I suppose this is old history now, but we have to at least mention our stay in Bangalore, India since it was, after all, one of our longest stays in one place! We spent one of our final weeks with our friends, Brad and Elizabeth. Brad and Josh went to school together at Drew in New Jersey, and he and Elizabeth are in Bangalore for two years while Brad continues his studies. We didn't do too much touring in Bangalore, instead spending way too much time on logistics: catching up on the blog, making plans for England, booking flights for our trip to the Andamans... But we also got to catch up with Brad and Elizabeth, see how their lives in India were going, and enjoy some good food!
An example of how we spent much of our time... If Josh looks annoyed that's because it took us 3 days, countless phone calls and visits, just to book a plane ticket to the Andamans. Ah, India- what should take 15 minutes takes 3 hours!
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Brad and Elizabeth picked us up at the train station, and we headed to the Leela Hotel to celebrate our arrival and the departure of their good friends, Fanny and Niko, who were leaving Bangalore to return home to France. We went from a 24-hour train ride to a 6-star hotel (those exist?) for the most amazing brunch we'd ever tasted/seen. This is a photo from their website, since we were too busy stuffing our faces to remember to take photos ourselves! It felt so strange in the middle of our super-budget travels to glimpse the decadent ex-pat and ultra-rich Indian lifestyle, but it did taste good!
The extent of our tourism- the state capitol building in Bangalore. We did have fun riding around with Brad and Elizabeth on their bikes, and the weather was fantastic!
Elizabeth is volunteering for a company that develops cottage industries in nearby villages, providing a source of income for neighborhood women. We went with her to a block printing village one day where she delivered some cloth and looked at some new designs. These bags were drying when we arrived.
One of the hand carved wood blocks. They dip the block in ink, carefully place it on the fabric, and then pound it in place.
Here they are printing a white block on white curtains, which turned out really nice. Elizabeth is in the background.
The "factory" is in a great building with lots of natural light. The women on the floor are embroidering or adding sequins and beads, while the tables in the background are for block printing. It was very interesting to see this place and these women. It really reminded us how important it is to think about the things we spend money on. A little fair trade store in Holland, Michigan may seem so far away from the people who carefully crafted the products for sale. But those sales make a real difference in the lives of those involved. These women, as with most poor women in India, have little to no way of making money and their husbands' income often goes, sadly, to alcohol rather than to their children. Poor Indian women tend to have little education, are often illiterate, and are rarely "in charge" of their lives, much less small businesses. These little industries not only generate income, but they create a sense of belonging and empowerment for those involved. It was exciting to see the possibilities in the women here.
One woman was nice enough to print a little auto rickshaw on a shirt for our nephew.
Part of the main street in the village was paved.
We went from Bangalore to our final week in the Andaman Islands. Here Josh is waiting for our very last Indian train!
We rode second class straight East to Chennai in order to catch a flight to the Andamans. Check out all those fans! (It was still hot...)
Read the rest...
Brad and Elizabeth picked us up at the train station, and we headed to the Leela Hotel to celebrate our arrival and the departure of their good friends, Fanny and Niko, who were leaving Bangalore to return home to France. We went from a 24-hour train ride to a 6-star hotel (those exist?) for the most amazing brunch we'd ever tasted/seen. This is a photo from their website, since we were too busy stuffing our faces to remember to take photos ourselves! It felt so strange in the middle of our super-budget travels to glimpse the decadent ex-pat and ultra-rich Indian lifestyle, but it did taste good!
The extent of our tourism- the state capitol building in Bangalore. We did have fun riding around with Brad and Elizabeth on their bikes, and the weather was fantastic!
Elizabeth is volunteering for a company that develops cottage industries in nearby villages, providing a source of income for neighborhood women. We went with her to a block printing village one day where she delivered some cloth and looked at some new designs. These bags were drying when we arrived.One of the hand carved wood blocks. They dip the block in ink, carefully place it on the fabric, and then pound it in place.
Here they are printing a white block on white curtains, which turned out really nice. Elizabeth is in the background.
The "factory" is in a great building with lots of natural light. The women on the floor are embroidering or adding sequins and beads, while the tables in the background are for block printing. It was very interesting to see this place and these women. It really reminded us how important it is to think about the things we spend money on. A little fair trade store in Holland, Michigan may seem so far away from the people who carefully crafted the products for sale. But those sales make a real difference in the lives of those involved. These women, as with most poor women in India, have little to no way of making money and their husbands' income often goes, sadly, to alcohol rather than to their children. Poor Indian women tend to have little education, are often illiterate, and are rarely "in charge" of their lives, much less small businesses. These little industries not only generate income, but they create a sense of belonging and empowerment for those involved. It was exciting to see the possibilities in the women here.
One woman was nice enough to print a little auto rickshaw on a shirt for our nephew.
Part of the main street in the village was paved.
We went from Bangalore to our final week in the Andaman Islands. Here Josh is waiting for our very last Indian train!
We rode second class straight East to Chennai in order to catch a flight to the Andamans. Check out all those fans! (It was still hot...)
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