Waterfalls

The state of Karnataka celebrated a festival for the Ganesha god today and the office was closed. Guys from the office picked me up early and we headed southwest to visit a state park by Sivasamudram. The highlight of the trip was a set of waterfalls cascading down a lush jungle setting. The waterfalls stretched across the horizon and had tiers of falls. This is one of the most pristine beautiful locations I have ever been and is a favorite for locals.

The local guides rent out circle-shaped canoes at the base of the falls and will take you right under them. So cool, I hope the video camera captured it without water damage.

More photos here.

Tipping

The tipping convention in India continues to baffle me. There seems to be no set custom, such as 10% or $1 per favor. I had no idea what to tip my driver that had been with me for 4 days driving me all over the country, sleeping in his car, and waiting attentively for my site seeing or meal to complete. He promptly started his car and drove to pick up if I had been gone 5 minutes or 5 hours. I decided to go with a $14 tip and tried to gauge his reaction. I am terrible at reading people (although I tend to be good at reading poker faces...) and felt that he expressed sadness. I found myself feeling cheap and unappreciative after he dropped me off on Saturday night. I arrived in the office Monday morning asked the office manager about an appropriate tip for the driver. He say $3 for the entire trip! I don't get it; a published cost for a one hour guide through one of the temple was $11 ("foreigner-rate"), yet the custom is to tip $3 for over 100 hours of dedication by my driver. Baffling.

My driver last night was a talkative sort with lots to say and ask. Unsolilited, he blurts out that his pay is 5100 rupees per month and casually asks what my salary is. Considering the exchange rate is 44 rupees to $1, how do I even start to answer him...

India charm

There is a certain charm about India that starts to grow on you. Yes, it could be staying at plush hotels with a driver to take you places, but I think it goes beyond that. No matter what conditions I am in, my hint of a smile always receives back a glowing, friendly response and an ear-to-ear smile. This shine comes from villagers in the "Magestic" back-country and the guy on a motorcyle stuck next to me in rush-hour traffic. I see the same friendliness and good nature shared among the locals themselves; I believe they are generally good-hearted and passionately contentful.

I have learned and seen some interesting things at the resort where I am staying. There are 500 villas on the property and 128 hotel rooms. The villas are primarily owned and lived in by full-time ex-pats living the good life in India; great food and servants on the cheap. I have seen a few cases of the good life going to peoples heads. For example, at dinner, two men sat at the table next to me and the staff promptly arrived at their table to attend to them. The one man went on a insane rant about the specifics on how he would like a Coca-Cola served to him, "Tall glass slightly chilled, 6 ice cubes, with the bottle... Ah, just tell the concierge that Mr. Laskmiti has arrived and would like his Coca-Cola served as he desires." Hilarous, I wanted to say to the guy, "Dude, its a soda, relax." Another guy has only ordered a steak, plain, no sauce, no sides at each of the meals I have seen him at the restaurant. To each their own, but there are some cases of abusing the system, yet it doesn't seem to bother the staff one bit. They will listen attentively and try their best to satisfy.

Office

Arrived at the office today. The campus competes in beauty and amenities with US campuses. Lots of trees, open space, contemporary architecture, and big name companies. The webMethods office features a strong color palette, large cubes and offices, and a nice cafeteria. I met many of the co-workers who I have worked with over the years and all were pleasant and welcoming. Indians tend to have long names and they say them very fast, so i will need to learn them from viewing the name plates ;). The first day included an afternoon of productive meetings with fluid conversation and many discussion points. The drive back to the hotel took 1.5 hours to go 4 kilometers, but it's no problem with a driver. (Note: The other commutes have gone smoothly so far, there was an accident causing this delay.)

Bangalore

The hotel in Bangalore is called Palm Meadows Club. It is very nice; like a oasis with the mad hordes outside the gates. Palm trees with luxurious room, a great gym and pool area; my son Logan would go nuts over the water slides. I have been eating fabulous food here, all meals have been great and the dinner at the hotel restaurant was awesome. It is quite a contrast between the last week of travel around the countryside.

I started off the day with a work-out and then decided to check out the spa. This turned out to be an experience that my wife would die for. It was a two and a half hour adventure feauturing a 45 minutes swedish massage, full body salt scrub and wrap, foot massage, steam room then suana, facial massage, oil application, and finally a hot shower; all for $25.

Chikmagalur

Nestled in the Baba Budan hills, Chikmagalur is a calm, serene town full of scenic surprises .hills, valleys, streams and snow-white coffee blossoms. Situated 251 kms from Bangalore, Chikmagalur is a trekker's delight, with its rugged mountain trails.

Friday included a couple mini-challenges. The credit card went into fraud mode and would not allow purchases. I needed to call Visa USA and answer a bunch of security questions to reactivate. The phone line kept cutting off, so I would need to start the process over after reconnecting. The hotel was accommodating, yet the process took almost a hour to complete.

The Chikmagalur area is very beautiful and pristine. The thing about India is that it is an amazing place were humans have not overrun the place. The cities and villages are packed and can be dirty, yet just outside the city limits is lush and colorful landscape. They need to incorporate some of the literally natural beauty into the city. I did places where the local government establish beautification areas, yet I saw people foraging through the plants and pulling off all the flowers. It is a complex problem.

But to continue today's events, I was told by a friend who had visited the area that he highly recommended to summit the highest peak in the area by hiking the path. I tried to communicate this to my driver and hotel , yet no one seemed to understand the work "hike". To get to the mountain, my driver told me that I needed to hire a different car and driver to reach the summit of the Chikmalagur mountain. I spoke with Corporate and they agreed with the story. So I handed over $40 more (mind you that this is equal to 5 first-class meals) and found the new car and driver in the morning. Well, I ended up trading my current SUV car for a piece of shit compact with a driver that didn't speak English. But we reached the top and enjoyed some very nice views. I saw a path that lead down the mountain and asked "What is that?". The driver said "trekking trail". I said I wanted to "trek" and he looked at me and said "What, no car". He pointed me to the path and away I went down the mountain. I followed the only trail there was which met up with the road/driver frequently. I continue down but eventually got to a road that was not the road we came up. And no driver. I continued down the road and about two hours pass without seeing anyone, I did have some crazy looking monkeys following me, two overprotective dogs barking, and had to push through a herd of cows. I did finally run into what looked to be a one-room school and the kids/teacher had faces of grave concern and amazement. Long story short, the panicked driver eventually found me and we drove back to the hotel to find a concerned staff. I was never really worried as there was only two roads with two drivers to find me, and a hotel and corporate staff knowing where I was.

I jumped in the SUV with the "old" driver and we spent 5 hours driving like mad back to Bangalore.

Photos here.

Travel from Mysore to Chikmagalur

The trip from Mysore to Chikmagalur took over 5 hours and included some hair-raising near death experiences in the car. City driving is like a bumper car ride, yet countryside driving is like Indy 500. I just can't explain the sheer terror of it; I felt fairly comfortable with the competency of the driver yet I felt he did not need to take so many unnecessary risks. It's like he had something to prove to me...

Anyways, we had three stops between Mysore and Chikmagalur to visit the Gomatheswara monolith and the temples at Halebid and Belur. The massive monolith was situated on the top of a large hill overlooking the city and bordered by a temple. I have been told it is the largest monolith the in the world, it was super cool to see and located a beautiful site.

We then headed to see the temples along the way. Both temples were amazing in architecture and a sight to behold. There were some unfortanate vandalism over the centuries since they were built yet they have held up well and you can tell they took forever for masonries to chisel out all the detail in the walls and ceilings.

All three sites featured amazing architectural feats and were wonders to behold. Here is a map and image of the trip.

Photos here.

Mysore

I did a few excursions this morning. First stop was to a local breakfast place for some very good Indian food; not too local that I could get sick but authentic. Then headed to the church in the city; beautiful massive stone with lots of detail work, inside was impressive as expected. The church has a catacomb that was interesting to see; like something out of a treasure hunter movie. My driver then took me to the cities high-end store for shopping. I was the only customer and there was about 10 people helping the salesman display jewelry and roll-out carpets. Interesting experience, but not my kind of place.

We then headed up to the highest hill around the area to see the Hindu temple. There were lots of Indians, I saw only one other white person. There was a local market there that I walked through without much sales pressure. I spoke to some of the shop keeps, as best I could, and got a few laughs in on our broken conversation. I walked through the two temples that features some impressive stone and silver workings. I met up with a guide, or he more sought me out, and he walked and talked me through the two temples there. It was interesting to see and hear about the place, yet I started getting a little overloaded towards the end with the guide pushing for more money, monkeys closing in to attack me, and not knowing the process for getting my shoes back. Lol, it all worked out fine though.

There is a palace in the city that has been converted to a high-end hotel and restaurant. I ate dinner there tonight. Fantastic place with stunning views and architecture. Truly felt like the Majahara while a full spread of food for three people, musicions playing local instruments, and very attentive staff. I even received a tour of the high-end rooms that diplomats and royalty stay at. I purchased a wall hanging here that I hope Christine likes.

Tomorrow, I start an early trip up the city of Chikmagalur. We will be stopping at three locations for some hiking, sight-seeing, and statue viewing. Should be another fun day.

India arrival

I arrived safe and sound after two flights that went very smoothly. As I hoped, I stayed awake for the most of the first flight and slept most of the second; the time went by fairly quickly with the tv and laptop. I scored great seats on both flights with the seat next to me empty.

I have to take my wife to dinner when I get back, as they lost my one checked luggage bag yet I have all I need in my carry on. They tried to stop me bringing the carry on the second flight saying that it was too big. I complained to a supervisor, jammed the bag into the bag-size checker and told him that the bag carried my essentials. The supervisor let me through with the bag, turns out it was needed.

After the delay at the airport in the missing bag, I went outside and met my driver. He called my first name out and told me the driver was awaiting my arrival in the carpark. I went with him to the car and away we went. The rental car was a compact, yet I ordered a full size SUV for the trip. I then asked about the hotel and, through rough dialogue, figured out that I was booked at the wrong hotel in the wrong city. I asked more details and discovered that I was not in the right car! We turned around and headed back to the hotel. I had my current driver cell phone my real driver to inform him of the mix-up. My current driver returned to the airport (after thinking I missed the flight) and away we went correctly to the town of Mysore. I think I was a little out of it after the 24 hour flight and 4:30 am arrival....

We arrived at in Mysore at 10:00 after a hectic non-rush hour drive that felt more like a car chase. Cars drive up the wrong way on highways and don't abide by the lane markers. Most cars and huge trucks do not have side mirrors, so cars must honk there way past others cars to alert them that they are being passed. My hotel check-in was at 12:00, I asked the driver to take me to the city zoo and spent the morning there. Very cool zoo with huge, lush pens for a diverse group of animals. There were monkeys running wild and being around the locals was entertaining. I took a picture of the cutest boy and girl with mom and grandma dressed in Indian attire. I saw another little boy yelping at the monkeys and thought of how much fun my son Logan would have at this zoo.

I am back at the Ginger Hotel now; its very nice and cheap at $30/night. I am showered up and ready to meet the driver to go to the palace in town. I planned to be out till about 7 pm and then head back to the hotel to crash/rest.