Hong Kong

In the evenings there is a light show. Lights are cast from the buildings on Hong Kong Island. This picture was taken from just across Victoria Harbor on the Kowloon side.


Hong Kong

Sik Sik Yuen Wong Tai Sin Temple

From Bangalore I flew to Hong Kong on another overnight plane trip. I flew on Singapore airlines and it was one of the nicest flights I have ever been on, it leaves me wondering if all flights on this airline would be as nice. The group that I traveled with from Bangalore went out to see the Sik Sik Yuen Wong Tai Sin Temple. This is a temple in Hong Kong where Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism are all practiced.


Sik Sik Yuen Wong Tai Sin Temple

Mysore

In Mysore I was able to see many sights. I won't be able to post pictures of them all here but I'll note them all at least. We started off by visiting the Cauvery river. We then moved on to Gumbaz. The burial site of Tipu Sultan. A Indian king who stood up against British rule around 1800. We then moved on to Dariya Daulat Bagh. The summer palace of Tipu Sultan. Next we visited the bird sanctuary. We were able to go out in a row boat and get a close up look at all the birds here, luckily we didn't get too close a look at the crocodiles also swimming in these waters. We then moved on to Chamundi Hills. Then after lunch we finished up our visit at the Mysore Palace.


Mysore Palace

Mysore Trip

On Saturday before leaving Bangalore on a 11:55 PM flight I was able to head out to the town of Mysore. This is a town that is about 120 km away and takes about 3 hours by car to reach. On our way we happened to come up behind this bus. How would you like to ride on the top of this thing for 3 hours?


Bus

MSL India Team

The MSL India Team and I. From left to right.
Back row: Jayanth, Siddhesh, Suresh, Sanjay, Ginu
Middle row: Erik, GRK, Kavita, Raji, Bhuvana, Nagaraj
Front row: Hemanth, HSP, Vasu, Rohini, Anita, Mahesh


MSL India Team

PPU Support Team

The PPU support team and I in Bangalore. From left to right Me, Gireesha, Ram. Not pictured Nath.


PPU Support Team

Tipu Sultan's Fort

This evening I was able to slip away at the end of the day and go to see Tipu Sultan's Fort. It's quite a small fot. The fort has it's own temple right next to it so that the king could worship easily. The most amazing thing is that this temple is made mostly from wood. This is a far cry from the gold and marble that I would have expected.

Later as I was eating dinner in one of the hotel restaurants, I couldn't help but find some humor in the irony of the situation. I was sitting in an Irish restaurant in India, eating a mutton burger, listening to country music and watching English football (soccer).


Tipu Sultan's Palace

TRAFFIC!

The traffic here is amazing. People drive wherever they want to and if there is any space at all bikes squeeze right in. It makes traffic in cities in the U.S. look like a breeze. It's so bad that people don't go very far during peak traffic times. Words really can not describe what a drive during commute time is like it's truly crazy.


Traffic

ISKCON Temple

Sunday evening I was able to visit the ISKCON temple. This temple does not allow photography inside although the outside of this building I found to be more impressive. This temple was to honor the god Krishna.


ISKCON Temple

Poverty

The poverty here at times is truly amazing for a "Westerner". Many areas are like some of the most poverty stricken places that I have seen in Mexico. During my time out there were two different experiences which really stuck out. In one case a guy followed us all the way back to our cab from quite a ways off and then after we entered the cab started hitting it with a stick to try and get money. The cab driver didn't allow that to go on long and I was glad for that. Also well waiting for our cab to pick us up at the national park two girls followed us around and were tugging at my pant legs in an attempt to get money. At this my host feigned smacking them around and came awfully close yet this didn't seem to deter them. It's sad that I could give these girls a dime and they would have been happy but by doing so I would be mobbed by people so it's not possible. I've taken the strategy of tipping the service folks well. Which by our standards still doesn't mean spending much money but makes these people extremely happy and personally I would rather give the money to the individuals who are working then the ones begging.


Street Market

Bannerghatta National Park

Sunday I met with one of my contacts in Bangalore and headed out for some sight seeing. We went to a number of places. First we visited Vidhana Soudha which is the state government building. Next we saw Attara Kacheri which is the high court of the state of Karnataka. Bangalore is the state capital of Karnataka. We then moved on to Cubbon Park. Next we went to a Shiva Statue, I still haven't figured out if this is technically a temple or not but many people where there praying. This was a giant 65 foot high statue of Shiva. I learned a bit about the Hindu religion although because there are so many gods and each one of them has so many forms I have had a really hard time grasping the religion. It also seems like Hindus typically choose one of the gods to focus there worship on, however there chosen god then has many lings which are different forms and provide different benefits through worship to each of them. Finally we moved on to Bannerghatta Park. This is a lot like a zoo but instead of walking through an area with caged animals you ride in a bus through the park where the animals are roaming. The picture below is the most impressive one from our journey through the park.

NOTE: So later on I learned that only Shiva has lings and the lings you pray to for different benefits but the three gods Brahma, Shiva and Vishnu (creator, destroyer and keeper of balance) just take on different forms and have different stories associted with different forms.


Tiger

Welcome to Bangalore, India

After 30 hours of traveling I arrived at my hotel in Bangalore, India last night at 1:30 AM. As I pulled up this man opened my door and for a moment I thought for sure I was on the Amazing Race as he said "Welcome to Bangalore, India". I checked in and headed to bed for some much needed rest. More to come soon...


Doorman