are instantly identifiable by their bright red clothing - but visiting an actual pilgrimage site was mind-blowing. Masses of crimson-clad worshippers swarmed the area, moving like an undulating red river through the streets and alleyways leading to the temple. The temple itself (no cameras allowed) - was impossible to navigate due to the crush of people inside. It was so overwhelming and amazing, I basically just stood there incredulous. Full on mouth-agape incredulous. 

We also stopped and had a ridiculously memorable meal at a restaurant called The Great Kebab Factory. It's a concept restaurant that's actually a franchise with locations throughout India, as well as in Bankok, Thailand and Muscat, Oman. Chain outlet or not, the food was exceptionally good and there was way too much of it. I won't go into details here - I think  blog post dedicated to the fantastic food here in India is in order at some point - but suffice to say, it was an impressive meal for certain. 

 

The one other memorable stop along our road journey was at a small village somewhere en route. It is home to a silk factory which I managed to miss completely - I bailed on visiting because I assumed it would be a tourist front for a silk shop - but I was sadly wrong. I wasn't too torn up about it, however, because the village itself was a complete gem. I wandered the narrow streets and alleyways, and was met with smile after smile, greeting after greeting, and wishes for a Happy New Year from all I met. It's hard to describe, but the authenticity of not only the place, but of the people who live there was endearing and so very welcoming. Maybe they don't see many camera-wielding white chicks in their neighborhood on a regular basis, because the grace and hospitality extended to me and my friends was honestly genuine. Loved, loved, loved it.

Our next stop will keep us in one place for a couple of days. We'll be staying at a resort and spa situated on a coffee plantation, so I'm looking forward to it immensely. I gather it will be a beautiful contrast to the cities where we've been scurrying thus far.

And one last thing before I sign off, the best quote of the day: "Dead body on the right!" (Self explanatory, no?) 

Photo sampler from the past couple days