Tirupati

Hi everybody,

I am still alive and doing well. Mild stomach problems but that was going to happen sooner or later.

Over the weekend, we went to Tirupati to visit the 2nd richest Hindu temple in India. It is the 2nd most visited holy place after the Vatican.

When I think of temples I picture a quiet temple set in a forest with few people. However, this is not what i came across when i arrived at Tirupati. It was loud, dusty, and crowded. Pilgrims lined up for hours (8 + hours) to pay their respects to Lord Venkateswara (Wikipedia). There is a daily average of 60,000 visitors per day (i believe this - again cited from Wikipedia). Overall, this was a good India experience.


The market area. We just arrived, put our backpacks in our "cottage" accommodations and walked toward the temple.
Lord Venkateswara, i believe. (??)


At Tirupati, we had to visit the JEO's office to get a special VIP pass to visit the temple. This allowed us to use the VIP line, which means we cut the line really close to the temple, however, we still queued for 2 hours to get into the temple. We then lined up with thousands of pilgrims to pay their respects to Lord Venkateswara. I only got a glimpse, as people were pulling me along to keep the line moving (literally grabbing my arm and pulling me). There were no cameras allowed in the temple, but it's gorgeous inside, lots of gold!

After we ended up staying on the hill in "cottage" accommodations.

Our accommodations, 2 single beds for 6 people. It was an interesting set up.

The next day, we decided to hike 4 hours down the mountain. There are 7000 steps from the top of the mountain to the bottom, and with every step, the weather got hotter, and sweatier.


The fist hour was very scenic and actually quite relaxing. The air was cool (27 degrees Celsius - a nice retreat from the 35+ weather in Chennai and the air was clean and fresh (of course in India everything is relative - cleaner than where I'm staying (Chennai), this applies to food as well, relatively good or relatively better).


Climbing down the mountain.

People apparently like to stack stones. They're everywhere!


On our way down the mountain, we walked past this.
Halfway down (2 hour hike, still 2 hours to go). The bus station we need to get too is down there, really really far away!

Friends from IIT Madras (traveled together) and some new friends we met our way down the mountain.

Now back on campus and plugging away at work and recovering.

Awaiting my next adventure.

Miss you all.

Cheers

Robin

PS. Growing some serious facial hair. I'll post that next... maybe.

Mosquitoes Beware!

This is a warning to all mosquitoes to cringe in fear of Robin's exploding palm technique. A technique so powerful... all mosquitoes caught in it's awesome path will explode with such force that it makes a nuclear bomb seem puny in comparison. Any mosquitoes who come within 2 mm will also suffer some after shock and my be physically altered by the extreme force... lost limbs or even death are usually a result of such AWESOMENESS.

Soon... once mosquitoes enter the room they'll scream out in fear, "Oh F**K, wrong room!" and wish they entered someone else's dorm room.

PS. Robin is applying After Bite to his whole body! They should make some After Bite Extra Extra Extra Extra strength! New product line boys. I'll be your first customer to try it out.

Peace

R

There are some things money can't buy, for everthing else there's......

Single Bed Mattress: 600 INR (15 CAD)
Mosquito net (one size fits all): 50 CAD
Sleeping bag: 0 CAD (stolen from little brother).

A safe place to rest your head: Priceless

There are some things money can't buy, for everything else there are siblings who have what you want.

India First Impressions

Hi Everybody,

I am alive and doing well in India. While trying to write this blog, I realized I have no idea what i'm suppose to write about. I could go on forever about what's going on here and what obstacles we have encountered. However, i'll just post pictures at different stages of my travels. If you would like to know more, feel free to ask (it'd help maintain my sanity).

Day 1 (Delhi)

We arrived in Delhi after a long grueling trip from Vancouver to meet with our India Coordinating office (The Shatri Indo-Canadian Institute in New Delhi). This was my first encounter with Indian cuisine, in the fast food format.

The India Coordinating office treated us to a vegetarian lunch. It came in a little package with numerous little dishes. This is a Northern India cuisine (as i have been told).

The came with 8 items. The top left square was i believe lentil curry, below that is something that tasted like a spicy tomato sauce and below that veggies (onions etc). The top middle was rice and beneath it was some sort of nacho chip (??), tasted like a salty nacho chip, which was quite good. My motto when it comes to food when traveling is when in doubt, bread, pastries and chip products are usually a safe bet. The top right hand corner, tasted something like a potato curry something or other, below that was a yogurt/dairy sort of dish, followed by a dessert (which had the consistency and taste of a soggy timbit. i only at the chips and the spicy tomato past and a little of the potato curry. I was very cautious of what i was eating, still am. easing my way into indian cuisine.


Posing with my fast food and throwing up random gang signs. When you have no idea what to do with your hands in a picture, throw up the peace sign or V sign. Looks cool.

After this lunch at the India coordinating office, we went straight back to the airport to catch our 2 and half hour flight to Chennai.

Here are some random snaps of Southern New Delhi, which surprisingly has a reasonable traffic and a lot of green space.

Apartments lining the highway.

Government offices.

India Gate. We didn't get a chance to go out and take pictures near it; the weather was not cooperating and started to rain cats and dogs.

Traffic in South Delhi. Surprising little traffic for such a big city. They say it gets really busy in some parts (haven't experienced that yet - not to the levels i have seen in China).

Day 2 (Chennai and the Indian Institute of Technology Madras)

I arrived at the IIT Madras around midnight (After over 35 some odd hours of traveling). walking into my dorm, which pretty much has 4 walls a metal cot and a desk in ther corner, and layers and layers of dust. This place seems to have been inhabited for a while or people just don't clean.


My sleeping set up. So glad i brought the sleeping bag! Smells like body wash after a bottle exploded in my luggage (that was a pain in the ass).

Outside my door. I still don't know what that dirt pit is for. It's just there?

The only source of cooling in dorms - a fan on max speed. Doesn't do much in 35+ weather, however it doubles as a mosquito deterrent - too windy for mozzies to fly around in. I still have to set up my mosquito net.

Desk in corner, covered with all my crap. No chair included - i still have to go buy one.

Day 3 (Exploring IIT Madras)
That night i couldn't sleep, way too hot and thirsty and wasn't comfortable in my new surroundings. Got only 2 hours of sleep and then i decided to go walk around the campus around 6am, which i have been told is 650 hectares.

The dorms complex i'm staying at. Staying at the one on the right of the picture.

Outside my dorm.

Around the corner from my dorm. Deer everywhere!!

Monkeys are quite numerous on campus. Honestly the creep me out. I'm scared they're going to chase me down and attack me - just for the hell of it.


One of the many walkways at the IIT Madras.

That is all for now.

Thanks for reading.

Miss you guys.

Peace

R