Finally some pics!! India- Arrival through Munnar

It has been a whirlwind getting home! I have loved having the comforts of home surrounding me- as well as being safe back in the USA. However, there are parts of travelling that 'real life' just can't provide- so, I miss travelling too! Here is the start of the photos-  it may take a few days and I'm going to do several cities at a time. Thanks to everyone who read this blog- it has been fun writing it while I was gone and gave me some good creative-venting space to write!

In LA before we left, at Melanie's- backpacks weighing about 30 lbs. each. Believe it or not- they we about the same when we came back- however, clothes had been replaced with souvenirs.

The wedding of an old co-worker in Chennai. Don't they look happy?! They had met one month before- and had seen each other a total of 3 times. Her main job during the ceremony was to keep the candle lit.

Eating at the wedding was quite the experience. Tables were lined up facing each other- and believe me, we were the slowest eaters in the room. We weren't used to eating with our hands and the food was served on banana leafs. In addition, we were trying to avoid any uncooked food since it was our 2nd day in India!

Here I am awkwardly standing with the wedding couple getting a picture taken. I definitely stood on the stage too long and ended up in some family photos.

Ang, Anantha (another old co-worker) and I at the wedding. The outfits are KILLING me- but they were appropriate for the event.

Boys on the beach in Chennai.

Safety first. This is in the middle of traffic-helmets?! nah.

The first of many barefoot walks across the streets of India. When you arrived at a temple- generally your shoes needed to be left elsewhere while you went into the temple. I eventually got used to it- but it made me cringe at the beginning of our trip.  

Inside the temple.

I'm NOT joking about the heat- this is my back after a bus ride.

Beautiful sidewalk chalk designs- the details were amazing.

Bikes parked outside a girls school.

India organization at its best- This bus seat had been re-numbered 4 times- I wonder why people sit in the wrong seats?

Temples, Temples, Temples.....this is in Madurai, India.

I am SO sad about how dirty my face was when I cleaned it with a face wipe.

Sunset over the Bay of Bengal, Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean- beautiful!

The cheapest place we stayed- it was 350 rupees, which coverts to $7 usd. It was actually decent, believe it or not.  

Sitting on the houseboat we were on for one night- very relaxing!

The Indian Crew Team (not joking) practicing. We saw them from our houseboat.

7 people in a rickshaw- anything to save a few rupees.

Woman doing laundry in the river.

Kids playing at recess at the local school in Munnar.

Munnar (tea fields) was absolutely gorgeous. It is one of my favorite memories of India.

More tea fields.

Our 4 buses from Munnar to Mysore consisted of some very hairy roads- at one point we started seeing these signs counting down the number of hairpin turns we were about the encounter.