A few thoughts on driving in India

You could make one helluva adrenalin-rushin’ game based on driving in India. The guidebooks said it would be hectic, but nothing quite prepares you for an experience that at times resembles a human-sized version of what happens when you bust open a big anthill. It took us some time to learn there’s a method to the madness. Here are some of the basic driving rules we learned.

* The number of seats in a given vehicle is in no way indicative of the actual passenger capacity of said vehicle. The ubiquitous autorickshaw (kind of an enclosed scooter with a couple of benches, left of the motorcycles above) is designed to hold 4 or 5 passengers as far as I could tell, but we routinely saw 10, 12 or more people wedged into and onto them.
* Those lines painted on the road are chiefly decorative.
* Stop signs or lights at intersections are nice, but not at all necessary.
* Watch out for pedestrians and other vehicles, but also dogs, cows, donkeys and camels, some of which will be with people, some just wandering around.

* Pedestrians have the right… to get the heck out of the way.
* If you see some space, get in it before someone else does.
* The horn is an essential tool for driving, almost as important as the steering wheel or tires. If you forget, there are constant reminders on the back of trucks.

* For motorcyclists, bicyclists and "scooterists" (what the heck do you call them?), nerves of steel are mandatory; helmets are not.
* A seemingly major highway can turn abruptly into a traffic choked small town street, and then abruptly into a highway again.
* There’s no such thing as a ‘payload limit’, even for a bicycle.

This is by no means intended to be a comprehensive guide, but should give you some impression of how things are (it goes without saying that we hired native drivers).

The Hindu wedding experience (quite an experience indeed)

This is the bride and groom immediately after the marriage was official. Certainly these are smiles of happiness, but there’s also probably a bit of relief involved, especially for the bride, Jeetal. Hindu weddings are a long, ritualistic affair with hours of various religious and cultural proceedings before and after the actual wedding ceremony, and that’s just on the wedding day itself. There were actually several days of festivities leading up to the wedding day, and then a huge party (apparently the only kind of party Indians have) the next night.

The night of our arrival, jetlagged but ready to rumble, we attended the Raas Garba, a traditional cultural and dance celebration. Soon we were undertaking what would become our routine for the: eat entirely too much Indian food, make lots of new friends (struggling at every turn to remember all the names), stay up too late and make fools of ourselves on the dance floor. Well, the overeating and terrible dancing can mainly be pinned on me, Rhonda being both more refined and graceful than I.

Here are Jeetal and the groom, Amit, performing one of the ceremonies that night. For all the women in the family, especially Jeetal, the saris (dresses) got progressively more beautiful and intricately adorned by the day.

Here’s Rhonda and Nancy, another friend of Jeetal’s from Oregon. For a few days, I was convinced we were the only 3 white people to be found in all of Gujarat (the state in Western India where the families are from). Americans coming to India mainly head straight for bigger cities and tourist attractions, so we attracted quite a bit of attention this week. While Rhonda and Jeetal spent one afternoon at the spa, Nancy and I actually had a small group of schoolgirls stop us and ask if they could take pictures of us and them together with their cellphones. Undoubtedly we are on their Facebook pages now…

For what wouldn’t be the last time of the week, we marveled at the partying stamina of our hosts and turned in at a decent hour.

The next evening’s activities centered around the Mehndi celebration (although plenty of dancing, drinking, and staying out past bedtimes went on as well). This event is more fun than ceremonial, and involves the bride and her female family and friends getting elaborate mehndi (henna tattoos that can last several weeks if properly cared for). Rhonda had looked forward to this for weeks before the trip.

Here’s the start of the mehndi on one of Rhonda’s arms. The henna is a thick paste that you leave in place until it dries/flakes off on its own.

Jeetal’s mehndi was extremely elaborate. The poor thing had to sit there for what seemed like forever letting it dry while everyone came up to admire it.

The mehndi dyes white skin a bright orange (on the Indians’ skin, it was more of a burt amber shade).

After a relatively calm day (this is when Rhonda and Jeetal went to the spa) came the day that Jeetal warned us about: “Guys, this is gonna be a really long day.” Loads of ceremonial stuff happening, during which the folks not directly involved were allowed to either watch or just relax and wait to be told something was about to happen.

The most important event of this day was the Vidhi ceremony, in which the bride’s family prays to various gods to keep evil spirits away. This one’s from the Vidhi ceremony.

Here we are during a break in the action. Rhonda got lots of compliments on her traditional attire all week.

That evening, Rhonda and Nancy got to participate in a ceremony that was quite the spectacle. It started out as a slow march down the streets to a house maybe 1/8 of a mile away, accompanied by the soothing sounds of our very own marching band. Traffic in our lane was pretty much forced to stop and wait, which we were assured was quite normal. The point of the ceremony (the name of which I never caught) is for the ladies in the families to go retrieve a set of pots, put them on their heads, and return back home with them. If I recall correctly, the ceremony symbolizes a pooling of resources from the 2 families. A dropped pot is bad luck, so try not to let the marching band, flashing cameras, fireworks (!) and your tired arms distract you.

Luckily Rhonda and Nancy got to carry ‘training size’ pots.

The guys stopped the procession several times to tease the women and dance (these folks really enjoy music and dance: traditional, spontaneous, and sometimes both at once). The big bus isn't part of the show; just squeezing by, and I do mean squeezing.

Another long night of partying followed. I remain impressed with the stamina of these folks. With family members not just in India, but in the US, Canada, London and Africa, these weddings are also something akin to a weeklong family reunion, and are celebrated accordingly. This certainly was an exciting change of pace from the type of wedding we’re accustomed to.

Next came the actual wedding day, which as I mentioned had a variety of ceremonies. When refreshments and a full buffet is served during the wedding, you know you’re in for another long day.

The ladies just before heading to the wedding venue (check out the bling on Jeetal).

Almost married at this point.

Instead of just showing up to the scheduled events, we were pretty much adopted family members for the week, hanging out at Jeetal’s family house for meals and whatnot. Very nice, warm folks who never grew tired of answering endless questions, making sure we were enjoying ourselves, helping the ladies shop for clothes, etc. It was truly special to experience a Hindu wedding week this way.

Here are some more pictures from the wedding week. (Click View Album, then in the next screen click Play Slideshow.)

White Christmas in Greenville

First one in 40 years, apparently. Doesn't look like it'll stay white for too long, though; by the time I got around to taking this photo at 11AM this morning, a fair amount of the almost 2 inches was gone already.

Back up in the mountains, though, it was a different story. We cut our Franklin visit short once we saw 3 inches fall in 3 hours (Mamaw reported 7 total inches this morning, plus some powdery snow still blowing around). Thanks to the road conditions and various idiot drivers falling victim to them, a normal 2 hour trip home took a little short of 4.

Hawaii Trip Recap: Day 6 (11/18/10)

After breakfast, we headed up the hills from Kailua-Kona to the sleepy and artsy village of Holualoa to find something for the house. We decided upon a couple of tapa paintings that we ended up framing and hanging over our bed back at home.

Small World Moment # 2 of the trip: We popped into the small coffee shop in Holualoa and the barista was wearing a shirt from Powell's City of Books , AKA the baddest bookstore around, one of my favorite spots in Portland.

Next up was hauling our picnic cooler packed by KVR up to Hapuna Beach State Park to lay around for a couple of hours. This is one of the 2 excellent white sand beaches that locals and tourists flock to. It features a huge flat beach and a gentle slope far out into the water. making it ideal for sunbathing and swimming. (Note the distinct lack of crowding in the picture below; the week before a major holiday is a great time to hit Hawaii.)

Next, back to the KVR for some more R&R and a trip around the extensive grounds. Perhaps the most interesting part of the property is a huge group of petroglyphs in a certain lava field. They've got a walkway set up to go see them up close.

KVR ain't the cheapest place in the world, but is certainly a great escape.

Not a whole lot to report about Day 7 (the trip home), other than it was a loooooong blur of plane rides, mediocre and overpriced airport food, and lack of sleep. A small price to pay for a great trip, though.

Hawaii Trip Recap: Day 5 (11/17/10)

Big breakfast this morning to fuel up for our helicopter tour, something we'd been looking forward to for months. It didn't disappoint, and may in fact have exceeded expectations. The helicopter had 2 passenger seats with the pilot up front, and 4 passenger seats in the back. We sprung for an extra hundred bucks to sit up front, which was money well spent, as the views were pretty spectacular (the pics below don't do them justice).

Here we are shortly after liftoff.

Luckily the weather down by Volcanoes National Park was much better this time around, although there was a fair amount of "vog" (steamy haze caused by volcanic gasses) like there always.

Here, we're circling around the point where the lava pours into the sea, very slowly but steadily increasing the size of the island.

Heading up the coast toward the Waipio Valley.

And in the valley.

Countless waterfalls appear seemingly out of nowhere and carve deep into the impossibly steep hillsides.

Flying over paniolo country. (Paniolos are Hawaiian cowboys. After horses were brought to the Big Island in 1804, Spanish cowboys- vaqueros- were recruited to help contain the wild cattle and train the local cowboys. The Hawaiians called the vaqueros "paniolos", a corruption of "Española".)

And back safely on the ground, which never should have been in doubt considering our pilot was a former Green Beret who flew in Vietnam, among other locales. (And the first Small World Moment of the trip: he's Oregonian).

Back to KVR for a little R&R before the Wednesday evening manager's reception (free cocktails, ka-CHING!) and then the luau. The luau is something else we'd been looking forward to, as it's
regarded as the most "Hawaiian" luau on the Big Island.

Here were are knocking back a couple of top-shelf tequilas, on the house. My favorite bartender gave us the inside scoop on just how long we could hang out at the reception before heading over to the luau (where high-dollar drinks are the order of the day).

Another bit of good forture saw an ancient couple sitting beside us at the bar who required a ride to the luau, so we were able to hitch a ride on the back of their cart.

Getting ready for the show.

Piggy coming out of the ground.

Piggy just about ready for my plate.

No decent pictures to share from the luau itself, as the dark conditions didn't cooperate, but it was a great show. Plumped full of mai tais and kahlua pork, we slept like logs after this evening.

Hawaii Trip Recap: Day 4 (11/16/10)

I slept all the way til 6:30 this morning- finally adjusting to Island Time???

This was the one day we took to relax around the resort; a little pool time, a little beach time, caught up on some reading. Had some great tuna shashimi for lunch (the Japanese influence on the menus was very much appreciated).

The most 'exciting' part of this day was a trip back into town for a beer run. Speaking of which, since this was a slow day, now's a good as any to recap the Hawaiian brews we had on the trip:
* Kona Lavaman Red Ale- Amber ales are frequently pretty boring, but toasted and chocolate notes and an earthy bite in the finish make this worth a shot.
* Kona Big Wave Golden Ale- A rather flavorful version of an often bland/girlie style. Good stuff.
* Mehana Brewing Mauna Kea Pale Ale- Decent, but forgettable (and actually less flavorful than the golden ale).
* Mehana Brewing Volcano Red Ale- Luckily I only had one of these at the Shipwreck Bar at KVR. Potentially a bad bottle; it was a week old but tasted cardboardish/potentially oxidized.
* Maui Brewing CoCoNut Porter- Very hearty porter with loads of espresso, dark chocolate and toasted coconut. Unique and definitely worth seeking out.
* Maui Brewing Big Swell IPA- My favorite of the bunch. Textbook West Coast IPA, with a steady stream of bitterness and a very modest malt backbone that let the plentiful citrus and pine be the stars of the show. (Side note- I've found that most East Coast IPAs pale in comparison to their left coast counterparts, primarily because they tend to be too heavyhanded with caramel malts.)

Hawaii Trip Recap: Day 3 (11/15/10)

My day started around 4:30, back on the deck to stargaze and watch the island wake up. Saw a couple of shooting stars. Rhonda 'slept in' til 6:30. After a quick breakfast and a stop at a local coffee shop (the local java's mighty potent), we headed down around the southern tip of the island and over to Volcanoes National Park. The eastern side of the island is exceedingly wet, and the southeastern part (where the park is) gets a fair amount of the wet stuff, too. Luckily we trained extensively in Oregon for 'webfoot tourism', so a little rain wasn't such a big deal (although it did put the kibosh on hiking plans).

The Big Island is formed from 5 volcanoes, the newest of which, Kilauea is the centerpiece of the park. The few areas within the park that aren't covered in lava have lush rainforest vegetation. Check out the size of these ferns.

Here are a couple of craters.

Much of the landscape looks like this; folded, crumpled, piled and stacked lava with scattered trees and shrubbery.

Although the lava's a different color, I was somewhat reminded of Mount St. Helens, which also has an otherworldy feel.

After fueling up the car with gas and ourselves with some dangerously delicious chocolate-covered macadamia nuts, we headed back around the island, stopping in for lunch at the Kona Brewing Company in Kailua-Kona. Kona Brewing has 2 pubs; this is the original and home of the brewery. Here I am enjoying some local suds and sporting what may well be the ugliest shirt on the Big Island.This is a spot that seems to be popular with locals and tourists alike, the draws being a huge lanai for outdoor dining, good food and, of course, fresh beer from the source. They typically feature a number of tap brews that are exclusive to the pubs.

After lunch, we headed up to our home base for the rest of the trip, Kona Village Resort (henceforth to be referred to as KVR). This was once the site of an ancient Hawaiian fishing village, long since wiped away by one of the many rivers of lava that have flowed over the island. Here, on one end of the property, is one of the black sand (crushed up lava) beaches that are scattered around the island.

The whole 82-acre property was once covered with lava, and the resort (intended to be a recreation of the original village) was built largely from scratch, including trucking in all the white sand and tons of plants, plus of course the construction of all the hales (houses).

Here's a peek at what KVR looks like now. It's situated along a small bay.

A fair amount of privacy is provided by the trees and bushes between the hales.

There are a bunch of sea turtles that come to sunbathe on the sand every afternoon.

Heading inland, there is a big lagoon with more hales. Very quiet back here.

The first order of business was of course a refreshing beverage. We hit the Shipwreck Bar (which is in fact the shipwrecked sailboat of the original owner of KVR) and chatted with Sid the bartended, KVR's second longest tenured employee. He started way back in 1972 (with an office like this, I guess he's in no rush to retire).

Sunset view from the deck of our hale.

We made dinner reservations for 7:30 to force us to stay up a little later and hopefully sleep til a more decent hour. Had a couple of nice dry-aged steaks for dinner, then a nightcap of macadamia ice cream. (Note: If you want to put on 5 pounds in a week, delicious half-pound burgers, huge steaks, plentiful suds and macadamia ice cream are a good start. Trust me when I say it's not as hard as it sounds.)