Hotel Moti Mahal Mangalore

... I'll be honest and say Paul and I didn't have the guts to go in. The area around the temple was very calming though. We did see the famous temple elephant doing its duty by 'blessing' pilgrims. In reality this involved the pilgrim standing in front of the elephant who then thwacked them on the head. I don't really understand how this is supposed to be a spiritual experience. The pilgrims always left rubbing their heads with pleasure/pain....that's it, maybe it's the pleasure/pain ...

... again, and the cleaners not going to get cracking that early! Why not let us stay until 9 at least?? We decided to pay for the room a second night, even though we have a train, at 11pm, just so we have somewhere to go and don't have to hang about on the streets for 17 hours! Udupi is the home of the rice plate (thali) and masala dosa, and so we'd been looking forward to eating to here. Not only is the food good, but it is inexplicably ...

... startling beauty of the Arabian Sea. But there she is lying lazily in hues of blue & green, an Arab dough, or a fishing trawler edging past, the horizon. Ullal has all the romanticism of a single winding road that connects the fishing village on the North to the gigantic Someshwar Rock on the South. Lying like a beached whale, with the ocean frothing and surfing on the 3 sides, it broods over the beach ...

... of them s*id it's risky to t*ke the forest route to re*ch the high w*y 'coz of eleph*nts *nd the river crossing. We h*d three options: 1. C*mp *t the st*tion *nd trek till Subr*m*ny* (*nother 30 KM) or b*ck to S*kleshpur (19KM ) the next d*y. 2. W*lk 6 KM b*ck *nd then t*ke * route through the jungle. 3. Mlore-Blore p*ssenger tr*ins were st*rting th*t d*y. Bo*rd the tr*in *nd go b*ck to S*kleshpur. Vikr*m, Unni ett*n *nd me w*nted to c*mp there. Those two guys ...

I hope you've all been reading like good blog devotees, cause this leads on from where the Goa blog trailed off... So, we made it to our overnight 'luxury' coach to Mangalore The question was whether the coach we'd boarded was actually going to Mangalore (where we wanted to go) or Bangalore (where we really didn't, but in retrospect should have!) This led to a comedy exchange between me and the driver's sidekick, which went something along the lines of... Me: "are we going to ...

... and let go, as the customs of the toilet are different here, and one might even find that they like the Indian way better than the Western way. As it is, the Indians think that the typical western practice of **ahem** cleaning one's self by wiping with paper after a morning constitutional is disgusting and unsanitary. I kind of agree, actually, though I have gone "native' in many other ways as well. ***WARNING***THE NEXT PASSAGE CONTAINS TOILET INFORMATION WHICH SOME PEOPLE ...

... a little complaining about it. I told him it could be worse, he could have been called "f**k it" like I was. Besides, The Sheriff is a great handle, and by the end of the night, of course, everyone in the whole place (which seemed to be virtually everyone on the beach) was calling him by his new name. Overland and I watched the Sheriff in action, talking with the many pretty girls there, and then Overland turned to me and told me he thought the Sheriff might be making an "arrest ...

... people are the poorest of the poor.....they don't even have families.. i have also been buying them the medications neccessary because i don't see the point in writing prescriptions for medications people cannot afford....it has been fantastic... i have finally the feeling like i have truly been helping the poor and it is rewarding...well i will be leaving to maharashtra tommorrow to work in a clinic for rural tribal people for 2 weeks...well take care, sumeeth

... so i am nonetheless a little bit disappointed because i had high hopes of this connection working....if i try to work at the government hospital apparently is $250 plus 2,500 rupees....this is to volunteer!!!! so now i am trying to search for some work....if any of you know of any physicians or organizations here in the mangalore area, that are geared toward providing care to the poor (preferably free of cost), please let me know....

... bag, cos they are a rare thing there, then when the aiport dudes check your bag, it is a kind gesture, they take the tampons and stop checking the bag..... hhhhmmmm???!! anyways, i'm out like a fat kid in rounders (tee hee, paulworthy i think i stole that from you but always makes me giggle) hope you're having a good week, we head back up north to Anjuna tomo morning! i will also update this tomo with todays two wheeled antics... bye bye x x x