Epilogue

Well it feels good to be home!  I am slowly adjusting to the time change.  I wanted to add some videos and pictures that I was not able to add during our trip. They are not in any specific order.

 This was a demonstration of weaving.  This is a program that my mom helped to set up.

 These stores are everywhere :)

 This is a video of the traffic at an intersection.  I am surprised that there are not more accidents!

Views from the train from Chennai to Madurai

 This was the first day in the Delhi market place.  No wonder everyone has gone to using cell phones.

 Yikes!  This is a 2 lane road with oncoming traffic.

This was our last day.  We took a ferry ride out to Elephanta Caves.  These caves (temple) were carved out of solid rock with a hammer and a chisel.

Stray dogs are everywhere.

This picture was taken on the trip up to Kodai.  As a kid I always liked seeing these flowers.  

Mumbai

Mumbai a large city of 22 million people.  We toured Bollywood today.

 We had high tea at the Taj Hotel

Gateway to India

Dhobi Ghat

This is one of the places in Mumbai where Laundry is done.  It was amazing  to see and to think that they keep everyone's laundry together.  It is quite a system.

Hawk

I managed to get a great picture of a hawk at the hanging gardens in Mumbai

Starbucks

We went to the Starbucks in Mumbai

Mumbai

View from our hotel room in Mumbai

Golf Course

Sifting the sand for the the sand traps at the golf course

Kodai

Cow has the right of way even on the sidewalk

Peacock in Madurai

Road to Kodai 2

Good place for a nap

Road to Kodai

This looks like a great place to sort and dry rice  Totally unconcerned with oncoming traffic

Sunset overlooking Kodai Lake

We will be walking around the lake, 3.5 miles and then boating later in the day

Kodai

View of Perumal the mountain in the distance, overlooking Kodai Lake. Kodai is another hill station 7000 ft elevation and 10 degrees north of the equator.  Kodai school is the boarding school that we attended.

Madurai

Sri Meenakshi temple. It has 5 gates with a tower. The tallest is 160 feet and 1526 images

Sari

Sharon had a lesson on how to put on a sari in Madurai

Chennai

We went to a dance school.  This is a group of students waiting for class to start.

We drove 1/2 hour to get to a restaurant that served wine.  The wine was horrible.  They only had red which had already turned to vinegar.  They also only had one wine glass.  In every restaurant that we are in we have never gotten the correct number of menus either.

 At the market in Miraj.  This is the town where my Parents worked

 Donaldson Memorial.  It has turned into a museum.  There were no patients there.  The hospital is hoping that with their new physiotherapy school that the orthotic clinic will get more busy.

Game of soccer in the evening

Our house has been turned into a guest house now.  When Joe and I came out to India back in 1998 our house was a store room, it was very depressing.  The house still needs a lot of work.  

Motorcycle

Motorcycle pulled up next to our bus. Only the driver has a helmet. Sometimes there is another child between the 2 adults

Flying into Chennai

Just above the smog layer flying into Chennai

Shopping

Shopping the the bazaar in Mahableshwar

Mahableshwar

Mahab is know for its fabulous strawberries.  I learned that they were brought over and planted by the chinese prisoners during the second WW.  We also hiked to a waterfall called Chinaman Falls.  Since it is the dry season I was very surprised that there was actually some water in it.

Elephant Ride

On the drive to Mahableshwar

 Sometimes the sugarcane trucks get too top heavy

 Loaded down with sugarcane

 I was able to get this picture onour trip up to Mahableshwar (hill station-4710 feet elevation)

Elephant ride up to the Amber Fort in Jaipur

Airport bathroom in Jaipur

Tuesday the 26th-- Jaipur

Hawa Mahal-Palace of the Winds

Tbis is at the Amber Fort

This is the Floating Palace.  Our guide said the whole bottom floor is under water.  

Poor Internet connection

Well Internet access has been very spotty the last couple of days. Can't up load any pictures. We are leaving Miraj this morning and have a long drive to Mahableswar (hill station).  Along the way we will stop at a winery (Fratellis) for lunch and wine tasting. The state of Maharashtra is the Napa Valley of India.   So along the way so far we have seen the "Grand Canyon" , the "Great Wall" and now the Napa Valley of India.

Saturday we did Hunamun's Tomb and had cardomon tea in a Kashmir rug shop,  The rugs were beautiful and they can take anywhere between 9 months to 5 years to make.

 There are a lot fewer snake charmers than there used to be.  Animal rights activists got involved because a lot of the snake charmers were removing the fangs from the snakes.  I am not sure how it is regulated.

 This is Humayun's Tomb.  It is an octagonal building on a square foundation.  The octagon shape was chosen so that there would always be a cross breeze.

Back to Humayun's tomb again.  The pictures loaded in the wrong order.  Oh well!!