The Allems go to India

Traditional Indian Laundry Service

The women of India are remarkably power beings. It was rare that you didn't see the women working at something to keep the family going. There were North American type washers and dryers in the more affluent homes but the majority of the poor did everything by hand. The washing procedures looked pretty back breaking as the women hunched over either a pond or stream or simple water bucket manhandling yards and yards of fabric. The ring cycle was also difficult as they teamed up at either end of the fabric twisting and pulling until the water was squeezed out onto the ground. I think the drying cycle was probably even more efficient than our dryers because all they did was lay the fabric on the steaming rock steps where the clothes dried quite quickly.

Indian Washing Machines

The stairs on the edge of the temple in Badami was the perfect spot to do the laundry, although I am not sure how clean the water looks.

Roadside laundry service

This was a typical scene as we drove through the small villages. The women are working hard.

Indian Dryers

This was a simple everyday activity that the hard working women in Badami performed everyday. The drying process created a beautiful mosaic of spectacular sari's along the steps. If you look at the far end of the picture you can see the sacred cow also being washed and cooled for the day.

India's Natural beauty

It is amazing to me that even the plants of India have a survival instinct. February in India is very dry and yet you find these beautiful gems brightening up the view.

Edible flower

This beautiful plant was growing in Biri's back yard. This plant feels like it is plastic. Ramka told me that you could eat it and he pinched off a piece and dared me to try it. I did of course. It wasn't too bad and I lived to tell the tale.

Cactus growing beside the temples in Badami

Even the garbage bins are unique.

Going with the flow in India

I have not travelled many places in my life but I figure that when you go to a foreign country you have to accept their culture and go with the flow, within reason of course. I took a few pictures of common occurrences that we witnessed in India. Paul and I just chuckled.

Local Gas Station

We were driving along on our scooters taking our lives in our hands (driving is life threatening in India), when Biri said we needed gas. We stopped at this little shack on the side of the road and an old Indian gentleman ran back to his house and came back with a one litre and a two litre water bottle filled with gasoline. We had a chose. We opened the seat to our scooters and filled up. Anyone can be an entrepreneur in India. What a country. Notice in the background of this shot that you can buy some candy and refreshments as well as premium gasoline at this rest stop.

Cappuccino Machine

When we stayed at the Mowgli Hotel in Hampi we had many opportunities for North American modern conveniences. This gentleman is making us a cappuccino in the morning off this plastic lawn chair. I am sure there was a perfectly legitimate reason for doing it this way.

Mowgli Menu

If you have the time to look at this menu closely, you will laugh and have no idea how they came up with these prices. Example: Fried Egg 20.00 rupees // Scrambled Eggs 50.00 rupees. It takes a lot of effort to whip up a scrambled egg. You've got to go with the slow. Just so you know, $1.00 Canadian dollar equals $52 Indian rupees.

Indian Head Gear:

I think someone should do a coffee table book with pictures of all the things these extraordinary people can carry on their heads. Maybe that will be my task on our next trip to India. I unfortunately was only able to capture a few amazing feats of balance. There are a few images that I cannot get out of my mind. One was of a man carrying tree branches about 15 feet long some how balanced from front to back on his head. He was just casually walking down the road carrying the fuel for cooking several nights dinners. Another image was of a young girl with one long pole across her head with around fourteen empty water jugs balanced on either end. I think they were empty? I can't imagine that she could have carried it otherwise. I did capture a few people as we zoomed along the roads. We would be driving along and before I knew it we were passing by these amazing feats of strength and balance. I can't imagine how long it would have taken us to get where we were going if I asked to stop every time I saw something I so wanted to take a picture of.

Balancing act

I like this picture because it shows a typical day in India. This women is coming home after washing her clothes in the stream with her trusty cow waiting to greet her. What I didn't notice was the satellite dish on the roof of this meagre home on the side of the highway. There is one of those crazy Indian contrasts.

Fabric donut

Notice the fabric ring placed on the head to help with the balance. It would also help decrease the pressure on the top of the head.

Beautiful working clothes

I love how spectacular the working women look as they carry the load of laundry on their heads.

Relaxed effort

As I watched these people carry these parcels on their heads I wondered what the thinking is? I guess they feel their necks and backs are stronger than their arms?

Do I have a vase on my head?

Doesn't it seem like this is effortless for her?

Crumbling Temples

When you consider that the temples in this part of India were built thousands of years ago, you might expect some erosion to occur. The temple in these pictures below was built in 1422-1426 AD. The Indian government has started a project to hopefully restore the parts of the temples that are not too far gone. It would be devastating if these treasures were lost.

Vitthala Temple

This temple was the most spectacular one that we saw in India. I am thinking that the carvings within the temples have been protected the most from the punishing effects of the sun and pollution. It is difficult to imagine how these stunning works of art were created. Apparently all of the temple surfaces were originally painted. Over time the paint has disappeared but every once in a while you could see the remnants of it. On the left side of the picture your can see orange paint on the monkey god Hanuman.

Crumbling Temple

This is the façade of the temple in the above picture. If you look at the top you can see the crumbling carvings. I am not sure if all the temples were made this way but if you look carefully it seems that it was made of small bricks and plastered over. Seeing how detailed the lower section is, I wonder what historical masterpieces have been lost above. Such a shame.

Temple under repair

As you can see in the background, some of the pillars are being held up by metal rods. We were not able to go inside this side of this temple. Nothing happens fast in India so I hope they can keep ahead of the erosion.

Which monkey is cuter?

Indian people really don't seem to like monkeys. They are like our raccoons in Toronto. They are very cute yet destructive when they get into your stuff. The monkeys we got close to in Hampi were very cute but I wasn't going to feed them. They would hold your hand and wouldn't let go until all your food was gone. We were warned not to put a bag down because it would be gone. I was happy other people were feeding them so I could get some great shots. Which one do you think is the cutest?

Beautiful Langoor Monkeys

This mom was so protective of her baby. It made me miss my little monkeys. Langoor monkeys seemed pretty peaceful but when Biri pulled one of their tails she retaliated with a bite to his arm. She could have done a lot more damage I think. Biri said he just wanted to see what she would do. I shook my head and told him to put disinfectant on it.

Rhesus Monkeys

I was a little afraid of these monkeys. The two monkey families lived in close proximity to each other and we were warned that they did not get along. They did seem to have come to an understanding when it came to lots of tourists with plenty of food to go around. Up in the Monkey Temple it may have been different.

The Thinker

Contrasting Indian Sunsets

India in February is a very dry place but this enabled us to view some pretty amazing sunsets everywhere we went. The landscape is so varied in India that it gave me some interesting backdrops to take pictures with.