James & Quene travelling around the World

Here in Fort Kochin, Kerala, God’s country as they call it here. We’ve stoped to take a nice tour of the backwaters. Lots of lakes, rivers and canals all along the coast, really realxing, and hardly any mosquitos aound!
Front driver of the boat
Conductor de la barcaza

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Hi again.

En:
We’re in Mysore (my sore what? some of you will titter!!!) About 130km southwest of Bangalore.

We flew down to Bangalore (state capital of Karnataka) last Thursday, we stayed a couple of days there, we visited some ex-work colleagues in Accenture,

We got a bus to Mysore, a super deluxe high luxury bus as they describe it! only 160Rs = 3 euros . And it’s probably been the most comfortable bus we’v ever been on, plenty of leg room, and that’s a lot for us two giants!!! the 3 hour trip was on a failry nice straight stretch of road, dual carriageway most of the way, with a few spots in between where they’re working on the opposite side, these parts were the scariest, on occasion, when overtaking, the bus had to almost come to a standstill to let oncoming traffic get by, beeping like crazy to let the car/truck in front know it was overtaking. Quene nearly stopped breathing several each time, wincing away from the window!
Mysore Palace at night

Once in Mysore we found a rooftop restaurant to have dinner. As night fell, we noticed wierd looking birds flying accross the sky above in their hundreds, a closer look and confirmation from the waiter revealed them to be huge bats, the size of eagles by the looks! Then flocks of parakeets flying in the same direction. Something was up, we thought! Then lots of flashes of lightning, by then we had just finished our meal when it began pouring down, by the bucketload! Never seen it rain so heavily, within minutes the road had turned into a fast flowing river! We took refuge in the inside restaurant and decided to wait until the rains died down, having a few rum and cokes (at 36Rupees/70c each) to tide us by. Monsoon rains experienced first hand! A couple of hours later we got back to the hotel during a dry patch, cos a few minutes later it began pouring down again, and continued right into the morning, had to use earplugs to sleep, as the rain was so loud!!!!!

Today we visited Mysore’s Maharaja’s Palace,we saw some elephants in the palace grounds and this evening, because its a festival, it’s lit up by 92,000 light bulbs, and looks like something from a disney fairy tale.

Tomorrow we head down to Kochin, in Kerala, on the coast, hoooorraaaaay!!!!!!! (10 hour overnight bus drive). Kerala is famous for it’s backwaters and lagoons, where you can take boat rides theough the lazy villages and view country life at a real slow pace… so the guide books say anyway! It’s also famous for it’s long palm backed beaches, so get the swimming gear ready, beaches here we come!!!!

Will post some photos when we get a chance, cant upload at this internet cafe

Namaste,

James & Quene

Español

Estamos en Mysore, a 130 km al sur de Bangalore.
Volamos a Bangalore (capital de la provincia de Karnataka) el pasado Jueves, hemos estado 2 dias , , fuimos a Accenture a visitar a unos compañeros del ex curro de James.

Girl begging in the bus station
Niña pidiendo en la estacion de autobus

Cogimos un super autobus de lujo hasta Mysore por 160Rs = 3 euros . Y hasta ahora es el autobus mas comodo en el que James y yo hemos viajado jamas , mucho espacio para las piernas ,sobre todo para dos pati-larlos. 3 horas de viaje , carretera mejor que en Irlanda! . El conductor un poco “fitipaldi” a veces, y nos pego un par de sustos.

Ya en Mysore , cenando vimos muchos ” pajaros raros ” ( 200 aprox ) volando por encima de nuestras cabezas .. no eran ni mas ni menos que murcielagos..de unos 50 cm mmm!! otros tipos de pajaros iban en la misma direccion algo estaba pasando , al cabo de un rato, empezo a diluviar , durante horas , las calles parecian rios , asi que nos quedamos en el restaurante tomando unos rones ( 70 cent cada uno) y jugando al ahorcado , hasta que remitio la lluvia .
Estuvo lloviendo hasta la mañana siguiente ….

Hoy hemos visitado el Palacio del Maharaja de Mysore, y esta tarde como es fiesta estaba iluminado con 92,000 bombillas (como en la feria de Sevilla). Pronto vereis las fotos este cibercafe no tiene puerto de USB.

Mañana a Kochin y Kerala enla costa … por fin !! ( 10 horas en autobus).
Kerala es famosa por sus lagunas y canales , donde uno se puede relajar en barca y ver pasar el tiempo, tambien por playas de postal..!!

“Namaste” a tod@s
J & Q

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