On the morning after the last of the wedding celebrations we drove off to Coorg, on the eastern foothills of the Western Ghats - the mountain range that runs parallel to the west coast of India. Our destination was a resort about 250 kilometers away, but due to our having to traverse the city of Bangalore during rush hour (which is pretty much mid morning to late evening) it took us seven hours. Our driver Raveesh drove as fast as he safely could while we napped, snacked, and enjoyed the passing panorama.
The resort was beautiful, nestled in a coffee, beetle nut, and black pepper plantation. It was also empty - being low season and not the weekend. We were pampered and we mostly lazed around, ate, played chess, and didn't do much for the next day.
One morning we drove to Abby Falls and the town of Madikeri. This is the view from the Raja's Seat - a place where the raja could sit and enjoy looking at his lands. A little bit later we passed this rickshaw full of kids from school. I would estimate that there were probably ten of them (and zero car seats :) in their school uniforms. They waved and smiled toothily at Vivian and Evan.
The next day we visited the Namdroling Tibetan Buddhist monastery - the exile home of one of the great and ancient Tibetan monasteries. A plaque in front of the temple explains how the Rinpoche started construction with Rs. 300 in his pocket and his bare hands. Today it houses over 5000 monks and is one of the largest centers of Tibetan Buddhist learning.
To mark this astonishing accomplishment Vivian bought some trinkets for her choir mates and Jo bought a souvenir for Carol.
We headed back through Kushalnagar town and procured some silk fabric and met with a tailor who measured the kids and told us he would have Evan's sherwani and Vivian's lehenga-choli ready for us by next morning. Then we stopped for a late lunch at a restaurant where Evan refused to eat almost anything and Vivian chowed down two plates of "lolipop" chicken. We were so stuffed by the time we returned to our coffee plantation that we missed dinner and were fast asleep when the worried chef sent hot Bournvita to our bungalow for the kids.
The resort was beautiful, nestled in a coffee, beetle nut, and black pepper plantation. It was also empty - being low season and not the weekend. We were pampered and we mostly lazed around, ate, played chess, and didn't do much for the next day.
One morning we drove to Abby Falls and the town of Madikeri. This is the view from the Raja's Seat - a place where the raja could sit and enjoy looking at his lands. A little bit later we passed this rickshaw full of kids from school. I would estimate that there were probably ten of them (and zero car seats :) in their school uniforms. They waved and smiled toothily at Vivian and Evan.
The next day we visited the Namdroling Tibetan Buddhist monastery - the exile home of one of the great and ancient Tibetan monasteries. A plaque in front of the temple explains how the Rinpoche started construction with Rs. 300 in his pocket and his bare hands. Today it houses over 5000 monks and is one of the largest centers of Tibetan Buddhist learning.
To mark this astonishing accomplishment Vivian bought some trinkets for her choir mates and Jo bought a souvenir for Carol.
We headed back through Kushalnagar town and procured some silk fabric and met with a tailor who measured the kids and told us he would have Evan's sherwani and Vivian's lehenga-choli ready for us by next morning. Then we stopped for a late lunch at a restaurant where Evan refused to eat almost anything and Vivian chowed down two plates of "lolipop" chicken. We were so stuffed by the time we returned to our coffee plantation that we missed dinner and were fast asleep when the worried chef sent hot Bournvita to our bungalow for the kids.
No comments:
Post a Comment