Humorous as the title may be, we don't get to that till the end. We will, however, cover the events of the weekend. In mind-numbing detail. No, just kidding. Really. Here goes:
So Saturday early morning we pile into 2 jeep-type cars common here (I forget the model name, they seat 6 including driver comfortably), all told 9 of us. I know I won't remember all the names, but we had in one car Madu, Umesh, his brother, Paul(?), and I think Dave. OK so I totally screwed the last three up, I'm bad with names as we all know. Anyways, in my car, besides Nathaniel there were Sean and Eric, two very cool guys who we hit it off with right away. We traveled about 3 hours or so to the first temple site. Absolutely stunning, perched high up on a mountain, fantastic view, I got lots of pics to upload (though I'm sure Nathaniel will have some up soon
on his journal). Did I mention we had to climb up to it, some 50,000 carved-in-stone steps? Barefoot???? Yes, as with all the religious sites we visited, we had to remove shoes. I have some serious callouses built up. Ugh. Worth the climb though. Architecture was stunning, at the very top was a huge statue, maybe 40 feet high, carved out of a single boulder. Very cool having Umesh and Madu along, BTW, as they were able to tell us more of the background and history, as well as the Hindu mythology, behind the temples we visited.
So by this time, smelling quite ripe and feeling like we'd run a marathon, we climbed back in the cars and went another 45 minutes or so to check into the hotel, the Southern Star in Hassan. According to Nathaniel's travel book, which we consulted after we got back to the Leela, this was the best hotel in Hassan, "almost cozy". Yeah, almost. And the DC beltway is almost a serene country drive.
The beds were a thin (maybe 3" if I were being generous) hard mattress on top of a solid plank of wood. Might as well slept on the floor with a blanket under me. We'll get back to the hotel fun that night.
By this point Eric came down with a nasty case of food poisoning, and stayed behind while we ate there (quite tasty buffet) and then drove to another set of ruins, half hour away. This temple was at Belur, it was architecturally even more stunning. I know the location only because I bought the guidebook and some postcards (need to send some out, mental note). The common problem of vendors and beggars at the entrances to these temples was slightly worse here, they get very pushy trying to get you to buy anything. But at least there was an official desk there selling stuff, so I didn't get TOO ripped off. Got smart this time and took our shoes off in the car, so we didn't have to pay and wait for our shoes at the gate.
Then we're off to the final temple. This one really showed the desecration from the Moslem invaders of old (these temples are thousands of years old). We got a guide for this tour, and found out lots of fascinating stuff. The temple itself took about 112 years to build, IIRC. Lots of fascinating tidbits, got one really nice pic of a carving which had incredible detail, animals hiding in the woods at the top, and one of the gods on it had three bodies (and heads) but only two arms and four legs. Done really well. The temple itself was set in a really nice parklike setting, beautiful green grounds.
On the way out we were mobbed by the vendors. And I mean mobbed. Items thrust in our faces, they don't really take no for an answer... being polite means nothing, you have to shout "GO AWAY" for them to really back off. One vendor was a real pro though, she was insistent but not in my face, just kept bargaining downwards for a little stone dish-sort-of-thing (hard to describe really, but it was cute). Went from 50 rupees down to 10, and I decided to reward the more polite behavior by buying one. Turns out I paid too much anyway, according to the driver, but that's ok, it's only maybe 20 cents, big deal. And it was cute.
Got back to the hotel, napped for a bit (best I could) and then we walked over to get dinner around 8pm. Did I mention everyone here eats meals so much later than the US? 9pm is normal, some don't even start to cook until 9 so they eat anywhere from 10-11pm. Craziness. Anyways, got to the recommended restaurant, sat down and ordered, and were ignored for the next half hour. I swear, maybe they had to go butcher the animals or something, I have no idea, but we finally got some drinks and bread (it was later suggested that since Indians get tipped not for good service, but to get something, like good service, ahead of time, that may have been the reason why, I dunno) and 15 minutes later had an excellent meal. I cannot recommend any higher the cheesy naala bread. Awesome.
It was raining by the time we got out, so the drivers were nice enough to come pick us up. These guys were fantastic, I mean they were the best drivers I've seen in India, and that's saying something - ours had an uncanny knack of avoiding the numerous potholes that abound, got us safely across unfinished roads and washed out roads (literally, I think a dam broke after all the unusually high rainfall and it was maybe a foot or so across the road at one point), only hit one dog (and hey, that's saying something, fortunately we had braked and the dog just bounced off and kept going, poor driver was really shaken up). We had at least two close calls with oncoming traffic, no one drives on the same side on the road, all over the place, passing up slower cars. I don't know how we avoided a serious crash, but both times he slowed and timed it just right to swerve around and still stay on the road. Most impressive, yet heart-stopping. Serious pucker factor, there.
Hey, tangent, back on track now. So we crash at the lovely Southern Star. Traffic right outside the window, horns beeping all night, AC loud as a lawnmower. There were candles in the room, which I thought was odd. Hmm, little did I know...
4am I'm woken by a big
BANG and a flash of light, as the transformer outside blows. Dead silent in the room now, for 15 minutes as it gets hotter inside, I now can't sleep because of my tinitus... finally it comes back on. And then off. And then on. And so on, for the next three hours or so. I light one of the candles and set it in the bathroom just in case I have to pee the next time the power going off wakes me.
Next morning, we all feel like crap. Our car decides to just go back to Bangalore instead of another temple, which is actually too bad, we later found out it was a huge palace with 7 temples inside and a church, would have been nice to see. Next time we're out, Nathaniel and I are going to make a trip just out to there.
Anyways, Eric is just as happy we're heading back, he's doing better but still not up to par. Another bumpy ride back, partially in the rain.
Side note: Many houses along the way had one or more walls entirely painted as an advertisement for some concrete company. And there were hundreds we saw. Bright yellow, with blue writing and a red slogan. Everywhere. And they were pristine walls, so the house owners must have gotten some kickback from the advertising. Most of the houses here are concrete, so it must be a big business.
We saw lots of animals along the way, cows and water buffalo ('everybody wants a water buffaloooooooo'), dogs, sheep, goats. All over the place, across the roads, some being herded but most just walkin' around. And we did see two monkeys on the side of the road, but we didn't get a pic fast enough.
One village had huge piles of corn cobs just lying on the side of the road, drying out. Also saw huge piles of coconuts, bananas... We went through many villages with nothing around, the driver said all that was out there was agriculture.
So we get back this morning. I have never felt so thankful to arrive anywhere. (I will likely revise that statement later this week when I touch down at Dulles.) Took a quick break to unpack, then Nathaniel, Eric, Sean and I head over for some brunch at the Zen. (Tried the Citrus first, but apparently you need a reservation on Sundays for brunch, it's the most famous brunch spot in Bangalore. Who knew.)
Then we decided to head out for shopping. Well, except for Eric, he was pretty wiped. Hired a driver from the hotel, took us to some touristy places, found some very cool stuff for everybody. Ended up spending way more than I intended to. Sorry honey. It's all cool stuff, honest! And none for me, all gifts! Well, I did end up finding a street vendor selling what looked to be an obvious pirated edition (bad print and blurry cover) of Dan Brown's
The Da Vinci Code, which funny enough is the only Dan Brown novel I haven't purchased and read yet. And for only 100 rupees (about $2).
Found a KFC of all places on Commerce street, a long row of shops where the locals mostly go. Nathaniel got a really funny video of the three of us ordering Mountain Dews there. I didn't realize I had such a craving, but that puppy was drained in no time...
Had to come back early since the driver went off shift at 4pm, he drove us around till 5 but we were supposed to have the car another hour and a half. Not his fault really, but Nathaniel laid into the concierge when we got back, I think we're getting some money back.
Nathaniel and Sean are walking over to TGI Friday's (LOL) to see if they can find a Guinness, which is a rare find here. Only can find a local beer called Kingfisher I guess. But then they're coming back and getting me for dinner.
I'm pretty wiped. My back is killing me, and my legs are aching something fierce. And Monday is going to be a very, very full day. Lots of work to do still. We might or might not be leaving regular schedule, some travel agent that Hazel (the nice lady who set us up on the trip) works with often holds back seats on booked flights, so we may still fly back Thursday instead. I know we have a lot to do and all, but I'd still like to get back. As it is, I will be back in February (better be early instead of late in the month, gotta specify that to Nathaniel, I am
not missing Carrie's birthday) for at least a week. Both products I am supporting out here plan to release initial builds to production Feb 3rd. What a nightmare.
So, not sure when the next post will be. I have to write out some postcards, and tonight I really want to just soak in the bathtub. It's gonna be at least a twelve-hour day tomorrow....
Cheers!
