Wed 15 Oct 2008
It’s been a long time since I posted on this blog (just under 2 years!). I ended up needing to upgrade just about every piece of software behind the scenes …
Now that it’s done, I’ll share some photos of a recent trip up into the Gifford Pinchot National Forest and Mt. Rainier.
Fri 22 Sep 2006
Not much, just settling in after a long drive across the country.
Enoying our new apartment in the Greenlake area of Seattle.
And having some birthday fun in Portland!
Thu 27 Jul 2006
A few photos of sitting around and taking rickshaws to downtown with Chris and Trey.
Thu 27 Jul 2006
The first ‘official’ event of the wedding took place at the hotel where all of us foreigners were staying. It was a lovely ceremony that involved a bunch of friends and really captured the spirit of Vivke and Katy. Unfortunately, I don’t have any pictures of the ceremony since I was in it. The reception following was great, even a bit of rain didn’t get anyone down. We were all so hot and sweaty already, I think I dried out a bit …
Here are some of the photos from the reception …
Thu 6 Jul 2006
Here’s just a few of the pictures taken during the wedding. These come from the night before the Hindu ceremony at a party called the sangeeth.
Thu 6 Jul 2006
I wanted to catch up posting pictures from our trip up until the wedding. So here they are. Click the more link to see all the pictures.
One of the classic tourist expeditions in Kerala state is to ride around the backwaters. These complex group of canals looks is made of thin strips of land, rice paddies, and a few bridges. It’s a very relaxed life that is centered entirely around the water.
Tue 4 Jul 2006
Whew. We’ve dashed up to Delhi to visit the Taj Mahal and some other sites in northern India. Delhi was 105 degrees and the power went out. That made for a miserable night with no AC, but we’re still in good spirits.
We just saw the Taj today and it is AMAZING! It is definitely worth the trip (and the heat). And, Vivek, it’s not blank inside, it’s filled with ornate stone work of flowers and verses from the Koran inlaid into white marble.
Anyhow, we’ve got tons of pictures and no time to post them! Here are a few fromthe last two days.
Sat 24 Jun 2006
We have arrived in Chennai after many adventures! After our very relaxing ride through the beautiful backwaters of Kerala, Joey and I headed back to the mountains in an effort to get a break from the scorching heat (think 95 - 100 degrees & 80-90% humidity). We traveled by local bus up to Kumily, near the Perriyar Tiger Sanctuary. While there we visited a 1941 tea factory that is still fully functioning. Needless to say, OSHA has not made it to India, and this old fashioned factory was a site to behold! Now we truly know how that Orange Pekote Tea is made! We also visited a lovely spice garden with a **VERY** knowledgeable guide who showed us 50 types of spices, how they grow, how they are processed, what they smell like, and where they came from. It is truly amazing to think that a mug of coffee and a carmel creme desert draws ingredients from all over the globe!
We spent the next day trekking & rafting through the wildlife sanctuary – we didn’t see any tigers, but the forest was BEAUTIFUL, and we did spy barking deer, bison, scorpions, 3 types of macaw monkeys, and some of the most dramatically featured butterflies & birds around!
The next day took us to one of the biggest Hindu temples in south India — the Sri Menakshi temple in Maduri. This intricately carved, palacial temple was truly a site to behold, though the bustling city of Maduri left little else to be desired. We headed out that night to Chennai where we were lucky to spend 1 1/2 days with Katy & Vivek and their families before the wedding craziness officially set in.
Wedding festivities are now underway — we’ll be sure to post some pics an keep you updated!
Sun 18 Jun 2006
We’ve just finished adding a bunch of posts from earlier in our trip. To read them chronologically (so they make at least some sense) start towards the bottom and read up. We’re back in the mountains now near the Periyar Wildlife Refuge after a *very* chill backwater boat cruise. Hopefully we can post some photos of that before we leave for Madurai.
We’re thinking of all our friends on this trip and are getting really excited to see some a bunch of friends at Vivek and Katy’s wedding in just a week from now. I’m adding a few more (random) photos that I liked and didn’t fit in the other posts, mostly street shots.
There is trash everywhere in India cities, cows graze on it, people pick through it and sometimes it gets burned. This is taken in Cochin.
A typical Indian street scene, tons of people and ordered choas.
A roadside shrine.
Sun 18 Jun 2006
June 15th and 16th
We came down from the lovely mountains into the sweltering heat of Kochi, a commercial center and vibrant mesh of old and new Indian culture. Here we visited the oldest English church in India, the palace of the King (where we ran into some Chicagoans living 3 blocks from our old house), checked out the Arabian Sea…
…and even took a boat tour for a few hours to check out the thriving fishing industry. See the guys bartering for the boatload of fish?
That night we attended a traditional dance/story-telling event called Kathakali where we saw part of the Ramayana acted out. The costumes & makeup were truly amazing.
The long day of sightseeing rounded out our trip. The next day we had to say goodbye to Mom & Dad :( We sure shared a lot of wonderful memories with them, and enjoyed seeing India through the eyes of people who had been here before!
