Incredible !ndia

Greetings from Incredible (if somewhat elusive) India. We finally flew from Sri Lanka to India (visa in hand) and found our friend Sooraj waiting for us at the airport. Again, my time is limited, but I just wanted to get a post in. In Trivandrum, we visited a famous palace and temple and were overfed by Sooraj's wonderful, generous family. We headed off to take a boat ride through the Kerala backwaters and then took an elephant ride and went to a wildlife preserve. We didn't see too much at the wildlife preserve other than monkeys and bird, but we did see a tiger footprint and elephant rubbings on a tree and enjoyed a beautiful hike through the jungle. Now we're in Kochi for a few days before heading to Bangalore. In Kochi, we went to a Dutch palace and a Jewish synagogue which was over 500 years-old. We also went to a traveling circus last night ("It was the best night of my life" - Brad Ellis) which was camped right next to where we were staying. The weather is warm and tropical and welcome break from Yichang's damp cold. I'm also loving the Indian food though still adjusting to eating with my hand ("hand" not "hands" - you can only use your right hand . . . makes it a little hard when you have to tear off pieces of bread and other things). Tonight we get on a train on our way to Bangalore and then we're going to Gao to hang out on the beach in a bungalow. If I hadn't come from China to India I think I'd have more culture shock but things here seem to be a variation on the same theme that we're used to in China - the traffic, the noise, the heat, the bathrooms. It's all part of the fun.