Internet here is very spotty which makes it hard for the travel agent trying to book train tickets via internet.
Forgot to mention in my last post that there are leopards here and our awesome guide who we hired for a 3 hour hike told us that the best way to see one is to take a skinny stray dog and lead him up into the jungle and the leopard will smell and come and get it. I quote "stray dogs are like cheese to leopards".
Today we got up and went and got some delicious breakfast...well it was actually porridge but it filled me up and I wanted a lot of food for cheap. And some masala chai, chai = tea btw and masala = spice , and it was delicious.
Then we decided the best thing to do was to walk the 2 km to the elephant stable, which no longer hold elephants but used to. It was a good idea, the weather was nice, we needed the walk and after a bit it only sprinkled a little. Then a little more. But we had rain jackets so it was no problem...but then it rained harder. And we got drenched. So we stood in a Haruman (monkey god) temple, barefoot and waited for it to stop. It didn't.
But AT LAST! A rickshaw came by and we flagged him down and he gave us a ride to the stables, baller btw, and then back which was AWESOME!Had some yummy light food. Now we are attempting to book train tickets (pain in the ass) which is difficult because Laura only has until Aug 5th and wants to get 29hrs North so she can see the Taj Mahal but she has to come about the same distance South again in order to fly out of Mumbai. So far she is gonna move her flight to the 9th of Aug. I am gonna skip the Taj as I am for sure gonna be back here and I'm gonna hit up North India then. Cuz I am quite happy enjoying India and if I fill up my last week and a half with long train journeys then I will not have good memories to leave on.
So MY plan is to stay in Hampi until (I think) Wed then take the 2 nights trip back to Cochin which leaves me 2-3 days to relax in Cochin and try to fit all my new crap into my duffel bag before I fly out.
Almost listed all the stuff I've bought in Hampi, then realized some things are gifts...let's just say I've done some shopping.
Look forward to a few things when I return home to Ft Cochin. First I will post some pics and second I will be sharing a few horrific and funny travel stories which are not really mine but that I have learned from other travelers and think you would enjoy.
For now I will listen to some complicated train and plane finagling. Thank God I just wanna go home and the HOME (USA baby!)
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Happy Hampi
I don't think I have fully explained my relationship with India properly.
It is an entirely love/hate relationship, some days the rickshaw drivers and annoying people make me hate not only the country but all people everywhere, some days I am so in love I consider taking a year off and seeing the rest of it in a 6 month trip. It is facinating, frusterating, beautiful, smelly, and magical all at the same time. Oh India.
Yesterday I told Becca that my relationship with India was going through a rough patch and we were not speaking.
But first India and I had an awesome time! Laura was sick and puking her guts out by the time we got off the train on Wed morning and so we trucked off to find a semi-cheap hotel to rent for just the day so she could rest and Becca and I could leave our crap in the room and visit the zoo!
And that is what we did. The zoo was very sketch and green metal bars around the round concrete cages with one or two logs in them looked like a museum of how old zoos in America used to look and was really depressing. They did boast that they had varieties of pigeons and an "aquarium" that had the same fish you see in a Walmart fish area. We did see two leopards wrestle and saw some porcupines looking sad :-( BUT we also paid to go on a safari in a mini bus with bars on the sides. At first all we saw were deer...lame. But then we went through the sliding metal gates into the sloth bear, tiger, and lion safari areas where each of these animals roamed freely in a large enclosure and we got so close that my pics look like they could be from the national geographic. It was AWESOME!
Then we came back and had just enough time to rush to the movie theater and see Knight and Day as a way to waste the 3 hours until train time. The movie was hilarious and we got freshly cooked french fries, popcorn, a drink, and the ticket for around....$6
Plus I stole loo roll (toilet paper for those of you not living with 2 English girls) and saved us 50 rupees. Win.
Becca couldn't stop laughing when the Indian national anthem played at the beginning of the movie and we all stood up. To be fair the people singing onscreen were making ridiculous faces, but I was still mortified because national loyalty to India is amazingly strong. You always hear about things that are "the best in the world", India has the best milk production, postal service, the most....blah blah blah. But we remained safe and not beat up.
(PS just after I typed about a ton more things the power went out. Luckily blogspot had been saving my draft.Oh India.....)
So then we get to the train and ask about our tickets at the window because they say RAC. We don't know what the means. Ticket lady writes 3 4 5 on it and says we have seats not beds, for a 9 hour journey. Well that bloody well sucks so we go to the platform and wait for the train to arrive. But we have no clue what compartment RAC is so when the train arrives we scurry around asking everywhere and get these answers:
-You have a seat but we can't know where
-Ask the ticket guy, he knows all so just get on the train and wait for him
-You are on the waiting list and have no seats
-Find the ticket man, he is the only one who can help!
-You have seats but are on the wrong end of the train, this end isn't going to Hampi.
So we finally get on the train and wait for the ticket guy bu the aisles are small and we get pushed about and at one point we were all 3 stuck in the center of a compartment with people pushing from both ends and yelling at us to move. It was awful. At LAST, a man (Laura says he was a gift sent by God himself) called the train station and told us that not only do we have seats, YAY!, but we have beds! WOOHOO!!!!!!! Not only were they beds but they were the top berths which is awesome.
Sidenote: In sleeper class there are usually 3 people to each bench. There is the bench itself, an upper bed, and the backrest of the first folds up to become a middle bed. Thus, if you have the top bed then you can lie up there anytime you want because people are never sitting on your bed like the lower one or sitting in front of it like the middle one. So it's awesome.
So the night was SAVED! But first it was awful. So got an amazing nights sleep after that rush of adrenaline and got into Hospet at 7am. We needed to go to the bus stand and get the half hour bus to Hampi. But IMMEDIATELY upon setting foot in the train station, we were surrounded by rickshaw men yelling prices and asking questions and swarming around us until at one point Becca literally screamed like a lunatic "GO AWAY!!! WHY ARE YOU FOLLOWING US?!?! AHHH!!!!" They mocked her...she did sound crazy. Finally got a 30 rupee rickshaw to Hampi instead, argued prices at 4 hotels and finally settled on one with a TV for 400 rupees. It's worth the extra 50 split between 3 people to have a TV because at night there is not a whole lot to do in India.
So that rocks. Plus I had Nutella and banana pancakes for breakfast and what is better than that? We spent today wandering around Hampi which is an archeological gold mine and the temples and ruins litter the country side. It's like the boulders of Colorado combined with the palm trees and greenery of Florida. It is spectacular. Me and a white cow made friends and he nuzzled me and stuck his nose in my face, Becca has pictures of me giggling like crazy and it will be my profile pic as soon as she posts it!
We paid 160 rupees for a walking tour which took 2.5 hrs and was great exercise. Learned all about the temples and Hinduism. Points which I thought were cool/ I don't feel like typing it all out officially/ interesting things.
It is an entirely love/hate relationship, some days the rickshaw drivers and annoying people make me hate not only the country but all people everywhere, some days I am so in love I consider taking a year off and seeing the rest of it in a 6 month trip. It is facinating, frusterating, beautiful, smelly, and magical all at the same time. Oh India.
Yesterday I told Becca that my relationship with India was going through a rough patch and we were not speaking.
But first India and I had an awesome time! Laura was sick and puking her guts out by the time we got off the train on Wed morning and so we trucked off to find a semi-cheap hotel to rent for just the day so she could rest and Becca and I could leave our crap in the room and visit the zoo!
And that is what we did. The zoo was very sketch and green metal bars around the round concrete cages with one or two logs in them looked like a museum of how old zoos in America used to look and was really depressing. They did boast that they had varieties of pigeons and an "aquarium" that had the same fish you see in a Walmart fish area. We did see two leopards wrestle and saw some porcupines looking sad :-( BUT we also paid to go on a safari in a mini bus with bars on the sides. At first all we saw were deer...lame. But then we went through the sliding metal gates into the sloth bear, tiger, and lion safari areas where each of these animals roamed freely in a large enclosure and we got so close that my pics look like they could be from the national geographic. It was AWESOME!
Then we came back and had just enough time to rush to the movie theater and see Knight and Day as a way to waste the 3 hours until train time. The movie was hilarious and we got freshly cooked french fries, popcorn, a drink, and the ticket for around....$6
Plus I stole loo roll (toilet paper for those of you not living with 2 English girls) and saved us 50 rupees. Win.
Becca couldn't stop laughing when the Indian national anthem played at the beginning of the movie and we all stood up. To be fair the people singing onscreen were making ridiculous faces, but I was still mortified because national loyalty to India is amazingly strong. You always hear about things that are "the best in the world", India has the best milk production, postal service, the most....blah blah blah. But we remained safe and not beat up.
(PS just after I typed about a ton more things the power went out. Luckily blogspot had been saving my draft.Oh India.....)
So then we get to the train and ask about our tickets at the window because they say RAC. We don't know what the means. Ticket lady writes 3 4 5 on it and says we have seats not beds, for a 9 hour journey. Well that bloody well sucks so we go to the platform and wait for the train to arrive. But we have no clue what compartment RAC is so when the train arrives we scurry around asking everywhere and get these answers:
-You have a seat but we can't know where
-Ask the ticket guy, he knows all so just get on the train and wait for him
-You are on the waiting list and have no seats
-Find the ticket man, he is the only one who can help!
-You have seats but are on the wrong end of the train, this end isn't going to Hampi.
So we finally get on the train and wait for the ticket guy bu the aisles are small and we get pushed about and at one point we were all 3 stuck in the center of a compartment with people pushing from both ends and yelling at us to move. It was awful. At LAST, a man (Laura says he was a gift sent by God himself) called the train station and told us that not only do we have seats, YAY!, but we have beds! WOOHOO!!!!!!! Not only were they beds but they were the top berths which is awesome.
Sidenote: In sleeper class there are usually 3 people to each bench. There is the bench itself, an upper bed, and the backrest of the first folds up to become a middle bed. Thus, if you have the top bed then you can lie up there anytime you want because people are never sitting on your bed like the lower one or sitting in front of it like the middle one. So it's awesome.
So the night was SAVED! But first it was awful. So got an amazing nights sleep after that rush of adrenaline and got into Hospet at 7am. We needed to go to the bus stand and get the half hour bus to Hampi. But IMMEDIATELY upon setting foot in the train station, we were surrounded by rickshaw men yelling prices and asking questions and swarming around us until at one point Becca literally screamed like a lunatic "GO AWAY!!! WHY ARE YOU FOLLOWING US?!?! AHHH!!!!" They mocked her...she did sound crazy. Finally got a 30 rupee rickshaw to Hampi instead, argued prices at 4 hotels and finally settled on one with a TV for 400 rupees. It's worth the extra 50 split between 3 people to have a TV because at night there is not a whole lot to do in India.
So that rocks. Plus I had Nutella and banana pancakes for breakfast and what is better than that? We spent today wandering around Hampi which is an archeological gold mine and the temples and ruins litter the country side. It's like the boulders of Colorado combined with the palm trees and greenery of Florida. It is spectacular. Me and a white cow made friends and he nuzzled me and stuck his nose in my face, Becca has pictures of me giggling like crazy and it will be my profile pic as soon as she posts it!
We paid 160 rupees for a walking tour which took 2.5 hrs and was great exercise. Learned all about the temples and Hinduism. Points which I thought were cool/ I don't feel like typing it all out officially/ interesting things.
- Ding Ding carvings are Karma Sutra carvings; they are awkward to look at with a guide; they are on all temples because they keep bad luck out; our guide says if girls are about to be married and are nervous they consult the carvings for education...one involves a snake so I wouldn't suggest it.
- No one worships Brahma except for one temple in Pushkar even though he created the universe because he married one of his daughters. Fail.
- For a good husband, women walk 108 steps around the temple
- some monkey worshiping monks sit around and smoke pot in the temple all day
- the monkey god is the god of strength and gyms have a statue of him to consult before working out
- Some monks of this one division I forget never wear clothes, live in a cave or a temple for 20 years, can go 10 years without eating, spend 10 hrs a day standing on one foot, if you see one out of the cave they are good luck
- People throw dead bodies in the Ganges river and also ashes....this is where all the people go to wash because it is a holy river. Ew.
- Shiva rides the bull Nandi, Vishnu rides an eagle, Ganesh (the one with the elephant head and god of good luck) rides a rat. Fail.
- If a pig enters your house it is good luck to catch him in the center of the house and bury him alive.
- True Jainism people wear a scarf round their mouth so they don't hurt bugs, wave a stick in front of them to avoid harming any living thing, and only eat fruits...nothing from the ground.
- The Muslims ruined all the temples because if a statue of a god has been damaged then it cannot be worshiped.
- Most of these temples were underground until about 1940. How cool is that?!?!?
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Can you Blog in 15 min?
So we did not get up as early as we thought we would and after we packed, left our bags at the hotel, ate breakfast, and went on a search for toilet paper, we have only given ourselves half an hour for internet. And I already used 15 min of it! AH!
Yesterday felt much more productive, we got up and we went in search of the correct bus to take us to Mudamulai (sp?) Tiger Preserve. We took the 3 hour ride through GORGEOUS mountain scenery. It was amazing and I was listening to my iPod so sometimes the music felt like a soundtrack to the drive. Except when Usher came on singing "Yea", the contrast made me laugh out loud. We had high hopes for an elephant ride and we were told when we arrived that we couldn't book anything until 3 and that the elephant safari wouldn't go if it was raining...which it was....
So we sat in the "Canteen" and ate snacks and watched the monkeys roll around and chase each other and watched the babies bugging the adults. It was great fun and a good way to waste an hour. Then we got up to the window where we were supposed to reserve the safari. The wall next to it had some rather graphic photos of why you cannot harass the animals or walk in the forest which involved an elephant tossing a boy into the air and another boy with a snake curled round his legs. But annnnnyways we got up to the window and I asked about the elepant safari. Not only was it running but it was full and you had to book it from, guess where? Ooty. Ok pop quiz, where I am staying?
Ooty!
Did not appreciate that little burst of irony.
So instead we took a camo colored minibus and went on a really bumpy road with all the Indian tourists, but I DID see 20 or so elephants including babies, spotted deer, a wild boar, a wild peacock, and lots of different kinds of monkeys, so the 70 cents it cost was money well spent. Then we went off on our own little adventure down a hill to get close to a group of monkeys. We were within 3 or 4 meters of them and the babies were playing all sorts of games and we got some stellar pics. Which I will upload when I get to Fort Cochi again! On the bus ride back, Becca and I brought back dance favs like Christina's "Dirty" and also "Low". We are now determined to find a dance club in Hampi. Then we came home and found some amazing dinner and read the silly romance novels we had picked up at the local bookstore. Very good for reading aloud and also quick reads, so we have been trading.
Finally we bought some local chocolate, showered with a hot bucket of water, and sat down to watch X Men and then...JAMES BOND! Sean Connery is a stud at any age I must say. We finally crashed and I had a dream that I was home and packing to go back to school. Mom and I were walking and then all of a sudden I stopped and said "Dammit!"
Mom asked "What?"
"Well this is obviously a dream"
"How do you know?"
"Because I don't remember the 18 hour flight home"
Then I woke up and had to pack up. We wandered in search of the mythical toilet paper which Laura and Becca bring everywhere and thus was a neccessity. Now we are at the internet place, taking care of business quickly so we can catch the toy train! So it's toy train, 20 min regular train, overnight train, spend one full day in Bangelore, another overnight train, Hampi! And I only have 2 weeks left, AHHHH!!!!
Gotta fit it all in and get back to Fort Cochi and my beloved laptop. And learn how to wrap my sari properly....Priorities.
Yesterday felt much more productive, we got up and we went in search of the correct bus to take us to Mudamulai (sp?) Tiger Preserve. We took the 3 hour ride through GORGEOUS mountain scenery. It was amazing and I was listening to my iPod so sometimes the music felt like a soundtrack to the drive. Except when Usher came on singing "Yea", the contrast made me laugh out loud. We had high hopes for an elephant ride and we were told when we arrived that we couldn't book anything until 3 and that the elephant safari wouldn't go if it was raining...which it was....
So we sat in the "Canteen" and ate snacks and watched the monkeys roll around and chase each other and watched the babies bugging the adults. It was great fun and a good way to waste an hour. Then we got up to the window where we were supposed to reserve the safari. The wall next to it had some rather graphic photos of why you cannot harass the animals or walk in the forest which involved an elephant tossing a boy into the air and another boy with a snake curled round his legs. But annnnnyways we got up to the window and I asked about the elepant safari. Not only was it running but it was full and you had to book it from, guess where? Ooty. Ok pop quiz, where I am staying?
Ooty!
Did not appreciate that little burst of irony.
So instead we took a camo colored minibus and went on a really bumpy road with all the Indian tourists, but I DID see 20 or so elephants including babies, spotted deer, a wild boar, a wild peacock, and lots of different kinds of monkeys, so the 70 cents it cost was money well spent. Then we went off on our own little adventure down a hill to get close to a group of monkeys. We were within 3 or 4 meters of them and the babies were playing all sorts of games and we got some stellar pics. Which I will upload when I get to Fort Cochi again! On the bus ride back, Becca and I brought back dance favs like Christina's "Dirty" and also "Low". We are now determined to find a dance club in Hampi. Then we came home and found some amazing dinner and read the silly romance novels we had picked up at the local bookstore. Very good for reading aloud and also quick reads, so we have been trading.
Finally we bought some local chocolate, showered with a hot bucket of water, and sat down to watch X Men and then...JAMES BOND! Sean Connery is a stud at any age I must say. We finally crashed and I had a dream that I was home and packing to go back to school. Mom and I were walking and then all of a sudden I stopped and said "Dammit!"
Mom asked "What?"
"Well this is obviously a dream"
"How do you know?"
"Because I don't remember the 18 hour flight home"
Then I woke up and had to pack up. We wandered in search of the mythical toilet paper which Laura and Becca bring everywhere and thus was a neccessity. Now we are at the internet place, taking care of business quickly so we can catch the toy train! So it's toy train, 20 min regular train, overnight train, spend one full day in Bangelore, another overnight train, Hampi! And I only have 2 weeks left, AHHHH!!!!
Gotta fit it all in and get back to Fort Cochi and my beloved laptop. And learn how to wrap my sari properly....Priorities.
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Ooty Ooty
If I do this properly and don't get carpel tunnel and don't get bored then this may be a long blog...so sorry!
So when I last left you I was gearing up for my train ride/bus ride to Ooty!
The train ride was a bit hellish because my stomach was still being irksome but I finished my book on Antony and Cleopatra and started a John Grisham book so all was not lost. Then when I was about to get off the train, which is scary because they don't announce the stops so around the time you think you should be getting there you are frantically staring out the window so you don't miss the sign for the station, I had decided to leave Antony and Cleo behind because it cost me all of $3 and I didn't want to carry it because I already had 4 more books in my backpack :-) A lady across from me helpfully told me I had forgotten my book and I said "oh no no I finished it and it's too heavy to carry"
"So you are going to leave it?"
"Yea I have too many others and it is too heavy"
"You really don't want it? Are you sure?"
"Yea yea I'm sure, do you want it?"
"Only if you are really sure"
"Go for it!"
"THANK YOU!" Big smile from random lady. I felt very helpful even though I wasn't leaving the book behind to be helpful, it still made my day that it made her so happy.
Then I had to find my way to the Central Bus Stand. I had no clue where it was. I had my guidebook and knew it was too far to walk. So I asked random man where I could get a rickshaw. Random Man (henceforth to be known as RM) said he would take me and sped off at a rapid pace through the very dirty and confusing streets of Coimbature, a city which I can spell but not pronounce. RM then found me a rickshaw and asked for a price: 100 rupees! What? I think I actually said "Hell no!" because it was more then twice the actual fare! Damn foreigner prices. Not to worry though, RM asked if I was willing to take a local bus? I have no problem with buses as long as someone put me on the right one. RM said he would handle it, so we sped off again to the local bus stop . I was told which bus to go on, we chatted for a bit and when the bus pulled up, RM checked to make sure they would tell me where to get off and then we waved goodbye. Some people in India are awesome and a real lifesaver when you have no clue what you are doing :-)
So the bus was a 35-40 min experience as I spent the time standing and at points the bus was so jammed with people that they were standing in the stairwells. Luckily the bus man pointed me in the right direction and told me where to get off the bus and another local guy helped me get across the crazy lanes of traffic without being crushed like a bug.
And the Central Bus Stand I waited in a big queue for the bus to Ooty behind a woman with a baby who could not use words yet but shrieked every time I stopped looking at him and then giggled whenever I smiled at him. It didn't matter what direction his mum turned, he was determined to look at me and giggle and yell random baby nonsense. He was adorable
On the bus I sat next to the window for what should have only taken 3.5 hrs and really took 4.5 because of a car crash on the mountain roads. So we were going up switchbacks which, if any of my OACers are reading this, would remind someone of the switchbacks that go up the mountains out west and then everything stopped. The men jumped out because even in India, when there is something going on every man must stand and watch and offer commentary or else nothing can proceed properly. And I sat in the bus for around 30-45 min but I didn't care because I saw my very first monkeys in India and the mountain scenery was gorgeous! It looked like the smokey mountains only GREENER! And the monkeys had me riveted simply with their very existence, plus there were babies and the had wrinkled old man faces and it was awesome.
Eventually the bus started moving again, and we drove past a little car which had obviously ran itself into the mountain. It reminded me so much of our trip to the Grand Canyon this past spring when we saw the car crash on the winding mountain roads...but with no snow....and more Indian people
Eventually I got to Ooty and waited for Becca and Laura and we got ourselves a hotel with a TV and the option of having hot water brought up in a bucket, which is cool. And we have had the best time being together ever since.
Yesterday we spent most of the morning trying to figure out the most economical and ethical way to rent horses and go for a ride and arguing with the horse people about not wanting to ride tired or injured horses and eventually settled on going for a hour long ride around the lake.
My horse had an 8 month old foal who waited anxiously for her to come back and she was wonderful except for the fact that the boy who insisted on helping us find our way kept telling her to speed up. This is really irritating because it takes a bit to figure out how the horse responds best and get her really listening to your instructions and then just when you have her at a good pace and want to try a few things, all of a sudden she is listening to the boy and starting off at a trot that you did NOT instigate. A) it was kinda startling and I looked like an idiot because I was not prepared and B) I can do it myseeeeelllllfff!!!!
But other than that it was nice to have a ride round the lake and when we got back we bought the horses some carrots and played with the little foal who we named Ginger (after Becca who is a ginger too). Then we bought a 5 rupee pass to...the Boathouse. Which is like a sketchy old carnival kinda. Complete with old rides, a mirror maze, a haunted house, 3d movie and BUMPER CARS! We did indulge ourselves with this last one and has a surprisingly great time slamming into each other. We also bought some heavenly chocolate and have been eating since we bought it, yuuuummmy.
When we got back to the room we accidentally took a nap/ rest while watching the amazingly awful show called VIP which stars Pamela Anderson as a body guard kinda... so awful it was wonderful. Then it was late and we went to go get internet and got sidetracked when we found a travel agent who was open and booked our tickets (it takes 4 trains) to get to Hampi just in the nick of time. We will be taking the Toy Train which is supposed to be very relaxing and has a gorgeous view of the mountains. The total journey will start at 3:15pm on the 20th and we will reach Hampi 4 trains later at 7am on the 22nd after spending 10 hrs in Bangelore the day before. Then we went to finally find some food while singing Disney songs in loud voices most of the way. It is great to be with the girls again haha!
Today we didn't do much, it has taken a long time to find the internet cafe and we find ourselves enjoying the chance to be lazy and enjoying the cool weather. It is actually COLD in Ooty, I bought a jacket and have been wearing long pants and socks. Plus it is freezing at night and we refuse to move in our little blanket cocoons because when you do you have to warm the whole area up again. It is quite chilly and feels like fall at home.
Tomorrow we want to go to Mudamulai sanctuary and take a jeep tour. We could spend 800 rupees to do an hour long elephant safari but we can still see wild elephants in the jeep which is cheaper, can go farther faster, and really the only downside to the jeep is that we won't see tigers. Which we had a very low chance of seeing anyways. While we are in Bangelore we are going to take an hour long bus ride to a sanctuary where they rehabilitate lions, tigers, sloth bears, etc...from zoos and circuses and other bad situations so that should be way cool!
So I will for sure be seeing Hampi and if I have time, maybe somewhere else, but it will take me a bit to get back to Cochin before I leave so we will see until then I am off to explore Ooty which is a very Indian touristy place, have not seen many Westerners, but the Indian tourists are all over!
And hey look, it wasn't that long and I hit the main bits!
So when I last left you I was gearing up for my train ride/bus ride to Ooty!
The train ride was a bit hellish because my stomach was still being irksome but I finished my book on Antony and Cleopatra and started a John Grisham book so all was not lost. Then when I was about to get off the train, which is scary because they don't announce the stops so around the time you think you should be getting there you are frantically staring out the window so you don't miss the sign for the station, I had decided to leave Antony and Cleo behind because it cost me all of $3 and I didn't want to carry it because I already had 4 more books in my backpack :-) A lady across from me helpfully told me I had forgotten my book and I said "oh no no I finished it and it's too heavy to carry"
"So you are going to leave it?"
"Yea I have too many others and it is too heavy"
"You really don't want it? Are you sure?"
"Yea yea I'm sure, do you want it?"
"Only if you are really sure"
"Go for it!"
"THANK YOU!" Big smile from random lady. I felt very helpful even though I wasn't leaving the book behind to be helpful, it still made my day that it made her so happy.
Then I had to find my way to the Central Bus Stand. I had no clue where it was. I had my guidebook and knew it was too far to walk. So I asked random man where I could get a rickshaw. Random Man (henceforth to be known as RM) said he would take me and sped off at a rapid pace through the very dirty and confusing streets of Coimbature, a city which I can spell but not pronounce. RM then found me a rickshaw and asked for a price: 100 rupees! What? I think I actually said "Hell no!" because it was more then twice the actual fare! Damn foreigner prices. Not to worry though, RM asked if I was willing to take a local bus? I have no problem with buses as long as someone put me on the right one. RM said he would handle it, so we sped off again to the local bus stop . I was told which bus to go on, we chatted for a bit and when the bus pulled up, RM checked to make sure they would tell me where to get off and then we waved goodbye. Some people in India are awesome and a real lifesaver when you have no clue what you are doing :-)
So the bus was a 35-40 min experience as I spent the time standing and at points the bus was so jammed with people that they were standing in the stairwells. Luckily the bus man pointed me in the right direction and told me where to get off the bus and another local guy helped me get across the crazy lanes of traffic without being crushed like a bug.
And the Central Bus Stand I waited in a big queue for the bus to Ooty behind a woman with a baby who could not use words yet but shrieked every time I stopped looking at him and then giggled whenever I smiled at him. It didn't matter what direction his mum turned, he was determined to look at me and giggle and yell random baby nonsense. He was adorable
On the bus I sat next to the window for what should have only taken 3.5 hrs and really took 4.5 because of a car crash on the mountain roads. So we were going up switchbacks which, if any of my OACers are reading this, would remind someone of the switchbacks that go up the mountains out west and then everything stopped. The men jumped out because even in India, when there is something going on every man must stand and watch and offer commentary or else nothing can proceed properly. And I sat in the bus for around 30-45 min but I didn't care because I saw my very first monkeys in India and the mountain scenery was gorgeous! It looked like the smokey mountains only GREENER! And the monkeys had me riveted simply with their very existence, plus there were babies and the had wrinkled old man faces and it was awesome.
Eventually the bus started moving again, and we drove past a little car which had obviously ran itself into the mountain. It reminded me so much of our trip to the Grand Canyon this past spring when we saw the car crash on the winding mountain roads...but with no snow....and more Indian people
Eventually I got to Ooty and waited for Becca and Laura and we got ourselves a hotel with a TV and the option of having hot water brought up in a bucket, which is cool. And we have had the best time being together ever since.
Yesterday we spent most of the morning trying to figure out the most economical and ethical way to rent horses and go for a ride and arguing with the horse people about not wanting to ride tired or injured horses and eventually settled on going for a hour long ride around the lake.
My horse had an 8 month old foal who waited anxiously for her to come back and she was wonderful except for the fact that the boy who insisted on helping us find our way kept telling her to speed up. This is really irritating because it takes a bit to figure out how the horse responds best and get her really listening to your instructions and then just when you have her at a good pace and want to try a few things, all of a sudden she is listening to the boy and starting off at a trot that you did NOT instigate. A) it was kinda startling and I looked like an idiot because I was not prepared and B) I can do it myseeeeelllllfff!!!!
But other than that it was nice to have a ride round the lake and when we got back we bought the horses some carrots and played with the little foal who we named Ginger (after Becca who is a ginger too). Then we bought a 5 rupee pass to...the Boathouse. Which is like a sketchy old carnival kinda. Complete with old rides, a mirror maze, a haunted house, 3d movie and BUMPER CARS! We did indulge ourselves with this last one and has a surprisingly great time slamming into each other. We also bought some heavenly chocolate and have been eating since we bought it, yuuuummmy.
When we got back to the room we accidentally took a nap/ rest while watching the amazingly awful show called VIP which stars Pamela Anderson as a body guard kinda... so awful it was wonderful. Then it was late and we went to go get internet and got sidetracked when we found a travel agent who was open and booked our tickets (it takes 4 trains) to get to Hampi just in the nick of time. We will be taking the Toy Train which is supposed to be very relaxing and has a gorgeous view of the mountains. The total journey will start at 3:15pm on the 20th and we will reach Hampi 4 trains later at 7am on the 22nd after spending 10 hrs in Bangelore the day before. Then we went to finally find some food while singing Disney songs in loud voices most of the way. It is great to be with the girls again haha!
Today we didn't do much, it has taken a long time to find the internet cafe and we find ourselves enjoying the chance to be lazy and enjoying the cool weather. It is actually COLD in Ooty, I bought a jacket and have been wearing long pants and socks. Plus it is freezing at night and we refuse to move in our little blanket cocoons because when you do you have to warm the whole area up again. It is quite chilly and feels like fall at home.
Tomorrow we want to go to Mudamulai sanctuary and take a jeep tour. We could spend 800 rupees to do an hour long elephant safari but we can still see wild elephants in the jeep which is cheaper, can go farther faster, and really the only downside to the jeep is that we won't see tigers. Which we had a very low chance of seeing anyways. While we are in Bangelore we are going to take an hour long bus ride to a sanctuary where they rehabilitate lions, tigers, sloth bears, etc...from zoos and circuses and other bad situations so that should be way cool!
So I will for sure be seeing Hampi and if I have time, maybe somewhere else, but it will take me a bit to get back to Cochin before I leave so we will see until then I am off to explore Ooty which is a very Indian touristy place, have not seen many Westerners, but the Indian tourists are all over!
And hey look, it wasn't that long and I hit the main bits!
Thursday, July 15, 2010
You Just Can't Plan in India
So before I even start this blog, let me first tell you that while I am typing, Survivor is on TV because I am waiting for Friends to come on this channel and it reminds me of when people used to ACTUALLY watch Survivor...like 20 seasons ago
Now today did not go at all like I had planned it to. I must first tell you that even though I have not mentioned it, I start off everyday in India for the past...2 or 3 weeks with horrible stomach cramps. I gotta give it 15min to half an hour and they go away and I go on with my life. No problemo. But today I woke up at 8 am with stomach pains and didn't have to leave the hotel until 9:15 so I am thinking I have plenty of time. Then Shibu calls at 8:45 and says not to worry about getting there until 10 or 10:15.
Now I have even more time! Except that this time the pains do not go away. I have a god awful stomach ache on the very last day I get to go to the clinic. And being VERY experienced with stomach issues, I know that the only thing to do is to ride it out and hopefully doze off and after awhile it will go away. So I tell Shibu that I am sick but that I will rest and hopefully come in at the end of the day.
I proceed to either sit on the floor and pour hot water over my stomach (my solution to not having a bathtub) or to find a comfortable position on my bed and try very hard not to move except to eat a few biscuits or drink some water. I eventually fall asleep watching Nightmare Before Christmas. I wake up shaky around 12:30 with Shibu telling me that he has to leave at 2 for a case. So I get up and get dressed and go sit with Shibu while he eats.
He and I chat about life and such and how I will miss him very much and how I am supposed to call if I need ANYTHING veterinary related or otherwise and he is supposed to let me know whenever he finally decides to come to the US.
Then I went home with Suhra (I don't know if this is the correct spelling and as I suspect you don't care, I will not be getting up to check but she is the lady I visit with after work) and we went to her daughter's house. I have never felt more appreciated as they kept telling me how much they would miss me and Suhra told me more than once that she loved as her own daughter and did I really need to go back to the US? I tried to chat with her granddaughter who is only in about 2nd or 3rd grade, Neha (knee-ha) but she is very very shy and would only grin. Even when I asked her what it is she likes to do because I want to send her a present from America but she did give in and tell me bye eventually and she took a picture with me :-)
But anyways, they made me food, enough food to feed at least 4 or 5 people, and I was the only one eating it. And everyone watched me eat....and told me not to worry about it. But it is weird to have 3-4 people watching you eat. Very strange. Plus the food was amazing but it was the only food I had eaten that day and I did not want to eat too much and anger the stomach gods into making me sick on the train tomorrow. They insisted that it was ok and that it made them happy just seeing me eat. Whatever floats your boat man.
I promised that I will visit when I am back for a few days before I fly out. And I promised Suhra that I will write her letters and will email her daughter. I also plan to send her granddaughters those animal shaped bracelets everyone is nuts about in the US, I think that would be fun!
Got my sari blouses today!!! YAY! The tailor who did them is a woman who has trouble speaking and doesn't speak English, but I paid 50 rupees more than I needed to because she is so nice and looked so genuinely happy to see how happy I was that they fit. We did many thumbs up and I really am so excited. Can't wait to wear them!
As a last note, I had two weird dreams while I dozed this morning. One was that one of my adult teeth got loose and came out. In the other I was walking around Fort Cochin but I had no clothes on so I was trying to find something to wear (no clue why I was naked in this dream) and so I ran into a shop and wrapped a quilt around me but I knew the quilt would be very expensive so I was trying to figure out how much I was willing to pay not to be naked when I realized that I was wearing the Ali Baba pants and that I could pull them up to cover my top and not have to pay anything. Yea dreaming when you are sick is messed up.
Now today did not go at all like I had planned it to. I must first tell you that even though I have not mentioned it, I start off everyday in India for the past...2 or 3 weeks with horrible stomach cramps. I gotta give it 15min to half an hour and they go away and I go on with my life. No problemo. But today I woke up at 8 am with stomach pains and didn't have to leave the hotel until 9:15 so I am thinking I have plenty of time. Then Shibu calls at 8:45 and says not to worry about getting there until 10 or 10:15.
Now I have even more time! Except that this time the pains do not go away. I have a god awful stomach ache on the very last day I get to go to the clinic. And being VERY experienced with stomach issues, I know that the only thing to do is to ride it out and hopefully doze off and after awhile it will go away. So I tell Shibu that I am sick but that I will rest and hopefully come in at the end of the day.
I proceed to either sit on the floor and pour hot water over my stomach (my solution to not having a bathtub) or to find a comfortable position on my bed and try very hard not to move except to eat a few biscuits or drink some water. I eventually fall asleep watching Nightmare Before Christmas. I wake up shaky around 12:30 with Shibu telling me that he has to leave at 2 for a case. So I get up and get dressed and go sit with Shibu while he eats.
He and I chat about life and such and how I will miss him very much and how I am supposed to call if I need ANYTHING veterinary related or otherwise and he is supposed to let me know whenever he finally decides to come to the US.
Then I went home with Suhra (I don't know if this is the correct spelling and as I suspect you don't care, I will not be getting up to check but she is the lady I visit with after work) and we went to her daughter's house. I have never felt more appreciated as they kept telling me how much they would miss me and Suhra told me more than once that she loved as her own daughter and did I really need to go back to the US? I tried to chat with her granddaughter who is only in about 2nd or 3rd grade, Neha (knee-ha) but she is very very shy and would only grin. Even when I asked her what it is she likes to do because I want to send her a present from America but she did give in and tell me bye eventually and she took a picture with me :-)
But anyways, they made me food, enough food to feed at least 4 or 5 people, and I was the only one eating it. And everyone watched me eat....and told me not to worry about it. But it is weird to have 3-4 people watching you eat. Very strange. Plus the food was amazing but it was the only food I had eaten that day and I did not want to eat too much and anger the stomach gods into making me sick on the train tomorrow. They insisted that it was ok and that it made them happy just seeing me eat. Whatever floats your boat man.
I promised that I will visit when I am back for a few days before I fly out. And I promised Suhra that I will write her letters and will email her daughter. I also plan to send her granddaughters those animal shaped bracelets everyone is nuts about in the US, I think that would be fun!
Got my sari blouses today!!! YAY! The tailor who did them is a woman who has trouble speaking and doesn't speak English, but I paid 50 rupees more than I needed to because she is so nice and looked so genuinely happy to see how happy I was that they fit. We did many thumbs up and I really am so excited. Can't wait to wear them!
As a last note, I had two weird dreams while I dozed this morning. One was that one of my adult teeth got loose and came out. In the other I was walking around Fort Cochin but I had no clothes on so I was trying to find something to wear (no clue why I was naked in this dream) and so I ran into a shop and wrapped a quilt around me but I knew the quilt would be very expensive so I was trying to figure out how much I was willing to pay not to be naked when I realized that I was wearing the Ali Baba pants and that I could pull them up to cover my top and not have to pay anything. Yea dreaming when you are sick is messed up.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Home is wherever you make it
So yesterday was...rather boring except for the fact that the coffee man at Cafe Coffee Day got up the nerve to ask me where I was from and what my hobbies are. It was the CUTEST thing. Like really adorable. And facebook cooperated enough to let me talk to people for almost an hour while watching crappy television. I am going to really miss my laptop while I travel because I have grown used to listening to music while I get ready and watching movies while I fall asleep.
Which reminds me I have to pack up all my stuff tomorrow. UGH!!! I hate packing...and laundry...and I gotta do both....
Oh wait! Also yesterday Shibu and I tried to take his car into Fort Cochin for lunch...but when we got there Shibu decided that for 50 rupees more he would rather have the buffet we had already passed, but he got lost and we drove in a GIANT circle back to the clinic and I was biting my nails trying not to laugh as he kept swearing under his breath and we took 40 min to finally get to lunch. Which was not only a very small buffet, it also wasn't all that great. I was very entertained by the whole episode :-)
And today started off very uneventfully with me listing all the states in America to make sure he was pronouncing them correctly. We discovered that Arkansas he had never heard of and everyone in India says EE-O-Ah (Iowa), so that kept us amused until Dr. Sunil got there and we discussed how unbelievably expensive the US is and how Undergraduate school is basically a 4 year waste of time because anything you need to learn for becoming a veterinarian is taught in veterinary school. It was a rather depressing discussion I must say.
Then we got a call for a buffalo (they keep water buffalo as well as cows here) with a prolapsed vagina. In layman's terms that means that the vagina has turned itself inside out and formed a big bubble outside of the body. It is actually a much better situation than it could have been, prolapsed uterus are more common and that means the entire HUGE uterus is outside the body. In this case I stood in a cramped cement shelter with around 15 cows and a few buffalo and watched the processes of cleaning and then pushing the vagina back into the buffalo, while the buffalo is trying to sit or lay down the entire time. It was very interesting, if smelly work.
Shibu is very sad that tomorrow is his last day at the clinic and I am as well. I want to get both he and Sunil a gift but I think I will send something from the US as they can buy anything they want from here :-) But I really will miss Shibu and genuinely hope he visits the states someday.
The best part of the day was when the lady I go home from work with invited me for tea again and her daughter who speaks English came over with her little granddaughter and also a grandson and they were so shy that every time I made a face at them they just collapsed in giggles. The daughter (who's name I CANNOT remember) kept telling me how much they liked me and how sad they were that I was leaving and that I must not forget them and when am I coming back to India? I told them I would come back whenever I could, which I will because I have become completely smitten with this country and want to explore the rest of it. I also gave her my email address and she will email me so we can keep in touch. They have invited me for a late lunch tomorrow and I told them I want to take many pictures with them and she wants to take one on her cell phone and I will send the ones I take via email. Apparently I am the only foreigner they have ever entertained and they just really like me. The lady from work told Shibu that I am much more polite than most foreigners. I just feel so welcome and loved and happy.
You really can make a home for yourself wherever you are and I will be so sad to pack up my home tomorrow night so my bag can be left downstairs with Margaret while I am gone. Besides the fact that you can be at home anywhere you choose, I have learned 2 more important lessons.
1) Always be smiling, even when you don't know what's going on, there is nothing more welcoming and it really does make you happier.
2) laughing at yourself always goes over well. My trials with the language and the mosquitoes has given everyone a laugh, including myself.
To quote a certain group of boys from Apartment 212 (the boys I lived down the hall from all summer):
"Fake it till you feel it"
Smile till you're not faking it anymore :-)
Which reminds me I have to pack up all my stuff tomorrow. UGH!!! I hate packing...and laundry...and I gotta do both....
Oh wait! Also yesterday Shibu and I tried to take his car into Fort Cochin for lunch...but when we got there Shibu decided that for 50 rupees more he would rather have the buffet we had already passed, but he got lost and we drove in a GIANT circle back to the clinic and I was biting my nails trying not to laugh as he kept swearing under his breath and we took 40 min to finally get to lunch. Which was not only a very small buffet, it also wasn't all that great. I was very entertained by the whole episode :-)
And today started off very uneventfully with me listing all the states in America to make sure he was pronouncing them correctly. We discovered that Arkansas he had never heard of and everyone in India says EE-O-Ah (Iowa), so that kept us amused until Dr. Sunil got there and we discussed how unbelievably expensive the US is and how Undergraduate school is basically a 4 year waste of time because anything you need to learn for becoming a veterinarian is taught in veterinary school. It was a rather depressing discussion I must say.
Then we got a call for a buffalo (they keep water buffalo as well as cows here) with a prolapsed vagina. In layman's terms that means that the vagina has turned itself inside out and formed a big bubble outside of the body. It is actually a much better situation than it could have been, prolapsed uterus are more common and that means the entire HUGE uterus is outside the body. In this case I stood in a cramped cement shelter with around 15 cows and a few buffalo and watched the processes of cleaning and then pushing the vagina back into the buffalo, while the buffalo is trying to sit or lay down the entire time. It was very interesting, if smelly work.
Shibu is very sad that tomorrow is his last day at the clinic and I am as well. I want to get both he and Sunil a gift but I think I will send something from the US as they can buy anything they want from here :-) But I really will miss Shibu and genuinely hope he visits the states someday.
The best part of the day was when the lady I go home from work with invited me for tea again and her daughter who speaks English came over with her little granddaughter and also a grandson and they were so shy that every time I made a face at them they just collapsed in giggles. The daughter (who's name I CANNOT remember) kept telling me how much they liked me and how sad they were that I was leaving and that I must not forget them and when am I coming back to India? I told them I would come back whenever I could, which I will because I have become completely smitten with this country and want to explore the rest of it. I also gave her my email address and she will email me so we can keep in touch. They have invited me for a late lunch tomorrow and I told them I want to take many pictures with them and she wants to take one on her cell phone and I will send the ones I take via email. Apparently I am the only foreigner they have ever entertained and they just really like me. The lady from work told Shibu that I am much more polite than most foreigners. I just feel so welcome and loved and happy.
You really can make a home for yourself wherever you are and I will be so sad to pack up my home tomorrow night so my bag can be left downstairs with Margaret while I am gone. Besides the fact that you can be at home anywhere you choose, I have learned 2 more important lessons.
1) Always be smiling, even when you don't know what's going on, there is nothing more welcoming and it really does make you happier.
2) laughing at yourself always goes over well. My trials with the language and the mosquitoes has given everyone a laugh, including myself.
To quote a certain group of boys from Apartment 212 (the boys I lived down the hall from all summer):
"Fake it till you feel it"
Smile till you're not faking it anymore :-)
Monday, July 12, 2010
Sari Sari Sari Time
Ok friends! So after a relatively uneventful veterinary day on Sunday, except for Shibu's daily American lesson which I will elaborate on later, I had given myself 2 options. If it rained, I was going to see the Hill Palace and if stayed beautifully sunny...well then I was gonna spring for the 250 rupees and go for a swim at the Grand Hotel.
Well it was sunny baby! And I spent 3 glorious hours lounging in the pool, sitting on a lounge chair in the shade, and reading a wonderfully witty and pointless romance novel. It was absolutely glorious and then was topped off when Becca and Laura got back from Varkala and we got to go to Dal Roti, our favorite restaurant, for dinner! It was absolutely brilliant and then we watched Valentine's Day and went to bed.
Now Shibu's and my discussion for Sunday was, oddly, about tattoos, tramp stamps, prostitutes, and strip clubs. The last one was especially shocking to Shibu because when he tried to look all knowing and say “ah yes are all bars strip bars in America,” and “so what does this entail? Just pole dance and two pieces?” I think I blew his mind a little when I said they got naked in front of other people. He looked both uncomfortable and intrigued as to the very fuzzy line between legal and illegal when it comes to sex in the US.
“So looking at naked women is fine? Do women go there? Men do it too?! But a whore is someone who has lots of sex? And this isn't illegal. But if they get paid, then it is?”
Highly amusing...Especially because it originally started with asking whether most women in America have their navels pierced.
Today I got up an hour early to have breakfast with the girls before they leave for Mysore and before I had to go to the hospital, only to be called a few min after I awoke and hear the Shibu had fallen in the bathroom and possibly broken, turned out it was only sprained, his leg. So then the girls and I had all day! We sent Becca's bedspread home and I found a sari I liked and haggled until I got it for about $20, I still have to make the top/blouse bit made for underneath and the Margaret said she will help me wear it.
I seriously think she and my grandmother would be best friends. She was just looking at me today, after being reassured that I wasn't leaving today - “I just love seeing your FACE everyday”- and said that I would look pretty in a sari, and luckily I had just bought one. After an amazing lunch at Krishna Café, the best rickshaw driver ever took us on a half willing half reluctant trip to a place where they grind up spices, a pretty statue, a pretty tree, and a local sari shop where....yea I bought another one :-) I couldn't help it and both blouses will be able to go under either sari and its beautiful and only cost me $10. Totally worth it.
So the girls are off to Mysore but I will try to meet them in Ooty on Friday or Sat and then we will travel Hampi together which is way better than going alone. I may hit an animal sanctuary on the way back and then I will leave 2 or 3 days to say goodbye to Cochin before I leave. I cannot believe I only have 3 weeks in India, and I could happily spend another month just in Kerala, but I need to get at least some traveling in. I'm so happy that I chose to stay and make a little home for myself in Fort Cochin because I think I have really gotten to know the people and the culture and meet so many interesting people, but I am glad to have a bit of traveling. Veterinary Hospital tomorrow and then off to the tailor to get my blouses made so I can be schooled in the art of proper sari wearing.
Well it was sunny baby! And I spent 3 glorious hours lounging in the pool, sitting on a lounge chair in the shade, and reading a wonderfully witty and pointless romance novel. It was absolutely glorious and then was topped off when Becca and Laura got back from Varkala and we got to go to Dal Roti, our favorite restaurant, for dinner! It was absolutely brilliant and then we watched Valentine's Day and went to bed.
Now Shibu's and my discussion for Sunday was, oddly, about tattoos, tramp stamps, prostitutes, and strip clubs. The last one was especially shocking to Shibu because when he tried to look all knowing and say “ah yes are all bars strip bars in America,” and “so what does this entail? Just pole dance and two pieces?” I think I blew his mind a little when I said they got naked in front of other people. He looked both uncomfortable and intrigued as to the very fuzzy line between legal and illegal when it comes to sex in the US.
“So looking at naked women is fine? Do women go there? Men do it too?! But a whore is someone who has lots of sex? And this isn't illegal. But if they get paid, then it is?”
Highly amusing...Especially because it originally started with asking whether most women in America have their navels pierced.
Today I got up an hour early to have breakfast with the girls before they leave for Mysore and before I had to go to the hospital, only to be called a few min after I awoke and hear the Shibu had fallen in the bathroom and possibly broken, turned out it was only sprained, his leg. So then the girls and I had all day! We sent Becca's bedspread home and I found a sari I liked and haggled until I got it for about $20, I still have to make the top/blouse bit made for underneath and the Margaret said she will help me wear it.
I seriously think she and my grandmother would be best friends. She was just looking at me today, after being reassured that I wasn't leaving today - “I just love seeing your FACE everyday”- and said that I would look pretty in a sari, and luckily I had just bought one. After an amazing lunch at Krishna Café, the best rickshaw driver ever took us on a half willing half reluctant trip to a place where they grind up spices, a pretty statue, a pretty tree, and a local sari shop where....yea I bought another one :-) I couldn't help it and both blouses will be able to go under either sari and its beautiful and only cost me $10. Totally worth it.
So the girls are off to Mysore but I will try to meet them in Ooty on Friday or Sat and then we will travel Hampi together which is way better than going alone. I may hit an animal sanctuary on the way back and then I will leave 2 or 3 days to say goodbye to Cochin before I leave. I cannot believe I only have 3 weeks in India, and I could happily spend another month just in Kerala, but I need to get at least some traveling in. I'm so happy that I chose to stay and make a little home for myself in Fort Cochin because I think I have really gotten to know the people and the culture and meet so many interesting people, but I am glad to have a bit of traveling. Veterinary Hospital tomorrow and then off to the tailor to get my blouses made so I can be schooled in the art of proper sari wearing.
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