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The Great India Adventure
  • Staci Adman
  • Eric Adman
  • Staci Adman
  • Eric Adman

The Great India Adventure

Staci & Eric tarafından 35 günlük bir macera Okumaya devam et
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  • Gezinin başlangıcı
    4 Nisan 2023
  • The Great India Adventure

    Halfway to Singapore

    5 Nisan 2023, North Pacific Ocean ⋅ ☁️ 48 °F

    Halfway through the flight and almost to Japan. The 4-month-old across the aisle from us has taken this long flight really well up until the last half hour, poor thing. We were able to finally watch “Everything Everywhere All At Once”, which was fantastic!Okumaya devam et

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  • The Great India Adventure
    23Ironing clothes in the large laundry complexA washing stall in the laundry complexClothes drying area of the complex1

    First full day in India

    6 Nisan 2023, Hindistan ⋅ ⛅ 82 °F

    Wow. That word sums up today. We started our day with a delicious “South India” breakfast at our hotel. It was made up of idlis (soft steamed rice flour buns) served with Sambar (vegetable lentil stew) and coconut chutney. We walked around the neighborhood to find a SIM card for Eric’s trip phone so he has cheap Indian cell service and data for our trip. (On the other hand I downloaded an eSIM from Airalo before our trip, which gives me tons of data but no calling/texting with my own cell phone/number). That took nearly and hour, and afterwards we took our first ride in a rickshaw when we hooked up with a rickshaw cab driver who took us on a sightseeing and shopping drive around Kochi. He took us to a huge area where hand washing is done, to the produce market area and to a fancy artisan crafts building where I may have purchased a couple beautiful pashmina scarves and a trip talisman ring. The hotel we are staying in is also an Ayurvedic spa, so Eric signed us up for “Sandalwood Ritual” 80-minute massages late this afternoon. Holy cow!

    This evening there was an Rickshaw Run participants gathering for beers at a local restaurant. There were a LOT of people there, and we chatted with a few participants, but it wasn’t really set up for mingling. Of note is that the participants of this Rickshaw Run are probably 95+% male…. 😜

    We are staying near a mosque, and heard the call to prayer from it and a distant mosque at about 12:30pm and then again this evening at sunset. It is Ramadan right now, and that may be why we have heard ongoing beautiful singing on loudspeakers from the mosques up until now, almost 10pm.

    A thundershower came through late this afternoon which was quite refreshing. Now it is still and muggy.

    What a day, and it’s just the beginning!    Okumaya devam et

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  • The Great India Adventure
    "Lost in Spices"! Plural. Ok, makes sense.1This sign was whole at the start of the morning. I didn't break it! Truly!Ben, the man in this shop said they also have a store in Brooklyn!1We were asked if we would take a selfie with this family!Our rickshaw is slightly larger than these toys! 🤣🤣2

    Lunch break after test driving!

    7 Nisan 2023, Hindistan ⋅ ⛅ 90 °F

    Just popping in mid-day to say that in a prior life, Eric was a rickshaw driver. He took to it like a duck to water during our test drive period today and navigated roads, even a particularly crowded road here in town, like a champ! I practiced so I know I can drive (forward and reverse! 😜) in a pinch, but Eric is the main driver. I’ve noticed that locals pronounce Staci more like “Daisy”, so we were joking that this should be my trip name and our alternative team name could be “Driving Miss Daisy”. 🤣Okumaya devam et

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  • The Great India Adventure
    Pomegranate, delicious tiny bananas and a dragon fruit from the produce stand yesterday
    I have actually heard of this foot treatment before!Garbage can decorated with garbage and then paintedSword fish sculpture made with trashThis tree was huge!2Man added for scaleTheater entranceMakeup application time11At least they are up front about it! 🤣🤣Jackfruit!Higher up that same jackfruit treeThis is just down the street from our hotelHotel courtyard at nightMaking a beautiful sand decoration on the theater floor via stencil

    End of Day Two in Cochi

    7 Nisan 2023, Hindistan ⋅ ☁️ 82 °F

    Most importantly I have to say that the rickshaw assignment gods looked favorably upon us and Eric and I were lucky to get one of the handful of rickshaws with 4-stroke engines. Most are 2-stroke. But ours did die when the fuel gauge read half-full, leaving us dead in the water in the middle of town. **If you know of our last trips to Utah in our beloved Landcruiser, you’ll see why we knew we could do THIS trip** We received kind help from locals, got a, uh, rickshaw-for-hire ride to a shop to get two 5-liter petrol containers (that look more like heavy-duty cooking oil jugs) and to the petrol station to get one filled up. 2.5 liters of petrol filled up the rickshaw tank that is supposed to have a 5-gallon capacity (in other words, apparently it wasn’t out of gas when it was dying) and it purred like a kitten. Hurray! We’ll see what happens on that front.

    Rickshaws had to be returned by 4pm. Where they are all parked is right next to the waterfront, so we had a lovely stroll on the promenade. We then attended an amazing local classical dance performance that is like musical storytelling that originated in the 17th century and involves elaborate costumes and makeup. For the hour prior to the performance the actors put their makeup on onstage. Fascinating!

    Unfortunately we had to sneak out of the performance to get to the mandatory team meeting. It was a humor-filled welcome/introduction/let’s go over the loose guidelines talk, and my biggest take away was that right at the beginning he said there are 20 women and 169 men taking part in this event. 🤣    Okumaya devam et

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  • The Great India Adventure
    The ferry we were waiting to catch
    Our rickshaw riding on the ferryThese are called "Chinese fishing nets"Red palm. I love the colors!What I think of as house plants out in the gardenYoung mango treePapayasLittle bananas from their tree!~30 year old mango tree that produced 40 fruits this year!Black pepper vines climbing up mostly palm trees in a yardJackfruit!Their street is called Green Lane. Perfect!Varieties of bougainvilleaBeautiful boats seen from a bridge

    Visit with local friends

    8 Nisan 2023, Hindistan ⋅ ⛅ 91 °F

    We got to take our rickshaw out today to test drive from 10 to 4, so we drove back towards the airport to visit a lovely couple who we met back home when they were visiting their daughter and her family in Lake Forest Park this winter. We were treated to a delicious home-cooked meal!

    This trip was a great test of Eric’s driving skills in a busier urban environment, and he loved it! I’m sharing photos of what we saw along the way, and of their absolutely beautiful garden.    Okumaya devam et

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  • The Great India Adventure
    "Off like a herd of turtles!"
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    We’re off! Lunch stop - chicken biryani

    9 Nisan 2023, Hindistan ⋅ ☁️ 93 °F

    Both the chicken and the egg were included! Brewed coffee with sugar and milk that almost tastes like crème brûlée. 😋

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  • The Great India Adventure
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    Driving to Munnar

    9 Nisan 2023, Hindistan ⋅ ☁️ 68 °F

    What a gorgeous drive we had today up into the mountains. We even visited a roadside “Honey Museum” and learned a bit about the local honeybee, which is smaller than the bees we get for our hives. We met a beekeeper who maintains 700 hives!!

    We are spending the night in the city of Munnar. It’s incredibly lush, and the temperature is perfect - a wonderful change from the heat of the past few days. Rolling mountainsides in Munnar are covered with manicured tea bushes.

    I wish I had a video of all the surprised looks and friendly smiles and hellos that we constantly experienced, and I mean constantly! A young man even gave us advice on a safer route to take from here to avoid a more crime-prone area. He is also a motorcycle enthusiast, so I foresee Eric going on a trip with him around India sometime in the future….😊    Okumaya devam et

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  • The Great India Adventure

    Dinner at Hotel Saravana Bhavan

    9 Nisan 2023, Hindistan ⋅ ☁️ 64 °F

    Oh man. The food so far! In India “hotel” means restaurant. This is a bustling big room with a huge noisy kitchen and lots of employees. The trick for us on this trip will be at least partly mastering eating with our right hand and no utensils with even a shred of grace.

    Our meals tonight were presented on a tray lined with banana leaves to use as the plate. Three of the condiments in little indents were called chutneys the white one being coconut chutney. Delicious! Not the “chutney” we think of!

    I ordered masala paneer with parotta. Eric ordered mushroom manchurian with rotti. The cool thing is we’d just watched a man making parotta at a stand outside, so I’m sharing that video here.    Okumaya devam et

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  • The Great India Adventure
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    Hotel C7 in Munnar

    10 Nisan 2023, Hindistan ⋅ ☀️ 66 °F

    Our hotel is up a side road off of the main highway, and our room looks out to absolutely gorgeous rolling hills of tea bushes. The texture/pattern is mesmerizing, and the lighting at sunset was surreal!

    This hotel looks lovely on the whole and “has character”. It kind of looks like it was built in the 80s. It’s cool enough here that there is no AC. Eric characterized the bed last night this way - “This bed is so hard that when my heart beats it makes my head shake.” That still makes me giggle. It really wasn’t bad at all for sleeping.

    The tea kettle in our room has a basket in the top for loose tea and the kettle periodically percolates after it’s reached temperature rather than just shut off. And we've discovered that rolls of TP in India are very small, quite a contrast to our jumbo Costco rolls at home!

    Breakfast of coffee, pastries and dragonfruit, then we pack up and go!    Okumaya devam et

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  • The Great India Adventure
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    From Munnar to Tiruppur, Tamil Nadu

    10 Nisan 2023, Hindistan ⋅ 🌙 91 °F

    We didn’t make a lot of miles today because of going 15kph and slower through the winding roads of the mountains, and 30kph driving through the tiger reserve. But once we got out into flat territory we were making 60kph+. So it seems like we will be able to make much better progress when we are on flatter ground. AND if we can stop being distracted by cool things. It is REALLY hard to blast through places. We will wish we could take 2 months rather than 2 weeks.

    We left the state of Kerala and have entered the state of Tamil Nadu. Checking into our hotel (Hotel Home) in Tiruppur felt a bit like we were trying to enter a new country. Luckily we passed muster. The bathroom in our room has mothballs sitting in the sink drain and floor drain. Not my favorite aroma…

    Pardon my boldness, but I have to share that I encountered my first two squatty potties today! First since visiting Japan in 1999. One time it was a pay toilet at a tourist rest area in the mountains. We paid the equivalent of about 2.5-cents to use the toilet.

    We had the best chai tea of our trip so far today at two different places. I’m sharing the video of chai tea being readied to serve.

    At the base of the mountains we passed through an agricultural area where I recognized corn, coconut trees, banana trees and maybe papayas trees, and off in the distance in all directions are wind turbines maybe half the height or less of those we see at home. Very cool!
    Passing through the town of Udumalaipetti we stopped for delicious mushroom pastries and hot, sweet lemon tea to die for. The food!! ❤️

    As we returned to the road we ended up behind a truck carrying a bunch of people including youth playing drums. They saw us and went crazy! We felt like we were being led in a parade!    Okumaya devam et

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  • The Great India Adventure
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    “Eat Ride Repeat”

    11 Nisan 2023, Hindistan ⋅ ☀️ 97 °F

    Lunch break in Rasipuram at Classic Rider Cafe. Their motto “Eat Ride Repeat” fits us for sure. Checked the oil this morning (it looks great), met the cutest gal working at a petrol station (she was all smiles until the photo!), saw what looked like sandstone hills you’d see in Utah, and seeing lots of beautiful Hindu temples. I’m eating a paneer burger for lunch, which is deep-fried paneer (cheese) on a bun. And a honey date milkshake. 😋Okumaya devam et

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  • The Great India Adventure
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    3-star hotel does not mean fancy

    11 Nisan 2023, Hindistan ⋅ 🌙 77 °F

    We planned on staying at a fairly nice hotel tonight in Viluppuram, but it was already full when we got here and trying to find another in the chaos of the city was going to be a challenge. So we ended up at a very neglected “3-Star” (on Google) hotel that at least had a good-sized parking lot and is a bit off the noisy main road. And has AC. This area has lots of mosquitoes, including in our room, so we picked up some mosquito room spray and a citronella diffuser at a local store. Don’t worry, we are taking our malaria pills daily! In this city there are sewer/runoff trenches running under the sidewalk, with gaps here and there. Must be mosquito heaven. 😬

    We made great time today (300+ km) and hope to get an early start and a truly “luxurious” hotel for tomorrow night. I’ll add more photos from this afternoon when I have a better cell signal or WiFi.    Okumaya devam et

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  • The Great India Adventure
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    Leaving Viluppuram

    12 Nisan 2023, Hindistan ⋅ ⛅ 77 °F

    What a total immersion in India that isn’t catering to western tourists.

    Last night I picked up a couple feet of tuberose garland at a flower stall because the bit we had before was dried out and I missed the heavenly scent. The woman sweeping the courtyard saw me carrying it out to the rickshaw and gestured that she’d put it in my hair for me, which is what women here do. I was so moved! She pulled clips and bobby pins out of nowhere to attach the garland to my hair. ☺️

    Edited to add - breakfast chai at a tea stand. I think we are the only white people within miles. Fried savory fritter and savory “donut” called Vada with onion, cilantro and ginger in the dough.    Okumaya devam et

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  • The Great India Adventure
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    Shore temple, and the Bay of Bengal!

    12 Nisan 2023, Hindistan ⋅ ☀️ 91 °F

    We just wanted to see the beach briefly, and headed for the Shore Temple to see what that’s all about. We were lucky enough to score a guide who told us all about it and explained the main Hindu gods and their wives. When we returned to the parking lot there were three more rickshaws from the rickshaw run park next to us!

    Our guide also took us to a couple other places in town, including a quick trip to the beach. The water felt like the perfect warm temperature! Mahabalipuram is the stone carving capital of India, and I’m sorry I didn’t get any shots of the roadside stands with huge carvings.    Okumaya devam et

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  • The Great India Adventure
    Mandalas in front of businesses are for good luck!

    Nellore

    13 Nisan 2023, Hindistan ⋅ ☀️ 86 °F

    Now we are in the state of Andhra Pradesh and traveling near and along the coast of the Bay of Bengal. Arabic food for dinner last night, Indian this morning! Vada for breakfast again today! Heading north paralleling the coast today to stay at the beach tonight!! 🌊Okumaya devam et

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  • The Great India Adventure
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    Quick pit stop @ Bajaj dealer in Kavali

    13 Nisan 2023, Hindistan ⋅ ☀️ 97 °F

    Topped up our engine oil - 500 ml plus extra to take with us (in a used water bottle!) - no charge!! ❤️🇮🇳❤️

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  • The Great India Adventure
    2That thing in the wall is for lighting cigarettes!2We've learned to follow mototcycles to the far left at these toll areas and pass through toll-free2212One of the dozens of selfies we are immortalized in!

    Chirala and wading in the Bay of Bengal

    13 Nisan 2023, Hindistan ⋅ 🌙 84 °F

    We had a shorter day of driving so that we could stay in a nice resort hotel at the beach. It is a lovely contrast to where we stayed a couple nights ago!

    Along our way today we bought mangos from a roadside stand in an area where there were dozens of roadside mango sellers, each with hundreds of mangos stacked in neat pyramids on their tables. There were huge mango trees growing in orchards on either side of the road. We bought 4 mangos for about $1!

    We saw herds of buffalos a couple times today, and an area of flooded man-made ponds that we think were for farming shrimp.

    By the way, our room for tonight is about $60. The bottom-of-the-barrel room we had a couple nights ago was about $13. Really good sit-down meals have run us about $12-13 for both of us. Our chia teas cost about 55-60 cents. It’s hard to wrap my head around the cheap prices! Interestingly, fuel seems to be about equivalent in price to home.    Okumaya devam et

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  • The Great India Adventure

    Onward, day 6!

    14 Nisan 2023, Hindistan ⋅ ⛅ 86 °F

    Sometimes it’s hard to get going quickly because we meet such friendly people!

    Also, someone was staying at this resort who had armed guards. Friendly armed guards, thank goodness.

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  • The Great India Adventure
    Chili paneer
    Vegie fried tice with mushroom curryThis guy joined us to eat his lunchI remember when Nick and Ben were totally into these drinks!Lassi for dessert. The host is on the leftFrog on the outdoor bathroom mirror2

    Lunch at Vihari Family Restaurant

    14 Nisan 2023, Hindistan ⋅ ☀️ 97 °F

    We are traveling in an area where we just may be the only foreigners to pass through and stop in a looong time. We stopped for snacks and water at a roadside stand and chatted with a man who is a shrimp farming technologist whose English is very good. He told us that the coast is a center for shrimp aquaculture. He also recommended a restaurant with AC for lunch that was only 10km further down the road the way we are going, so we decided to stop for a real lunch instead of snacking.

    Holy cow.

    We were the first foreigners to ever eat at this restaurant, and we were treated so kindly, and like royalty. Another customer ended up sitting with us to eat, and eventually the host sat with us to! Many selfies were taken, and Eric left a great Google review for them. And in the end they wouldn’t even let us pay!! 🥲❤️    Okumaya devam et

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