Back to India.
 

Well, apparently I lost a bet that I don't remember making--cuz' I'm headed back to Southern India on 3-7 to do some work.

The first time I was there I had access to YORF, but the last two times I didn't, so I may be out of the loop for a couple of months.

If you're curious, I'm going to Tiruchipalli (or "Trichy"--to the locals) in the state of Tamil Nadu. It's about 10 degrees north of the equator and it's never below 95 F day or night.

Desparate poverty, malaria, typhoid, dengue fever, cholera, rabies, and accidents are pretty much the norm there. I've never gotten sick or injured there fortunately--but ONLY because I'm very careful. When I was there in 2010, the guy I was working with ate "something bad" and was so sick he could have s**t through a screen door at 50 yards.

That's funny- the stable half and I travel a bit, and we were talking just yesterday that India is a place neither of us ever need to visit. Have a safe trip, stick to the "Taj Mahal", it's better than the "Flying Horse".

We joked that Trichy was so named because of a certain little buddy you could pick up quite easily in the region. You going to the HAPP?

You nosis true.

I was in Bangalore a couple of years ago, and it was a great visit. I did eat something I shouldn't have, and kind of knew it when I ate it, but such is the folly of travel. It didn't hit until I got home, and was much less painful that food poisoning I've had in the US. But, the standards on roadside stands, etc., are not up to American fast food levels for sanitation. Overall the food was very good (I like Indian food) and the trip was very enjoyable. Having said that, Bangalore is relatively cool and comfortable, relatively free of Dengue carrying mosquitoes and mosquitoes in general, and relatively prosperous.

Probably not. We'll be working seven days a week.

The "taj" is too far away to visit on this trip, besides I don't care to visit it--or any other muslim mausoleum.

I was there in 2008 for 2½ weeks. Was all over the country from Noida down to Mysore. I too got something bad right before I left, and was fighting it for a few days upon returning.

Nevertheless, it was a good experience for me. The arid region of the south was largely devoid of trees, so all their construction was masonry. Where here, when I was a kid, dads bought us hammers and taught us how to nail, over there, everybody learns how to trowel :)

Doug

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Yes, almost all construction is brick and mortar. Much of the concrete work in the south of India is substandard because the roads are so choked with traffic of all kinds--from lorries to oxcarts--the mix often partially cures during transport to the pouring site. Some buildings and even some bridges simply collapse under their own weight because of this. That's one of the reasons I'm more concerned about accidents than disease whie I'm there. I can prepare for disease.

I took these photos in Trichy back in '09 and I consider them iconic.

The first one I call "The Family Minivan". The one wearing the helmet is the dad and is an actual M.D. (good thing.)

The second one I've called "The Scratch-n-Sniff River". This "river" is right outside our hotel and when the midday sun bears down on it, it gets quite "ripe".