On our way to India…try a visit to a Bavarian Christmas Village! By Mike, 12/18 -20

Cami, Luke and I left California on 12/17 to meet up with Cate and Hollie with a 2-day stop at my Sisters home, which is about an hour south of Frankfurt. The goal here was to get a dose of classic German Christmas and the last blast of cold weather before heading to the tropic of Capricorn and we were not disappointed!

Michelstadt, Bavaria

We FINALLY landed in Frankfurt in the morning with Luke and Cami staying awake nearly the entire flight…needless to say, they were extremely tired when we landed and any plans for shopping and eating were soon put on hold as each traded off jet lag power naps. 

Cami and Luke with my Sister, Renate

That evening we went to a Bavarian village called Michelstadt where they deck out the entire town as a Christmas Village where vendors set up craft booths and Gluwine! We had a wonderful time visiting, eating, and even a little more shopping to buy last minute gifts before the flight to Delhi at 10:00pm on the 19^th.

Luke with Seth and Arjun Saxena

We met up with the Saxena family at the airport and commenced another sleepless all night flight landing in Delhi at 9:00am. Upon arrival we me the Destination Himalaya team who lavished us with drinks and an Indian flower necklaces as we transferred to yet another 4 hour flight to Cochin.

In Cochin we got into a bus that took us the rest of the 2.5 hours on BUMPY Kerala roads filled with bikes, motorcycles, busses, and Tuk-Tuk’s. We ended up at the resort in the dark but ready for a hearty dinner and FINALLY meet up with a very relaxed looking Cate and Hollie!

The Ayurveda Experience....India Style. By Cate, 12/19

Ayurveda is a special type of massage in Kerala, specific to this area – one not to be missed. Although it has its quirks, but doesn’t everything in India?

Am I looking relaxed yet? 

I have had about 4 massages while I’ve been here – mostly when we go away for the weekend. They tend to only cost $30-$40 for a 1hour and 45 min session including a steam and shower scrub – and you are assured to sleep like a baby the night after.  Each one has been different; each one has its “special” quality. I’ve gone from my first experience of being slathered with oil so thick I slide off the table like a wet seal, to the experience where I go with my driver to a spot that is “cheaper” than the hotel (not a good idea…) to my latest experience of being left awkwardly in the shower when the water turned off.  As I sat contemplating in the shower I thought I would share the experience – it helped pass the time.

Hollie taking in the Munnar views

We were in Munnar at our beautiful hotel on the rim of an expansive tea plantation spread below us. I took the 20-minute hike to the top of the hill for my much-anticipated massage.  I was welcomed and brought into a room where I was expected to drop everything while being watched closely.  I had the hot oil poured on my head and massaged into the roots of my hair for 15mins – feels so wrong and so right all at the same time. Then I was asked to lie on the leather table slathered in oil and the massage part begins, it starts with your feet and ends with your face, flipping over like a well-oiled fish in between. When the massage is finished you carefully get up making sure not to go ass over teakettle as you make your way to the steaming box. They open the box and shut you inside with your head sticking out – thank the Lord for that bit of genius seeing as inside the box can easily reach 120+ degrees. Seriously, it is so hot you want to scream by the end of it, but we don’t complain in India, things are what they are and accepted gracefully. 

I began to worry when my little massage lady (they were all very little..) kept going in and out of the shower looking quit concerned.  At this point I had been in the hot box for longer than I had anticipated, but every time she came in the door she refused eye contact. I had visions of dying in that hotbox, and Hollie having to deal with my body, and of the inconvenience that would cause her. I struggled to stay focused and not faint from the heat as she continued to run in and out of the bathroom avoiding eye contact. Finally, as my head was slowly starting to sink into the hole and my life was flashing before me she rescued me and opened the box – I have never been so relieved.

Little did I know the torture had only just begun.  Now, mind you, the massage was fabulous, I have no complaints – probably the best one I’ve had and they have all been great.  But, the shine began to dim starting with that hot box and the lights went completely out once the shower came into the picture. Going from the hot box to the cold bathroom made me look forward to that warm shower. The problem here, that I chose to ignore, (because it just couldn’t be), was that NEVER has a shower in India been a satisfying experience. Though THIS shower had two heads and jets coming in from all directions – this was a high tech shower, it had to be able to out perform any of the other showers so far! I stood in the shower naked as a jaybird as she tried desperately to get the water hot. Finally she gives me the head waggle and I step in…CRAP!! HOT!! But, I don’t want to complain because she worked so hard to get the hot to come out, but I just could NOT stand it and had to have her readjust the temperature. After some time of turning the nob in what I was sure was the wrong direction, she gives me the go ahead and I get in. It’s FREEZING cold, like glacier cold!  I tried so hard to just deal with it, but in the end I just couldn’t get under the water. I start fiddling with it myself – not wanting to upset her by calling her in again.  As I step out of the flow of water I have the idea to just lather up and rinse off as fast as possible and get the hell out of there.  I shampoo my hair, with what I think was actually oil, and lather up my body, a nice BIG lather to get all the oil off. As I gather up the courage to step under the ice-cold flow I look up and I watched as the water slowly dissipated to nothing…no water…desperate situation. I try to call my little friend back to me but my calls go unanswered as I stand there naked, all lathered up, with nowhere to go.

She finally comes in and is trying to ask why I turned off the water, and I tried to explain that I didn’t, that it did it all by itself (so hard to communicate sometimes), especially when you are standing in a shower naked, freezing cold with soap in your eyes. Then the panic I had seen in her before began again…….she would come back every two minutes and tell me two more minutes – but in India two minutes can mean 10 or 20 or an hour, just depends on the day. I try practicing the patience I have acquired while in India and think that in my normal life I might get frustrated or upset sitting in a shower with no water, stark naked and realizing I’m actually paying for this experience. Then, I receive a gift; the answer to the one question I have had this whole trip was answered. The purpose of the bucket and pitcher becomes clear as my friend re-enters the bathroom…… it’s for those special moments when the shower actually doesn’t work (which I am realizing is most of the time). The bucket is filled with boiling hot water and then there is another bucket filled with cold.  The pitcher is to combine the two and rinse off manually. Never have I been so grateful to have that bucket!!  I was most eager to get the soap out of my eyes and I was almost complete with the rinse when she comes back in and turns the shower on.  She is so happy it works she takes my bucket away and motions for me to finish in the shower.  I get under the shower for my final rinse and it’s the very same cold water it was before.

I suck it up, looking at my abandoned bucket and call it a day.

Cochin “Cultural” Experince. By Hollie, 12/17

We were off, finally, on another adventure out of the land of heat, humidity and sweat. On the way up to Munnar, we stopped in Cochin for a night, to experience the floating city (aka tourist city). 

Cochin fish nets



Cochin is known for its amazing fish and produce markets littering the long beaches. The fish are taken in by Chinese fishing nets, which tend to look more like slingshots than any type of food entrapment. It was all very entertaining to watch as they made this huge effort to catch fish the size of your pinky finger (if they caught anything at all). After the beach, we saw ALL of the museums, churches and synagogues in Cochin, oh, how we find them so NOT exciting! I was almost at a point of pretending I had Delhi Belly again to get out and return to the hotel. Ah, our hotel was simply amazing. Most of the buildings in Cochin are at least 200 years old and built by the English, Jewish or Portuguese, so it brought back memories of our many excursions to Europe, with the cobblestone streets and antique filled rooms.

Home is where the bed is

Our plan for the day was to go out with Renuka and see the city and maybe do a little shopping. Little did I know that the shopping would entail ONE gold store that where  half of India’s population had managed to take over. Renuka forgot to add the fact that it was WEDDING SEASON. Every bride and her family(consisting of at least 15 people and their children), were buying these immense gold necklaces that could way down an elephant….all made of 24+ carat gold. Poor country?  I think not, or the bank has their work cut out for them in loans lasting 3 lifetimes. We stayed to a little corner that we were shoved into as Mom picked out a simple gold chain with a very small pendant of Lakshmi; the God of health, prosperity, wealth, and just about everything (the women in India revere Lakshmi ). Even our little chain was enough money for one day – imagine these people buying POUNDS of gold without even a blink of hesitation, it was a little mind boggling actually. We finally made it out of the store, and sought out our car in a mess of millions of people and their gold. The word even makes me a little queasy.

Indian Theater Performers

We made it back to the hotel in time for a quick turnaround to go to a cultural dance performance, and entered into a room FULL OF….no one. It wasn’t that unsettling seeing as we are so used to eating, rooming, and being alone nearly 98% of the time. We watched the actors put on their makeup and then came the French tourists! All of a sudden we were appreciating our past  loneliness. They all came in, sat in the front row (which was of course reserved for them..), not one of them weighing under 200 pounds – and whatever view we had of the stage was suddenly gone. They continued to talk and laugh, and burp, and fart until the performance was over. It was such an experience… It was actually quite an amazing performance, of what we heard and saw of it.

We headed back for dinner at the hotel, alone again, with our own private guitar player and drummer – and we were happy. It was around 8:30 or so, our usual bedtime, but we decided to get crazy and go out for a night of shopping. We were focused on finding a Christmas outfit for me, and went into possibly every store on the street – they were all the same, sold the same things, and had the same sale techniques. We ended up with a few trinkets for the kids at school and some other necessities, YAYYY for success!!

 We didn’t feel like walking so we decided to take a tuk-tuk for a little adrenaline rush before bedtime – and it was THE BEST TIME EVER with possibly the funniest little Indian man alive. We cruised down the street, with him BAAAAAing to fat white ladies, whistling at the ancient Indian women, and driving his tuk-tuk repeatedly yelling “scuse me, ES-CUSE ME, FERRARI COMING THROUGH!!!” you kinda had to be there, peeing in our pants with us to really experience it. Sadly, we made it to the hotel and our fun was over, and WAYYYYYY past our bedtime -11:00!!!

From Kumaracom to Cochin to Munnar and back. By Cate, 12/16-18



Breakfast with a view



I am sitting here overlooking the beautiful Munnar tea plantations (7000 ft.) as the sun is rising over the mountains.  We are sitting on the rim of the valley below and the scenery is breathtaking!  Hollie and I just got back from a short trek that involved 310 stairs, down and up, meaning 620 total (yes, we counted).

We were stalked by some wild creature (s) – couldn’t make out what they were, but they were large and brown……and luckily they were more afraid of us than we were of them, though Hollie had her handy dandy stick to fight them off in case they attacked. I didn’t bother to tell her the fight would be futile if it came to that, but She was a little nervous after the tiger fight that occurred just below us the day before.

Yesterday we took a little tour around the outlying areas and I’ve never seen anything so beautiful.  We passed 3 lakes. I have been told the names but it sounds like “Mfjhasoidgylksdh” to me, so I won’t even try to butcher the name by trying. The mountains are covered with tea plantations, Eucalyptus (which our driver this week insisted were pine trees… last week they were oaks…), coral trees, poinsettia “trees”, and flowers too numerous to mention.  Hollie and I went on paddle boats styling our overstuffed life vests once again – they really do cramp your style. We went to a few local markets on the way and saw more junk being bought up than you could imagine.  I promise you, you do not want a gift from here. We did manage to buy a GIANT box of MINI tic tacs and made the shop keepers day.  After we asked for the box, he tried to sell us everything else in boxes figuring we Americans like to GO BIG or GO HOME!

 

After a car accident we witnessed, nothing big just another guy ramming his car into a Tuk Tuk – they detangled and went on their way, we saw a herd of wild elephants up on the hill.  Everyone just stopped their cars in the middle of the winding road and watched (though we could only see ¼ of the elephant) as they meandered through the forest.  We then went to a tea factory, which we really had no interest in because we would REALLY prefer COFFEE…hmmmmm…cappuccino…. feels so good just to say that!.  We both got a tea headache and tried to exit  the throngs of people keeping us in there, but you really have to be aggressive around here to get anywhere, so I pulled that out of my hat.

Once we escaped the tea plantation, with tea for those who are tea lovers (since it is the best tea you can find anywhere apparently), we headed back for a short trek and Ayurveda massage, but that will be its own blog entry. Going backwards, as I am here, because it feels like you need to hear the present before the past because that is just the way it goes in India – (I LOVE no rules….).

Where am I?  Ok, so before Munnar we spent a day and night in Cochin shopping for Christmas outfits for the family and visited a Gold Shop – omg……..Hollie will fill you in on the shopping trip in Cochin, because she is WAY funnier than I am.  Oh, and the man with the Ferrari Tuk, Tuk.....

What I Have Learned. By Hollie, 12/17/11

Coming to India has made me realize my strong points, but more importantly my weaker ones. Until now, I hadn’t realized that my fears have held me back from experiencing things that make me stronger in life. When you let your fear consume you, you can become paralyzed. It will only continue to poke at you until you give in and face what it has to offer. When you give in, and just let things happen, you learn to accept it – and maybe it wasn’t worth fretting over in the first place. 

“If your given a chance, take it. If it changes your life, let it. No one said it would be easy, they just promised it would be worth it.”  I remember the first time I found this quote, it was written in pencil on my desk in Chem class my junior year. I never really thought anything of it, other than it was nicely put and something to keep in the back of my mind. The whole idea of “everything happens for a reason,” has never run through my mind more than it has in India.  Teaching at the school, has been anything but easy, but in the end, it turned out being the most rewarding and life changing experience of my life.

I had NO idea what to expect when I was first introduced to the idea of “voluntourism” by our friend Sanjay Saxena at Destination Himalaya last year. I know I was filled with anxiety about the trip I could not explain, even to myself.  I think it was the unknown and unfamiliar that was so frightening.  It was that first day at G.W.U.P.S Kareemadom School, when I was thrown into a classroom with 15 kids, looking at me and expecting something, that I realized my fears.  I was still weary from the 5 mile bike ride that consisted of unpaved dirt roads, bridges ready to collapse, and riding through a place so foreign to me that I thought my fears couldn’t be any more real. But life continues to surprise me. As I said in one of the earlier blogs, teaching is THE LAST profession I would even think to consider – but there was something about these kids that made me keep coming back. They are all so much less fortunate than we are in almost every way.   School, for them is a privilege - compared to many of us where school is a burden. It makes you wonder, if we were less fortunate, would we take advantage of school as a privilege? Or just wish for what things we don’t have, what cars we don’t own, or what salary we don’t make? Its just hard to see these kids, and the potential they have, and realize they may not be given the opportunity to achieve their dreams.

 

The dedicated teaching staff

Its amazing how intrigued they are in us, (obviously the blonde, red hair and fair skin combo is a bonus) but all they want is to communicate. All they want is to hear us talk, and have the chance to listen to our stories and see pictures of how we live life. They don’t have a lot of chances in seeing another culture and the bigger world outside of their own little village. These kids are so high on life, and expect so little from anyone. Its to the point where little drawings we give them to color, they give back - and whatever they have with them, bindis, hair ties, bracelets - anything they are willing to give up to thank us for just being there. These kids are so much more emotionally intelligent than most kids in the US, and what I mean by that is, they have no filter  expressing love and compassion towards us and each other on an every day basis.

This experience has changed my perspective on everything in life and I think it’s a privilege that everyone should consider. Incorporating volunteering with travel allows you to experience another side of the culture. By interacting with others on a daily basis and essentially taking part in someone’s life, not only changes you as a person, but gives the other person a perspective on your own culture. It’s a chance to develop a new kind of relationship – one that is cherished for a lifetime.

Sunday, A Day In Our Life In India. By Cate, 12/11

Well, we blew out of Peryiar early to avoid the demonstrations that seem to be getting uglier and more violent with each passing day.  Our hotel was right on the border of where the worst of it was, and the natives who were getting restless, were also starting to get unruly. As we headed back down the hill we saw many buses and motorcycle gangs heading up to support the cause, we were glad to be heading home.

Cate making rubber

On our way back to Kumarakom we stopped for a planned lunch with a “Christian” Indian Family.  The family lived on a beautiful rubber plantation on 15 acres, with 1800 trees.  We drove up the long driveway that had lion heads at the gate, and arrived at a beautiful plantation house built in the 1890’s.  Every generation that was alive was there to greet us and we took our positions as “foreigners”.  The patriarch took us around the plantation and showed off his Rubber trees, tapped them for us, and showed us how he collects and makes the rubber.  He grew up on this plantation and his father built the house.  He is the grandfather of the woman that cooked for us and she looked to be my age.  We saw his garden with pineapples and tapioca and every kind of tree: cocoa, papaya, cinnamon, mango, nutmeg, banana, lime and  coconut.  He walked us down to the lower section where the rice fields were and showed us where prepares the rubber to send to the rubber making plant.  He spoke beautiful English and was so interesting to listen to. 

When we came back up to the house, lunch was served and we were told to wait while they set up the table.  Hollie told me, “Mom, there are only two seats at the table” – I waved her comment off thinking that just couldn’t be.  I mean, there were easily 15 family members present; they certainly weren’t just going to feed us!  Ahhhh, but we are in India – expect the unexpected…

They call us over for lunch and sure enough, there is our table under the nutmeg tree, with two seats.  Circled around the table are the family members we are to entertain for the next hour.  Hollie and I look at each other knowing this is another opportunity to stretch ourselves – though our limbs are so long at this point I’m not sure we can take anymore. The food they brought out was exquisite, and by far the best food we have had on this trip. There was only one problem, how do you entertain and eat at the same time?  What about the rule don’t talk with your mouth full?  They all stared at me, waiting for words of wisdom from the foreigner. The matriarch, Grandma, filled my plate with delectable eats; but I was at a loss as to how I was supposed to eat it!  Hollie sat across from me struggling with all the attention – she was sweating more than I’ve ever seen and it wasn’t just because of the heat. Every time she took a bite they would put more on her plate.  They finally asked her if the food was too spicy because her face was so shiny with sweat; they even moved her more to the shade, but it didn’t help. Lucky for her they did not expect any answers out of her and she remained silent…thanks a lot.  

So, all conversation was left to me, and I was expected to eat my food, show pictures and tell of all the wonders of my country.  I found I was still capable of talking and eating the fish – it could be chewed two to three times them swallowed.  My trouble came when they asked me to have some chicken – the chicken here is on the chewy side and there is NO WAY to talk and eat chicken. Meanwhile, as I struggle along – more and more family members would come out of the house and I would have to reintroduce myself and show the same pictures and tell the same stories.  In the end there was four generations of a VERY Catholic family standing around the table, all the while I’m supposed to be eating and enjoying the food they made for us.   My chance to swallow came when we were shown the many traditional outfits worn by the Kerala woman.  Luckily there were enough of them to not miss an outfit and we have seen most of them during our stay here – but I took the opportunity to let them do some show and tell. 

My only regret is that we did not get a photo of Hollie and me sitting at that table surrounded by our new friends – it would have been priceless, but alas we didn’t have the wherewithal to be that proactive. We were in survival mode.

After pineapple and banana dessert  (boy a serving of chocolate fudge brownie cake would be welcome at this point…), we went to take family photos with the great, great grandmother – (I’m sure if we stayed longer we would have discovered a great, great, great hiding in there somewhere…).

We finally said our goodbyes and returned to our car for the long drive home. They waved us off as we drove gratefully down the driveway wiping the sweat from our brow.  

"Trekking" in India. By Hollie, 12/10

Which seats are "leach free"? 

I had yet to get the sleep from my eyes, before we were on our way to the Peryiar Tiger Reserve. We walked to this little hut to be taken on our way, and were immediately given what looked like a giant, sock looking, wader and all they had to say was one word: “leeches.”  They obviously didn’t care that the giants sock did not fit in our shoes, but I guess better that than leeches up our pant legs. The moment I stepped on the bamboo raft, if you want to call it that, tied together with coconut “string”, crawling with the slimy leech creatures, and about half way to sinking, I knew this day would be trouble – and it was only 7am. When my mother suggested trekking for this weekend trip, I knew it wasn’t going to be like any old trip to the open space. After today we’ve realized that in India, trekking more likely consists of following non-existent paths, in the hope of finding some kind of animal, by following its dung through a never-ending mess of jungle. Along with us was our guide, (don’t ask for his name), who had one of those voices from a National Geographic documentary, his tone proceeding to deepen with every word.

We began with our trek and we hadn’t even gone 5 minutes when there was a sharp shrill of a scream I know so well. There was indeed a leech on Mom’s chest and she did one of her dance seizures in getting it off. This was going to be the beginning of a long journey. The view from the back of the three of us was often amusing, with the constant thwapping of the arms, throwing off the imaginary leeches. Not to mention, my body was still recovering from being sick, and trying to stay in good spirits was hard when all the branches on the non-existent trails would be let go and catapulted into my face as I tried to keep up.  It was all worth it in the end – as we climbed our last heart kicker of a hill, we saw a stampede (ok, it was like 4 or 5 of them, just trying to make you jealous..) of bison running away from us to safety. 

Did you see, hear, or say anything?

The preserve was beautiful and the views were amazing, looking over the lake and the trees with all the sounds of the jungle. We headed back, and finally made it to the sinking raft, and made our way back to the hotel. We decided to spend our “resting” hours, as preparation for Christmas. We got out the lists of what we did and didn’t need, and we headed out to see what we could find. But all we could see was a closed/locked gate, with what looked like a patrol officer guarding it. Yep, we were stuck, like little animals in a cage. The problem was local rioting over the dam have become so severe that people are beginning to rob houses and tear them down (they just need a little more attention than what they were getting…) So, no guests were allowed to leave the hotel.

However, at 3 we were still able meet Jay, our driver, for our boat ride through the preserve, to see the lions, and elephants, and whatever else we could find.

Does this vest make my face look fat?

We have come to realize India is the “land of false promises” – just like all hotel menus, all that you see is not necessarily real or possible. The tigers we came to find out (once on board and ticket price paid) are seen at best once a year, and the elephants?  Nope, the waters too high; funny how that works out. The excursion was not one to remember, but ended up burned into our minds as one of our endless laughing fits through the entire hour and a half. We waited in line (not what were used to) with masses of humanity to get on a boat that seemed to be the only one not half way under. We boarded, and were instructed to put on the life jackets. These weren’t your ordinary jackets, they were like giant orange turtle shells, restricting us from any movement at all. We looked like engorged ticks ready to pop (God knows what would happen if we were to actually fall in the water). We sat in our assigned chairs and waited to begin our adventure – caught between the overweight, nose blowing, and wheezing German lady, and the itch I couldn’t scratch due to my turtle shell encasing, to the laughter and crying because of how it simply overwhelmed us. 

The scenery was beautiful, and we enjoyed everything that was around us. The millions of trees, the calling birds, and the howling monkeys made it feel so peaceful and different. It’s so much more enjoyable when you know that these animals are free and safe in this beautiful environment, as opposed to in the cages we tend to see them in. Mostly what we saw were Cormorants, King Fishers and Snake Birds, all of which we have at home.  The one deer like creature we saw we couldn’t get our camera on it fast enough, isn’t that the way it goes?  We were about to yell  “look, a herd of elephants!” just to see what kind of chaos we could create, but I’d be afraid someone might fall overboard with their turtle vest if there was an ELEPHANT to be seen. 

At the end of our trip, Mom was proud to say that she saw the first bison on the hill. Everyone immediately rushed over and began snapping as many pictures as they could. A thought ran through our minds that there was probably a little man holding it by a rope in a bush, just for the boat to be able to see something – but I guess we’ll never know.

Jay took us back to hotel, where the gate was still locked and we were told to still stay inside until tomorrow. Time for dinner, and a new, beautiful day tomorrow!