Weeks 3 and 4

Since I last wrote, I’ve been busy.  I went on a safari, explored a cursed temple, destroyed several small children in Connect Four (and then was badly beaten in speed-Connect Four)… my thoughts seem to occur non-linearly these days, so I’m just going to post and talk about a few of my favorite pictures from the past ~2 we

Indians tend to load a lot of people on scooters.  It’s extremely common to see 3 (the legal limit), and not at all uncommon to see an additional child (or goat, or giant pane of glass??) packed on the front. So, coming back from a restaurant one evening, four people, one scooter, with no rickshaws in sight, we thought we’d give it a try…

Shh, don't tell my mom!

I was later reassured to find out that my friend, the driver, is a former motorcycle racing champion (or at least second place).  I was less comforted to know that his butt was not in fact touching the seat the whole time we were driving. 

Fun? Extremely.  Will I do it again? Probably not.  When even the locals are laughing at you, you’re probably doing something stupid/crazy.

Speaking of driving, here are a few pictures of common Indian road hazards.  Cows (who have more of a right of way than pedestrians), road-blocks, and even a “road work ahead” sign. 

Cleverly hidden in the shadows to keep things interesting for scooter drivers

yes, it's a branch

Fortunately, Indian automobiles are paragons of road safety.

I think the best part of our safari through Nagarahole National Park wasn’t the safari itself (although seeing wild elephants was pretty special), but the sights and sounds of the country roads we took to get there.  As a friend here said, the most beautiful thing in India is the children.

On another outing I visited the temples of Talakadu, which were recently excavated from under ~30 feet of sand.  The sand dunes seem wildly out of place in this fertile river valley, and legend attributes their presence to a curse.  On the way there, my travel companion and I had stopped to recharge our GPS when we were invited to a celebratory meal honoring a snake god.  We ate food with our hands off banana leaves as people all around us stared inquisitively.  It was fantastic, easily my favorite meal so far. 

The temples were fascinating, but still my favorite part of the trip was again the drive.  We got caught in a rainstorm on the return, but once it had passed, the rays of the evening sun shone through the mist… it was sublime.

 

...and here's a gratuitous monkey

I’m taking my trip one day at a time, but now that I’m starting to get more settled (and no longer ill!) I’m finally feeling truly content. 

India is overwhelming and life-changing… and I think I like it.