BACKGROUND INFO:
Over night we moved a little further up the west coast of India to the second of four Indian ports of call, Mangalore. We visited all four ports in 2013. Mangalore lies on the backwaters of two rivers where they flow into the Arabian Sea. With a population of over a half million, it is said to be the cleanest city in India (believe me that is nothing to brag about!!!!). Mangalore’s mostly industrial port, handles 75% of India’s cashew nut and coffee exports. Companies here also produce chemicals & fertilizers, refine oil, and handle information technology.
WHAT WE DID TODAY:
Rebecca cancelled her excursion several days ago but I was going to go until this morning. Changed my mind after rereading the tour description: 30 minutes at a temple, 30 minutes at a church, 30 minutes at a local private home, and 30 minutes at a cashew factory. Rest of the 4 hours was riding in an Indian bus. I'm about templed and churched out!! We visited a home previously as did we see a cashew factory. Their buses ARE air conditioned but suspension not so good. I had seen all the above on a previous trip here so cancelled also.
All I wanted was to buy some cashews. So I took the 9:00 shuttle bus to a mall in downtown. Well, nobody told me the mall does not open until 10:00. So I killed a half hour until a large store (reminded me of Walmart) on 5th floor opened. I got my cashews and a toothbrush and headed back to pickup point for shuttle bus.
The same nice couple from Queensland, Australia, that rode into town with me (only 3 of us on board), was going back with me. We noticed the driver and his assistant were checking out the front left tire after arrival. But we took off for the port anyway. About half way we pulled over with a flat tire. You will see this in my photos. Keith and I were having fun out on sidewalk supervising the driver and assistant change it. I told Keith we needed to have a t-shirt made: "We survived the flat in Mangalore".
I was really amazed at how friendly everyone who walked past us was. They would smile and most say hi. Most all Indians speak English as it is the first language taught in schools. The secondary language was their own dialect of Indian. There are many dialects in the country. There was two schools nearby us and even the kids would say something to us. This is DEFINITELY something you would not experience in the good ole USA.
I will also have to say that Mangalore IS much cleaner than Cochin was yesterday. I will have to admit I was not out in outskirts of the city though like yesterday. We finally made it back to the ship at 11:15 safe and sound.
I have now worked out, had a pulled pork sandwich, and finished uploading photos and it is just 2:15. We will be sailing at 6:00 pm for our next port of call, Goa. Scheduled to arrive there at 8:00 am. I have a 5 1/2 hour tour schedule of which, 3 hours is riding on bus. We'll see??
WHAT WE HAVE PLANNED FOR TONIGHT:
We are meeting Terry & Renee Kershner for cocktails and dinner in Compass Rose. They were on our New Zealand two day overland excursion. Renee was the person who was bitten by the monkey in Kuala Lumpur. I believe they have homes in Rhode Island and Santa Fe. Pianist of ship's orchestra is in theater for tonight's show doing classical music. Not planning to go.
Link to photos taken in 2013. I think you will like them more than ones I took today.
https://goo.gl/photos/X57d78haGh5qRyMP8
Link to the photos I took today in Mangalore. Cut and paste link to open browser then open it. Click on first photo and it will enlarge and you can see the captions I wrote. Arrow through rest of photos using arrow on middle right side of photos.
https://goo.gl/photos/h94wWDxesCq6nb9YA
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