10 Months!!!

Yes, we are in the double digits now!! We have been here for 10 months!! And it was a year ago that we were planning out first visit out here!! It is really hard to believe... it has really flown by for us!!

A little catch up....

The trip to Mahabalipuram was great!! It was very hot there and humid so we spent most of our time either in the pool or at the beach, or in the hotel room with the AC kickin.

We had a caravan of 3 cars which was good b/c we had company but it made for a bit of a challenge in the driving part. We realized that all 3 drivers had very different driving styles. Lets just say, our driver was speedy Gonzales!! We had to tell him to slow down so the rest of the pack could keep up. Then we had to deal with kids in another car getting car sick.... After 7 hours we reached our destination!!! The hotel was very beautiful but like most things it was lacking a few of the finer details... particularly in the area of customer service. But, I have come to realized that you need to lower (or adjust) your expectations here in India, you can't have it all!!

We made a day trip to Pondicherry. It was a cute little town that has a lot of French influence. It was seen in the way the city was laid out and in the architecture of the buildings. It was very nice. We visited the Sri Aurobindo Ashram while we were there. It was very serene to see. I think that I will have to do another post just around the Ashram.

We also spent another day in the town of Mahabalipuram where there were a lot of old temples. It was very nice. The only downside... it was HOT.... we were dripping in sweat. And that was no lie. At one point Mira says to me.... 'Mom, my underwear is wet and sticking to me'.... I think everyone in our group felt her pain!! After the temple tours... it was off to the pool!!

On the way home from Mahabalipuram we stopped off in a town called Vellore. Here they have a temple called the 'Golden Temple', and yes, it is Gold. It is one of the most beautiful temples that I have seen in India so far. Also it is very clean and well run. It is not often that you get it all together in one place (beauty, clean and well run). Like most temples in India and in other parts of the world, they have 'rules'. One common rule is dress code. No shorts, no tank tops, etc... Vim was sporting his capri (man-pris) and they said 'no'. In protest, he did not tour the temple. I think that we will go back so he gets a chance to experience the temple too.

I will post some pictures of our trip soon.