Susan in India

Pictures I took in Kerala

2010-04-15T16:57:00.000-07:00

I have posted all of my pictures that I took while on my holidays. I have put them under Flickr. I have not bothered to put descriptions on them and they are not even in order, but if you are interested in looking at some more pictures, feel free.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/runnerreynolds/

Home in Vancouver

2010-04-13T20:56:00.000-07:00

Made it back to Vancouver safe and sound, even a little early. Marco was there at the airport waiting and before I knew it I was home! Yeah! Managed to stay awake to go down and do a short run with PRR. By the time I got back from that I had been up for 48 hours with about maybe an hour of sleep in there all together. It was so great to be outside in about 12 degrees today - no more 30 degrees days until late July, I hope!

I want to show some pictures of my tour of Kerala, so here are some of my better ones....

Almost Home

2010-04-13T00:57:00.000-07:00

Am currently at the Hong Kong Airport and just about to board the plane home. I left Kochin about 20 hours ago and still have about 14 hours to go....

Am really looking forward to getting home and seeing Marco and Penny and of course running again!

Have swam everyday for the past 9 days, but looking forward to running in the rain.

Kerala - final days

2010-04-09T06:55:00.000-07:00

My last few days will be spent at a beach resort near Alleppey. I am at a beach called Marari at a decent resort with not much to do other than try to stay cool and read and swim. It is very hot here and I went for a hour walk this morning and came back drenched. The pool is lovely, but the water temperature has to be about 30 degrees C - just slightly cooler than the air temps. Have been swimming lots, but I now miss the days when I first arrived at Bangalore and the swimming pool was about 17 degrees! I am reluctant to swim in the ocean as I was told that it is not a very good idea as the local fisher men use the beach for cleaning fish and their own personal outhouse. On the upside, I am getting a really nice tan and am totally relaxed. It is going to be difficult to come back to work mode in one week!

The house boat was nice, but very over priced. It was called deluxe, but maybe by India standards it was. The lake did not look clean enough to swim in, but the breeze off the water was great and to top it off had another great lightniing show. Couldn't stay outside and watch all of it as the mosquitos came out and tried to eat me alive! It was the worst I had seen them since I got to India. Thank goodness I have been religiouly taking my malaria pills. Got some good picutres though and thought I might be able to load them up here on this hotel lap top, but to no avail. You will just have to wait until I get back to Vancouver!

Kerala, middle of trip

2010-04-06T04:37:00.000-07:00

Well, I have left the Tea plantations - saddly. I really loved being in the hills and the orderliness of the tea plantations.
Have gone through the rubber tree plantations and the many other spices that are grown in the hills, Have come down a lot in altitude and into much warmer temperatures. Am currently sitting by a large lake - Vembanad and will be travelling on in tomorrow via house boat. I will have to see if I go insane or not just sitting on a boat for 24 hours. Still have books to read, and I hope if the water looks clean enough, I will get to jump in the lake to go for a swim....

BTW did not get to see any tigers, but not too disapointed as I did see some when I first arrived in India. Did see some great views of the valleys and even better - got to see a spectaculare lightning show last night. It lit up the whole sky and seemed to go on for ever!

Still unable to post any pictures, so can't show you how beautiful it has been, but will do so as soon as I can!

Kerala vacation - first few days

2010-04-04T07:00:00.000-07:00

A quick update on my first few days of my vacation. I flew Thursday morning to Kochin, which I think is the biggest city in the state. I was met by my driver and a representative from the company who arranged my tour. Was taken to my hotel and settled in and then went for a quick walk around the area before I was to be taken around sight seeing. I was in heaven right away as I was able to just walk out of my hotel and wander around. There were even side walks!

My driver then took me to some touristy areas over in Fort Kocin. walked around the shops and then the beaches and watched some of the fishermen and then I went to a traditional dance... It was interesting, but not something I normally would have gone to.

The next morning after breakfast was a drive to Munnar. Being Easter Friday there was very little traffic on the roads and what normally takes about 5 or 6 hours, took just over 3. It was a great drive as we left the city and started climbing the hills. We got up into the tea plantations and I just loved it! The tea plantations are just beautfiul, green organized farms that I wish I could show you pictures of. Once I am able to post some pictures, you will see how amazing it is. Munnar is not very big, and my hotel was about 10K out of town up in the hills overlooking a very large valley. To top it all off, I was provided a very impressive lightning show last night! Managed a little run and walked a ton and just enjoyed being in the clean air.

This morning we left the tea plantations and are now in Periyar. Actually that is the name of the lake and animal reserve and I already forget the name of the town. I am in a very nice hotel, but am in town and don't have a spectacular view this time. Will be going for a hike in the nature reserve tomorrow and will let you know if I see any tigers!

On Vacation

2010-03-31T09:42:00.000-07:00

Today was my last day at work, and as is tradition for the the last day for the Canadian trainers, the gang gave me an Indian outfit as a going away gift. My responsibility was to buy them all ice cream and pizza this afternoon. I must admit I am a little sad to say good bye and will miss working with them on a daily basis.

But the good news is that now I have 12 days of vacation to spend looking around India before coming home. I spent a lot of time trying to figure out what to do and where to go for my India vacation. India is so big and 12 days is not really a lot of time. It is like coming to Canada and trying to see as much of the country as you can in 12 days. Hard to do without flying a lot and not really seeing anything in depth. So in the end I decided to concentrate on one area. The state is called Kerala and it is south of Bangalore. Kerala has become quite a tourist destination because of its natural beauty. Lots of beaches, rivers, hill stations and farmland. I wanted to stay away from big cities and was not that interested in seeing temples or even the Taj Mahal. I am getting a little flak about not going to see the Taj Mahal, but really, I think I can live my life without seeing it. It is good to hear that there is a lot of the Indian population that has never been. Oddly enough it is not as hot in this area as it would be if I went North towards Delhi, but it is still going to be plenty warm enough.

I am looking forward to my holiday, but am also really looking forward to coming home.

It almost rained today!

2010-03-30T06:33:00.000-07:00

I have been here for 61 days now and every day has been pretty much the same. When I first arrived the highs were about 28 degrees with the low temperatures at night getting to around 18. The temperatures increased after the first couple of weeks and it has been pretty much highs of around 32-35 with lows around 25 the entire time. There have been a few overcast or hazy days and some days more breezy than others, but other than that every day has felt exactly the same. There was one exception on Saturday night, when we were having our dinner out by the pool we felt more than a few rain drops that lasted about 5 minutes. We all got excited because it was such an anomaly.

Today I was working at my desk and there was rumour that it was raining outside. I jumped up and went out to the balcony that is off the coffee area to see if it was true. But if it was, it was just a sprinkle and had finished by the time I got there. I was a little disappointed because I really miss having changes in the weather! The monsoon season apparently does not start until about mid May, so the chances of me seeing any significant rain is quite low. I know for those of you in Vancouver wading through the puddles - you are feeling a lot of sympathy for me right now!

last weekend in Bangalore

2010-03-28T10:07:00.000-07:00

Friday night started out with the gang at work taking me out to dinner. We went to a place called BBQ Nation. Of course the first thing I think about when I hear BBQ is meat, but being in India and quite a lot of the population being vegetarian, there was a lot more than just meat available at this restaurant. There was so much food that kept coming to the table and then after that, there was the buffet... I am still not able to eat that much, so I was completely stuffed after the first round and there were many more rounds that kept coming. It was all very good, but I wish I could have taken better advantage of all that good food.

This weekend there are local elections going on and for some odd reason, no one is able to purchase any alcohol from 5:00 pm on Friday until the end of Sunday. So at dinner all you could get were mocktails. All liquor stores are closed and all restaurants and hotels are strict about serving because they could be subject to heavy fines. Although I did read in the papers today that there are some candidates that go around and offer voters 200 rupees and a bottle of beer to vote for them!

On Saturday night a few of us at the hotel organized dinner outside by the pool and some wine, gin and vodka was smuggled out in water bottles so that we could have drinks with our dinner. Considering we are not able to vote, I don't see what the big deal was, but some of the hotel staff really did not like the fact that we were doing this but we were allowed to none the less. It was earth hour, so we had dinner by candlelight which helped us keep our contraband from being too obvious.

This morning I actually went for a bike round around the area. Jimmy who has been here for five weeks has been riding every weekend. I did not even know that the hotel had bikes available! So when I found out that he was going I made him take me this morning. Being Sunday and a voting day there was very little traffic and it was actually a pleasant ride. I would never go out otherwise because the traffic is just crazy. We went out for about an hour and it was so great to be able to go out and ride around. The other thing I did today which has been on my list to do before I left was to take an auto-rickshaw. I only took it from the mall - about 5K from the hotel, but now I can say I was in one. I was able to bargain them down to 50 rupees which is about 1/4 of what they try to get from westerners for that distance, so I was pretty happy and proud of myself about that.

I also went back to Lal Bagh and Commercial Street this weekend. Bought a few souvenirs and walked around the park, which was on my list of things to do again before I leave.

Only three more days and then I am done work and on vacation!

Driving in India

2010-03-23T09:44:00.000-07:00

I have wanted to write a piece on Driving in India for quite some time. It really is something you have to see to believe. Anyone who complains about the traffic in Vancouver should come here for a day. But why write something from scratch when you can get stuff off the internet. I found this piece and made a few of my own modifications. Enjoy…

In India, do you drive on the left or right of the road? The answer is "both". Basically you start on the left of the road, unless it is occupied. In that case, go to the right, unless that is also occupied. Then proceed by occupying the next available gap, as in chess. I find most people drive down the middle of two lanes, picking neither left nor right.

If you are going to drive in India, here are few rules to note:

1. Just trust your instincts, ascertain the direction, and proceed. Adherence to road rules leads to much misery and occasional fatality.

2. Most drivers don't drive, but just aim their vehicles in the intended direction. Don't get discouraged or underestimate yourself. Except for a belief in reincarnation, the other drivers are not in any better position.

3. Don't stop at pedestrian crossings just because some fool wants to cross the road. You may do so only if you enjoy being bumped in the back. Pedestrians have been strictly instructed to cross only when traffic is moving slowly or has come to a dead stop because some minister is in town. Still some idiot may try to wade across, but then, let us not talk ill of the dead.

4. Blowing your horn is not a sign of protest as in some countries. Drivers use their horn to express joy, resentment, frustration, romance and bare lust (two brisk blasts) or just to mobilize a dozing cow in the middle of the bazaar.

5. Night driving on Indian roads can be an exhilarating experience (for those with the mental makeup of Genghis Khan). In a way, it is like playing Russian roulette, because you do not know who amongst the drivers is loaded. What looks like premature dawn on the horizon turns out to be a truck attempting a speed record. On encountering it, just pull partly into the field adjoining the road until the phenomenon passes. Roads do not have shoulders, but occasional boulders. Do not blink your lights expecting reciprocation. The only dim thing in the truck is the driver and the peg of illicit arrack he has had at the last stop; his total cerebral functions add up to little more than a naught. Truck drivers are the James Bonds of India and are licensed to kill. Often you may encounter a single powerful beam of light about six feet above the ground. This is not a super motorbike, but a truck approaching you with a single light on, usually the left one. It could be the right one, but never get too close to investigate. You may prove your point posthumously. Of course, all this occurs at night, on the trunk roads.

During the daytime, trucks are more visible, except that the drivers will never show any signal. (And you must watch for the absent signals; they are a greater threat.)

Unique to Indian traffic:

Auto Rickshaw (Baby Taxi)

The result of a collision between a rickshaw and an automobile, this three-wheeled vehicle works on an external combustion engine that runs on a mixture of kerosene oil and creosote. This triangular vehicle carries iron rods, gas cylinders or passengers three times its weight and dimension, at an unspecified fare.

Mopeds

The moped looks like an oil tin on wheels and makes noise like an electric shaver. It runs 30 miles on a teaspoon of petrol and travels at break-bottom speed. As the sides of the road are too rough for a ride, the moped drivers tend to drive in the middle of the road; they would rather drive under heavier vehicles instead of around them and are often "mopped" off the tarmac. It is not just for single drivers, families of up to four or five can be seen on one moped heading down the street. Mom, Dad and multiple kids stuffed into any spaces.

One Speed Bicycles

Almost always men, these guys pedal leisurely down the street on 50 year old bikes without any apparent concern to the traffic going on around them. Cars and buses pass by within inches and they act like they are the only ones on the road – and without helmets of course.

Speed Bumps

Why have traffic lights, the power is always going out any way and they would always never be working. Just put speed breakers everywhere - this is what they call them here. The speed breakers are bone jarring and between them and the pot holes, you have an idea why the traffic is always weaving in and out and constantly stop and go.

Having said all this, isn't it true that the accident rate and related deaths are less in India compared to US or other countries ?

Feeling a little better...

2010-03-20T04:40:00.000-07:00

A little success today. I managed to eat some oatmeal for breakfast and for the first time this week was actually able to eat some lunch! (a cheese sandwich - starting to sound familiar? :)

I weighed myself today at the gym and I have lost 5 lbs this week! My stomach is not completely happy, but at least I can force myself to eat - even if I still have not felt hungry. I think next week will be all about eating, especially ice cream and chocolate to get my weight back!

Back on Antibiotics

2010-03-18T01:00:00.000-07:00

Have not been feeling well since Tuesday. Was hoping I was getting better, but after no sleep and hardly any food for the last 3 days, I decided that I better go see a doctor again. This time I went to a medical clinic near by and the doctor informed me that I must have eaten something that I shouldn't have. Not sure what or where, but am now on antibiotics again. Not feeling as bad as I did with the chest infection, but at least with that I was able to eat and sleep better than this. As someone who normally rarely gets sick, I have a feeling that the office here thinks I am a bit of a wimp!

Goa, my weekend getaway

2010-03-15T11:51:00.000-07:00

Have I mentioned that I was missing the ocean and that I needed to get away from Bangalore! Well my choice to go to Goa was a good one.

Goa was ruled by the Portugese most of the time between 1510 and 1961, before India reclaimed it. The Portugese influence is what makes Goa a unique and popular tourist destination. And there were a lot of tourists from what I could tell, and I wasn't even there during the peak season. A lot of the tourists were Indian, but I did see a lot of North Americans and Europeans as well and from what I could tell some of them were actual residents. Just so we are clear, Goa is actually a State in India and the capital is Panaji - which is where I stayed.

The receptionist at work arranged the flights and the hotel for me. The hotel was a little odd, certainly not as nice as where I am staying, but it was near the edge of town in the middle of a construction area with half finished buildings all around and a gravel road leading up to the hotel. I very much enjoyed Panaji, mostly because I felt safe walking around the streets and where most of the streets actually had sidewalks. Since I have not had the opportunity too much in Bangalore to just go exploring on my own, I was very happy to spend most of the weekend doing just that. My main game was to walk around with my map and try to see if I could get around without looking at it. After getting kind of lost on the first night, I was pretty good about getting myself around after that. So Friday night, Saturday night and most of Sunday was spent just walking and exploring the town. Miramar was a good beach about a 45 minute walk from my hotel.

Saturday morning I decided that I should try to see more of the area and more of the many many beaches. I had thoughts about renting a scooter or even hiring a taxi for the day, but in the end signed on for a bus tour that would take me to several of the beaches and a few other things as well. I thought it would be better to have some company than spending the day (and the weekend) by myself. The first stop after picking everyone up at the various hotels was to get gas! The taxi driver from the Goa airport did the same thing... Don't they understand that they should fill up before they get passengers? Anyway off we went and the next thing we did was drive to Coco beach and then jump on a boat. The boat ride was very pleasant but chasing the dolphins I could have done without. I ended up hanging out for the day with Varun, a young software developer and his parents. I think he wanted the company so he didn't have spend all day with his parents alone. His parents were actually very nice and and I enjoyed spending part of the day with them. So the rest of the day was spent driving around North Goa and looking at the little towns and stopping at a few beaches. The last beach - Calangute (see picture above) was the biggest and busiest beach and a bunch of us jumped in the water at this beach as we spent over 1.5 hours there. The water was unbelievably warm and looked very clean and I had a blast playing in the surf.

On Saturday when I was standing on one of the many beaches we went to, my phone rang?! Not too many people know my cell number so I answered not sure who was on the other end. It was Nandini, my receptionist who organized my trip. She was frantic and wanted to know if I was OK. She had received a text message from my hotel saying that I had not checked in. Well I had checked in and everything was fine, but she did not know that and was worried that something had happened to me. She had called the airport to make sure I had actually gotten on my flight and had called the hotel again to see if they knew anything and apparently they did not confirm that I had indeed checked in and was seen alive and well. It is too bad that she had to go through all of that, but it was nice to know that if something had happened to me, it would not have gone by unnoticed.

I did not end up taking many pictures as the battery in my camera died on Saturday, but at least I got a few! I also didn't run while I was there, it was too hot for that for starters and I felt I was attracting enough attention as it was by just walking around. If I would have stayed longer I would have found a beach to run on and also rented a scooter like a lot of the other tourists that I saw. I can see why so many people come to this area for holidays. Panaji has been the nicest place in India I have seen so far; picturesque, fairly clean (by India standards), safe and of course by lots of water.

Goa Prologue

2010-03-14T22:45:00.000-07:00

Made it to Goa and back. Will write up something about the trip tonight after work. I can say it was nice to leave my laptop behind for a few days, walk on the beach and swim in the Arabian Sea!

Electricity

2010-03-09T08:14:00.000-08:00

Electricity is something we tend to take for granted in most places in the world. Not so much in India!
The electricity goes out inexplicably at least a dozen times per day here, sometimes for hours on end. I am fairly lucky because where I spend all of my time, the hotel and the office, there are back up generators. These kick in within 10 to 60 seconds if the power goes out so that I am not left in the dark for too long. Not so for a lot of the people living and working here without back up power. In the papers, I daily read about the lack of power in Bangalore (and most other parts of the country). It is a common complaint with everyone here. Upcoming scheduled outages are often published in the papers, but there are many more unscheduled outages that occur on a daily basis.

It has taken some getting use to, but now the outages do not faze me too too much. At least at work, the lights go out for a minute or so, but the computers are rigged to be never without power so that work is not interrupted. This is not the case at the hotel. I have lost count how many times I have lost power at the hotel while on the computer. The computer automatically shuts down - this is due to the fact that the battery is completely shot and the computer needs to be plugged in at all times to work! It takes me at least 5 -10 minutes to get back up and running again.

Then there is the TV at the hotel. Now that the Olympics are over, I have not had the TV on as much, but it takes about 1 to 2 minutes for the TV to reset itself and for me to get back to the channel I was previously on. Very annoying as well.

But worst of all are the elevators! So far I have been caught three times in the elevator when the power went out. Twice at the hotel and once at work. Being stuck in a pitch black elevator, even for a minute is not a pleasant experience. I swear I dropped about a meter in the elevator the other day. I was alone in the elevator going up and everything went black and I felt it fall. Fortunately it stopped itself and then took about minute to recalibrate itself and then had to go down and start over at the lobby level. A little freaky to say the least. I would take the stairs everywhere if I could, but because of security concerns the hotel staff does not like you to take the stairs at all and at work you can only take them down - which I do.

Weekend not according to plan

2010-03-07T06:34:00.000-08:00

I had wanted to get away this weekend and my plans were to go to the coast. I am really missing the ocean and was hoping to get my fix. I had asked the receptionist at work to help me with my travel plans and she seemed pretty excited to organize my trip. In the end she came to me late on Thursday and I was told that she had reserved a room in Ponticherry and that I would be travelling by car to get there - there is no near by airport. When she told me that drive would take about 6 or 7 hours, I balked a bit. After my busy week at work, I was really not in the mood to spend half of the weekend travelling to and from my destination. I had asked her to organize something at the coast, but I thought I would be flying, not spending such a long time in a car to get there! So the plan now is to fly to Goa next weekend. Ponticherry does sounds quite nice, and I still may still decide to take the long drive to get there another week.

So I did the next best thing I could think of. I spent most of Saturday working out and reading by the pool again. Got in a long swim, some weights and even though I didn't reach two hours, it was well over one hour and the longest I have managed to stay on the treadmill at one go before turning into a steaming puddle. There was some talk of a bunch of us from the hotel going to a movie, but again, those plans did not come to fruition and will take place hopefully another time. All in all it was a very enjoyable, relaxing day and was much better than sitting for hours in a car! Next weekend will be all about water and beaches - I hope.

Mike and Nancy came to the rescue and on Sunday we all went into the city and checked out Commercial Street. So far all I had seen shopping wise were malls. I knew there must be some street markets in Bangalore and now I know this is the place to be. Commercial Street shopping area is not just one street but there are a lot of side streets and parallel streets as well. It is easy to spend a whole day wandering around here. It is quite hot mind you, but if you know which shops have good air conditioning it is quite bearable. They are also ripping up the street which makes it very dusty and dirty, but it did keep a lot of cars from driving through. We spent quite a few hours looking around, spending money and also having lunch. We went to a vegetarian place called Woodys. It did not look like much from the inside or outside, but I have to say, it was one of the best meals I have had since I have been here! It was labled a South Indian mini meal on the menu, but I am not sure I even ate half of it and I was stuffed.

Actually, I must mention that last Tuesday night was another good meal. There were some bigwigs from the corporate Aon Chicago office in town and they took pity on me when they discovered that most of my meals have been either at my hotel or the office food court. They invited me to tag along to dinner with them and with one of their clients at the Oberio hotel - one of the nicer hotels in the center of Bangalore. We ate a really nice dinner at their Thai restaurant and the evening was actually a lot of fun, even if it really was a client working dinner. (Please note that I am not saying that my food at the hotel or the food court isn't very good - I don't think I have eaten much so far that I have not enjoyed. I am actually in vegetarian heaven.)

Still have not bought myself a sari, but I vow not to come home until I have one. I will definitely be coming back to Commercial Street for said sari before I head home - and maybe even a souvenir elephant (kind of prerequisite for a visit to India). If anyone has any special souvenir requests, just let me know.

Holi Holiday

2010-03-01T06:58:00.000-08:00

Today, March 1st is officially Holi. Holi and the following day, Dhuleti, are known as the Indian Festival of Color. Playing Holi or sharing colors is a highlight of this holiday. If you can imagine a holiday that combines Thanksgiving, Carnival and Valentine's Day with the colors of Easter — but where people get colored instead of eggs — you have some idea of why this holiday is so eagerly awaited. Even though today is the actual day for Holi, it seems to be celebrated for many days. It seemed to start on Friday for most people here at the office. There was a face painting contest along with the Birthday celebration. Birthdays are also a big deal here. More so than at home. They announce everyone who had a birthday in the month and then we all had to sing Happy Birthday. And then there was cake! One is normal, one is eggless for the vegetarians and there was an additional cake for the Holi celebration. For one of the guys who celebrated his birthday the other week the tradition is to give them the 'bumps' and take turns kicking! I am so glad my birthday was before I came here!

Most people celebrated Holi on the weekend. There were many colored water fights at local parks. People showed up to work today with colored hands as the paint does not exactly come off very easily. Coming into the office today I saw a few guys on bicycles completely covered in paint! I was a little worried about coming to work today, but so far no one has accosted me with color. Actually it is very quite here as a lot of people have taken today and even the week off for holidays. Happy Holi

Update - half done

2010-02-28T08:18:00.000-08:00

The last day of February - One month done and one month to go!
I am pretty much recovered from my chest infection. I actually felt mostly OK this past week, each day feeling better than the last. I still have a slight cough left as a reminder, but I am hoping it will be gone soon.
Nothing too exciting to report over the last week. Work, the treadmill and watching the Olympics taking up a majority of my time. I decided not to do anything too adventurous this weekend and actually had an enjoyable weekend just kind of hanging out.

I was invited to go and watch the Canada/Slovakia hockey game at Mike and Nancy's house which was very nice of them. The game was not that exciting until the last 5 minutes. I am a little nervous about the Canada US game - Canada will have to play much better against the States if we are to win gold. The game was on Saturday morning here and we watched that and then went for a wander around their complex and surounding village. All the village kids were out waving and saying hi to us as we walked thru the streets. The temperatures have shot up a bit and it has been in the low to mid 30's everyday. It is not humid - thank goodness, but still pretty hot to be out walking around. I can't imagine what it is like in the summer when it is over 40.

Saturday night I went into the city to see Avitar. Hadn't seen it yet and one of the guys from the gym asked if I wanted to go just to get out and away from the hotel for a bit. It was actually better than I expected. The theaters here are a little different. You get asigned seating ( and everyone takes forever to find their seat in the semi-dark) and there was actually a 10 minute break in the middle. They stopped the film and not really in an appropriate spot either!

Today I again watched hockey in the morning. I caught the last period of Finland and Slovakia in my room after breakfast. Then hung out at the pool with my book for a large part of the day. Got back in the pool even though I have a suspicion that is where I got my infection. Hopefully now I have immunity! Got chatting with a woman from the UK who just arrived here for the week for work. We spent an hour or so chatting at the pool and then agreed to have dinner at the hotel. It was nice to have some real company for diner other than my book for a change.

Tomorrow is the last day of Olympics! What am I going to watch on TV? I actually get like a hundred channels, so maybe I can find something worth watching - although half of them are in Hindu!

I have been asking about where I should go this up coming weekend. I think I may try to go away. Am missing water, so I see a trip to the ocean in my horizon....

Sick in India

2010-02-21T22:44:00.000-08:00

OK, maybe my outing Saturday was not such a good idea! I woke up on Sunday and felt like I had been hit by a truck. My whole body was aching and my lungs felt much worse. I went down for breakfast and ate a little and then came back to my room where I slept for a couple of more hours! Just hung out in my hotel room watching Olympic coverage and feeling sorry for myself. I started to get a little worried as I had no energy and really felt horrible. No one likes being sick away from home and I am no exception. I finally gave in and went down to reception to inquire about seeing a doctor. The staff, as usual were very helpful and they called the hotel doctor. He was going to come by and see me at 6:00 pm. I got a call right at 6:00 and he was delayed and would be available at 8:00.

Sure enough, he was there at 8:00. I told him my story and he checked me out and informed me that as I suspected - I had a chest infection. He wrote out a prescription for some antibiotics and some other cold remedy stuff. I wasn't sure how I was going to get all of this stuff, but not to worry, it would all be delivered to my room within the hour! Well almost an hour later, sure enough my drugs had arrived! I took a couple of pills and went straight to sleep. Have decided that getting better is a priority and the thought of going to work today just isn't on. So will stay here watch more Olympics, read and rest. Hopfully tomorrow I will be ready to get back in the game!

Mysore

2010-02-20T09:13:00.000-08:00

Mysore is about 200K away, but takes over 3 hours to get to because of the traffic. First we had to drive clear across Bangalore city which took an hour in itself. I was told that Mysore is also a must do visit - so off I went this Saturday morning. My driver suggested a 7:00 am start to beat the heavy traffic. I am sure he would have liked to have left earlier, but this was the earliest I had gotten up since I arrived here, so I think he knew not to push it. Plus I have been sick for the last few days and was not willing to get up any earlier. I woke up on Wedensday feeling absolutly fine, but a couple of hours into my work day I felt absolutly horrible. It is just a cold, but it started in my chest which is a little unusual for me. I was having trouble breathing, and then could not stop coughing. Today, my breathing is better and coughing has subsided a little, and it has moved into my sinuses now. Was feeling a little better when I woke up, so I decided that I was well enough for an outing - besides, it was mostly spent driving there and back and I figured getting away from the air pollution here would be good for me.

After Bangalore, Mysore is the second largest city in the province, but unlike Bangalore and it's high-techiness, Mysore apparently still has some old world charm - there are no Aon offices!. Upon arriving to Mysore, we went straight up Chamundi hill where there is a temple that looks over the city. I looked around a bit and even walked into the temple - it did not do much for me I must admit as it was fairly croweded and I wasn't sure of the protocol. So didn't hang around there long. On the way down made a short stop to take a picture of Nandi, Shiva's Bull which was carved from a solid rock of granite in 1659.

We then made it to the Mysore Palace, which I was told I had to see and walk through. They would not let me take any pictures inside the palace, but got quite a few shots of the outside. My entry fee incuded an english recorded commentary of the palace, but I won't bore you with the historical details - most of which I have already forgotten! It was nice to walk through - of course they make you take off your shoes so I can attest to the nice floors!

It was only 1:30 pm by the time I was done with the palace and Naryanan suggested that we go and visit Brindavan gardens. He already knows that I would rather walk around outside than go shopping or more museums! The gardens were another 20k outside of the city on the down stream of a dam. The gardens are well planned and have well maintained lawns, innumerable pools and fountains. It was not busy at all when I was there, but at night it supposidly is very busy as the gardens are transformed into a kind of fairy land when the concealed lights near the flower beds and fountains are turned on and add a new dimension to the garden. So after almost 13 hours after I left this morning, I made it back to the hotel safe and sound and no worse for wear...

Bangalore green spaces

2010-02-14T07:27:00.000-08:00

Today was again about being outside and getting away from the hotel for the day. Two of the places I have been told that I needed to go to are Lal Bagh and Cubbon Park. They are both large green spaces near the center of the city of almost 300 acres and are said to be a must to visit when visiting this city. My driver took me to Lal Bagh first. It is a well known botanical garden and was commissioned by the ruler of Mysore, Hyder Ali in 1760. It has a famous glass house and also has an aquarium and a lake. I spent a couple of hours walking around. I very much enjoyed this park, it seemed very well taken care of and there were lots of families and couples strolling around the grounds.

After spending a couple of hours there enjoying the scenery, I then went to Cubban park. I had high hopes for this park and was a little disappointed. It was not as nice as Lal Bagh in my opinion because it is not as green or groomed. I thought this might be a place that I could one day go and run in, but I did not see anyone even remotely running and the park has roadways cutting through - and again the wild dogs. It is at least a half hour drive away, so I don't think that running there is in my future. Walking around these parks, I was definitely a minority and clearly a tourist and as a result had a lot of people staring at me. Maybe I need to start dressing like the other women here?

Olympics

2010-02-12T21:30:00.000-08:00

Just watched part of the opening ceremonies live on ESPN. I missed the first hour as it started at 7:30 am here. But, I woke up and turned on the television just as the Canadian athletes were entering the stadium - good timing I think on my part. What I saw was pretty impressive. Looks like there were a few glitches, but overall well done. Will have to see what the critics and reviewers say. I wasn't sure why there was the minute of silence for one of the athletes, but as I now watch the headline news, there is quite a bit of coverage about the luger who died just hours before the start of the games. Pretty tragic.

There are three athletes from India competing at the games in the luge event. So really, the Olympics are not a big deal here. I will be watching what I can on ESPN. For those of you who don't know, In Bangalore, I am 13.5 hour ahead of Vancouver time, so watching live will be a little difficult.

I brought some Olympic t-shirts and wore one to work yesterday to show my support - Go Canada!

Cats

2010-02-10T09:18:00.000-08:00

I keep talking about the wild dogs, but as I am more of a cat person I need to also talk about cats. There are three cats that hang around the food court at work. I imagine that they live there and survive on rats and mice (which I have not seen any of which might be why they are so skinny) and on any food that they can coax from the lunch/dinner crowd. I know that they are a little discernible as they did not want to touch the curried mushrooms that we offered a few days ago! They also do not like to be petted, which is something that they should consider as they would more likely get more food in exchange!

Out for a wander

2010-02-07T06:34:00.000-08:00

MAM had spent the whole day at the hotel yesterday vegging out and was now ready to explore a bit. Our driver told us that Sunday was his day off, so we decided to stick close to the hotel again rather than try to procure another car. So after my breakfast, 1k swim and 12k treadmill run we decided to walk to the Big Bazaar store two long blocks from the hotel. It is basically an Indian version of a Wal-mart. I had walked there yesterday and bought a $2 t-shirt and some cookies and hair conditioner (since the stuff at the hotel is crap). You can get just about anything you want there from kitchen supplies, clothes, food, etc. We wandered around there for a bit and then decided to venture further.

We got as far as across the street where behind some gates were some very nice looking gardens and treed grounds, and what I thought was an office building- very unlike any scenery we had seen so far. We asked the security guy at the gate if we could wander around the grounds, and I was expecting him to say no, but he lead us in and to the building sitting just inside. I tried to explain we just wanted to walk around outside, but either he did not understand or he was checking in with occupants. A woman answered the door and again I explained we just wanted to walk around, but she insisted that we come in and look at the demonstration. I was a little reluctant as I wasn't sure what she wanted to show us, but after stepping inside I was glad I did. The building was actually a show room for some expensive duplexes that they were building. The place was almost 6000 square feet and was spectacular. There was teak wood and marble everywhere and the rooms were all very big as you might imagine. This unit was on two levels, but they do three level units as well. We were informed that they went for $1M US and that included all the furniture and fixtures. Quite a deal really, but pretty unreachable for 99% of the Indian population. We wanted to take some pictures, but felt that it wasn't really appropriate.

We left there to continue on our walk, without really getting to walk around the grounds after all, but felt like we were pretty fortunate to stumble upon that find.

We then continued on towards the Aon office which was only about 1K further away. We wanted to take a closer look at the 'free' hospital that sits directly across the street. Not sure how the free hospital works, but it looks pretty impressive and I hope to be able to get a closer look at some point before I leave. Again it is gated and you can't just wander around without appropriate clearance.

We then decided to try to get back to the hotel from a different direction. It should have been easy, but we ended up nowhere where we thought we should have been. We ended up walking through a fairly lower class street. It was a mix of run down apartments, man made shacks and and street stalls. MAM and I got some interesting looks as it was clear we did not belong among the dogs, cows and chickens that were running around the streets among all of the people. We eventually realized that we were not going to make it back to the hotel going in that direction and ended up backtracking our steps. It was a pretty interesting outing as we felt we had seen how a majority of the people in Bangalore really live as well as how some of the very privileged live.

Bannerghatta National Park

2010-02-06T09:28:00.000-08:00

I was feeling a little cooped up after this past week and needed to get outside and away from the office and the hotel. After talking with people at the hotel and the office I decided this national park was the best bet. I was told that it was about 45 minutes away from the hotel on the outskirts of the city. It took the driver almost 2 hours to get there. Perhaps he didn't take me on the most direct route or I was mislead on the distance? I didn't mind too much as I still enjoy seeing the city streets as we drive through.

We finally made it to the Park and I paid the $150INR to get the grand safari tour - about $4! The grand safari tour included a bus drive through the park to see lions and tigers and other native Indian animals. I was ushered onto a bus and felt lucky to get the last seat at the front, next to the driver with unobstructive views out of the front and side windows. The tour took about an hour and sure enough we saw different types of deer, bears (Asian black bears), lions, and tigers, including white tigers.

The lions and white tigers were sleeping as it was the middle of the day, so didn't get to see them up and about but we did see them sleeping close by.
The animals all looked healthy and well taken care of which was nice to see. After the tour was over, I was made to realize why I was given the best seat on the bus. Everyone got off the bus first, and as I was getting off, I was held back and told I had to provide a tip! No one else had to which kind of irked me, but since I had the best seat and the driver did take a couple of the pictures for me with my camera, I gave him an additional $150INR. He wanted more, but I refused and had to practically push my way off.

I then went into the attached zoo where they had a surprising amount of other animals. I spent another hour and a half waking around looking at snakes, crocodiles, monkeys, birds, elephants, and more. It was just nice to relax and wander around outside. I could have taken a ride on an elephant, but felt I could live without that experience and I think the elephants could too as they did not look that thrilled with their occupation. Unfortunately the animals here did not look as well taken care of. Their cages were mostly small and bare and not really all that secure. It would be so easy to jump into the hippo or crocodile pens. I guess Indian people have a lot more sense than North Americans and Europeans - or it is an easy, cheap way to feed them!

My work week

2010-02-05T08:14:00.000-08:00

Just finished my first week at the office! This week went by very quickly and very slowly at the same time. There was a lot of material that was covered, but the team did a very good job and seemed to catch on very well. 8-9 hours each day at the office plus many hours before and after getting ready - I am pretty tired now.

Some interesting notes made this week:

Security is very high in Bangalore. At least at the hotel and the office. The hotel is gated and there is security that checks under the car and also inside the car every time we drive in. We have to pass through a scanner whenever coming into the hotel. The office has a security check to get into the complex and security men at every floor in the building.

Food is really cheap - lunch at the food court is about 40-60INR or less than $2CND.
Dinner at the hotel restaurant is about $10CND (without alcohol). Breakfast is free as it is included in the room rate. You might be interested to know that my chocolate consumption has decreased quite a bit. With the change in eating schedule, I just don't feel like eating as much - shocking, I know.

At the office they have staff where their only duty is to make tea or coffee on demand. You are not allowed to make it yourself.

There is no tipping anywhere here that I have seen.

Here is a picture of me, my driver Narayan, and Marc-A (MAM). MAM is here for two weeks from the Montreal office to work with me on training the team. Also MAM and some of the offshore team trying to stay awake!

quick update

2010-02-02T21:10:00.000-08:00

I tried a short swim and treadmill run today. Swam about a kilometer and got nice and cold and then jumped directly onto a treadmill and didn't start sweating until the last couple of minutes into my 5k! This will be a good strategy for the future. My last couple of treadmill runs have been difficult because I overheat within minutes. The sun shines directly down on the gym at that time of the morning. This is the best time for me to run so I will just have to get used to it.

It has only been a few days of work, but so far my days are long and pretty unexciting. I get up, work out for about an hour, have breakfast and then start prep for the day. Go to the office before noon and work with the group until just after 2:00. We then go for lunch down at the food court and then back to work until about 8:00. Come back to the hotel, have dinner, respond to a few emails and then to bed because I am so exhausted!

Venture out into the city

2010-01-31T20:42:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I had arranged for my driver to come and get me in the morning and he drove me for an hour closer to the city centre. I found out that he does not like to speak, so asking questions is pointless. The mall was not that exciting, but the drive was pretty entertaining.

He took me to what he said was the best mall in town. The mall was pretty typical to malls in Canada, but they are much more security cautous as a lot of the shops and the entries into the mall itself has scanners and you have to check any bags before going into the shops.

I thought stuff was going to be cheaper. It was cheaper than Vancouver, but not by as much as I would have thought. There are sales everywhere of 20 to 50% off so that helps. I am hoping the street markets will be better.

I have been told that the economic down turn hit India pretty hard as you can see by all of the skeletons of unfinished buildings that are everywhere. It is quite something to see because on my drive I saw large modern office buildings among half built ones, some apartment buildings ranging from high scale to squalor, old shops and even make shift shacks made of all sorts of scraps that people live in. Saw tons of more wild dogs and about a half dozen sacred cows roaming around.
Closer to city centre there were the beggars tapping on your window looking for change at the intersections.

One thing I want to find the answer to is why there are big piles of dirt everywhere. There are no real sidewalks in most places and where they should be are just these dirt piles. I suspect that they are dug up and sifted through for rocks, or are dumped by building sites. If I find out I will let you know.

My Digs

2010-01-30T06:33:00.000-08:00

Vivanta by Taj is the hotel I am staying at and I am told it is quite a modern hotel for India. Not that I have much to compare it to but, but I would have to agree. I quite like the aesthetics.

I tried the gym and the pool today. The pool which you can see in the background is just over 20 metres - which is great because it is quite big for a hotel pool. However my swim today has me a little worried as the water was freezing! I was determined to swim for half an hour and really had to force myself to stay in that long. The temperature outside was about 27, but the water temp must have been about 17. Next time I will try to go when the sun is shining on the water and not when it is in the shade like it was today. I was so cold afterwards that I couldn't stop shaking and ended up going to the gym to spin on a bike to warm up!

My room is small but big enough for me, and comfortable. This is the view from my room. There is a big field beside the hotel and from what I could determine a group of men spent the whole day bending piles of straight rebar so that it could be loaded onto trucks. Not the best view, but at least it is not looking straight into another highrise. I went wandering on the other side of the hotel where there is a small industrial park with some large office towers and a mall that contains many odd stores - mostly composed of banks, food kiosks and other odds and ends to cater to the office workers I suppose. The Aon office is not in this area, but will see how it compares when I go on Monday.

Made it to India!

2010-01-29T23:11:00.000-08:00

Got into Bangalore just before 2:00am - about 24 hours after leaving Vancouver. My driver as promised was there to greet me and whisk me off to the hotel.. Actually the airport is about an hour away from the hotel so I didn't really feel whisked!

I was pretty tired from travelling for 24 hours without much sleep, but managed to notice that even though the traffic was quite light, for that time of the night at least, my driver had to concentrate on his driving more than answer all of my questions. The drivers (mostly trucks at that time) like to drive in between lanes and about 25% of them did not have any back lights! Did see quite a few of the wild dogs I was warned about roaming around. They actually don't look that wild, just homeless and harmless, but then again I didn't get to close to them.

Have now slept for a bit and am off to go wander. Probably won't wander too far today, just get myself acclimatized to the heat and humidity. The hotel is on the outskirts of an industrial park. There are some shops around which I will go check out and perhaps use the pool and fitness facilities later.

Last long run

2010-01-24T16:16:00.000-08:00

I was very happy to see the number of people who showed up for my last long run before I head to Bangalore. Our Sunday running group was much larger than usual, but maybe it had more to do with the fantastic weather! I don't know how much running I am going to get when I am away, so I was pretty determined to get one last longer run in the trails before I leave. It was mostly up to me to pick the route this weekend and since we all know the coffee and socializing afterwards is almost the most important part of a Sunday run, I thought that Port Moody fit the bill. Rik picked out a run that was a little different from our usual run out in that neck of the woods. We ran a very decent 10 miles that took us from Buntzen lake, over to Sasamat and then out to Bellacara and back. It is always so great to get out and run somewhere we have not been before. This run will definitely be added to our list as it is easy to add other trails for extra miles.

Just one more PRR run on Tuesday and then the question of what kind of training can I get in while in India - I have a feeling that I may have to get fond of the treadmill at my hotel!

Leaving behind in Vancouver....

2010-01-18T21:29:00.000-08:00

My cat Penny will be left alone with Marco. It is going to be interesting to see who is going to miss me more....