A Lovely Village and Great Weather!

We know this weather won't continue but we sure have been enjoying it!  The weather has been perfect and everyone - even passers by on the street - comment on what a lovely day it is.  It has been spectacular but since we are on the West side of Ireland, it's not likely to continue.
We have been in the charming village of Kenmare for the last two nights staying over a great pub (O'Donnabhain's).  Tomorrow we leave for the Ring of Kerry and are staying almost at the tip in a beachfront place.
The trip here through the Wicklow Mountains was incredibly beautiful with amazing mountain scenery, horse farms with manicured pastures and grandiose entry ways as well as sheep lying in the road and we even saw a beautiful red fox (also lying in the road until we came upon him at which time he skittered away). Lucky day!
I ran this morning and found a 'lake' which I intended to run around, but ran out of time (included breakfast that I didn't want to miss) so turned around and headed back.  Good thing as our waitperson at the hotel who served us breakfast told me that was a bay!  It could have been a really long run!!
Hope you enjoy the photos.

Henry Street in Kenmare and 

our hotel over the pub.  Around town below.

A Stone Circle and a Fairy Tree and a sheep having a drink.

The Bay

Cromwell's Bridge

The Bay Path

Driving on the Left and Other Adventures

After a harrowing first day of getting lost while driving a manual transmission teeny car on the 'other' side of the road, we made it to Laragh and have been staying in a beautiful little B&B.  This tiny little town is near Glendalough (valley of the two lakes) and we are right across the street from a most amazing hiking trail to the lakes and to the ancient monastic site (Glendalough).
Our host, Christopher, says this area is both haunted and full of some 'dark' energy as well as being a highly spiritual place visited often by shaman, healers, monks, and spiritual leaders.  Funny thing about that . . . While running this morning on the path that leads to the ancient monastery, I saw two people dressed all in black walking along the path in the ruins and graveyard.  I ran up there to check out the site and looked everywhere for the two people - they were nowhere to be found!  There is only one entrance into the place and when I asked our host, he suspected . . . . . . SPIRITS!
Not like me to believe in these things but mighty suspicious and interesting.
We found a delightful and delicious restaurant called The Wicklow Heather and have eaten dinner there the two nights we've been here.  Food is great and wonderful atmosphere as well as great staff and complimentary Irish cream liquor for dessert!  It's difficult to describe the amazing beauty of Ireland - the lush greenery, the quaint villages and the friendliest people are just a few of the things that make it so enjoyable.
Tomorrow we are off on a drive to the West side of Ireland and a two-night stay over a pub in a small village (Kenmare).  Wish us luck on the road!

 

The Oldest Church in Ireland

A Cool Big Tree and a Tired but Happy Sister!

   

Snafus, Step Wells, Reflections and a Few More Birds!

The transition from India to Thailand was not smooth.  The flight was delayed four hours (due to operational issues).  There is a war going on between India and Pakistan and we are not sure if that had anything to do with our flight delay but we figured it was a good time to be leaving.  I had a very long paragraph describing in detail all the various complications, but suffice to say that while in the past close scheduling has worked for me, this time it did not.  I learned a valuable lesson about allowing myself transition time but things ended up really fine because I ended up staying at one of my favorite places in Thailand - Magic House in Chumphon.  The owner remembered me - "Ahh birds!", and I certainly remember Magic House with its beautiful rooms, nice beach and friendly owners.  So all ended well and I'm now in Koh Tao sitting in my tree house and taking it easy to get over a cold I caught along the way! The snorkeling is as good as I remember and I love the look of this island with its tall hills and huge granite rocks and beautiful beaches.  It is sunset and there is a din of some sort of insect chirping in unison while the Thai Reggae band Jobs2Do is playing on the beach.  (I'm listening from my deck.)
Getting back to India, step wells are amazing things and I've been fascinated by them since I read an article a long, long time ago.  I did not think we would get to see the mother of all step wells, but our driver (and friend), Ghoki knows where all the good stuff is.  These were places where people went to get water years ago before there were wells.  The work it must have taken to get a bucket of water is just unbelievable!  They are, however, beautiful things to behold and I had forgotten to include photos so see below.
Reflections in as few words as I can muster:
Poverty, dirt, dust, trash, pollution, cow poop unlike anything you've seen before (at least I hadn't), horns honking constantly, people everywhere and this traffic dance that is unexplainable but seems to work most of the time.
On the other side, people, people, people and immense beauty.  The people are the most open, accepting and friendly people I have ever encountered.  No matter what happens, they say no problem (until I got the 2000 rupee note with a tear on the corner.  Then it was, "Oooooo, not good!").  They also love light colored people and we are in more selfies, videos and even a few interviews.  Everywhere we went people would come up to  us, want to know where we were from and ask to take a selfie with us!  I think they were especially impressed with Chuck's white beard, even saying he looked like a maharaja in one encounter!
The buildings in India are spectacular - not the new buildings, but the old, old buildings with ornately carved stone all done by hand.  They are truly beautiful.  We stayed in several havelis which were mansions or palaces that wealthy people lived in but have been converted to hotels.  Beautiful!
The Taj Mahal, the birds and wildlife, the forts which are not just forts but contain palaces within and in some cases still have people who live in them.  Oh, and the desert and the camels and, most importantly, experiencing this with my friends who could laugh along with me at the absurdity of having a room on the fifth floor of a hotel with no elevator and, as we were huffing and puffing, our 'porters' sprung by us carrying our luggage!  And then there was Ghoki, a happy man who hummed through every traffic jam and stayed calm until another driver did something he thought was stupid and then he was a fierce warrior (as he called himself).  I think we will all miss Ghoki, our new friend.  Now I understand why people return to India.
Some photos below including a few birds - sorry! LOL!

Step well.  That is a lot of stairs 

and on 3 sides!

Step Well

Kingfisher

Two Wood Storks Preening (or mating ritual?)

One Last Langur - the cutest monkey ever!

A View from My Tree House - Koh Tao

Tigers, Birds, Marriage and a Ceremony

Where to start, how to explain.  India, as I have said is a place of contradictions and opposites.  It boggles the mind, enriches and drives you crazy all at once and I feel so happy that I experienced it with Paulette and Chuck.  There wasn't a day when we didn't scratch our heads, wonder and laugh!  Most every day we have seen at least one wedding and most every one of them is arranged.  One man told us he didn't meet his wife until the wedding but he had seen her photo.  He also said that arranged marriages last longer than 'love' marriages.  Hmmm.  Maybe?
There are a few more photos of Jaipur which is known as the pink city (it's actually more salmon Paulette pointed out), but pretty much all of the old city is painted that color.  We visited Hawa Mahal (mahal means palace I found out) which stands probably five stories high and has 93 windows - little windows with wooden doors on them.  This was so the ladies who lived there and were not allowed to walk around on the streets could view the world from their tiny windows.  Quite a life.
Our next stop was Ranthambore Park where there is said to be about 65 tigers give or take.  We went on an afternoon/sunset safari in search and, while we saw a Sambar deer who had fallen prey to one of these magnificent beasts, our luck was not with us (and we had a lazy 'naturalist' who wasn't into making an effort.)  Oh well!  We did see spotted deer, wild boar, lots of peacocks (the bird of India), Sambar deer and langurs as well as some interesting birds and some beautiful forest.  I'm happy just knowing that the tigers are there and thriving. Go tigers!
The next day was a very long drive from Ranthambore to Agra, the home of the Taj Mahal.  We stopped at Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary which made us late arriving in Agra, but Ghoki was patient and it was SO worth the long day.  A man built much like an 11 year old boy peddled Paulette and I around in a bicycle tuk-tuk and, while he didn't speak much English, he sure knew where to find the birds!  It was a lovely day with some amazing sightings and I hope that man got a good dinner and maybe a massage after hauling us around all afternoon.  Then the fun began!
Ghoki had said he didn't like to drive in the dark and now we know why.  Do you know how hard it is to see a black cow on a highway that it unlit?  I will tell you that it's very hard and you will receive LOTS of bad karma, not to mention fines, and possible jail time for hitting a cow.  To top it off some trucks don't have lights and the driving in this country is insane to begin with.  BUT we made it to Agra safely and without incident and woke the next morning to watch the sunrise at the Taj Mahal so TOTALLY worth it!  The Taj is beautiful and really must be seen in person to be appreciated.  It was made by the emperor Shah Jahan as a tribute and to house the remains of his wife who died while giving birth to their 14th child. It is truly a building made with love.
From there was the overnight train from Agra to Varanasi with a stopover at the most amazing flower festival.  We had some time to kill before the night train left and Ghoki took us to this flower festival.  We were the only non-Indian people there and had our  pictures taken (once again) by lots of children and adults who just wanted to meet us, ask us where we were from and take pictures with us.  It was amazing and so sweet.
Then to the train.  Our driver talked to two railroad employees and told them to get us to the train and to our berth which they did for a small amount of rupees.  We would probably still be standing there if we hadn't had help.  What a confusing place Indian train stations are!
We arrived in Varanasi in the morning and were greeted by a driver from our hotel who drove us there.  This is where I am (almost) speechless.  I am not sure how to describe what we experienced, but it was one of the most incredible, moving experiences of my life.  We all felt that way.
We walked through narrow streets with cows (and that which accompanies cows being everywhere) down to the river and all the ghats.  We got on a small boat and rowed down river passed many ghats, temples and even two cremation sites.  I have not included photos out of respect for custom and privacy.
It seemed that suddenly there were thousands of people on shore and 100s of boats full of people in the water to watch a ceremony that happens every night of the year, rain or shine and was breathtaking and simply awesome.  There were people chanting and clapping and incense burning and a fire dance of sorts.  Others went from boat to boat offering chai tea, another young man went from boat to boat with a bowl full of fire for blessings and for a small offering people bought little cups of flowers with candles and floated them down the river for blessings/luck or wishes.  It was an amazing thing to behold and no photo can capture it but I have included a few.
Today we are back in Delhi and after seeing the Northern India Gate and Qutub Minar we are preparing to fly back to Bangkok tomorrow and are all a bit sad to leave this weird and amazing country.  Enough words.  Here are some photos and I apologize if there are too many birds!  LOL!

Hawa Mahal and below the gate to the Old City of Jaipur

Singh Family Burial Site

A Cow Manure Home and Manure for burning on roof

A woman taking greens to cows

A bird (name unknown) and some photos from Ranthambore - No tigers 

A spotted owl - bird sanctuary

Mongolian Geese

A Nilgai - Antelope from India

The endangered Sarus Crane

Grey Heron

Indian Spoonbill

Our Train Station Helpers

The following are of the ceremony in Varanasi - You really had to be there.

Sunrise on the Ganges

Bathing in the Ganges

Qutub Minar

India Gate - Dedicate to those who fought in wars between 1914 and 1919