In August 2006 I went to India for the first time, and it was a great experience!
I travelled with my Dad around south India, and we visited places he grew up, we
met up with relatives and we saw both bustling urban areas and beautiful rural
areas. Here are a few pics of the trip...
We started our trip in Bangalore. The first time I came out into the street
on my own, I felt a real energy of the Indian atmosphere... watch out, an
auto-rickshaw is about to zoom past you!
Cows, rickshaws, bikes, cars... they're all out there on the street...
The local flower market
was an amazing assault on the senses of bright colours and sweet scents...
Next on our trip was my Dad's birth town of Trichy, in the state of Tamil Nadu.
We visited my Dad's old school... these kids here playing hockey in the
playground were excited to see the pictures from our digital cameras and
camcorders!
One amazing thing I learnt on my trip was that my great uncles in Trichy had
a jazz band, and were well known in the area! Here in this cemetery we saw the
graves of two of my musician uncles, Wally and Lionel. My aunties (here in pic)
also showed us the grave of my great grandfather.
Next we were on to Madurai, with its famous Hindu temple.
Inside Madurai temple
Here now we are at the very tip of India, Kaniye Kumari... we arrived in the
evening... here's a lovely view of a memorial and statue of the philosopher Vivekananda.
Around 6.20 the next morning, many gather to witness the sunrise, where two
seas meet...
We then arrive in the beautiful south western state of Kerala... a very green
and fertile place... we stayed in Kovalum, which is increasingly becoming
popular with foreign tourists.
Kovalum beach,
Kerala
On our way up the south western coast we stop at Alappuzha, "the Venice of
the East". This Vembanad Lake is the longest in India. We sailed in a house boat
for a few afternoon hours.
It was amazing to see the communites and schools all living by the side of
the lake...
It was the raining season... the clouds were welling up and it was getting
dark... so time to move on again...
Our final stop before returning to Bangalore was the capital of Kerala,
Kochi. It was an important port during the various European invasions across the
centuries! Unfortunately, the only time I had my camera at hand during the two
days there was to take a pic of this billboard! The amount of traffic in this
town is unbelievable, it'd be quicker getting out and walking!
How better to end than to jam with my uncles and cousins back in Bangalore who
also play guitar! At this point in the holiday I'd picked up a mandolin (my
fingers were itching to play!) and Clifford and Sunil here showed me the rock and
pop songs from the 60s and 70s that they liked.
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