We were up and ready for a driver from the Christian Medical College in a land rover to pick us up and take us to a medieval fort two hours away called Gingee Fort. The trip there was scary but interesting. The driving there is ALWAYS scary, but on the way at least the driving wasn’t struggling with falling asleep. But the scenery that we were passing was interesting—villages and houses and fields and rice paddies. On the road were lots of people walking with HUGE loads of various things on their heads, ox carts with HUGE loads of things, and many other kinds of conveyances. One of the most interesting little settlements was of low to the ground mud huts with long grass roofs in a walled compound with a satellite dish in the middle of it.
A little shrine by the side of the road complete with idol
Man on a bike with a huge load of dried palm fronds
The chicken shop!
Banana transport
We went through a very large and crowded city the name of which we did not know and probably never will. Just think--all those people bustling every day in busyand probably stressful lives that we are totally ignorant of.
That's our driver reflected in the side view mirror of the vehicle.
The auto rickshaw, an indispensible means of transportation in the cities. This looks like a very nice one.
Why waste a two-wheel vehicle on just one person. Many carry whole families.
This isn't why I took the picture, but on looking at it later,I noticed I caught one of the few overweight people that I saw.
We saw a good number of ox carts on the road, sharing equally with all other vehicles.
Mud abode. I wonder if there is an animal(s) of some kind shaded under that overturned basket.
Interesting combination of vehicles---old road roller, ox cart (with friendly man eager to wave at the white people--as were most people), new model Toyota van behind ox cart, and our driver in the mirror in a land rover less than 10 years old)
Very surprised to see a pretty late model combine (I think) harvesting what looks like wheat.In the town before the fort we stopped to get drinks and try to find a bathroom. There were kind of public bathrooms of the non-Western variety, so that is what we used. I asked Eden the best way to accomplish the task without soiling my clothes, and she gave me good advice that worked. :)
Elliott is enjoying coconut milk bought fresh from the coconut vendor. He is very good with his small machete at cutting them open perfectly.
On the way into the fort we walked through an old Hindu temple. Here I am, shoeless as required, standing awkwardly under very prominent and common temple symbols which you may or may not recognize.
A sort of self-appointed guide for the temple who sang a Christian hymn for us, presumably because we were white or would we dare hope he recognized something more in us?The fort was crowded with people, partly because there was also a big Hindu temple up the road that crowds of folks were headed to. The pictures below are the gateway to the three-point fort. We stopped to pay a fee for our visit. The name of the fort is Gingee Fort. You can see more about it at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gingee_Fort
(Even though librarians NEVER recommend widipedia as a reliable source for everything!)
(Even though librarians NEVER recommend widipedia as a reliable source for everything!)
The next number of pictures below are all at and around the "Elephant Tank" as the sign says. This was all part of the large area where elephants were evidently kept.
The tank for bathing the elephants
Looking at something interesting...
Elephant stables
elephant girls
This is where they go/went in
elephant gate
elephant gate into the elephant pool
The granary of the fort--a huge stone building with two huge rooms inside. And below, banyan tree fun
The fort was amazing. It was three fortresses dating back to 1200 AD when it was started by a local chief. It eventually became the three fortresses on three mountaintops—one for the kind, one for the queen (a new form of birth control), and one for someone else (forget). Over the next 800 years it was conquered by a number of warring groups, including the British. We climbed the 850 steps to only the King’s Fortress, passing the granary and the elephant’s pool and stable on the way. Many many Indians wanted to shake our hands and say, “wish you a happy new year,” along the way. There were also lots of monkeys there, and of course, we weren't happy with monkeys after what one did to Eden in Agra.
Beginning to climb the 850 steps to the king's fortress
"Wish you a Happy New Year!"
Some hidden enclave of a prince or princess (above)
Good view through a narrow opening in the bulwark to defend the fortressor just to view the countryside around
At the king's palace. Well, you can see why he liked it!
View out towards the Queen's fortress. If they needed some distance in their relationship,
they had it!
Whoa! On the edge!
they had it!
Whoa! On the edge!
Three special young men
A handsome Jonathan being observed by two beautifully clad young women(Their saris are not atypical of even the most humble women.).
Poor little mangey monkeys hungrily gobbling up some cooked rice someone gave them.
Where we've been...
The Queen's Fortress
Back in town trying to find a cold drink. I think a drink was found but not cold.We were heading back by mid-afternoon to Vellore though because we were catching the all night train to Kerela for our beach stay. The drive home was especially terrifying for me because everyone fell blissfully asleep except for me who was hoping and praying the driver didn’t do the same. We made it though and had the driver take us to the hospital where Elliott has the lab he works in. This is the hospital that Paul Brand did much work with leprosy patients that we’ve all read about. Jonathan and I both read Pain: The Gift Nobody Wants by Paul Brand and Phillip Yancey while we were there, much of which is set right in Vellore and the hospital area. Everyone was hot, tired, and stressed from the drive and anticipating leaving that night for Kerela. So we had some tense moments working out who would go where to get what and when before hurrying for a last meal at the Darling Hotel before racing around to get our stuff together for the next leg of the journey.
Elliott's lab
Christian Medical Hospital courtyard
Front entrance to the hospital
After a precarious rickshaw drive to the station (40 minutes in a rickshaw with mechanical difficulties) and then a wait along the tracks with many others (I can’t believe I didn’t get any pictures of the station and waiting by the tracks.) for our “sleeper AC class” accommodations, one above the lowest class sleeping accommodations. You get a blanket and pillow for your bunk, one of three tiered up the car wall and AC if needed. On to the next adventure!
After a pretty decent night's sleep, view from the window in the morning.
My bunk above Jonathan
Three tiers of Garbers
First one up, of course, with bunk folded and reading, of course.
View from my bunk
The morning tea man was by
The morning tea man was by
Reminds me of Granddad Elliott and his famous faces