Thursday, November 1, 2012

Backwaters of Kerala

Our tour through the backwaters of Kerala introduced us to 
many beautiful and incredible sights.

All in a days work.

Clearing the water hyacinths for fishing.  The water is so reflective,
his lunghi is vividly displayed in the water.  




Careful with that camera.... Bev says, "this is easy, no problem!"

True view of backwater canal, duplicate view in fact.

Our cruise view while in the longboat.

One toddy tapper in a short boat.  On his way to tap some coconut trees.  

Babu, our boatman.  All six of us are in the longboat powered by Babu.  

Our gentleman host for lunch.  We snacked on fresh banana fritters and
 papaya with coconut and mustard seeds.  Delicious!

Kerala- Southern Coastal India

Our trip to Kochi where we spent some time on the coast admiring the 
Chinese fishing nets and fisherman.  

Wish you were here.  Lunch was fantastic!

Fishing net crew.

Chinese fishing nets

Caught in action along the Arabian Sea.

Our turn to lower the nets.

Heave Ho!

Mastan Nagar School

We spent the morning with the 4th grade children at Mastan Nagar school.  October is the beginning of winter in Hyderabad so we decided to make snowmen!  The children recognized our snowman picture immediately so creating their own was much fun.  We also wrote down English words for winter on the chalkboard.  

Papa starts the project with the boys.

Excited girls getting ready to make their first snowman.

Classroom of 21 students, all busy at work.  No overhead lights (only light from the window tops).
We did not run the fans because our "snow" was blowing away.   


The end result; one snowman with English winter words too!

Pre-school children at lunch time.

These guys have it all figured out.

Yummy!


Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Ron and Bev's India



                                                 INDIA

View from the Charminar in Hyderabad during Muslim festival preparations.
16 million give or take 4 million people in Hyderabad.
  

                                            UDAIPUR

We traveled to Udaipur to see the northern part of India in the state of Rajasthan
Udaipur - City of Lakes, City Palace

View from Fateh Garh Palace (our hotel)

City of Udaipur

Two new friends in Udaipur
Yellow Saree
Udaipur's public transportation

                                                

                                               DELHI


Jama Masjid
India's Largest mosque

Must cover those legs in the mosque


Delhi's electrical grid





Lotus Temple for Baha'i religion which resembles the lotus flower.  The lotus represents enlightenment and has symbolic reference for Egyptians, Buddhists, Hindus and the Baha'i in India.                  








Our snake charmers...Grant and Garrett


                                                AGRA

Our first glimpse of the stone inlay work done on the Itimad-ud-Daulah Tomb,  also known as the Baby Taj.    The first design preceding the actual Taj Mahal.  

The future standing in front of the past.  The Taj in the background.  

Taj visitors, Papa and his grandsons.  

Young admirers of the Taj.  

Saturday, May 26, 2012

Visiting the Masai - A Great End to a Great Vacation

On the last day of our trip, we went on a hike and Garrett stumbled into this spider home with a lid.  Luckily, the spider wasn't home.

We also stumbled across a baby tortoise and its mom.  Grant is holding the baby and Garrett is holding the mom.  As you can see, we had a Masai guide lead the way, protecting us with the spear that he's holding.

Later in the day, we visited a Masai village.  When we arrived, the entire village came out to greet us, singing and dancing.  They grabbed our hands and we danced (basically jumping to the beat) with them.

They allowed us into one of their huts.  As you can see, Charlie is taller than the hut and Grant and Garrett are not far behind.  They also had handicrafts hanging on the outside of the hut which they make and try to sell in the larger towns.

This is one of the Masai women who liked to sing and dance.  She made sure we were included at all times.  Notice all the colorful garments and accessories.

One of the Masai children who was very happy to spend time with us and pose for the camera.

Garrett and Grant huddled together with the Masai children.  They had a nice time getting to know each other despite the language and cultural differences.  Our guide Bonny in the background.

Some of the Masai women taking a moment's rest from the dancing.  The jewelry, especially the earrings, were fascinating to see.

Kim playing with the Masai children, with Grant and Garrett participating as well.

There was a hole in this tree all the way to the other side.  Charlie is keeping an eye on the Masai kids, and they are keeping an eye on him.  Grant is helping to keep an eye on everybody.

A beautiful, heart-felt smile from one of the kids as we were leaving.  We cherished our time with her and everyone else in the village.  They made us feel very welcome.