Bye Bye India...Hellooooo Thailand!

    We ended our trip in India with two nights at a spa resort, one night in a houseboat and ended in Cochin...all in the southern part of the country. It was an unbelievably eye-opening country, truely one-of-a-kind. I really cannot wait to get back their considering far more should be seen. I began reading a book called Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts, this man describes India in a way that only a really talented writer could do. I had a hard time writing my blog and searching for the words to desribe the country I was able to visit for 2 weeks. That may be because it probably is not like any other place in the world or because you really can't believe what you are seeing. In the book, the Roberts describes all the illness, disabilities, poverty, handicapped and beggars that parade around through out the steets, but still with all this turmoil upon India's overpopulated country...you have never seen so many smiling faces in your life.
     We had the joy of going to this textile and paper-making factory in Munnar where they employed Munnar's mentally handicapped and trained them in the paper-making business. They also offered a day-care center for children, free meals for lunch and when we went there, every single person had a smile on their face. On our food tour through Delhi, our first stop was to a stand where we ordered this chick-pea curry dish with a naan-type bread to go with it, as well as a few other sides that went in a metal dish for dipping (pickled carrots, spicy peppers). The man who owned the stand said that once a customer paid for one helping, he would never charge them twice for however much they wanted. I think for one of those meals it might of equaled less than 1 American dollar, yet he continued to provide for those whose wages could not afford anything more.
     Of course, this is the good side of India. We did encounter some on the greedier side of the spectrum like the elephant riders in Jaipur. As they continued to injure the animals holding their metal bullhooks, at the end of the ride up to the Amber Fort they proceeded to tell us that 50 rupees was not enough of a tip and asked for more. Clearly, you get a little bit of both.

Watching the wild elephants in Munnar

Wild Elephants!

Getting ready for the hike at the mountain resort in Munnar. No leaches on these ankles! 

Top of one of the peaks in Munnar. I would like to especially give a shout out to Cathy Jo on this one whom broke a fever on the way up and allowed her children to talk her into going for the hike (she bailed on hiking Masada with us in Israel).  We ended the day walking around the tea/spice plantation.

   The spa resort we stayed at consisted of many treatments that none of the members of this trip were exactly ready for...except for Lisa. All four kids and cathy proceeded to get a four-handed oil massage in which we discovered was more of a massage "raping," not a normal cover-yourself-up with a sheet massage. I won't get too into detail with this one, but I pretty sure all the specialists got to at least 2nd base with all of us. Indians really love those butts and boobies in the relaxation setting. Mommy Cathy ended the treatments saying "yeah im done with those...i really don't like to be touched anyways." And all of us sure did get touched intimately. Max was pleased with his butt massage though, saying it was one of the better ones he has had in his life.

All aboard the houseboat! 

Gettin laid on the houseboat