Sunday, 10 January 2010. We arrived just in time to marvel at the Mysore Palace, lit only on Sundays and Holidays.
Monday, 11 January 2010. Rotary Ideal Jawa School. We loved watching the children in morning warm-ups and talking with them as we waited for the group to assemble.
Rotary Ideal Jawa Scool. A classroom visit to preview the latest classroom technology. Students enter answers to quiz question from handheld devices linked to the teacher's server and viewable onscreen.
These students look suspicious.
Marc fits right in. He even wore his uniform.
Mysore Palace.
Note the inflated price for "Foreigners". That's about $2.25 USD
The camels didn't seem to be getting any action.
Ahhh - the Palace.
Unfortunately, the most amazing architectural places in Karnataka, including the incredibly opulent Mysore Palace, do not allow photographs inside. You'll have to go see for yourself. It is the second most popular tourist visit in the world.
Note the light bulbs defining almost every line of the building. Installed when the palace was originally built in 1912, about 50,000 lights illuminate the entire complex on Sundays and holidays.
Polio vaccination at Mysore Palace.
InfoSys, Mysore. IT Campus.
"green" Scooter parking.
Experiment in a cataclysm of architectural styles.
Tuesday, 12 January 2010. Real Architecure. Schools and Institutions built by the maharajas (kings) for the people of Mysore 100-200 years ago. Still in use today.
Historic neighborhood; office of builder M.S. Nanda Kumar, team leader for outgoing GSE and my host for vocational visits in Mysore.
Visit with two young architects practicing in Mysore. Anu & Tara Associates.
M.S. Nanda Kumar, Anu & Tara, Kirsten
New suburban development on the outskirts of Mysore.
Wednesday, 13 January 2010. Rotary Zone Meeting.
Lalitha Mahal, Mysore. A smaller, yet stunning, palace just outside of the royal city, now a hotel.
Thursday, 14 January 2010. Daytime visit to the Lalitha Mahal, with the group.
These cast iron lights from Britain are found throughout the royal city of Mysore, as well as Lalitha Mahal.
Another morning gathering at Rotary Ideal Jawa School.
Chamundi Hills.
Chamundeswari Temple.
temple, electrified.
demon Mahishasuran - and the GSE group.
Another cow warming herself by the garbage fireside.
Hazy Mysore, from Chamundi Hills.
The third largest Nandi (bull mount of god Shiva) in India.
Bargaining for souvenirs.
Innovative Management Institute, built eight years ago.
The stone was not "asked what it wanted to be" but it was quite creatively made into curving walls, nonetheless.
Drainage solution becomes a landscape feature.
I may have lost some hearing capacity, but the tour of the SIlk Factory was A-mazing. Again, no photos allowed.
St. Philomena's Church, Mysore.
That's our ride throughout Karnataka. The white one, in the background.
Srirangapatna, summer palace of Tipu Sultan. Entry gate.
The palace.
The huge wood/bamboo shutters shield the hand-painted walls inside the small summer palace. The paintings are insanely intricate and tell the glory and gory stories of the kingdom under Tipu Sultan.
No photos allowed inside.
Mahogany tree.
Pigeon house, for the messengers of P-mail.
The body of Tipu Sultan was found here.
Prison of Tipu Sultan.
Tender coconuts, always available.
Even for drive-ups. These shots - and the tender coconut -taken through the van window.
Brindhavan Gardens.
Brittany and LiLo wave to the fans...
Anticipating the light and fountain show.
Marc gets a cozy neighbor at his feet.
OOhhh. Aahhh.
We just had to do it.
Awesome breakfasts every morning by Mrs. Rastogi.
Friday, 15 January 2010. Mysore.
It's Sankranti! All the cows are rubbed in turmeric and the harvest is celebrated.
Mysore Palace from the ring road that surrounds it.
British cast iron fencing in a maize motif surrounds the palace property.
Mysore palace complex (temple) from the ring road.
Maharajas circle.
Mysore Rotary Project: Artificial Limb Center
The British Ambassador. Until about 15 years ago, these cars only filled Indian roads. Now, most makes are available for import and Indian companies like Tata are filling a great share of the market.
fabindia! Our favorite shop, a.k.a. the Indian "Anthropologie"
Suchita, shopping host extraordinaire.
Friday, January 15 2010. School, Mysore.
Telescope for schoolchildren funded by Rotary Matching grants.
School principal.
Palaka Resorts, our weekend retreat.
I love the predator/prey Yard Art!
A short walk outside the resort...
...to the river...
...and dam.
Rice harvest.
Sunday, 17 January 2010 Shravana Belagola. Monolithic statue of Jain Saint.
Jain Temple. Shravana Belagola.
I managed blurry low-light photos of the wall paintings I could not capture in other edifices, with permission,at the Jain temple.
What about the public toilets?
Monday, 18 January 2010. Belur. temple comlex, early capital of the Hoysala Empire.
Chennakeshava Temple
Stories of the Hindu mythologies are animated in the stone carvings.
Each elephant is different.
spare parts.
exiting the main gate, security.
Halebid. Hoysaleshwar Temple.
Stone columns turned on a lathe. No two are the same.
The sixth largest Nandi in India.
host brother, Varun (left) and his buddies Nikshep and Siddarth - and Kirsten.
Tuesday, January 19 2010. Host family in Hassan, Jagadish.
to the hole-in-the-wall-delicious dosa place, in Hassan.
Peeking into the open kitchen, there is the owner and chef.
Ruins of Holy Rosary Church mark the spot of Shettihalli, a village submerged by the flood waters of a dam built to promote development and agriculture.
Sharing the road, from the van window.
Rice cultivation.
Chikmagalur.
movie snacks.
Ready to watch Avatar (in Hindi)
Wednesday, 20 January 2010. Chikmagalur.
It's a challenge to clear the driveway at my host's home on market days...
Side of house, back door to the office. Short commute.
Front door of the office on the main road, Mahatma Ghandi Road.
Beside the office, an Indian Victorian.
My hosts live in a huge home, a duplex that was split to be so in the past 15 years. Go modernism.
Next-door neighbor and relative shows me how she opens a coconut.
And how the coconut meat is shredded. Mixed with some sugar, it is delicious.
You don't want to be a "Plucker" in India, for sure.
My host Mamatha and her daughter, Namratha.
Amber Valley private college prep school.
Music classroom.
Handicrafts classroom.
Art classroom.
dormitories.
Dining Hall crops.
Rotary Jeevan Sandhya ( = Life Evening) Old Age Home
102 and very talkative.
82 and cool tattoos.
Hiremaglur Temple, following special ceremony with Swammy.
Thursday, 21 January 2010. ABC Coffee Curing & Research Centre
chikku tree.
This is the warehouse where stylish modern furniture is made by hand for the over 900 Cafe Coffee Day cafes across India and in Europe.
Another excellent meal that truly celebrates VEGETABLES the way they should be appreciated.
Friday, 22 January 2010. Rooftop view from second Chikmagalur hosts' home.
Mulliahana Giri
Sun-drying coffee beans. Dry, they are called 'cherries'.
Every flat, open surface is used for coffee drying.
Thippnahally Estate, birthplace of Rotary Chikmagalur.
Lalithadri Coffee Estate.
Learning the basics of forested coffee cultivation.
coffee.
Coffee picker and superintendant.
Ancient deity.
Plantation Manager's House.
matching Doghouse
Lunch.
Time for pickers to gather their harvests for the day, for processing.
My host is an engineer and builder, so I got to visit some of his projects and see the construction in process.
Saturday, 23 January 2010. Chikmagalur Golf Club.
NagaRAJ ! !
Ready to go Pro.
Frappuccino taste-testing, straight from R & D
Ramfal. The most delicious fruit in the world.
And then Melanie found/saved Raja on the road...
She is the sweetest dog, ever.
Sunday, 24 January 2010. Sakrebylu Elephant Camp. Shimoga.
The elephants of the Preserve are bathed in the lake every day.
Elephant blessings.
Raja's in the bag.
Safe Village supported by Rotary.
Summer demonstrates the temporary tattoo.
Areca nut Plantation.
Entering the Lion Safari...
Sloth Bears.
Jackals?
Dress, Hair, and makeup by Vijaya, my host mother. She let me borrow a silk saree she wears to weddings.
Monday, 25 January 2010. Visit to Ashakirana school for mentally challenged children, supported by Rotary.
Archaeology at Kuvempu University
Jaggery (sweet mush made from sugar cane) industry
Tuesday, 26 January 2010. Republic Day. Flag hoisting at Women's Polytechnic College. Peaceful moments before I discovered I was the lone "dignitary" for the event as my teammates had not arrived, and I gave another impromptu speech to a few hundred students and faculty.
Summer, trying to shield the sun at the city-wide Republic Day Celebration at Nehru Stadium while filming - and likely being filmed, as well.
Wednesday, 27 January 2010. Thirthahalli Rotary pre-school.
Nagaraj has a way with children...
Inspiration grounds for national poet, Kuvempu.
Home of Kuvempu.
lunch at a Home Stay cottage.
"Rest stop" on the rough ride to Mangalore. We initiated a service project of roadside beautification, donating some of our treasures that were spilling over from the shelves of the van.
(Re) Packing for Phase 2.
from the air - roof tile factory outside Mangalore.
Quarry.
Who is under the burqa at the Dubai airport. Wait...is that the yellow backpack?
We even inherited new names back in the old USA, scrawled onto our hot cocoa cups at the Charlotte airport. Marc = Paul Kirsten = Houston
