Day 23: Weirdies and Waterfalls

Sooooo, storytime! I'm behind so I'm going to update you on yesterday. It might take a while... I feel like we fit SO much into one day. 

To do something new and exciting Israel, Carly and I decided to go on a trip to Araku Valley, a place in this state known for its waterfalls. So we started our saturday at six in the morning. I slept in Carly's room the night before so that we would wake up on time and we took a rickshaw to the train station bright and early. Israel's church friend Satish came with us as our tour guide.

 And this is the story of our first Indian train experience: 

When we got to the train station we had NO idea what to do. Thank goodness we had Satish because we were just following along. We got on the train and tried to find some seats... we don't know how Satish did it but somehow he got some people to give us a seat. Now for the funny part-- about fifteen minutes into the train ride this guy came up to us and started making conversation. 

This guy. Not the good looking one with the mustach.. the one on the left. 

So he asked us a few questions... and we were like, cool! we're meeting people, that's nice! But we quickly realized that this guy wanted to be best friends with us mostly just because we were American/Canadian.. He had an inexhaustible number of questions and he even serenaded us a few times. I'll admit.. he had a good voice, but come on! I couldn't wait for the four hour train ride to be over. He kept asking for our numbers so he could see us again ... but it's just not fun to be liked because of something as silly as your skin colour or nationality you know? It might sound strange but we kind of have some insight into what celebrities must go through ever day. I feel for them. Lame. Still it's kind of a funny story. He kept telling us not to forget him when we go back to America.. well, I'm pretty sure I will never forget him! He made our first train experience quite memorable. Oh and the scenery was to die for. 

Once we got to Araku Valley we rented a jeep and off we went on our adventure! We rented the jeep with two other families who were great and reminded us that most Indians, when they get to know us in the right setting, act very sincerely. We had a breakfast of idli and chutney (and it was the best chutney I've tasted so far). I saw some rice fields for the first time in my life. And then we went to some pretty waterfalls. 

For lunch we had the hottest chicken curry I've ever tasted. Everyone was laughing at us. My nose was running, my face was red but it tasted so good! I just wish I could have had more of it without feeling like my insides and my tongue were being scorched. Oh and while we were in that little streetside restaurant I saw my first indian hipster. He was rocking it. Sadly, I don't have a picture of him to post today. But I do have a picture of him ;) I'm just keeping it for a special post I'm going to write about mustaches. Get excited. 

The second waterfall we went to was incredible! We all went in the water and got soaked. 

Then to finish off our trip we went to the Bora caves. That was definitely my favourite spot. There's something about caves that fascinates me. How were they formed? Who really was the first person to discover them? 

After this we went back to the train... we found out that it was delayed by two hours. So we hung out with this group of students that had come to see the caves on a field trip. Israel impressed them with his magic tricks. Carly was surrounded by the little boys and I started talking to this girl named Roni. Roni is amazing! She is eleven years old and reads english books as much as I did when I was her age. We talked about Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys and she had even read The Moonstone (by Wilkie Collins). Her english was PERFECT. I was so impressed!! 

And that is how the day went :) We took the train back home and sat in a sleeper car with two very nice families because there were some empty seats. One family spoke Hindi and so I practiced speaking with them (it actually worked!!) The other family didn't speak much English-- but when we can't understand people here we just play the smiling and word game. Basically you just smile at people, smile and wave at their kids, and say the few telugu words you know. It's surprising that you can still make a connection like that! They had a cute little boy named Pratap and he thought it was hilarious when I said the telugu word for dog ("Kukha")... he kept repeating it and laughing. So cute. 

Overall, it was exactly the adventure Carly, Israel and I needed. We feel like it was a trial run for our drip to Northern India in the end of February. At least we have the train thing sorta figured out :) 

And btw, Happy (Indian) Republic day! 

Stéf