Horace!

I started a new blog yesterday. It has nothing to do with India or Paneerbelly in any way, but you can check it out if you want.

www.horacethepig.blogspot.com

No more Paneer

Well, if you hadn't figured it out already, which I'm sure most of you have, I've been back from India for some time now...and the Paneerbelly posts have come to a conclusion. In fact, Paneerbelly posts came to a conclusion A LONG time ago. I don't know why it's taken me so long to write a post about coming home...I guess it's just a changing of the day-to-day events and activities that comes with a life shift, and the blog posting just never got fit in there. While in India, the blog really became a part of my normal routine...I'd think about it quite a bit, update it semi-regularly, and of course I always had a lot to share as those were 6 action packed months. Now that I'm back home, my routine has changed, and blogging just didn't really get a spot in the lineup. I think I might start it up again, but, not on Paneerbelly...I think I'll keep this blog as a pure keepsake of my fantastic time spent in India.

Anyways, yeah, I've been back in the US for a good 4 months now. I spent 3 of those months on a sabattical leave from work, which was awesome, and for the last (almost) month I've been settling back in at the Mt. View el Goog.com headquarters. As stated above (but it merits rementioning), my leave was AWESOME...I got to travel a lot and spend time resting, relaxing, and enjoying myself. I spent 2 weeks in south Baja, exploring that desolate landscape (dust and cactuses) solo in my rental Hyndai, surfing as many surf spots as I could find (here's a short list: San Pedrito Beach and El Cerritos on the Pacific side, Old Mans and Zippers on the south point (in San Jose Del Cabo), and 9 Palms on the east cape, which I caught on a nice south swell. Great place). I followed that by some time at home, then hit the road again -- this time for mainland mexico, flying into Puerto Vallarta and going to Punta de Mita. I explored places around there, again in my rental Hyndai (short list: Punta de Mita: Burros, La Lancha, Stinky point -- named because it was pretty close to the sewage plant, hence stinky --, el faro, Sayulita, Santa Clara rivermouth, Stoners). Then I came home again, and a few weeks later was on my final southern pilgrimage...this time Costa Rica. Yep, another rental Hyndai -- SUV this time. (Short list: one week in Jaco with Zac Ripper Randles: Jaco beach, Hermosa beach, Boca Barranca, Esterillos. Then Zac left and I went further south: Dominical, Pavones. Pavones was awesome.) Yes, I spent a lot of my time off surfing. But I also got to go home to Oregon, see my little sis graduate and begin her final summer of being a regular person before she goes off to HARVARD, spent some time in North Carolina for a wedding, some time in Laguna Beach for a wedding, some time in Hollywood with Doc Hollywood himself Andy Chan, a quick Vegas trip, a not quick drive home to SF Bay from Vegas with the heater on in 115 degree heat, and other fun adventures and misadventures that occur when you aren't spending 40+ hours a week in an office. Good times.

However those times can't last forever, so I've been back in the office for just starting 4 weeks now, and I'm working with Offline ads, Audio specifically. I'm getting into the swing of things and getting used to the work-week schedule. There sure is lots of good food to eat at work. I start every morning with a bowl of cereal topped with a generous helping of fresh blueberries and raspberries. Seriously I love those berries and cereal, they are glorious and make my morning, every day.

As for India, I loved it there. As I've said before, it is a truly amazing experience and really has an impact on a person...eye opening. After 6 months though, I was starting to get ready to come home...plus gotta factor in that we were pushing it pretty hard for all of those 6 months -- extensive travelling, a lot of work, a lot of blogging...if I was to stay longer, which would have been OK, I'd definitely have cut back on all the travels and settled in more in Hyderabad. I was definitely glad to come home and visit family and friends, eat american food (and raspberries and blueberries...and a nice juicy hamburger), speaking of hamburgers, fire up the BBQ, surf more often, drive my own car, etc etc. I'll always look back fondly on my time in India though, and it was a growing experience for me in many ways.

So...thanks for reading Paneerbelly. It's been fun as my first (semi)serious foray into the world of blogging. Pretty cool stuff. And that's all, folks! Namaste!

Joelio

Joel Update 2: As you all know, I myself am back in the good ol' US of A, back to California after spending one fantastic week home in Oregon with family. Joel however is still out in the great unknown, travelling the road less travelled, taking in the sights and the sounds and the adventure and trials and tribulations of a true road warrior. But like any good traveller he eventually has to come home -- which he is doing soon this week. I'm not completely sure but I think he'll be back in San Francisco within the next couple of days. We'll all be glad to have him back.

On his adventures, he actually did get pretty lucky and had a few pretty excellent looking days of surf in Kovalam and in Varkala (both in Kerala, on the southwest corner of India). When I was in those places I noticed and spoke with a few people about the potential they may have, but didn't have any real swell during my short visit. Joel on the other hand timed it perfectly. He'll have to tell you the stories and what it was really like, but in the meantime, here are some pictures he took. (He also had a waterproof camera, which worked for the first couple days, but then broke, right when the surf got the best. Dang it!)

KOVALAM

The lighthouse is a pretty well known monument for this beach. Which is a pretty well known beach. And one of (if not the only) beach in India where you can rent a surfboard. The guy in the foreground of this picture is Kafu (edit: Joel says it's Mufu) or something like that, he is the only native Indian surfer I met in my time there. He hangs out on the beach with a ragtag collection of 5 of 6 boards that he has acquired throughout the years. He surfs pretty good too...especially skilled at pulling into the close out waves I think this spot often gets. (See below)

Wave selection 101. Sure you want that one?

Positive?

Too late now: Committed

And...Pummeled. Good times!

VARKALA

Things got a lot better for Joel and co. in Varkala, a tourist beach spot about 4 hours or so north of Kovalam.

Wave selection 101: Lesson 2. Much better!


Niiiiiiice.

For more details, you'll have to talk to Joel. He had a good time, when he wasn't sick. Ask him about his surfboard rescue operation -- surfboard fins made out of cutting-board plastic are probably not the way of future. But desperate times call for desperate measures. Good try bruddah. Anyway looks fun, wish I was there! See ya back home soon!

Airports

After 6 months of pretty intensive travel, one thing I've gotten good at is waiting in airports. That's what I'm doing now, at the Portland airport...my PDX to San Jose flight was delayed one hour. One big difference though from any India airport...Free Wireless Internet. Sweeeeeet!

USA! USA! USA!

Where in the World update

Short post -- I'm just letting you know that I'm currently writing from Athens, Greece. Cool place, have been here the last 2 days, after spending a few days in Berlin -- part of the around the world voyage en route back to the United States of America. I'll be glad to get home but enjoying this last week as well...flight leaves for Portland on Monday morning March 26.

I'll post a farewell-to-India post in the near future, probably once I get home. Leaving was sad...I didn't think I'd get quite as sad as I was leaving work, I've met a lot of great people there, but at the very same time I'm REALLY excited to be coming back. I'm not sure what my international destination maximum time period might be, but I think 6 months might be close. I don't know. I do know that if I was staying longer, I would certainly have started travelling a little less. We have been on a whirlwind work and travel tour for the last 6 months, which while amazing, is also pretty exhausting. But what an opportunity!

More to come later. See you all back home soon!

India Travel Map - Final edition

Loyal Paneerbelly readers will be familiar with my Microsoft Paint India Travel Map, which I've updated a few times thoughout my stay here (version 1, version 2)...I went and did one final update the other day, reflecting our many adventures thoughout the 5 1/2 months spent over in this part of the world. Here it is:

Now if that isn't covering India -- I don't know what is!!! Whew! I've easily doubled my lifetime flight number in this short stint...so many places to see, so many things to do. :) It's been a great time, and if anybody needs to know the India airport security drill -- I'm happy to help. Don't forget to tag your carry-ons.

On India travel map version 3.0 I took the liberty of adding my incoming flight (from Singapore) and my outgoing flight (to Frankfurt) as those flights are what will be completing my around the world journey. Also since the last update are our trip with Joel, Dad and Selin to Delhi, Nepal (Kathmandu), and Kolkatta, a weekend trip to Bangalore, 2 trips to Vizag (plane there, overnight bus back), and a trip to Varanasi...I think it's safe to say I might just stay at home and avoid any airports for maybe a week or two once I get back to the states. We'll see though -- once the travel bug bites it might be tough to shake. Weekend trips to San Diego and Portland and other locales may become more of a normal occurence once back home. Although I will have to start paying rent again -- which will eat into my travel funds -- bummer. And are there any 500 rupee (~$11) hotels in San Diego? Judging on what $100 gets you in San Diego, I don't think I'd even want to find out. (side note: is there anywhere in the US with more expensive hotel rates than SD? Based on my limited experience, I'm inclined to say no. Pretty awesome place though.)

the air up there

As promised (and only one day late) ... Nepal pictures! (lots of them.) Enjoy.

the Kathmandu Valley, aerial shot upon arrival. Looks good here -- the dirt and congestion and traffic and smog don't start for about another mile or so :)

Boudhanath Stupa, in Kathmandu. One of the largest stupas (Buddhist religious monument) in the world.

One of the highlights was our Everest flight, Buddha Air. 1 hour tourist flight from Kathmandu -- flew us out past Everest and back. Small little plane, every seat has a window...and a view.

our Buddha Air pilot was enjoying it...

and so was I

Old statue in Bhaktapur, a historical little town we stopped at on our way to Nagarkot. Bhaktapur has found a nice little revenue stream, charging tourists $10 to enter the city gates...worth it

traditional temple courtyard guardian...

And Joel, always the good samaritan, getting in on the act

Selin, me, and our Newari friend

Bennett men at the end of the universe

Nepal sunset from the hills of Nagarkot

Bennett men again, taken from the viewpoint at our hotel in Nagarkot. (Yep I have a Canada hat on. Everybody likes Canadians.)

Dad's new Myspace pic

Pretty good place to have breakfast -- outside our hotel room at the aptly named Hotel View Point, Nagarkot

Room with a view

And one final memory. Remember how I said everybody got sick in KTM? Well...this glorious picture was taken by Dad, about 1 second before he threw up all over the Swayambunath Stupa. Oh boy, what a moment that was. What a moment indeed. :)

Nepal: easier to type than Kyrgyzstan

One of the highlights of our recent trip north was seeing the Himalayas, up close and personal. Amazing sight! Most everyone knows that Mt. Everest is located in the Himalayas -- and is the world's tallest peak -- but what not everyone knows (well, me) is that not only is Everest right there, but so are... the 13 other highest peaks in the world! In fact as I research this more, why stop at 14...the 109 highest mountains are all in the Himalayas!!! Whoa. It's not really fair. What about the USA and the Rocky Mountain high in Colorado? The Rocky Mountains don't even register on any highest mountain list -- the highest mountain in the Rockies is Mt Elbert at 4401 meters. Everest is 8850 meters. For you non math majors, that's more than twice as high! (FYI the highest mt in the continental US is Mt Whitney in CA, at 4418 meters. Mt Hood is the highest in Oregon, at 3,429 meters. The highest in the entire USA is Mt. Mckinley, in Alaska, at 6,194 meters. BUT -- if you really want to get technical, the highest mountain ISLAND is Muana Kea in Hawaii, which rises up 10,203 meters from the bottom of the ocean. It gets short changed because the common accepted mountain measuring practice is to measure mountains from sea level...not the sea floor. Still, worth a shout out for any islanders out there).

All numbers aside, it was certainly pretty cool to be right there in Nepal, within sight of Everest (and also the 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th highest mountains in the world, which are all in very close proximity to Everest...yes back to numbers, can't resist!). Kathmandu itself wasn't my favorite city in the world -- I could go on about how polluted, dirty, congested, and overall-not-that-enjoyable that the actual city itself was, but what an amazing place to be in. I don't think our health exactly aided in enjoying the city experience either -- all of us low elevation Bennetts got pretty painfully sick at one point or another during our time in Kathmandu. Silly us, we thought it would be a good idea to eat steak in Nepal...should probably have put down our forks when the waiter told us the steak actually came from Kolkatta, India...hardly the first choice of where you want your steak to be sent in from. But once we recovered (for the most part -- although my worst didn't hit me til getting back to India), and stepped a ways outside of the Kathmandu smog cloud, it was truly breathtaking. We stayed a night at a hotel in Nagarkot, a tiny little resort town about an hours drive away from Kathmandu, and atop a mountain ridge with clear views of the peaks beyond, and it was pretty amazing. Clear, crisp air, and whew it was COLD at night. COOOOOOOOOOOLD! Freezing cold. I could only imagine what it must be like in a tent somewhere on Everest -- hopefully those North Face knockoffs actually work as good as they look!

World's Highest Mountains. Right there by Nepal on the map, where the 1, 3, 4, 5, and 6 are is situated right by Kathmandu. And wow, there is Kyrgyzstan in the upper left! Now you know -- big mountains in Kyrgyzstan.

I'll post some of our actual pictures on here tomorrow -- for now, it's past bedtime!

Kyrgyzstan

A coworker just now emailed this out...if you have 10 minutes to kill, give this a shot:

http://andys.org.uk/countryquiz/

If you take the quiz, post your score in the comments section. No fibbing, and no cheating -- we're all friends here. To get the spirit started, me, with all my worldly ways, having just spent 6 months over on the other side of the earth, managed an all-too-impressive score of...120. (that is not a very good score. My coworker scored 63. Good for you David Wiesen, eat my shorts! Note: in this quiz, the lower your score, the better) (spelling skills are helpful. As is fast typing, dad, you might not do very well on this one. Click. Clack. Clack.) (in my defense I was not very scientific in my approach. And I had music playing in the background which greatly distracted me. And Selin was helping me for the last 2 minutes.)

Happy Holi!

H A P P Y H O L I !

Holi celebrations are kicking off around India this weekend...and people are pretty excited. Holi seems to be something folks here get pretty pumped up for -- there have already been five emails sent out to various email lists wishing folks 'Happy Holi!' and it's only 12:45 on Friday afternoon. Usually, those don't start until at the earliest 3. :) So, what is Holi you might ask? Well, I don't really know (I'll find out soon!) but I do know it is called the Festival of Color and that it is pretty much one big colorful party where everybody throws and paints everybody else a whole bunch of colors....if you want more, read about it on Wikipedia. I'll also post this summary of the legend behind Holi from this site here, which does as good a job of any of describing it:

"There are many legends given as the reason for celebrating ‘Holi’. There is one popular legend that is reputed to bring about the birth of ‘Holi’. It seems that long ago there was an evil king named King Hiranyakasipu. His son, prince Prahlad however was very holy and often prayed to God and this infuriated his father. One day, the wicked king ordered his sister, the demon Holika, to kill his son. The demon Holika, who was immune to fire, captured prince Prahlad and entered a fire furnace. She had done this to kill the prince, however it was her who was burnt to ashes. Prince Prahlad was safe and was not burnt at all. The legend goes that before the demon aunt died, she begged for prince Prahlad’s forgiveness and the prince forgave her and announced that her name would be remembered once a year. Thus the festival ‘Holi’ was created."

Anyway, I'm looking forward to it, and will be glad to be up here in North India for the celebration, as it is celebrated even more heartily in northern India than it is in the south (from what I read at least). We'll specifically be in Varanasi over the weekend -- which as an extremely holy city is especially a hotbed for Holi celebrating and festivities. Should be fun...and I'm going to have to make sure to try and pick up a spare t-shirt on my way out -- as I have a feeling that whatever clothing I wear on Sunday might not stay very clean!

Goin goin back back to Delhi

Going over my past posts, I've come to realize that I certainly haven't blogged much about actual WORK here at the PaneerBelly! Contrary to how it may appear, I actually am here in India for work -- not just an extended vacation. It even says so, right here on my Visa: India Business Visa. Not Tourist. See? Anyways, rest assured that I am here working. In fact, I've been doing quite a bit of work I must say -- have been pretty busy lately.

busy

Continuing with the work theme of this post, today at 4:30 Selin and I fly up north to Delhi, where we'll be working out of the Gurgaon office on Wed Thurs and Friday. Most of my time will be spent interviewing potential candidates (mornings on Wed and Fri, all day campus interview on Thurs), but I'm also looking forward to meeting the small team up there and catching up w/ some of the expats working there and seeing how things are going.

Enough work stuff for ya? :) Thought so. The real reason behind the Delhi trip is the weekend -- we'll be making a short flight to Varanasi on Saturday, a holy city on the banks of the Ganges River. It's a destination a lot of people visit, and often have lots to say about -- both good and bad -- I'll look forward to experiencing it myself.

In the meantime -- I've got a LOT of pictures and stuff to share. I'll try to post things when I get a chance -- lately reliable internet access has been next to impossible to find, unless I'm at work (where internet is very reliable. The power still goes out on average of once a day -- but the generators kick in very very quickly -- and the Internet NEVER loses connection. Pretty impressive really). The ongoing saga of internet connection at home has gotten worse before getting better...same as always...they're working on it and wait until next week...next week a new provider is going to be set up...next week next week next week...OK. I'll wait until next week. But it is frustrating going home every day not knowing what will happen. It's made worse by the fact that occassionally, you do get lucky and get a 5 minute burst of connectivity...only then to have it taken away again...it'd be one thing if it never worked -- then I wouldn't spend an hour each night trying to access. anyway, that's enough about that. Ask me about it again next week.

Joel Update: Joel (and his tourist visa) are currently hanging out in Kerala, at Kovalam beach. Hopefully he's getting some good surf...but regardless I'm certain he's having a great time. Kerala was a fun area, great beaches, great relaxed atmosphere, good mix of tourist conveniences while not being overly omnipresent like it sometimes felt in Goa. I'd happily spend some more time there...maybe some day. :) For now I'll just have to be jealous! Have a good time bro.

Happy Birthday Bun!

Happy Birthday!!!

Miss you lots. We just got back from our long vacation, we had a great trip but it's good to be back in Hyderabad. Dad boarded a plane this morning at 3:10 am, heading back...Joel is still here keeping me company...and I'll likely be back home around the end of March. Looking forward to it and seeing you all!

Love ya, Happy Birthday!

V-a-c-a-t-i-o-n

In order to allow Joel and Dad to maximize their time in India, I sent them off on an airplane on Wednesday morning to Delhi. From Delhi, they found themselves a cab for the looooong haul over to Agra, and the fantastic Taj Mahal. I spoke with them last night, when they had just arrived at their hotel, after 12 hours of journeying -- 9 am Hyderabad departure to 9 PM Agra hotel arrival. I certainly hope the Taj offered up an amazing spectacle for the two road warriors...unless it was pouring rain (weather has been spotty up there) I'm sure it certainly did not disappoint.

Tomorrow, Selin and I are flying to Delhi ourselves to meet up with Joel and Dad. Tomorrow is an official India holiday (Maha Shivaratri), so we have the day off, and we've taken Monday, Tues, and Wed of next week off as well, so it is a nice 6 day weekend coming up to spend with our out of town visitors. Our itenerary has all of us spending Friday night in Delhi, and Saturday morning we hit the trails again -- this time flying up to Kathmandu to see the Himalayas! Should be pretty impressive -- although Kathmandu itself is in a valley, it is right there amongst the mountains, and we may try to do a flight tour of Everest and surrounding peaks. We'll see. We spend a few days in Kathmandu, and then board a flight again to Kolkatta, where we will spend one final evening and day before heading back to Hyderabad on Wednesday, Feb 21. Dad the world traveller then boards an airplane at 3:10 am on Thurs Feb 22 to head back home. Whew!

Good news is that even after all their travelling, Joel and Dad still found the energy to dance in front of the Taj Mahal. They sent me this picture to post, here they are enjoying the romantic aura that only the Taj can create.


Lookin' good guys. See you two tomorrow...hope you're having fun!

Monkeys

Monkeys are always a fan favorite for tourists here in India. I can see why. They're fascinating little creatures -- small, (sort of) cuddly appearing, exotic, and most of all so interestingly and amazingly human-like in so many ways...it's difficult not to be drawn to them. (They've also got that whole Curious George thing going for them too -- definitely doesn't hurt). Some Indians, always quick to identify tourist money-taking opportunities, have realized this, and will take on pet monkeys, which they attach to ropes and will walk around with...this was never more evident than at some weird truck stop type place our non-english speaking Delhi to Agra driver (when we were on our way to the Taj Mahal) chose to pull over randomly and stop at for some 30 minutes while he went and disappeared somewhere. A steady stream of guys with pet monkeys would keep coming up to our car window (Selin was sleeping) trying to get me interested in their tied up pet monkey, trying to get me to want pictures, trying to get money...when really I just wanted them to go away so I could go back to sleep. Something about a monkey tied to a rope is a little bit sad...when they're free to roam around, they're cool, like you'd imagine...but when they're tied up captive monkeys, it's just not quite the same. I've had a lot of lifetime to get myself used to pet dogs on ropes...pet monkeys...not so much. (or bears either, for that matter. Apparently, in that same region (Rajasthan), pet bears used to be all the rage. They'd teach them to dance and would use them for the same purpose (tourist money extraction). Luckily, that practice has been mostly stopped, as the bears were becoming extinct and are now heavily protected. Who knew bears even existed in India? Amazing country.)

But I didn't start this blog post to tell long stories about the ethical treatment of monkeys...I just thought I'd share some fun pictures of monkeys we've encountered in our travels. Sometimes, I really lose focus of the objective at hand!!! With no further ado, monkey pictures:

Hampi Monkey. This picture may be a repost. I realize I already blogged about Monkeys once before now. Darn you Curious George!
Mahabs Monkeys. These guys were hungry little critters! And not shy either. They really kind of freaked me out actually, I am lucky I did not fall right off that rock. They were looking for some sort of food or goodie, but my pockets (and backpack) were empty. Sorry.

Cheeky monkey, Mahabs

Monkey attack! Mahabs.

Mutant Monkey! Actually, it's a Goat. Haha, a funny goat at that. People sure were getting a kick out of this guy, everybody who would walk past him would start laughing. Mahabs.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Better late than never -- Valentine's day has come and passed here in India, but for you all back home, it's still not technically too late...

Like most big American holidays, Valentine's Day seems to be catching on more and more over here...for better, or for worse. Our office was certainly decorated with red heart balloons and signs all over the place for this festive occasion. Love is in the air!! Happy Valentine's day to all my Valentine's! Love ya!

(Although, I should add, not everyone in India is feeling the love on Feb 14. Certain parts and religious parties of India are very much against this "culturally corrupt" holiday of Valentine's Day, and there have been protests and threats in the past. I certainly didn't notice anything out of the ordinary here in Hyderabad, but...it's out there. To read a bit more, check out Google News, or here or here.)

Welcome to India Guys!

Joel, Dad, and Dad's passport all made it to India. :) Glad to have you, "india me aapka swagat hai!" -- that's "welcome to India" in Hindi according to this English to Hindi translation site.

Lunch/Dinner in Mahabs

Passports in the mail

I will keep this short, but for the benefit of anyone reading...

PLUS



Usually not the best combination. No offense to 39 cent postage or your very hard-working mailman...but this is what FedEx and UPS (or at the very least USPS Priority Mail!) exist for. Seriously.

Dad, I hope your passport/visa arrives tomorrow. I'm going to sleep thinking positive thoughts. It'll work out. See you in India soon.

Look what I found:

ME! On the world wide web! Today I made a fun discovery of a picture of me surfing (scroll down for the pic) on somebody else's blog. The more I use my blog and learn about them in general, the more I feel that blogs are pretty cool stuff. It's fun to read other people's writings and pictures, and have all that new, fresh, un-edited content just so available to you. And technology to search blogs and make the content even easier to find is pretty awesome also: to find my picture I used Google Blog search, searching for the keyword "surfing mahabalipuram." (I was trying to find if anybody else had been blogging about surfing there.)

Unless you're some celebrity and are tired of it, it's pretty cool to find a picture of yourself on the internet. With soooo many websites and soo much stuff out there, it is quite a moment when you stumble upon yourself out there like this. Small world we live in, and amazing how connected we can all be...The World is Flat. Good book recommendation by my Grampa. And I don't think old man Friedman even talks about blogs in it! Anyways, thank you 'Shrinked Immaculate' for your blog, and thank you for including my picture. I hope you enjoyed your dip. I left you a comment. :)

Final note: sadly, that picture does as good a job of any of capturing what the surf has been like most of the time over here. Not very good. (But not very crowded!)

Updated India Map

Thought I'd update my travel map from a few months ago, as you can see have added a lot more red and yellow lines!

Kerala trip in pictures

Since I'm really rolling on the photo uploading tonight...here is a photo journal of our Kerala visit over the past weekend. Took advantage of an Indian holiday (Republic day) on Friday and took Thurs and Mon off too for a nice 5 day weekend...flew from Hyderabad to Trivandrum, and then went to Kovalam Beach, Varkala Beach, Allepy backwaters, and finally flew out of Kochin back to HYD on Monday. Kerala was an awesome place, beautiful and lovely beaches, and the backwater sunset was breathtaking! Never enough time to do everything, I could've spent a couple weeks just hanging out at Varkala Beach...fun times.

This is the view from the hotel room at Kovalam Beach. "Mini Beach House" -- stay there. Truly amazing having this private little beach right outside your room, incredible view, sleeping to the sounds of the waves...Dercy's in Agonda Beach Goa will always be a special place to me but the Mini Beach House is pretty dang nice also...even if it is $8 a night more expensive!!

Another shot looking out the front door...

Kovalam Beach (south)

All over India you will find rather interesting signs. Here's one of Kerala's finest...

And here's a sign I don't think was put up by any Kerala goverment officials. This was a rather bizzare George W Bush scarecrow type creation? The damage he alone has done to the world's perception of Americans really is something else.

Here is the bamboo hut we stayed in in Varkala Beach. Pretty fun room, it's own hut, just one room, 4 thatched walls, a shower, toilet, bed, and a fan. Back to the basics.

Looks good? It was probably 2 feet high in about 2 feet of water w/ submerged rocks everywhere. I didn't surf it.

Looking further down the cliffside at some of Varkala's shops. Varkala is a touristy but very nice, fun beach area set along some dramatic oceanside cliffs. Lots of places to stay and lots of places to shop, and some nice sandy beaches around the corner from where this photo was taken.

Varkala fishermen

Only thing missing from this photo is a book (update: oh yeah, and food). Can't think of a much better place to sit down, eat a meal, and read a book. Beautiful.

Our final evening in Kerala was spent on this floating beauty in the Allepy backwaters. Traditional kerala style backwater boat. Not the fanciest boat in the waters, but it has character.

And really, who cares about the boat when the sunset looks like this?? Fine I'll admit to the occasional touched up digital photograph every now and then...but not here. These pics are 100% untouched. A breathtaking sunset...so many colors.

Early to bed...

Early to rise. Sunrise wasn't too shabby either. :)

Well that pretty much sums up Kerala, it was a great trip to a beautiful part of India, I see why they call it "God's own country." Maybe I'll try to get back there -- the local surfer (there actually is one at Kovalam Beach, a real true Indian who surfs -- and surfs real well also -- he has a lot of time because he pretty much just hangs out at the beach all day far as I could tell) says surf gets good in a month or so. So maybe will try to check it out if at all possible...but who knows...I think India surf is just like anywhere else -- "it was good last week, shoulda been here" and "yep it'll be good in a month or so, check it out then" -- just got to have the time and energy, and a lot of luck. I did manage to surf for a bit at Kovalam Beach, the morning we left I had fun in some whomping shorebreak closeouts. At least the water is warm. Anyways surf or no surf Kerala was a fantastic place and I see why it is high on so many India visitor's lists. I'm glad to have gotten to go there!