Some Pictures from our trip

I know it's been a long time but here is a link to some of the pics from our trip.

From Jason: Impressions

My impressions of India and walking around Bangalore
Thank you Dana for letting me contribute a post on your blog of our trip to India.  You have been a great travel companion on this adventure. 
They say that India is a feast for the senses.  And it is more than true.  For every deliciously exotic scent or sight I experienced, there was often an alternating equally nauseating smell or scene to feel only a moment later.  When walking around the giant city of Bangalore you can’t help but see the juxtaposition between old and new…of filth and beauty…of poverty and wealth.  It is so vivid it feels like the images smack you in the face.  The repetition of these polar extremes happens over and over, block after block in the hot and dirty, densely crowded, and highly polluted…beautiful…streets.
I had talked to many people about India before my journey and all of these stark contrasts I had heard about before coming here.  And while hearing and reading about them was no comparison to the first-hand experience, in some way I had been expecting them.
What struck me most poignantly was how my feelings seem to change after being here a few days.  The waste and refuse overflowing in many places somehow became less obtrusive.  Even the human hardship of the wretchedly poor less jarring.  The beauty of the city with its bright flowers and stunning architecture was starting to outshine the ugliness somehow.        
At first, I thought this may be a sign that I was starting to become use to the unpleasant side.  That seeing the disagreeable features over and over was numbing my mind to them in some way.  And as a result, I was starting to accept them as OK.   I started to get angry with myself.  How could I ignore those that were suffering while only seeing the city’s splendor?
After some time and reflection I have come to a new understanding for my feelings.   It isn’t that I was becoming desensitized or unsympathetic to the problems that exist in Bangalore and in other parts of India.  I was recognizing the magnificence of the many amazing things the culture has to offer.  What I was seeing that was outshining the darker side was the positive changes that are taking place all over the city.  Images of hope and optimism for the future, for all residents of Bangalore.
I greatly enjoyed my time India and feel fortunate to have been able to experience all it has to offer, the bad and the good.  I hope to visit again in the future and continue my exploration of this wondrous country.
    

Kabini River Lodge

So on Sunday, March 10th, Jason and I drove past Mysore to the Kabini River Lodge. They had warned us that the last 10 Kilometers (convert that to miles, kids) was a bit slow going. They told the truth. It was very bumpy no a hard dry rocky surface. The total trip took us 5 hours to go 220 Kilometers. That's an average of about 27 mph. One of the strange things about the arrangements for our stay is that the reservations were taken by, and paid to a kind-of travel agency, but the lodge is run by the governent and all the employees, from what I could tell, were government employees.
We arrived around noon, settled into our cabin, and went to dinner at 1:30. Before we left for our first safari ride, they told us about something amazing that had happened the day before that their rangers who had been there for 25 years had never seen. They saw a tiger kill a Ghar right in front of the tour jeep, about 50 feet away. Needless to say, we were pumped.
On our first safari, we started out by seeing some spotted deer, a ghar, and monkeys and some interesting birds (I'm going to have to get the names later). Then the jeep brought us to the sight the Ghar killing from the previous day and the Ghar was still laying on the ground but had not been eaten (at least the parts we could see). Then the tour guides claimed they saw a tiger and kept point to a place about 1 kilometer away. I could not see anything, but after about 5 minutes of searching with binoculars, I saw something that might have been a tiger. I thought, "is this what the safari is like? seeing things from a half mile away?" - My doubts would be answered a little while later. We did, however, see a hawk eagle land on the dead ghar as if it were going to eat some but it was so nervous, it just kept looking around.
The tour guides kept in touch by cell phone (yes, great cell service all over) and we heard about a leopard sighting. We drove to that area and saw a female leopard walking down the trail and we followed it (at a safe distance) and took pictures until it disappeared in the woods. Later we came back to that same spot and a we saw a male leopard (see pic below with blurry lump in the middle of the path). We stopped to take pictures and not disturb it but then the female leopard came out of the woods and tried her hardest to encourage the male to mate with her.  Unfortunately, or fortunately, the male showed no interest. They said this is very rare to so. Then one of the jeeps in our group started their engine and then the male started chasing the female into the woods but it did not look like an amorous chase so the female sprinted about 50 feet up a tree in about 1 second (as if she were sprinting across the ground) and sat on a branch trying to figure out what to do. She seemed scared. The male remained at the bottom of the tree until we left for dinner.  What an amazing experience!!!
Monday morning, we were woken up at 5:45 and were on a jeep around 6. That day we saw lots of the usual animals from the previous day but we did see 3 elephants, wild boar, a hawk eagle up from up close, and then we saw a tiger jogging into the woods. It was so cool to see all these animals in the wild. There are no fences in this wildlife preserve. After breakfast, we drove the 5 hours back to Bangalore and will leave first thing Tuesday morning for home.

I hope that everyone has enjoyed this blog so far. I will be enhancing it and posting pictures as soon as I can.

Cheers from India...

On our way to Kabini

Saw this community temple

Parting is...

Well, we have wrapped up our week in the offices and said goodbye's to our kind friends and business partners. Before we left, the team presented Jason and I with gifts that were far too generous and thoughtful. We will cherish them as momentos of our adventure. We also took some pictures that we will post when we can. We are so grateful for the opportunity to meet everyone face-to-face and get to know each other better. I truly believe that this experience will enhance our communications in the future. We bid adue to:
Prathima
Shweta
Rashmi
Pankaj
Sunil
Vijeesh
Amit
Bramhendra
Vimal
Josin
and of course, Kiran and his merry band of pongers
and all the others who helped us with the journey.

With that said...

We prepare for our next adventure before we return to the US.

Today we rest and charge the batteries to our cameras. Tomorrow morning (Sunday) our driver Vinay, will drive us to the Kabini River Lodge for 2 days of safari experiences. Jason found out that a gentleman, Ram, who works in our Bangalore office, is also a nature photographer who frequents the Kabini. He was able to give Jason some pointers about our trip. Here is a link to some of his photos.

We return to Bangalore on Monday and fly home on Tuesday. We are looking forward to our own beds, our own time zone, and returning to our families and friends to tell more stories about our adventures.

I will post when I can. Cheers!

Cricket for the first time

So Jason found a way to talk some of the people from the office into playing a game of cricket with us. So Kiran, Amit, Josin, and Vimal brought us to a field to play. Kiran plays for the Fidelity team. We even got our cab driver, Vinay to join us. We learned the basics and began. I did not realize that, essentially, everyone on the team is a bowler (Pitcher). They rotate around the entire team in the field after each throws a certain number of pitches. The batsman (batter) has a lot of rules regarding what parts of the body, the ball can hit. I'm glad we used a tennis ball because the real ball will leave big bruises.
One of the big mysteries for me was the position the batsman holds the bat during the pitch. In baseball, we are taught to hold the bat up high before we swing. I've seen some footage of cricket matches where the batsman is typically holding the bat down low during the time of the pitch. I now understand that this is to maximize the protection of the wicket.
Thanks to one of my high school English teachers, Mr. Spencer, I know what a "sticky wicket" is and we did not have one for our experience. Do you know what it means?

Needless to say, Jason and I had a lot of fun and took some pictures. I will post some here when we get them off of Jason's camera.

When we went into the offices later that day, Kiran had presented us with a Cricket bat and ball. That was SO kind.

Many thanks to the team for taking so much time out of their day to show us Cricket.

Some things I have learned

One of the main things I have learned while here in India is how people conserve resources whenever possible. There is not a lot of waste. Fuel efficient motorcycles or scooters are used not only to save money and gas, but it provides them with more flexibility to get around more quickly during heavy traffic times. When your commute is typically 1-2 hours each way, that can make a big difference.

Just because something on the menu seems inexpensive, does not mean it will be small. Jason and I both learned our first day at the food court at the office. We saw items on the menu for 65 Rupees. This corresponds to about $1.20 in the US. we thought that would be like a small appetizer so we ordered 2 or 3 items from the menu. Well, we walked away with a total of 5 trays of food (see pic) and were embarrassed, but got to sample several fine dishes even though we did not finish the food.

We have discussed so many things about the foods and handicrafts from all parts of India. Everyone has been very helpful with providing information and guidance regarding where we should go or what we can do.

I will post more things as we proceed through the weekend.

There is a small town outside of Bangalore called Ramnigar that has a roadside restaurant that is famous for it's food. Even though it may take an hour or two to get to, it seems like everyone knows about this and some people eat there quite often. This is where we had our first breakfast in India and it was incredible.