Last day in India

We are at our last hotel of our trip. This morning we were hoping to visit an elephant reclamation centre, but as usual it is Monday and the animal’s day off! There does not seem to be a set day for these days off, and we have hit a couple of them. To fill you in on our last 3 days as we have been without internet and/or anyway to add to the blog, here is what we’ve been up to:

Thekkady/Kumily
We finished off in Kumarakom and drove for about 5 hours to Thekkady/Kumily. It was absolutely stunning scenery as we drove thought the Ghat mountains. There are no railings here and the road has been cut into the mountain face. I can't say rock, because it’s rock and a lot of sand. In driving these roads at the grand speed of 5km/hour you feel like you are going at break neck speed, barely missing cars, tuk tuks, dogs, cows and people. Again everyone and everything assumes you will miss them no matter what they do - and somehow Perumal does! I could NOT sit in the middle or the front seat. Those that have the need for excitement did - or those that could sleep through anything did!

The Tea plantations are wonderful to see. There are acres and acres of beautifully landscaped farms that have row after row of plants interspersed with silver trees. The silver tree wood is used for wood furniture and to grow pepper plants (which are climbing vines). So the plantations have multiple crops.

On the mountains we saw coffee growing, rubber plants (with a Midas sign, but no Goodyear sign). Watching the rubber flow is like watching sap run from the maple trees. The dried sap from the rubber tree is just like an elastic. Neat to feel and see.

We went to a spice plantation and that was really interesting to see where/what the different spices originated from. Sam’s favourite was cinnamon bark, as she said it tastes just like cinnamon hearts. Our guide had lots of info on how the different spices could be used for different ailments, along with cooking ideas.

Our best fun was the elephant ride that we had right before the spice tour. We rode for half an hour and lumbered along a trail that the elephants could likely have done in their sleep. But for us it was fun. We took lots of pictures of each other on our beasties!We stayed in a place called Spice Village. It is part of an ECO program, which means that they try to minimize the impact of their presence by using more environmentally friendly means of providing services. They have done a nice job. The chalets were quite nice and the food was good. They had cooking demonstrations, native dancing and a good store, but no air conditioning (although the cabin rooms were only about 25oC) and lots of mosquitoes.

From Spice Village we drove 5 minutes into Periyar Wildlife Park, and took a boat ride to see the wildlife - we saw an elephant that was 1mm long, a mongoose that was 1cm long, a bison that was about 3cm, and 2 deer that were close up. They have some excellent ideas for tourism, but don't quite carry them off well sometimes. We saw the elephant in a cove, but the boat has a set path and will not deviate from it at all. The chances of any animal coming close to a boat filled with 50 people are extremely small.

After some recuperation time and serious debate – the rain clouds were looming ominously by early afternoon – we decided to try our luck on a nature Trekk. The groups before us hadn’t seen much, but they said it was a nice walk. So after watching monkeys steal people’s food for half an hour (they really are sneaky little buggers. I completely understand why they annoy the locals!) we were off on our three hour hike through the woods.

Our first bit of wildlife (other than birds & monkeys) was an introduction to the Indian leach. Their leaches do not live in water. They live in wet fertile ground, which, during the rainy season, meant that we were carrying sticks to hit them off of our shoes and the leg coverings our guide had given us. Nevertheless, the forest was beautiful and we actually did get to see some wildlife! No live elephants or tigers, but we were shown an elephant skull from one that died of natural causes about 4 months previously. The other animals had stripped him clean, so there were just bones left to see thank goodness! Our guide also showed us tiger footprints (which was neat) and week-old tiger droppings, of which all that was left was the deer fur (I could have done without that one, but others thought it was interesting). Then we saw our first non-monkey animal from a reasonable distance: a huge Indian Giant squirrel. This thing would have made mincemeat out of our black squirrels. The rest of the hike proved equally interesting, as we got close enough to bison for them to know we were there and stare at us as if we were a threat. When you see the pictures, you’ll understand that it’s a little bit funny since without Dad’s 5X zoom camera they’re not much bigger than large dots with heads, and the mongoose running around in front of them was even smaller. But we did get closer to a group of wild boars, who decided once they’d seen us that they weren’t interested in sticking around for a photo op.

The rain held off until almost the end of the hike, so we were pretty happy about that. And it had stopped by the time we went into Kumily to do our shopping. Sam & Alex bought salwars (the long tunic with pants & a shawl) and we had to pick them up. Buying fabric and having it sew to fit definitely makes a difference! They both look great (if I do say so myself!). Also in Kumily, Perumal recommended that we see what is called Kalaripayattu. It’s a very old form of training for warriors in the area, and is now considered an advanced martial art. You have to start at about age 4, and must train for 16 years before you can perform in front of an audience. They were incredible to watch, whether they were fighting each other with hands, sticks, daggers, or swords & shields! The body control necessary for some of their moves was fantastic. And they even jumped through rings of fire.

Cochin
The morning of our second last day was spent driving, but we got in our fair share of site seeing in the afternoon in Cochin. This area – like the rest of Kerala – was never conquered by the British, but it did have signed treaties with them, and before them the Dutch were a huge trading partner. So there is quite a bit of Dutch influence in the buildings. One of the main tourist attractions is the Dutch Palace. It was built by the Dutch for the Maharaja as an apology for looting a nearby temple, and to secure trading rights. Although under construction, the museum in the palace was really neat. They had a lot of information on the history of the monarchy of Cochin, as well as artifacts and large paintings of their maharajas. From there, we went to the oldest Jewish synagogue in the area and walked the bazaar. Alex found her new favourite painter, although she’s going to have to save up a bit of money before she can buy anything of his! We also got to see the outside of St. Francis Church, the church where Vasco De Gama was originally buried, before they were moved to Portugal. The Chinese fishing nets were another great stop along the way. These are huge structures that were designed to dip into the water and pull fish out. Although no longer in use, they do present a beautiful picture and make the beach a more interesting place. At the end of the day we returned to our hotel & said goodbye to Perumal. It’s a little strange to think that he won’t be picking us up in the morning.

So now we’re relaxing in our hotel on our last morning in Southern India, getting organized and making sure we have everything! We’re off to the airport at 1, and will hopefully get a chance to see a bit of Delhi this evening. See everyone is a couple of days!

Jan & Alex

Kumarakom (20)

At Kukarakom
We arrived at the hotel, only to find out that although our boat comes in at 9:30 our rooms were not to be ready till 2. So we had to rough it till then. And boy did we rough it! This is another TAJ hotel and it is beautiful. Hopefully we’ll get some pictures up for you, but don’t feel too sorry for us. We swam in the riverside pool (we have some work to do on our riverside pool now!), then went and did pottery, basket weaving and played pool. This time Jack and Jan were the clear winners. Although the table probably won more than we did! At 2 we were in our rooms and then stepped out to the 250 m meandering pool that rambles around all the huts (rooms) that make up the Kumarakom Lake Resort. The rooms we are in are similar in architecture to those of the original Kerala homes (although some slight adjustments have been made I believe!). The washrooms are neat in that they are outdoors. So right now we can stand outside and get wet from the shower and from the torrential rain that is coming down. The sink and the toilet are under an overhang. Beautiful marble throughout, and Beth, they have made beautiful use of different rock sizes to make the bathroom a very peaceful place.
We had planned on a bike ride after working out. Fortunately we hadn’t planned the reverse as we would be rather wet if we’d gone biking first. So I obviously didn’t touch enough wood this morning when I talked about how little rain we’d had! We may end up not getting out of this hotel today – but there are worse things in life to have to live through. Later - Jan

House boat trip to Komarakom (20)

On the boat house
It was our backwater boat tour day. We got up early to be able to get to the jetty for noon. It was 180km away from Puvar at Alleppy. It took exactly 5 hours to get there from the time we left our hotel at 6:50 in the morning (the girls were wildly ecstatic about that!)
The boat ride has been fabulous. The rice fields are 1km in size, with an 8ft dirt wall or “dike” around each section. The river has a retaining wall built by the government about (what we could get from our captain) about 200 years ago. So the rice fields are 8 ft below the dike and the river at the moment is about 2 ft. The sections are generally around 10 ft across. Most of the homes are built on this 10ft stretch of land. There is a communal walking path that everyone travels on from home to home to store, etc. Around the lake (Confusion Lake is what the locals call it.) there are 2 streets worth of houses for some of the lake, but most of the homes are built along this very small stretch of land. There are schools wherever there is the land for them. People travel around by very swift canoes and there are excellent ferries just zipping around dropping people off and picking people up.
In May/June the Monsoons come and flood the lower land. Every few years the rains are high enough that many of the homes are covered up to ¾’s of their height. The locals either float on the furniture in their homes or move up to their roofs until the water goes down – usually in about 3 days. It then slowly goes down. When we got here, they were busy pumping the water out of the rice fields and into to the river (an uphill battle!) today they use electric pumps, but before that they used a hand turned wheel system which sounds very similar to water wheel. No one here is overweight! Then when the land is walk able, they plant the rice. The fields are easily irrigated.
It was a peaceful trip in the backwaters. We all slept and read and took hundreds of photos. For the first time in 3 weeks we had lunch. It was a huge spread, delicious and they were disappointed because we only ate about 1/3 of it. We explained that we did not eat a lot, so when dinner came the cook had cut the quantity in half and that we almost ate everything. Most people on this trip must eat until they are bursting! The first game of yucker resulted in a win for Jack and Alex – a rematch is on for tonight!
We stopped for the night at around 6pm. This gave the staff enough time for a swim, and get ready for the night. It gave us time to get in position to see a sunset on this side of the coast. Something we haven’t seen yet. Although it has never rained on us while we have been outside, we have had a couple of days of rain while driving and many nights of rain, but not once has the umbrella come out for rain – just sun. The sunset was nice, but not as spectacular as our own. Again probably because of the clouds that were in the sky. During dinner the fishermen were in their canoes out setting up their nets for fishing. The houseboats don’t move at night because of the nets. The river is dotted with lights as they move around. The second yucker game went Jan and Sam’s way. Sam was the first one to bed at 9:45pm. 5:45am was a bit early for her!
The next morning, Jan and Jack were up early to see the next group of fishermen up gathering snails (they tell us mussels, but this river is fast flowing, very brown in colour and used for everything by thousands of people.) They use a stake stuck in the water to anchor their canoes into the riverbed, swim down them and pick up their catch. There must be some time/event to decide when they start as they (6 boats) were in position for about an hour before one called out something and they all started diving down their stick and collecting. They go down for about 20 seconds in about 5 ft of water, collect the snails and throw them into the bottom of the boat. Sometimes they have a basket they take down with them, fill it up and pour the contents into the bottom of the boat.
We had another great meal – breakfast and then were off the boat at 9:30.

Day 2 in Puvar (18)

Day two in Poovar. We woke up at a reasonable hour, ate a fantastic breakfast buffet, and headed off in the boat to meet Perumal who drove us into the city of Trivandrum. There we went to a temple and got a really terrible tour (we weren’t actually allowed into the temple), and still had to pay for it. However, the palace next door was much more interesting.
In the palace we saw portraits of all the kings who lived there, and we saw the artifacts from all over the world that they collected. We saw their ivory and crystal thrones, and swords and daggers they fought with. In addition, the wood carving details in every single room were exquisite, and all very unique. Many of the sculptures we have seen, especially on the temples, have been casts, but seeing all the little imperfections on every single lotus and horse and elephant on the walls and the ceilings proved that these were the real deal! Apparently it took only 4 years to finish the palace, so our question was how many people would it take to build such a place in only 4 years!!? (Answer 1000 people a day for 4 years) All the temples we have seen seem to average around half a century of building time.
Then, after a miscommunication about a visit to the zoo, we headed back to the hotel. That was fine though, because Mim and Alex went to the spa to get massages and Mim also got a lengthy facial (I’m very very very jealous). Sam and Dad grabbed a boat with another family over to the waves. The waves that day were huge, and we got some good body surfing in, along with a couple of scraped knees. The undertow was insane, so we were being very careful to keep our feet on the ground. Then we headed back to the hotel, and in the boat we observed an sand reclamation underway! Some of the local villagers were filling up their pole boats with sand from the dune we were on. Apparently sand here is very expensive, and there was ample clean sand where we were. So they dumped wet sand into their boat until it was juuuuuuust above the water, then one guy poled while the other guy bailed out the water from the wet sand.
After some swimming in the pool, we met back to the rooms to relax, then emerged for dinner, which was superb. The most awesome fried fish ever, and a great buffet (to make the cut as a great buffet, it must include great dessert). Then we made preparations to leave the hotel the next morning at 6:45! Onto the houseboat we go.
-SuperSam

Kanyakumari to Puvar (17)

We got up early today and went out on a local ferry to the Thiuvalluvar Statue and the Swami Vivekandanda Rock Memorial. Getting to these two was an adventure. We recognize that Indian people have a very small personal space and we have a much larger one. We’ll leave it at that and say that the ferry we were on in Canada would hold 100 people. There were likely 200 on the one we were on. None of us were uncomfortable using our elbows, as it was required. We are not exactly blending in with the people here – height and skin colour have made us quite the objects of interest (note the word object). Sam’s height and Alex’s eyes have also captured the attention of young and old and on occasion some very rude young men. Sam has rediscovered t-shirts and long pants, Alex and I have developed radar skills to move in and stop some of the behavior that is a bit more intrusive than we like! The girls have had their photo taken many times with people that are fascinated with them. We have loved this trip, met many nice people, but there is definitely a difference in what we consider our personal space. Sam’s comment after this trip was, “if this is what we have to deal with, can you imagine what it must be like to be famous? I’d go crazy if I had to deal with this every day.”
On a good note, we arrived on the rock(s), and can understand why the poet Thiuvalluvar went and sat on the rock to contemplate things for 3 days. It was so peaceful, powerful and awe inspiring to be sitting so close to the ocean as the waves crash against the rocks. We forgot time and were there for almost an hour just watching and listening to the surf.
We then had a 3 hour trip to our next destination – Puvar. We all have different ways of getting through the driving. Jack and Sam enjoy the excitement , I’ve opted to read my book, and Alex falls asleep. Driving beside the Ghat Mountains is pretty spectacular. The windmill farm(s) is also very impressive. But those things are pretty noisy! Can’t imagine living close to one.
We had a 10 minute boat ride to get to our hotel and we were pleased when we arrived. It is a wonderful setting, a lagoon in front with a sand bar that we have to take a boat to, crashing waves, and a facility that is wonderful. We had some fun when we first got to our rooms as there were a few things not quite right (it is NOT tourist season here, so repairs are going on in hotels, and there are not huge crowds of tourists anywhere). So while taps were fixed, light bulbs changed, safes replaced (I love this – they have the safe in every room that you can lock with your personal code – however they are not bolted down, so they are easy to walk around with. We have discovered that a couple of times when the safe has not worked, or I have forgotten the number, they came and opened it for us. In Canada they make a big deal of it, tell us they have to get a locksmith - here they call housekeeping and the person walks in, punches a couple of number and the safe door opens, or if not working properly, they take it away and bring it back! It pays to check this out while travelling so that you can decide whether to leave your valuables in your room safe or the hotels’ safe at the front desk!). Everyone was terrific and we were out and ready for the beach within an hour.
We had a short ride over to the beach. There are signs telling everyone that the ocean is not safe to swim in and that the hotel is not responsible for personal loss. So needless to say Jack was the first one into the ocean! The waves were lots of fun, but at the same time pretty scary (for me!). They do not come in just straight into shore, but sometimes they run across the shore as well. Jack and the girls had a great time and we have some great footage of them in the water. Literally you can stand on the shore and have the water at your ankles, and 2 seconds later you are covered up to your shoulders. If you fell, getting up took a few seconds. Another family came over and was watching us in the water. They decided to try what we were doing as well. Unfortunately they were in full clothes and when the waves hit them, they had quite a bit of difficulty getting back up. The boat driver had a few scary moments getting them back up and out of the waves. They did eventually and laughingly admitted that it was lots of fun. They had come out to the beach to look, so had no towels. We gave them a couple of ours to dry off. They then went back to the hotel and into the pool. We went for a walk along the beach. There were no sea shells which surprised us considering the wave action that we were seeing. Then we too went back to the hotel for a swim and to get ready for a game of ping pong. Jack is the Champion, but the 3 of us are mentally getting ready for a rematch tomorrow!
Since we are at the seaside, we opted for a seafood dinner at the restaurant by the water. Lobster, squid, fish and curry were the choices for tonight. And as usual, by 9:45 Jan & Jack are ready for bed and Alex and Sam are off to find a computer to communicate with friends back home. Good night all – Jan.

Trichy to Madurai (16)

Yesterday, our arrival at the Taj Gateway Hotel was an adventure in and of itself. Sam got to lay by the pool and observe neon caterpillars, big orange bugs, and peacocks (a lady got pooped on), as Alex did the same but with a book while cursing the glorified pigeons’ chattering. Meanwhile, Mim and Dad wandered off to check out a temple in the city. Turned out that was pretty neat; it was enormous, and Dad had to buy a skirt to cover his knees. I think he secretly wanted to buy the skirt, and he wore short shorts to that end (ha). In the evening we enjoyed being first to the restaurant, per usual, at 8 o’clock. We sat outside and enjoyed the fireworks of Independence Day and the lightning of the storm that was brewing. As we ate, we simultaneously fed the area’s bug population, and have the marks to prove it.
Today was most excellent. We woke up at the unearthly hour of 8:30am to go to the Gandhi Museum in Madurai. Have no fear, however, because it was well worth it! There was extensive information on Indian history and how Mahatma Ghandi was involved as well as how he himself influenced the country. There were tons of photos and artifacts accompanying the text. It was (as far as Alex is concerned) the best museum we’ve seen yet.
Next, we wandered all the way down to the southern tip of the country. All four of us stuck a limb into 3 different oceans at once! The Bay of Bengal, the Indian Ocean, and the Arabian Sea. Swimming was out of the question due to the rather large waves ripping into the shore, as well as the temperature, which was a mere 30 degrees. The fact that we now find 27oC hotel rooms frigid does not bode well for our return to Canada!
As seems to be the norm along the coast, the locals were beginning to gather on the waterfront to eat, shop and relax as we were exploring the monuments and admiring the view of the oceans. We weren’t the only tourists, but we were definitely in the minority, and garnered more than a few stares. Alex had her picture taken with a little boy and his mother after the boy developed a serious case of shyness when she noticed him trying to take a picture of her with his parents’ phone.
Also along the shore was a monument honoring those who died in the 2004 tsunami, and a large memorial to Mahatma Gandhi. We got a personalized tour of the memorial from one of the men charged with watching over the monument & keeping an eye out for future tsunamis. The monument, which stands out as a very oddly shaped building on the water’s edge marks the place where Gandhi’s ashes were kept before being cast into the three oceans (so that they could spread around all of India). The memorial building was separated into three areas: the outermost was designed to represent Christianity, the next chamber represented a Hindu Temple, and the final dome a Muslim Mosque, thereby showing Gandhi’s desire to unite all of the people of India. Over the marker where his ashes were kept in the inner-most room was a small circle cut into the ceiling. Each year on his birthday at the time of his birth (October 2nd?, 2:20pm?) the hole covering is opened and a beam of sunlight comes through the roof to touch the marker. It was an interesting tour, and well worth having a guide, as we would have known none of this without him.
Now we have eaten dinner and are marveling at the speed at which the trip seems to be disappearing. We are already one week in, with only a week to go!
Alex & Sam, signing out!

On to Madurai
We finished our visit to Trichy and headed off relatively early to Madurai. Again, falling asleep was not often possible as there was so much to see. Usually as you fell asleep someone would say look at that and you are awake again!
The scenery is marvelous, and we got near the Ghats today so the mountain ranges in the background were fabulous. We passed chili pepper fields, sugar cane, coconut fields (yes farmed just like apple orchards), the trees that they make their homes with are planted just like our forests are replanted, teak trees (which the ones we saw have about 15 years to go), rice is big here as well. The drought here though is having a severe effect on everyone. The fields are quite dry and they are hoping for some heavy rains. I’ve never seen cashews in their shell, so that was interesting as well. They look like a hard white kidney bean. The interesting thing is that many of the farmers dry their rice, nuts etc on the road. So a 2 or 4 lane highway will have about a 2X6 ft area covered in the farmers crop drying. Consider Greenland, the roads to the cottage, #7 with something drying on the road and us seeing and not driving over it. One thing we recognize here is that everyone assumes the driver will not hit, drive over etc anything on the road - so children, cattle, goats, dogs, adults will walk leisurely across a 2 or 4 lane highway and traffic will swerve around to avoid them. We have been aware of a few misses in this area, so seat belts are mandatory!
The highlight of our day was stopping along the highway and having a coconut opened and drinking the seemingly never ending milk inside. All four of us had a drink and we could barely finish it. The coconut itself was much sweeter than we thought, so we gave most of it to the goats.
Our hotel, the TAJ Gateway, was a nice oasis on top of a hill overlooking Madurai. The girls opted to have a snooze by the pool as Jack and I went to see the local, very large, temple in the middle of town.
It is Independence Day in India, so we were treated to a wonderful display of fireworks and sheet lightening this evening!
Pictures will be posted when we get reliable internet access!

Visit to Pondicherry 12

(sorry if repeat)
Farther down the ECR from Mamallapuram about 2 hours is the city of Ponducherry. It was originally the French HQ in India and the scene of lots of history in the 1600s -1950s when it voted to join India. As a result, this city is a state within India and the city is a bit different. The buildings are colonial white or yellow painted mansions and other government buildings and French cuisine has been mixed with Indian spices to create some rich dishes.
We were booked into a chalet called the Dupleix which was the former residence of a governor of the same name. The building has a rich heritage and it is very pretty with a huge tree growing in the large court yard entrance and lots of water ponds covered with flowers within the courtyard. Exactly what Governor D did to get recognized is not exactly clear to us. This is typical of India; there is not a lot of information about the historical context of buildings or objects etc.

We walked around Pondi, toured the local museum and visited the beaches, the medication centre and feasted on the cuisine. The museum has a mix of colonial furnishings and some archeology; bits and pieces of Roman pots. The pots can be traced to various points in the Mediterranean area so it is clear that there was trade ~2000 years ago; long before any of the other Europeans reached this area in the 1600s. Many of the Hindu temples have an elephant at the gate and he will bless you by taking a coin and tapping you on the head. We have all been well blessed and we are happier for the elephant’s kiss.

s
The beaches are beautiful vistas onto the ocean but the sand is littered with junk as in other parts of the country. However, the water was great and a welcome relief from the 35-40 C temperatures.


The fishermen were bringing in their boats while we were there. The boats are shaped like dragon boats with high bows and small little engines that can be tilted as they run and it was fun to see them surf into shore. The fishing villages are right beside the ocean so there were hard hit by the huge Tsunami in 2005. Some of the boats show that World Vision and other groups donated to fund new boats etc for the villages.
Jack walked thru the local market in the evening and it was a great site. A huge sea of people in small stalls selling everything used by the local population; from spices and flowers to pots and clothes. And just outside were the cows and goats to ‘cleanup’ the left over vegetables etc. There is also a beautiful monument to Ghandi on the waterfront promenade. The promenade is another French quirk; a huge # of people walk along the ocean front promenade every evening and they shut down the streets to cars so that everyone can walk.

.

Road to Trichy 14th

Another day up bright and early. The trip was an interesting event as the road from Thankuvar to Thrichy was under regular summer construction. Most of the road between Thankuvar and Trichy is being replaced. There are sections of the road that are in great shape and both sides (old and new)are used going both ways. An interesting thing to watch and we are very thankful that we are not driving. Perumal (our driver) is quite adept at last minute maneuvers.
We went to three temples today: Thiruvanaikkoil, Sri Rangam and the Rock Fort. They are all different from each other in different ways. One was its size – 45 acres with 5 out walls, the other has a very tall tower, and the third was on top of a huge boulder overlooking Trichy.

In all there was an elephant, of which we could look at and no longer needed to be blessed, there was the temple pool that the locals used to cleanse their souls and sometimes wash their clothes. In the Thiruvanaikkoil temple, the people were there for the day/week/month/etc and it looked like many had lived there for some there. There were families putting out blankets for family members, groups having political meetings and other stuff that we were not privy to.
We also stopped at the local swimming area on the banks of the Cauvry just outside Trichy, that many travel to wash themselves in the
We then had some time at the local market (Chinna Kadai St) and it was something else. Jack mentioned the one in Thankuvar and this was just as good. The nice thing is that at the local markets, we were not constantly harassed and could take our time and look at things. Jack finally found his elephant!

A short video of the UNESCO world heritage site called Arjuna's Penance

Hope this video works. It is an attempt to capture the carving along its length.

The resort at Mamallapuram

Here are some pictures of the resort where we stayed in Mamall. to visit the rock carvings. It was a tough day!!

Here are 4 images that show the elegant rock carvings and caves with carvings that are found at Mamallapuram, about 2 hours south of Chennai, India.

Transition from Chennai.
The tournament was over and we said farewell to the rest of Team Canada on Sunday night. They were flying back to Canada starting in the wee hours of Monday morning. The L-Cs headed in the opposite direction onto phase two of our Indian adventure as we moved south out of Chennai towards the bottom of India.
The travel magazines and other literature say that this is the land of temples and beaches. We were ready for both. We met with our driver (Perumal) at 8 am and headed on the way. The first 1.5 hours were more of Chennai traffic; congested, noisy and the typical slow traffic as we moved thru the city. If you picture the 401 or 417 full of bikes, scooters, cars and tuktuks and packed into 2 lanes and all honking their horn you are close to the chaos and noise and smell.
We gradually reached the shore road called the ECR. This is a 1.5 lane toll road which runs along the Bay of Bengal and as the traffic thinned out we began to get a taste of rural India. The first thing is more cows and goats and open fields.
This area of India is a real mixture of savannah, dry tropical forest, sand dunes and rice paddies where there is water for irrigation. In the trees along the road are lots of small villages. Closest to the coast were the fishing villages. The homes are either cement (new government-built to replace the homes lost during the tsunami) or thatched. The thatched roofs are made of coconut palm fronds (leaves) and are very water tight. It is also an efficient use of the old leaves from the trees.
We were in a nice car; a Toyota van. The other forms of transportation were similar to Chennai. Lots of scooters and some tuk tuks and rural buses that own the road because they and the trucks are the biggest vehicles on the road!
It took about 2 hours to get ~40km to Mamapuram where we were headed to see the rock carvings for which this area is famous. This is a 1400 year old (~ 700AD) UNESCO world heritage site so it has a big reputation. First we saw the tiger caves, then the ‘ganges’ rock carving (Arjuna’s Penance & other reliefs) and then the Pancha Pandava Rathas and the Shore Temple. These are spectacular. For any of you who have tried to cut granite (like Jack and Sam who gave up making a simple straight line cut with a power diamond bladed rock saw) this is an impressive chisel job.

The detail in Arjuna’s Penance carving is beautiful. For Jack this was the highlight of the day and perhaps the trip. In the picture below you can see the Hindu deities, the animals and the scenes from Indian life. The middle has a cut in the rock that we are told is full of falling water in the wet season. It was dry today and there is a family of cobra snakes in the cleft. The elephant family is beautiful too and many of the scenes show life from 1400 years ago. Clearly this carving culture was well developed.

The Rathas are fun because they are individual batholiths (the whole carving is done from a single piece of granite) rocks that have been carved into ‘chariots’ which we interpret to be elaborate hand-held carriages that are symbolic of what would be used to carry a king or queen in a royal procession. The Rathas were especially fun because we were there at the same time as a whole group of school children. Like all of the others that we have met so far, these girls (and a few boys) were eager to test out their knowledge of English, and said “hello” and “how are you?” many, many times. Conversation got a little difficult after that because they didn’t know much more English and we didn’t know any Hindi, but we got along with gestures and random words that they knew. Shaking hands and waving was a big thing. I think Alex, Sam & Jan shook hands with about 15 girls each by the end of it, and they kept coming back to say hi one more time. Some of the younger ones especially liked Sam’s arm-henna that she had done in Chennai on our last day there.


The day just got better since we were able to see the modern day rock carvers at work and to buy some of their simple designs. Jack liked the animals and the sun etc rather than the elaborate deities and Shivas that were the focus of many of the carvings. It takes about 1.5 hours to make a simple pendant; days for bigger creations.
To cap off a great day we arrived at our ‘hotel’ which turned out to be a 5 star waterfront resort complete with multiple pools. There is a picture below here and Sam swam a couple of lengths of the ~150m pool that comes complete with fountains and bridges and a waterfall; a wonderful way to cool off. The ocean was right out front too and the waves were crashing on the shore so Jack headed for the beach. Unfortunately the shore is still in rough shape from the Tsunami and there is a very strong rip current that wanted to wash swimmers back to Chennai. It was still great to jump into the waves and cool off in the 38C heat.
As you can see from the description we loved the change from Chennai and we are looking forward to the rest of our tour across southern India.

The Finals of the Team Event

Canada played England for 5/6 position and it turned out to be decided quickly due to illness and injury. England’s top player was sick and so the 2,3,4 players were playing off against Laura and Sam and Jenn for Canada. However in the second game it was clear that Kimberly Hay for England was injured and she withdrew when she was down 2-0. So the first point went to Canada.
The second point went to Canada also as Sam made quick work of her English opponent. She was much fitter than her hard hitting opponent and used a series of drops and hard low drives to force errors and won the first 2 games easily. The 3rd game was much closer but Sam won it 14-12 to win 3-0 and take the match and 5th place for Canada. It was somewhat anticlimactic since we were expecting a much closer match up with England.
In the other matches, the USA lost the bronze medal to India in the 5th game of the 3rd match. This was a great game of chess with very tight drops and great boasts to move each player all over the court.
The gold medal game was played on the centre glass court facility. This facility is spacious and it is quite nice; although a bit hot. Egypt was clearly the favorite but Hong Kong were the spoilers so far and should not be taken lightly since they were out to win.

Semi Finals Team Play

All of the teams are sorted into groups of 4 by the semi final day (1-4, 5-8, 9-12, 13-16). Canada and New Zealand were playing on one side of the 5-8 seed of the draw and England and Malaysia on the other side.
Laura Gemmell played Lana Harrison of NZ in the first match and it was a hard hitting and hard running game. Lana hits the ball cleaner with more power than any junior woman in the tournament. She volleys extremely well and drives the opponent off the‘t’ very effectively. This strategy worked well for the first 2 games and Laura was down 2-0. Laura changed her game plan in the 3rd game and eventually it started to pay off. Slowly she won some points in the front of the court by stretching out Lana with excellent backhand boasts. This was a great mental and physical match for Laura and mentally exhausting for the players and the fans as Laura pulled it out in the 5th game 11-8.
Sam was up next and made quick work of her opponent 3-0 with some great drops and hard length. The 3rd match was played to give the players some more experience and Jenn Pelletier also won so Canada swept NZ 3-0. In the other semi events, England defeated Malaysia so this set up a Canada vs England 5th place match tomorrow (Saturday)
In the other semis (1-4 seeds), on one side, Egypt defeated USA 2-1. This was a surprise as everyone expected a 3-0 score. Amanada Sobhy won the point for the USA against the individual champion El Sherbini so this was a great match for Amanda. On the other side, India lost to Hong Kong 2-1. The Hong Kong team has no stars but they have 3 solid players of very equal ability. As a result they won the 2 and 3 matches after loosing the first one to Dipika. As a result, Hong Kong will play Egypt for the gold medal.

The Quarter Final Matches
The global weather says that the Monsoons are still weak in the Indian Ocean and so they do not get as far north as Chennai. As a result, we have yet to experience the “real” India rainstorms and it is another bright and sunny and hot day in Chennai.
We must be getting used to the 35C temperatures because last night we were all commenting that it was cooler than previous days: 30 vs 35 was our best guess.
The courts are air conditioned so it usually about 25 at court side and the ball is bouncing like a rocket once it gets warmed up. Sam and all of the players have an athletic glow thru out the match and the sweat is still pouring off Sam well after the end of a match.
The quarterfinal matches are today with India playing Canada, Malaysia playing Egypt and New Zealand vs Hong Kong. The Egyptians are clearly on the top of the world with 4 players in the top 16 in the world and the 1st and 2nd place players in the individual event. However all of the other matches are going to be tight. Since all of the matches are played at the same time, we cheered for Canada and darted in to catch glimpses of the other events.
Canada and India played on the glass centre court to a good audience of enthusiastic supporters from both teams. The picture below shows the players matched up before the match and set to wish each other a good competition.

Sam played in the first of the three matches and won 3-1. It was her classic game. She won the first game of the match with good length and then short drops that her Indian opponent could not retrieve. The second game the tables were turned as Reddy took the game and countered Sam’s drops with good winners of her own. In the 3rd game, Sam hit hard length that drove Reddy back repeatedly into the corners and she could not run down the kills. The fourth game was a foregone conclusion. Sam won easily 11-2 and started Canada off with a 1-0 score.

The second match involved Laura Gemmell from Canada and Dipika from India. Dipika was the #1 seed coming into the individual tournament and she lost in the semi finals to the Egyptian, Nour El Sherbini, who won the individual gold medal. Dipika has a wicked forehand kill so Laura played her hard on the back hand wall and there were great rallies. Unfortunately for Canada, Dipika hit more winners than tins with very hard low kills and she won the second match 3-0. That set up the 3rd and deciding match between the #3 ranked players for each team. Jennifer Pelletier played for Canada against XX. It was a great game of chess on the court. Both girls played lots of lobs and drops and moved each other around. The first game was 13-11 for India. The second game was about 11-8 for Canada. However the next two games went to India so Canada lost the overall match 2-1.
In the other matches, Egypt, Hong Kong and the USA were the winners. As a result, they will move on to battle for the top 4 spots and Canada, New Zealand, Malaysia and England will battle for the 5 to 8 positions in the team event. The girls are a bit disappointed since they hoped for a medal finish. However, they have played very well under conditions that are far different than their normal training pattern and the competition is very good. A couple of points has separated them from a victory over the USA and it was the same thing here when Jenn lost the first game 13-11. It is incredibly close thru out all of the top matches.
We all jumped into the swimming pool at the squash courts after the matches. This pool is a wonderful ‘perk’ that we have used frequently to cool off. The 30C water feels very refreshing relative to the air outside. Then it was back to the hotel and we started to make a plan for a dinner adventure to a local restaurant while the team plotted their strategy in the next game against New Zealand tomorrow. More on that tomorrow.

Day 3 of teams - showdown with the USA

The USA and Canadian teams were ranked #5 and #4 respectively at the start of the junior women’s team tournament. Day#3 saw these two rivals playing off for first and second place in their pool and similar battles for top spots in the other pools.
It was an exciting competition with Sam and Amanda Sobhey playing first in a seesaw battle. Amanda started strong and took advantage of a couple of tinned drop shots by Sam. Then Sam poured on the power with excellent cross court drives, hard down the wall length and some excellent drops. She won the first game about 11-6. The second game continued the trend but was much closer. Amanda has an excellent volley and she continually used the volley to drive Sam deep and then hit solid kills. Sam countered with hard crosses and drops. She eventually won the game 12-10. In the third and fourth games, Amanda controlled the‘t’ beautifully with her volleys to length and to kill the ball and Sam did all of the running. Amanda won both games to set up a great 5th game.
The final game was a seesaw with Amanda continuing to pressure Sam with excellent volleys and volley drops. Sam’s dying length got better during the game and the rallies got longer with lots of great retrieving by both players. Sam hit a couple of tins on kills in the middle of the game to give Amanda a 9-5 edge and then it was 10-6 on a great kill by Amanda. Sam fought back but Amanda won 11-8 to take the match.
The second game was another classic with rivals Laura Gemmell and Olivia Blatchford playing in the #1 position for Canada and the USA, respectively. Laura has the edge in matches and she continued to hold the advantage today. The first game went back and forth as both players had good dying length and excellent touch. Laura stretched Olivia out on many drives and won the first game with some excellent length mixed with her trickle boast. In the second game, Olivia fought back but a few tins on tight shots made the difference. In the third game, Olivia changed her strategy to play more short shots and Laura countered with excellent length both down the wall and cross court. She took the match 3-0 and made the score 1-1 to set up the deciding game.
Jen Pelletier (Canada) and Julie Cerullo (USA) played in the #3 position and this was the deciding match. In the CAN – USA play. The first game was dominated by Julie to win about 11-4 when Jen made some unforced errors. The second game was very close with Jen hitting excellent drops and Julie driving the ball to length. Julie hit two excellent short kills to win the first game 12-10. Julie had an excellent variety of shots in her game and she went on to dominate the 3rd games to win the match 3-0.
After the round-robin play, Canada was second in its pool behind the USA so it moved on to the top eight pool to fight for the title in the knock out play that starts tomorrow. Between now and then there is time for a swim in the pool at the squash complex. This is the best way to cool off. Then we are all off for dinner with the team and parents to celebrate some great competition.

Wed day 2 of teams

Wed – Day 2 teams
Morning was quiet time getting ourselves organized for the day. Then we went off to do battle against the South African team. Mike Collins, one of the Jesters from South Africa, sat out with us and enjoyed the match, rather than refereeing it. Sam, Laura and Danielle played and each won their matches 3-0.
Then Team Canada headed off – some to do some serious shopping, others to mentally get ready for their match the next day. Jack, Jan and Alex went to Marina Beach for the afternoon. The beach is ~15 miles long, and is composed of two beaches, Marina and Elliot. Apparently there are over 1 million people on them every evening from 6:30 on. We weren’t there then and didn’t wish to be! We saw the men in the water, but few women as the women have to go in fully covered. There are lots of stalls selling every Made in China/India item you can think of. We were really too early, so have no idea if some better stuff comes out later. Somehow I doubt it as the sand conditions would not have been good. There were rides for the kids, horse rides on the beach, ice cream, all kinds of food (fried fish is big), fishermen sleeping, working on their nets and their fish catches. One was busy spreading out his fish to dry out. There were lean to’s by the boats and so we assume that they slept on the beach during the day. It was interesting and typical of the collage and contrasts that makes up India!

Saturday update at Junior Worlds

The Junior Squash World’s - An Update
The semi finals have just been completed in the women’s side and the 2nd men’s semi is underway. The story line can be summed up as:
· Women’s seeds fall to youth.
o A 13 and 16 year old are in battling in the finals and both are from Egypt.
· Men are on seed
o The #1 (from Egypt) and #2 seed (from Malaysia) are meeting tomorrow for the men’s championships.
On the technical side it was all superb squash. This is especially impressive since the conditions are tough. India is a land of humidity and high temperatures which make drops shots and touch very tough to execute effectively.
The Egyptians continue to dominate both the men’s and women’s draws with many players in the top 8 positions. They play short fast rallies and attack with drops and boasts on every rally. They hit tight drops from all over the court. Their error rate is very low and the shot selection is excellent with multiple different unexpected choices from all over the court. They counter attack very effectively with tight, tight drops, drives and occasionally some great lobs. This keeps their opponents off guard and wondering what will happen next. Sam lost to Nour in the round of 16 and her comment was: “she is tricky”.
The Egyptians are clearly on the top of the heap. Where did the Canadians end up?
As mentioned above, Sam went the farthest in the main draw. She beat the top South African and then the top English player in a very tough match in the round of 32. Then she had a good game in the round of 16 and lost to the Egyptian Nour 3-0 and Nour is now in the final.
Laura Gemmell was defeated 3-1 in the round of 32 by a red hot American, Amanda Sohbey. Amanda has been playing very well lately in WISPA tournaments and probably should have been seeded higher in the draw. Laura is now playing in the semis of the plate after subsequent wins against Indian and South African opponents. We hope that she will be in the plate final tomorrow.
Daniele Letourneau won both her first two matches and then lost in the round of 32. She has definitely benefitted from playing more top women at this tournament in one week than are available to play in Calgary back home.
Jen Pelletier and Michelle Gemmell both lost in the first round of the main draw and then won some matches in the consolations. However, like in Sam’s case, they do not play out any of the matches and once you have lost in a third round you are finished. Not even the 3/4 positions are played out.
There were no Canadians in the Jr men’s draw so there is nothing to report on that front. We will give you a report after the finals. In parallel, the Canadian women will begin their preparation for the team event.