Jungle Trip

Have you been wondering how our weekend went….thought I would keep you in suspense for a few days.

There is so much to tell, so I am breaking it into categories.

Driving:
Our driver was very aggressive. Riding is town with bumper to bumper traffic is much different from taking a 5 hour trip to the jungle.

Short Version – It was like a roller coaster dodging moving obstacles.

Long Version – Picture the narrow roads to the Smokey Mountains, with cows, dogs, and people moving randomly back and forth across the road. Then picture a van carrying the 6 of us driving about 55 mph on the road. Now add in cars, tractors, motorcycles, and ox carrying carts coming at us and also moving with us. There you have it – a vision of our 5 hour road trip. (5 hours one way.)

There where a few times we had to check and make sure our heart had not really dropped to our stomach. Jerry had the best experience – when we almost hit a tractor he slid out of his seat and into the back of Tasneem’s seat. Did I mention – no seat belts. Only the front seats had seat belts. From Jerry’s experience we all braced ourselves via the arm rest. Even Tasneem and Philip got nervous a few times. The ride was certainly an adventure.

Mysoor Palace:
On our way, we stopped at the Palace in Mysoor. It was beautiful. For those of you who have been to the Biltmore House in NC, it was like an Indian version of the Biltmore. There was a lot of Marble and gorgeous wood doors and ceilings with amazing carvings. We could not take pictures inside, so you will just have to go to the palace and see it for yourself.

Outside the palace were worship temples. Jerry, Tasneem, and I were blessed by the Vishnu Hindu god.

In the basis Hindu Trinity of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, the Hindu god Vishnu is the preserver and protector of creation. Vishnu is the embodiment of mercy and goodness, the self-existent, all-pervading power that preserves the universe and maintains the cosmic order Dharma.

Vishnu is often represented resting on the coiled serpent Shesha, with Vishnu’s consort Lakshmi massaging his feet. Vishnu never sleeps and is the deity of Shanti, the peaceful mood. Vishnu does not however tolerate Ego.


After our blessing we headed off to the reach the jungle.


Lodge/Accommodations:
Well, for those of you who know me really well, you would never believe I stayed where we stayed. It was all about roughing it!!!

We stayed in a cottage, in a sort of bed and breakfast set-up. The cottage was about a tenth of a mile walk from the main house. It had 3 rooms – a bedroom with a fridge (this room was the size of my walk-in closet), a bathroom, and the living area. Tasneem and I took the bedroom – there were two cots in the room for sleeping. The guys took the living area – there were two cots, they brought another one and Jerry slept on a cot/couch. I should mention the cot – not so comfy. Also, no hot water – see the picture attached about hot water. Tasneem was the only brave enough to take a shower. The rest of us opted for extra deodorant and a shower back at home. Oh and we had a mouse, a grand daddy long leg, and a lizard as a house guest.

Wildlife:
We saw a whole of monkeys. My favorite time was watching them interact with each other and ignoring us humans. We saw Deer (it is illegal to kill deer in India), Water Buffalo, Elephants, Red Squirrel looking animal, a beaver looking animal, and many peacocks (India’s national bird).

Food:
……..We (David, Jerry, and I) tried some new stuff. David was about the only one who liked any of the India food. Jerry unknowing ate some very hot mango pickle stuff. That was FUNNY. We ate at a community table under a shed beside the main house. They cooked all the food for us and served it buffet style. We were all very eager to get hotel food when we got back.

Elephant Ride:
After much negation, we got to our Elephant ride. YEAH – It was great. We took two elephants – three persons per elephant. The ride lasted around 30 minutes. We saw monkeys, the red squirrel thing, and peacocks. We also wanted an elephant getting a bath in the river, along side locals washing their pots. We played with a baby elephant. That was FUN too.