Food Photos, Tiger Trail, Red Train, Thali

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Royal Orchid Metropole Hotel, Tiger Trail Restaurant Mysore.  Rated number one in LonelyPlanet.

The atmosphere was elegant and expensive.  Lots of wood panelling, waiters in coats.  That's a 'cottage cheese stuffed with nuts and spices and a spicy peanut sauce in the background.  Mint Julep.It was expensive here.  The mint julep was 250 rupees.  See below for the total cost of lunch as a comparison.

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This part of the restaurant is outside.  I was sitting near the screen to watch the national cricket game. The Royals won again.  Yawn.  The opposing team did hit three sixes off of consecutive pitches so they had room to worry. 

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This is 'Veg.Thahli' at the Green Leaf in Mysore.  Usually the bowl on the right would be the sweet desert but is spiced and fried cauliflower. The fork is resting on the gooey sweat shaved carrot dessert.  The white one next to it is yogurt and spices.  Vegetables, then four spicy veg's. Lassi to the right.  Total bill: 120 rupees about two and a half dollars.   

 

Goat and scooter at the scooter repair shop in the alley. 

Diesel Enfield motorcycle for Johan's enjoyment. 

I'm not sure the engine is original Enfield Johan. The cover on the other side

of the motor was like that of a large Briggs and Stratton. Mysore India.

Hand made red train model at the Railway Museum Mysore.  I got a personallized guided tour of the interior of the Queens train.  It's very original , unrestored, so you really get a sense of the opulence. That's a fold down wash basin in her compartment.  There was hot water stored on the roof.

In front of the guide is a fold out lazy susan backgammon style table.  All veneer...but worn.

Elephant, Men Working, Coconut Stand, Kind and Just

The first time I saw an elephant in the wild.   He was dark, almost black.  Along the road to Mysore from Ooty.

Hey Steve look. That's a Px Vespa fender he's sanding.   I took photos of this young man's friends who were circling us.  They were in about second grade.  The digital camera's display comes in handy I show them their photos..

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A common site are these coconut stands.  For 10 rupees the fellow whacks off the top of the coconut, you drink the juice (slightly sweet, slight coconut taste...but not much).  After you drink it he then cuts it in two and scoops the meat so you can eat it.  See photo.  It's soft and creaming.  The meat is thin like in the photo. It has a very faint coconut taste but mostly it's texture is like raw fish until you bite it than it snaps a little.  It's creamy and buttery kind of.  ...you have to try it.  

Along with the scooters and cows that roam the busy thoroughfares you have this...
Drivers are careful not to hit each other, cows, scooter people and dogs.  And no one seems to get
angry. It's simply the situation they have.

 In the hot midday sun the ditch diggers dig
with poles and shovels and toss the rocks into a nearby truck.  No Catepillar backhoe here.

Kind and Just:
I don't recall if I shared this you in this blog or that was an email to a friend but...
Something I'll never forget was the time last week I was being kicked off a bus but the other passengers saved me.   In Hyderabad in the dark night, at the side of a highway, under a bridge the bus driver asked me to get off the bus.  He said I should call the ticket agent on my cell phone because my ticket was wrong.   The bus was overbooked.   One passenger was standing.  I had my suitcases a pocket full of money and an expensive camera.  I pictured myself in the middle of nowhere at the side of the road in India in this vulnerable, somewhat dangerous situation.  I said, "There is no way I'm getting off this bus.  That's crazy."

My cell phone doesn't work and I don't speak Hindi so a passenger took my ticket and called the number but got nowhere.   Then after about 10 minutes at a stand off a young man in the back of the bus takes his luggage and walks off the bus so I could have his seat. I tried to give him 500 rupees for a rickshaw but he wouldn't take it.  I thanked his as he walked by.  I can still picture him standing at the side of the highway in the dark.  And then the other passengers started arguing with the bus driver.  He was trying to collect more money from me.  Four people spoke up and they didn't like what was happening.   It was pretty darn touching.  In the mean time all the other passengers sat in silence for 15 minutes as the discussing went on.  They let me stay, I gave the driver the fee and 12 hours later we arrived in Bangalore.

Smita In India - Tire Boy - Fantasy Shoes - IceTruck - iPhone Photos

 

Smita toasting my arrival in India. My first day in Hyderabad India.

Those are sweet lassi's.  Yogurt juice and sugar basically. We are at 

the Hotel Katriya...which went out of business the following week. No kidding. All the photos in this posting are from my iPhone.   My iPhone just worked for the first time.

 ;k

This is what Smita looks like in her native land India. Pretty

much the same as in State College Pennsylvania ...less the rickshaws.

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Fellow chopping at large ice blocks in his Piaggio Ape.

The street vendors require some cooling in their displays. Also 

I guess you can put the ice in your 'cool box' see below.

 ;l

Johan was right.  I bought new sandals at Fantasy Shoes i

and the very next day they fell apart.  When I tried to return them they said, "Leave them and pick them up tomorrow.  We will send them out for repair." Ugh. I guess it is their return policy...you can't.

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Cool Box:  That's a cool box there with the large black circle.  Inside Fantasy Shoes.  Water is pumped over wicker filters and a fan blows air through the wet wicker.  It works!   The air is cool.  Bhashma said it only works in dry air.  There has to be some evaporation to get the cooling effect. 

Bus Ride - Mysore to Ooty - Baby and Donut Cakes

Up the mountain side to Ooty.  The bus was packed. The buses are often packed. Interesting smells too.

 This is at a diner behind the cash register.  See the incense smoking at the shrine

 

I ordered this by accident. I just wanted the two pictured donut cakes but before I could speak up they whisked me to the table and added the hot spice dipping sauces...and I have to admit it was darn good. Sorry it's sideways.    That's "Thums Up" in the photo.  That's how they spell it.  It's a cola drink. 

 I was eaten up the the mosquitos.  Yesterday it was SO itchy but today it's better.  It looks worse than it is. 

Also my feet swell up!  What's with that?  I was told it's the heat.  They don' t hurt they just are full of fluid.  The swelling  happened before the mosquito bites.

On the bus to Ooty.  Four hours on a packed bus.  This little girl sure handled it well.

She cried a little but people played with here.  The father is sitting beside me and that's his sister to the 

right.  The sister held the baby the whole trip.

Notes on Food, Train Ride, Pio & Doris - Doodh Burfy

That's me, Pio and Doris in a market.  They are buying fruit for tomorrow's leg.  I met them on the train from Coonoor to Ooty yesterday.  Pio is from from pious said Pio.  That's her good friend Doris.  After the train had diner at the Blue Hotel Ooty and then sweet snacks on the street.   I had fish curry.  Had all the bones in it too.  But it was good anyway. Our desert - Doodh Burfy is a cream colored candy.   We had to buy it because the name was so alluring.  I suggested we name our new rock band after it.  "Live from Stuttgart (Pi and Di are from Germany) the hottest band in Germany...give it up for Doodh Burfy!"  They didn't get it but I thought it was funny.

Milk and Fruit Drinks:  The worst fruit drink in India is better than the best in the USA...well not really.  But if you order mango, pineapple, watermelon or orange juice in India you can be pretty sure its squeezed from ripe, local fruits just moments before brought to your table.  So basically it knocks your socks off each time.  The milk is also creamer and thicker and white.   I'm not sure it's homogenized - stuff is left on the inside of the glass. 

If you order coffee or tea the milk comes scalded and hot.  It really improves the coffee.   India coffee is good even though they make it with "powdered" (instant) coffee. Its full of that scalded hot milk and sugar. I'm going to learn to make that at home.  Tea in India is usually Chia.  Made and a mini ceremony at rodeside carts.  Hot scalded milk poured through the black tea held in a cloth strainer.  The chia is rich and creaming and sweet...sugar don't forget the sugar.  It has a head on it like a beer.

Ooty to Coonoor Train Ride, Eating Way Too Much

I'm in Coondoor India right now. Took the the train from Ooty.
You can't get any more closer to the Outer Limits than Coondoor or Ooty.
Hyderabad is  a world apart and a world different than the USA .
Ooty is even more different that Hyderabad.

The atmosphere is hard to put into words.
It's about smells and sounds and color.   It's certainly about living. Everyone
is doing their best living as full as possible.  Life is hard here but mostly
they work and eat and chill.  The kids!  Oh they play and laugh and sing.
They are great.  They were singing on the train today. The pace is very relaxed in Ooty.
No one seems in a hurry.   Even the beggars  give me space (and I'm giving
more in return for that space).

I keep on eating at roadside places just to
meet people and interact.  So I'm fat now.  The food is awesome did I tell you!?
They put a lot of effort and prep into cooking here in India.
It's spicier than in the USA but there are a lot of new tastes.  This morning, 
I think I ate breakfast three times and then I shared cookies and chia
with the fellows in the video.  Only one of them knew English
and that fellow just one word...Hello.  As he was getting
off the train he said to me, "Hello!"  I said, "Hello. See you later."
(The video didn't load successfully I'll try again in a larger town)

Scooter in the Sticks Mysore India Chapter Meeting

Today's posting is about the Mysore India Chapter of the Scooter in the Sticks scooter club.
We met at the bird sanctuary and did Mazza shooters. Ramussa, my rickshaw driver for the day let me drive his rickshaw. He took the photo for you.
It's a Bajaj 360cc 2 stroke rickshaw or 'auto' they call it here.
To start it you pull up on he lever on the floor to the right of the seat. It's shifts just like
my 64 Vespa you twist the left grip and the clutch is the left lever. It was really fun.
A little twitchy in the steering. It is very responsive to inputs to the handlebars so you have to be smooth.
Ramussa took this of me at the bird sanctuary.
This is Mr. Pirzada on his 100cc Honda. He said he bored it out to 108cc and it really
screams now. He's the chapter president. He said, "Go Nittany Lions!"
Here I'm doing a burn out in the guard house. The guard is really enjoying it because
(he later told me) that was his boss's scooter he loaned me.


That's the Hyderabad scooter club members coming around the corner in front of that white and yellow truck there. We made a video in honor of the State College Scooter in the Sticks Main branch.
That's is Smita's parents' apartment there in the background (really).

Gardens, Tour Bus Photos, Birthday Cake

top to bottom
Her brother wanted to take a photo of me with the sister. The Gardens at the south tip of the lake Hyderabad.
Traffic photo out tour bus window.
Same as above
Bunnu and Tanya with Birthday cake. Outdoor eatery plaza Hyderabad "Eat Street"
...and then they rode the amusement park rides next door.
That cake was great! It was sort of pineapple but it was sugar syrup wet...oooo yum.

Parakeets Masala Omelette Friday Off Mysore India

I'm in Mysore exploring on foot today. Off to Ooty India tomorrow. I hope to get a rural train ride when there. At 1 Shiva will take
me for a rickshaw ride in the rural countryside. I bought some water. It's hot today.

That's an outdoor birdhouse in the alley behind the hotel. There are about 25-50 parakeets and cockatiels in there I'd guess. They are all singing away like they don't have a care in the world.

Indian people seem to be happy but they struggle. There isn't a lot of work and what work there is doesn't pay so well ( I have been told). Alan the waiter has Friday off. He shops for "veg and non veg" food and he and his wife prepare it and eat. The TV is off because this is exam week.
In two weeks they go to his house for the summer which is 160km away. He has a graduate degree. 1996. Today I had french toast and Special Indian Masala Omelette.
- Paul

Tour Bus Hyderabad India Friendly Indians

Most of the Indian people I met were very friendly and considerate. But I experienced something more. I mean they were to the core - kind. Here is an example... On a bus I was on my ticket was in error and the driver wanted more fare from me (it was a lot). 4-5 Indians debated with him about it. They didn't think it was fair to me. They went to bat for me. At one point the drive was going to have me leave the bus. I think the bus sat for 15 solid minutes while the passengers spoke to the driver. It was pretty touching.
One of the passengers got up and left the bus so I could stay (the bus was overbooked). I tried to give him some taxi money+ but he wouldn't accept it. This was 10pm at night in the middle of nowwhere. I'm still thinking about that man standing there in the dark under that bridge for me.

Tour bus photos. City tour Hyderabad. It was the mega tour. 8am to 6pm. After seeing several palaces and museums I sat out one and stayed behind in the bus. The driver, his helper and another passenger stayed behind. They came up and sat with me and asked what I thought of India. I showed them the photos on my telephone and they practiced their english and asked all on family. The family in the top photo sat beside me all day. They baby slept a lot even in the 95F heat. No air conditioning. They liked the above photo. Most of the people I met spoke some english. The younger they were the better their english...with the exception of the professionals...Smita's father Bhishma, Sister Swata and brother in law Raum all speak super english...they are all college educated too I'll add.

Ice Cream with the Kumars. Hyderabad

This is Smita's family in Hyderabad. L-R Rhea, Raum, Swata,Bunno, Asha, Tanya, Smita and Bhishma. I'm the pale white guy in the background. We were at a special ice cream shop that specializes in 'natural' ice cream. My mango ice cream cone was mostly smashed up mango with a little cream mixed in and then frozen. So it's a frozen fruit cone so to speak. The difference is the mango and the bananas here are grown here so they are ripened on the vine. The mango is richer, sweeter and softer than anything I've had in the USA. Same with the bananas but to a lesser degree. Very banana(y). I had a banana milk shake made on the street yesterday. Liquid banana basically. And also for the first time I had watermelon juice made fresh from the watermelon right in front of me. I can't tell you how good it was. I thought, "Wow!"

The Green Hotel, Breakfast 8am, Mysore India

I woke up hours before sunrise overcome with heavy feelings. So after two trips to the bathroom to wipe my face and blow my nose I decided to stay up. The feelings circled around grieving of others' losses and suffering. No too cheery for a travel blog I agree. I couldn't shake it either. So I took my pen and paper and a glass of water and went out to write the thoughts down. I sat in the garden as the sun rose...about an hour and a half passed. So I'm mentioning this because India is having some affect on me. I wrote 10 pages on the outside of the envelopes (that came with the Hyderabad Palace postcards). Some of you will receive post cards without envelopes.
This is the garden area and the path leading to the breakfast area (which is outside).