*****WARNING********
***If you are bored by extreme bird nerdiness, read at your own risk******

Emily and I just went to a place called Thattekad Bird Sanctuary. While there we stayed at a homestay inside the park. The family there spanned 4 generations living in the house. The husband was a crack birdwatcher and know all the places to go to spot the coolest birdies. We went out in the mornings to a sweet spot on top of a big rocky plateau that had a great view all around and at night we'd go looking for owls, nightjars, and other nocturnal goodies. Some of the highlights were: Sri Lankan frogmouth (definitely the coolest of everything), malabar trogon, indian pitta, malabar grey hornbill, little spiderhunter, Loten's sunbird, greater racket-tailed drongo, scarlet minivet, crimson-fronted barbet, stork-billed kingfisher, asian fairy bluebird, common iora, black baza, ruby-throated bulbul, white-rumped needletail, indian swiflet, jerdon's nightjar, great tit, lots of orioles, red-wattled lapwing, etc. I could go on and on but I'm sure everyone's eyes are starting to glaze over at this point. The mother of our guide was a schoolteacher and today we got to meet all the kids at the school she works at and they were VERY cute. Next we're going to a sweet wildlife place with a bunch of temples, a peak we can summit and a bunch of Hindu and Jain temples. Tata...

Our stellar guide Gireesh

scary

Sri Lankan Frogmouth above. next pictures: the pair, white-bellied woodpecker, hornbill, India's largest butterfly, and Emily with the cuties.

Cochin

Hi All! We are having a very relaxing time here in Cochin with David's family. Cochin is a pretty large city close to the ocean. A couple days ago, David and I took a ferry to an amazing festival at the Shiva Temple. There were seven elephants, each with huge gold masks. Three men were standing on each elephant, and a band of about fifty people playing horns and drums. When the music picked up, the people stood up on the elephants and twirled around fans. We also caught a puppet show. It began with a white screen, with the intricate puppets and scenery slowly illuminated as candles were lit behind the screen. There was also a fireworks display created by gunpowder, which exploded nearer and near to the crowd until it seemed that fire, smoke and noise was about to engulf us all, at which point it suddenly stopped. It was definitely a memorable night!

We didn't take any pictures, but the elephants looked something like this, although there were only seven. And it was night time!

 

This is a picture I found on the internet, the puppet show looked like this - it was beautiful!

Two days ago, we took a boat trip on the backwaters this area is famous for with David's family. We started out on a brackish lake traveling on a large rice boat that had been converted into a house boat. A major livelihood in the area  is dredging up sand from the bottom of the lake to use for cement. Many people we passed were standing/swimming in the water, scooping sand up into small canoes. After lunch, we switched boats into punted canoes each holding about six people, and traveled on the small backwater lanes, which people have been dredging up for thousands of years. The backwaters are really like roads. Our boat was moving on what could be considered a larger road, which was about 10 feet across. There were other, smaller water roads branching off, and people had boats 'parked' in front of houses like cars.

View of shoreline

We stopped to check out a garden where we saw about 20 varieties of spices. We managed to wander away for a bit with Marty to explore an abandoned factory.

Backwater canals.

View from the small boat.

We stopped to see a demonstration of coir (rope) making. The pile in back of me is the outer covering of coconut, which is spun together to form twine.

Another highlight has certainly been the food at the homestay. We are provided breakfast and dinner, and it is excellent, Each night, we're served about six different vegetable dishes, with either chicken or fish, and some type of starch, usually rice and/or chapatis. Fresh pineapple, papaya, and bananas are served at every meal. Southern Indian food is much different thantypical Indian food you would find at a restaurant. The homestay is owned by a couple, Suni and Beena, who are taking care of their granddaughter, Krishna, while her mother is earning her PhD. Suni cooks all the food, and he is an excellent chef.
The Fort Cochin neighborhood is very fun to walk around, with several museums, tons of crumbling old buildings, and lots of ice cream.

Pay attention, Mom!

On a walk around town with Saibal.

I tried to make this a long and juicy post because I don't know when we'll have a chance to write again, maybe not for a while. We are headed (via train and bus) to a bird sanctuary, a nature preserve, and then to the state directly to the east of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, where we will check out lots of temples and ruins. Then, we are flying from Madras to Calcutta, where our friend Saibal lives. We will stay there about a week before flying to Thailand.
Hope you all are doing very well!

Munnar

 

View from the bus to Munnar

View from the bus to Munnar

Our first view of tea plantations from the bus

Our first full day in Munnar, we went to a National Park to go hiking. On the way there, we passed through a deep valley. Tea was planted almost up to the mountain tops, with boulders and patches of jungle interspersed.

On a morning walk along a river in Munnar

We hiked out to the peak with two bumps.

View from the top of the peak

Path by the river on an afternoon walk.

At an overlook on a morning walk

There are lots of old, crumbling buildings in Fort Cochin, lots of fun to wander around.

Doorway in Jew Town

The day after we got in, we headed to a small town called Munnar via a public bus. The views were awesome. We stayed there for three nights, hiking around, exploring the town and taking strolls. we ate some very yummy food. A specialty is called idli, which is ground up fermented rice patties served with sambur, a spicy sauce and a cool yogurt type dish. We've also had our fair share of masala chai, which is spiced tea. Yum! Right now, we're in a city called Cochin with David's family, and Saibal, a family friend. We're staying at a wonderful homestay with terrific food, walking around the city and the beach. Hope you all are doing well! And we've decided to get married!!!  But not for a few year, so keep your pants on. But...everyone is invited, and the wedding is called "Kegs in a Field". 

Hi from India

Hi everyone - Just a short note to say we are doing very well. We had some craziness with our flights getting here but now we are doing some excellent chillaxin'.  We took an amazing 6 hour bus ride to a mountainous region where there are a billion tea farms.  The food is even better than could be imagined.  We are in a little town called Munnar in a mountain range called the Western Ghats.  Photos will be forthcoming eventually when we can figure techmology.