Gokarna and the Nirvana Cafe

Jeff and I arrived at the heavenly Nirvana Cafe yesterday morning after a grueling 14 hour bus ride from Mysore. Gokarna is located in the northwest part of the state of Karnataka, along the Indian Ocean.  The city has a couple of beaches.  We took an autorickshaw from the bus stand to Om Beach, and after hiking along the beach, settled into a beach shack at the Nirvana Cafe.

The view to the left from our place.

The view to the right. You can see the groups of Indian boys that filled the water, shrieking as they played.

Our beach shack.

Jeff enjoying breakfast this morning, with a beautiful ocean view.

The beautiful walkways around the Nirvana Cafe.

The front of the Nirvana Cafe

Us getting some great Kindle time in.  We LOVE our kindles!!

Our no frills shack, with a rock-hard mattress/pad. But we can hear the waves from inside.  It feels like camping.

The cows are even on the beaches here!

The sunset last night

It is so peaceful here, I can understand how people get sucked into staying longer than planned. Gokarna is becoming more popular as the hippies from Goa find that Goa is becoming more commercialized. Thankfully for us we haven't heard any didgeridoos yet or seen any drum circles! That is still more common in Goa. We will probably stay here another day or two before heading to see more of India's history in the ruins of Hampi.

Mysore Palace

We visited the Maharajah's Palace in Mysore yesterday.  It was gorgeous.  Giant grounds with gardens and Hindu temples.  We got to go inside but they have a strict no photography policy.  This palace was built in 1912 after the original palace burned down. The royal family lived in it until India gained independence in  1947.

 This is the front of the palace, facing east. Imagine the Raj leaving this entrance atop an elephant with hundreds of guards to greet his public.

 This is the Raj's Hundai.

 This is a Hindu temple behind me.

What's up next: Jeff and I are heading to the beach for a little rest and relaxation.  We're going to Gokarna, a small beach town just south of Goa on the western coast.

Kingfisher: When the Hummingbird Turns Blue... Its as Cold as the Western Ghats!

Five hour bus ride from Ooty to Mysore this morning. Bus left at 7:30am, and arrived around 12:30pm. Started at 3000+ meters, down to about 790. Ears popped. Below freezing in the morning to 90ºF+ in the afternoon. As I write this at 9:00pm, it is 79ºF in our hotel room. We've become friends with reruns of “Friends.”

This evening, after a very good day of travel and visiting a local railroad museum where the Guinness world record for the oldest working steam powered locomotive on the planet (circa 1855) is housed, Claire and I really wanted a nice relaxing evening. What better way to relax than to have a cool beer and some finger chips (french fries) on the balcony of the Parklane Hotel's fabulous “Beer Garden” and restaurant. Now those of you who are kind enough to be keeping up with the blog may recall that I posted the sign of the week just yesterday. Forgive me for a possible retraction. As funny as the “Toe Away Zone” sign posted by the diligent Ooty Traffic Police may be, it in no way can best the menu at the Parklane. The following text is directly quoted from the menu at Parklane. Capitalization and punctuation have been preserved in this reproduction for your enjoyment and full appreciation of the moment we experienced as we read (past tense) our way through the restaurant's offerings, and yes the extensive verbosity in my introduction serves to set the mood for the the literary feast you are about to consume.

“Do not compare parklane

with other hotels

coz'

Parklane is parklane”

Coz' Parklane is parklane?!? Now that was just the first page we saw as we opened the menu... the appetizer, if you will. Parklane saved the best for last, however, listed on the back, post-dessert:

1) A gentle reminder that the dishes are prepared after

receiving the order and normally take twenty to

thirty minuets (sic) and for special dishes over forty five

minuets should be allowed.

One further note, the notation “sic” will not again be used in this post. All spelling, punctuation, and other seeming nonsense appears exactly as it did in the Parklane menu.

2) Dishes and liquor are subject to the availability of

Commodities.

3) We take pride in the quality and quantity of the dishes

and drinks served. Please do not bring in food and

drinks of any kind for consumptions.

4) We reserve the right to alter the rates without prior notice.

Sales Tax or any additional Taxes

will be charged extra for food and liquors.

5) Sales are strictly on cash basis or with major Credit Cards

Please do not embarrass us by requests for credit.

6) Disposable vomit Bags are available on request in

case of need, as a consideration to fellow diners.

Note: It is best to avoid excessive drinking.

There is always a next day to enjoy the drink.

7) We do our best to satisfy you. Please do bear

with our short comings inform us of same

“To err is human but to forgive is divine”. It is not

our intention to take advantage of your

satisfaction over a 'full tummy' or 'fuddle Headedness'I

May we request you to please check your bills and bring any

error that might have inadvertently occurred to our attention.

8) Any unauthorized alterations in the bill should be

brought to the attention of the management.

9) Type of music played will be sole choice of the

management. No music after 11:00 pm

10) Candle lamps for the table will be provided on request.

11) Last order for both food and drinks should be placed at 11:00 pm

The restaurant lights will be switched off soon after the bell is

rung at 11:30 pm

12) Person found in possession or consuming banned drugs

shall be reported to police authorities.

13) Restaurant will open from 7:00 am to 11:30 pm with out break.

Which one is your favorite?

Cheers!

Caution: Toe Away Zone!

Innocently funny signs seem to be the norm in India. I don't know whether it is a misunderstanding of the English language, or just that things get lost in translation. For example, Claire and I saw a large tour bus called the Austrian Express when we first arrived in Ooty. That's just half of it though. The mascot for the Austrian Express was none other than the silhouette of a jumping kangaroo. Needless to say, the bus was not filled with a load of Austrian's fresh from off a tour of the Australian outback.

Even so, funny sign of the week honors has to go to the gem pictured below. Is it innocently wrong, or a veiled reference to the insanity inducing task of trying to cross a street here? You tell me.

Ooty and the Jolly World Bear

Our planned next stop after Thanjavur was Mysore, the historic capital of the state Karnakata, but we found out the trains there were booked for the next month! So we rerouted and took an overnight bus to the hill station Udhagamandalam (aka Ooty).  It is a quiet mountain town (Indian standards of quiet) that tries to enforce eco-friendly principles with no plastic bottles and a ban on plastic bags.

It has been a great spot to stop and unwind for a few days.  Jeff and I have been reading, hanging out, and enjoying the cool air.  It has also been a good spot for me to think about my grandfather and all he has meant to me.  This place is loosely similar to Tahoe, one of Grandpa's favorite places.

It also has this amazing children's park called Jolly World. Jeff had to laugh at the use of Disney and Warner Bros characters, I'm sure with the proper licensing.

The Jolly World Bear did not look so Jolly.  He was sitting in the middle of the go kart track with the SLOWEST go karts Jeff and I have ever seen.

Thanjavur and the Golden Temple

We visited another gem of Southern India in Thanjavur (Tanjore to the Brits), the Brihadishwara Temple.  This amazing structure is 1000 years old and felt like something out of an Indiana Jones movie.

 If you look closely, Jeff is the blue line to the right at the bottom.

 It is a large park with several structures, the largest one being in the center.  It was very peaceful. People were just sitting on the grass, hanging out.  It was not nearly as crowded as the last temple we visited.

This is the main structure.

Our first train ride

We took our first train ride from Madurai to Thanjavur - a 4 hr bus ride that took 6 by train.  It was a peaceful journey with beautiful palm trees, rice plantations, and fields.

About 10 minutes into the ride we were joined by two boys - Gohal (11 yrs) and Guru (9 yrs) who were enthralled with us.  We played word games, discussed our countries as much as the language barrier would allow (Obama? President?) and by the end of the train ride Guru was literally holding onto Jeff's arm.