VISIT TO A COCONUT PLANTATION; BACK TO ISHA FOR A VISIT... FEB. 20TH

 Two days later, after more-or-less catching up on our sleep, we headed BACK to the Isha ashram for a last visit. The day's excursion also included another torturous rickshaw ride, but also a delightful visit to a coconut plantation. Swami is friends with the owner, so we were free to traverse the huge fields of coconut palms, gorge on coconut water and the sweet, tender meat, and enjoy the beauty of nature around us in this valley. It was far more enjoyable for me that the crazy night of Mahashivaratri, truly speaking!


Swami "naps"--for real, or is he faking it!?!?-- on the most uncomfortable, narrow bench behind the rickshaw driver's seat.... 

Yes, smiling, despite the discomfort and pain!!!


We were joined by two others on their rented scooter: Carla and her friend, who met Swami and Manakshi earlier on in their travels. They were both delightful, and were a pleasant addition to our small touring band... 

Swami breaks open a coconut for Carla in order to give her the water inside... 


Our rickshaw driver also helped out, tearing into the coconuts with his very strong hands and arms! 




Swami enjoys the sweet, tender coconut meat... 



The plantation was in a gorgeous valley... the scenery, spectacular! 


Baby coconut trees... apparently, the plantation had several thousand trees.. far as the eye could see!! 



Swami, adept as any monkey, climbs the coconut trees to pluck the choicest coconuts for us! 


A little music under the coconut trees...delightful! 



The lovely Alena, with flowers in her hair...!


Yep, I was stylish too!! 


Cute kids at a temple we stopped to visit along the way... 


Parting shot of the giant Shiva, late in the day, before returning to Coimbatore... 



Comments

Post a Comment

Please DO comment! I will be moderating them and responding... Sheri

Popular posts from this blog

Out Of India, Off To Turkey... (In The Final Analysis...)

Image
So, dear readers… as this blog draws to its close, I want to give my many thanks to those of you who have been loyal followers, and implore you to stay tuned for my new, upcoming blog: “sher-traverses-the-world”, to be launched very soon!  Cannot recall if this was the flight into--or out of--Delhi, but the thickness of the smog was not to be believed! Apparently, Delhi has now surpassed Beijing, China, as the most polluted city in the world!!!  I am on the airplane now--Gulf air--about to fly out of Mumbai. It is April 21st, and I will arrive in Istanbul, Turkey, later in the day. After one week there, I will continue on to Europe... first to Italy, then going on to several other countries. This change is bittersweet: I will miss many aspects of India, while others, not at all!! Will I return for a 6th go-round? Perhaps...but hard to say at this point. I am SO ready to leave that it is hard to imagine returning any time soon, but India has its lure...and, knowing me, I will h...
Read more

Glorious and Gorgeous Goa! (For three and a half weeks)... Part 1: The Beach

Image
 It makes sense to start my blog series about Goa with the beach, because this IS the main attraction of this town and state...at least, for most tourists. Specifically, I am in SOUTH Goa, as opposed to North Goa, because the southern part is the more rural, peaceful, less touristic area. When I came to Goa 20 years ago, I went to the northern part, precisely because that was where tourists went to find comfortable accomodations and Indians used to catering to them. However, most tragically, during the past 2 decades, the north has become overcrowded, polluted, congested, built up with discos, high-rise hotels and casinos. I know this not because I went there, but from what many of my Indian friends have told me. So... I followed their advice, came to S. Goa--specifically, the small town of Majorda-- and I haven't been disappointed! Apart from the usual travails--so typical of India--I have been quite content here and am going on my second week now, in my second Airbnb accomodation...
Read more

Pune: City of Disenchantment!

Image
Pune… city of disenchantment. A shock on my system:  WHAT a contrast to the last time I was here, at the start of the pandemic, in 2020! I NEVER thought I would say this, but… I actually MISS those days here in India!! Why? Because there was practically NO traffic back then. The skies were SO blue and lovely, with big, puffy clouds passing through them. The birds were riotous in their gaiety, and I could wander the verdant streets of Koregaon Park peacefully, enjoying the splendor of nature, engaged in a moving meditation of sorts. Most importantly to me, the air was SO clean! But now… post-pandemic…things are back to “normal”. And…sad to say, folks, “normal” is NOT good. It means massive amounts of traffic and the typical, obnoxious blaring horns. It means literally running for my life across the main road near where I am staying, because there are almost NO controlled intersections between major street crossings. It means there is chaos on these roads–no order at all–with so m...
Read more