Til' next time, India

I apologize to those of you who were alarmed by my last entry. I am hearing through the grapevine that I scared you all with our tales of thieves and stomach parasites. BUT, all is well and we are really enjoying our time here in India, despite some minor setbacks.

I don't know if you are up to date with the Indian celeb magazines, but if you find the opportunity to grab the latest, you'll see your two favorite travelers on the cover. Since the last entry we have toured through the city of Mysore, where we became a bigger attraction than the sites we went to see. At first we were flattered, thinking it was based purely on our good looks, but when requests came for a song, I realized they thought we were famous (being blonde and American and all). Our favorite was when an Indian guy told us his friends mistook us for J.Lo, seeing as we are Latino. In all honestly, there are more photos of us floating around on Indian cameras than on our own and we will probably be gracing the living rooms of various homes throughout southern India. Although the organized tour was sadly unimpressive, there were 2 parts that were really memorable (not counting the various photo shoots): the Mysore Palace and the Brindavan Gardens. As we walked through the rooms it was easy to pretend we were in a Disney movie...so we sang some Aladdin hits we all know and love (including but not limited to "A Whole New World" and "Prince Ali"). The Gardens were best once the sun set and the lights lit up the fountains. Luckily we caught the tail end of the fountain light show in which the water was synchronized first to American techno and secondly to traditional Indian songs. India is the land of extremes.

Next stop after Mysore was Kochi in the state of Kerala. Kerala is known for it's backwaters and for good reason. We decided to take a day tour which first took us on a houseboat (you could sleep on it...we didn't have the cash for that) through the larger canals and natural lake and then on smaller boats through the man made canals. Beyond the beautiful sights, we learned all about herbs and coconut trees...all things that we thought were extremely insightful at the time but have no true recollection of now that a couple days have passed. Whoops. Our day was made all the better by an older Indian couple who made it their personal mission to educate us on Indian history and geography throughout the day. They had a way of making the ugliest trees look magnificent and the most boring subjects intriguing. Plus, the fact that they could hardly walk yet were jumping in and out of boats because we said they should inspired us to travel forever! Sorry Mom.

Next on the itinerary was a slow (really slow) public boat through the backwaters, yet again. This was a really great ride because we got to see how the locals get around the area. The boat stopped anywhere, on any island where someone waved them down. The clientèle ranged from businessmen (sporting classy button down shirts with sheet skirts), to schoolgirls, to guys hauling their coconuts from their island to the mainland. It was awesome. After yet another bus ride we arrived in Kumily.

Our main reason for going to Kumily was to see some animals at the Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary. Ironically, the majority of our fun was found outside the sanctuary and didn't involve wildlife in the least. Our first day was spent checking out the tea plantations with 2 tour guides. One of them knew absolutely nothing about tea but spoke great English, while the second was extremely knowledgeable but knew not one word of English....together they made one great tour guide. It was pathetic how obsessed we were with tea. We wanted all the information they could possibly give us and then some more. On our little tour we went into a tea factory, at which point we were consumed by the glorious smell of tea making! It was like breathing in a cup of tea! I couldn't get enough. We also saw some of the ladies who pick the tea leaves, who get paid a whopping 80 rupees (2 dollars) for the first 45 kilos they pick and 2 rupees (5 cents) for every kilo after that. Think of them the next time you throw out a tea bag. Our perfect day was made all the better when the owner of the tea shop gave us a tour of his spice garden. When his kids weren't running amok, he was able to show us various plants (coffee, vanilla, cardamom, all-spice, cinnamon...) that we would have otherwise thought were weeds. He fed us a cup and tea and we went on our way. It was refreshing to encounter such a generous man who didn't want anything in return.

The next day we actually went into the wildlife sanctuary....what a let down! We took a boat ride and spotted some buffalo. Well, they might have been buffalo..or they might have been bison (don't know the difference)...or they could have been dead bushes in the distance...who knows!??! We will have to take their word for it that the black spots were indeed buffalo. In order to make up for the dud of a boat ride, we let some lady rope us into taking an elephant ride. We were an easy sell as all Jess wanted for her birthday was to get on one of these darned elephants we have seen roam the streets. While it was exciting at first, it quickly turned depressing when we realized we were supporting animal cruelty. To the elephant mans dismay, rather than pay to ride the elephant, we fed her some fruit and went on our way.

From Kumily we headed to Puducherry, where we are right now. Tonight we took a Yoga class and tomorrow we are heading north to catch our flight back to Mumbai in a couple days. Our trip to India has been an eye opening, interesting experience that I wouldn't trade for the world. We have taken the good with the bad and are leaving wishing we were better prepared to spend more time here. Coupled with it's poverty and lurking smells, India is gorgeous, has an engulfing culture, great food and, as we have come to find, is not as intimidating as those of you at home might think.

And finally, if I can give you all one word of advice...go to the store and buy some cardamom tea. I don't know where you can buy it, but find it and drink it. You will love it. Oh yea...go to an Indian restaurant too.