Off we go.....

This trip we are off to South India.  We will see great Hindu temples in Tamil Nadu, travel the backwaters of Kerela, stay on a coffee plantation in Wayanad, see a Raja's palace in Karnataka and search for the ancient "Lost Wax" process of bronze casting in Thanjore.  We are traveling by train most of the way with the occasional bus and plane trip.  Hopefully the summer monsoon will be over and the winter monsoon will not have started.  And it's gonna be HOT!

We've been preparing for this trip for over 6 months.  We have asked South Indian friends the best places to go (received great advice), we have rented many movies about India (remember Jewel in the Crown?), have gotten advice on food from Indian friends and read many books, fiction and non fiction (you just HAVE to read Shantaram).  We've even been able to get our train tickets on the internet.  This will avoid terrible, long lines in the train stations.

Most exciting of all is that we will be there during Navartri, a 9 day Hindu festival.  I don't know what to expect, except that it is going to be wild!  A friend who has been to India put it best..."Just think where India is, on the exact opposite side of the planet.  That is India; totally different then anything you've ever experienced.  Don't go there with pre-conceived notions or judgement.  You can't change India, but India can very much change you."