Mahab to Pune to Chennai

Sharon lost her sunglasses on the elephant ride and she found some new ones in Mahab.  Very stylish.

As we were leaving Mahabaleshwar the driver stopped at a view point.  Even though he does not speak English I guess he figured out that we like to take pictures.  That was nice.

We got into Pune and connected with our local facilitation person.  He got us to where we were dropping Rebecca off.  She said that she got home ok.  

We stopped to use a washroom and there was a guy who gave his dog a latte.  This was the healthiest dog I have seen.  Must be all the lattes.

Pune airport

seeing this sign on the side of the plane was a little disconcerting 

Chennai airport

our hotel

It is ok but not the same type of hotel as our others.  

dinner in Mahab

It was a full multi-cultural cuisine buffet 

\\\

with fabulous desserts

my camera

For those of you who have asked, my camera now turns on but it still will not take pictures.  Luckily my phone still works.  But it does not have much of a zoom.  Debbie is getting some great shots of birds, monkeys and flowers with her zoom.  We will share pictures at the end. 

a day in Mahab Jan 30

What a nice day we had today.  We slept in. Met our guide at 9:30 am.  I had a list of places I wanted us to go to.  Before we left the hotel we scheduled our spa treatments for when we got back.  First we went to Mount Douglas.  This is where our parents went to language school and later for vacations.

This is a new house but it is on the same plot of land.  It is private property but they let us walk arround.

This is the view I remember with the saddleback mountain

Then we went to Wilson Point for the view.

Then we hiked out to Chinaman Falls.  The guide told us that there was not likely to be any water because it had been dry. But we were lucky.  It was a pretty walk.

past a farmer who was growing strawberries.  That is a big crop here.

a little more than a trickle 

We decided to check out Olive Garden for lunch.  That was fun. 

we found our Kolhapuri chappals.

We got back to the hotel just in time for our spa treatments.  We each had chosen something different but we all ended out feeling pampered.  Ended with a nice dinner at the hotel.

What a fabulous day

Chennai Jan 31

We arrive safely in Chennai. The hotel was not up to the previous hotels. We went down to the lounge for a glass of wine, only to find out that that was not possible. Beer and whisky. So we asked to be driven to a restaurant where we could get a glass of wine with dinner. We drove 1/2 hour to some place that had the absolutely the worst wine and only one choice

They did not even have enough wine glasses.  But it was so bad we could not drink it.  We still had to pay 1500 Rs.  

Driving

Good brakes
Good horn
Good luck

Washroom Runs

TP. Check
Purcell. Check
Buddy to hold stuff, guard door, hold flashlight. Check

Okay ready. Our tour company has been good about finding us safe and relatively clean places

travel day Miraj to Mahab

sunrise!  We had an early start

road side scene

you can't see it very well but on the back of most trucks is a sign "Blow Horn" or "Honk Please"  Horn honking is a must.  To drive you need good horn, good brakes and good luck. Roads are narrow so this signals to the vehicle that you are trying to pass.  

Along the way we saw a lot of crops of sugar cane, jewar (a grain like millet), bananas and now grapes.  There is also some tree with a fruit which we could not decide if it was apples or pomegranates.

About 11 am we got to Fratelli's vineyard.

First stop Fratelli's vineyard.

We had a tour with one of the owners.  He is Italian.  He told us about the winery, then took us on a tour, then we had a tasting of 5 wines.  2 white, 1 rose, 2 red.  They were very good. Naturally we each had slightly different favories but we compromised with 2 Sauvingnon Blonc and 1 limited Sangiovese Cab mix.  Then we went upstairs and were treated to a fabulous lunch.  We got the polish off all the bottles that had been opened for the tasting.  We were there about 2 1/2 hours.  I would recommend that stop to anyone.  Unfortunately it is in the middle of nowhere and it was hard to find.

Debbie smelling the wine.  Is it my camera or have I had too much to drink?  :-) 

I think we all napped on the next portion of the drive.  

another gorgeous sunset.

We finally got to our next hotel around 8 pm.  The driver must have been exhausted.  We forgot to get our wines out of the cooler.  At least Debbie and I had our red wine.

poppardums and dips

My chicken dish.  Can't remember the name.  It was good.  We each had something different and shared.

Examples of some of the spices they use.  A very good restaurant at the hotel, Le Meridien.

Miraj - Jan 28

Our day in Miraj was full of memories.  Debbie, Rebecca and I went to morning chapel and got to hear the slow version of For the Beauty of the Earth.  With the usual pauses between each phrase.

We went back for breakfast at the guest house and then went for the tour of our old house.  It is being turned into a guest bungalow.  Fun to see but it was very shabby.

Then we toured the Rehab Facility.  It was now like a museum.  It totally is not being used.  That was painful.  They had all the old dusty photographs on the wall.

Archie Fletcher had a big plaque.

Then we went to the cemetery.  That was nice.  At the cemetery we heard people singing What a Friend we Have in Jesus.

Mohan helped us out a lot.  He was our guide.  He also was the cook at the Fletcher Guest House.

Then we went to the weaving department which my mom had helped to start.

We bought a few things. 

temple flower.  Very fragrant flower. These trees are planted in cemeteries and temple. We always called them temple flowers but I do not know the formal name.  

my pishvie (bag)

Back to the guest house in time for lunch.

we had chapattis ... the real ones.  Not naan or anything else.  Had them both lunch and dinner.  

After lunch we met up with a sitar player who took us to see sitar making and also he played some.  That was fun.  Unfortunately my camera needed to be charged so I could not take any pictures.  After the sitar playing we went to the downtown bazaar.  It was like I remembered it.  Now mostly food market. We relaxed after a delicious dinner.  All in all a good day.  It was fun to share stories.  It was nice that Rebecca could be there as well.  

And I am still not caught up.  Oh well.