A lot has happened since my first blog entry a few days ago. The inevitable happened Thursday afternoon on the way back to the hotel from the site...the driver hit someone on a motorbike. It was as if nothing happened too! The driver and the guy he hit both threw up their hands like "what the heck!" then moved along. I couldn't believe it. I guess it's such a mundane occurrence that nobody bothers to get upset about it or check to make sure the other person is OK.
Friday night I made my trek down to the south of India to Trivandrum, or Thiruvanathapuram to the locals. It's a coastal town with nice beaches and lush coconut tree forests. Much different than the north. The temps are around 80F and it's the middle of Dec. I arrived at The Muthoot Plaza late at night, had dinner which was nothing exciting, then went to bed. The next morning I wanted to take a shower, but when I turned on the tub faucet all I could hear was gurgling in the walls and no water came out. I called the front desk to send someone up then tried it again. This time nasty brown-orangish water spewed out everywhere. I leaped back to avoid getting hit by what looked like toxic waste and waited for the maintenance man. He ran the water for quite a while until it ran clear. Needless to say I checked out and moved hotels to Vivanta by Taj. Vivanta is owned by the same chain of hotels as The Gateway Hotel where I stayed in Bangalore (Taj Hotels). This is my 3rd Taj hotel and once again it didn't disappoint. If you get the chance to stay in one, I would highly recommend it. They are extremely service oriented and have great amenties for the price. This one is more modern and sleek than The Gateway and the food is fantastic. Lots of dishes to try like local flavors, traditional Indian cuisine, and international flavors like Italian and Chinese. There is a separate bar and a pastry restaurant with decadent cakes and espresso drinks.
After checking in, I took one of the hotel cars to The Leela Hotel. It's an upscale hotel that overlooks the ocean and is very close to a popular beach (Kovalam). The views were breathtaking. I sat outside to have lunch (a rich, yummy risotto) and all I could do was smile. It was a nice retreat from the hectic town streets. While I was eating, a squirrel decided to join me. He came running up to a table of Australians next to me and they fed him a piece of bread. I wanted him to come to me so I did the same. Well he still wasn't satisfied. After a while, he got brave and jumped up onto my table. I grabbed my phone and started taking video. This was all too entertaining. He walked up to my basket of bread, stole a roll and jumped back to the ground to eat it. It was the cutest thing ever. The waiter kind of freaked and started to come over to shoe him away, but I was enjoying it so I said it was alright. The Australians got a kick out of it too. After lunch, I went to their Ayurvedic spa. If you haven't had an Auyrvedic massage, book one now. Really...stop reading and pick up the phone. It was 60 minutes of complete bliss. It's not one of those deep tissue, make you scream kind of massages. Instead, they slater your body in oil and do long continuous motions. The only part that was uncomfortable was the garment I had to wear. It looked kind of like a jock strap diaper that barely covered anything. I felt completely exposed but after a few minutes into the massage, all that worry went away. Afterwards, the masseuse rubbed some kind of powder into my scalp which is supposed to help prevent a cold. Not sure how I was going to catch a cold in 80 degree tropical weather, but I went along with it. That night I slept 11 hours and woke up more refreshed than ever.
That essentially wraps up my weekend. Sunday was spent working on my report, exercising in the fitness center and laying out by the pool. I'll try to write about the food experiences here later on. Namaste!