Behind the scenes

A couple of weeks ago, we were treated to a behind the scenes view of the restoration and maintenance of the Baha'i Holy places in Israel. The talk, held at the Baha'i Centre of Learning in Perth, was given by Kamran Yazdani who is the Manager of the Restoration and Maintenance of Historic Buildings Department at the Baha'i World Centre, where he has been serving for 16 years. The audio-visual presentation he shared was one that he initially prepared for the 700 or so staff serving at the Baha'i World Centre in Haifa.



While we were on pilgrimage, we were told a bit about the restoration process at some of the Holy places, but we didn't fully appreciate the enormity of the work undertaken to restore and maintain these buildings. There are teams of dedicated staff serving at the Baha'i World Centre, each in their specialised fields. The gates shown above are an example of the many things fabricated in the various workshops, some items taking many months to complete. Being next to the coast, corrosion is a major problem and all steel work and fittings are being replaced with stainless steel wherever possible. Having done some blacksmithing, I appreciated the workmanship in pieces such as these gates - little did I know that they were forged from stainess steel which is much harder to work with than wrought iron and takes at least twice as long.

The prison cell of Baha'u'llah in Akka before restoration

The prison cell during restoration

The prison cell after completion of renovations

The building known as the Western Pilgrim House on Haparsim Street in Haifa

The Western Pilgrim House after completion of renovations

In the years between the two photos above, the old Western Pilgrim House had deteriorated to the point where restoration involved replacing the entire roof and floors and all the fittings.

All of the renovations undertaken of the Holy Places involve quite extensive research in order to be able to restore the buildings as closely as possible to the way they were during the time of Baha'u'llah. Often this involves painstakingly removing layers of paint, or newer layers of plaster or render in an attempt to find the original surface. Sometimes only fragments remained, which were then analysed to exactly reproduce the type of plaster or render that was originally used. On occasion, unknown features were revealed such as an original patterned stone floor or some ornate plaster work. Early photos are a precious resource as they often give clues as to how buildings and gardens originally looked. The garden in the courtyard of the House of 'Abdu'llah Pasha (a significant house occupied by Baha'u'llah's son and appointed successor, 'Abdu'l-Baha, for thirteen years), below, was rebuilt using one such photo.

An early photo of the House of 'Abdu'llah Pasha in Akka

The House of 'Abdu'llah Pasha after restoration and with newly replicated garden

Many hundreds of people are diligently serving at the Baha'i World Centre working on these projects. Some, such as a dedicated team of painters, serve for a few months each year, while others are there from between eighteen months to many years. So a very big thank you to all those who give their time restoring and maintaining these Holy Places.

Cacti, eagles and more gardens!

Yesterday some friends of ours came over in the afternoon with their two gorgeous little children and the poor things were the first to sit through the (slightly abridged) slide show of our travels! Luckily for us, they were quite keen to see our photos and we enjoyed reliving some special moments as the photos flashed up on the screen. So, here are some of the last photos from our pilgrimage (well, there are plenty more, but we need to bear in mind that there are heaps more photos and stories from India still to come)!

The formal garden terraces emanating from the Shrine of the Bab gradually give way to natural bushland, which serves as a wildlife corridor and also tends to make the transition into the built-up areas on Mt Carmel far more easy on the eye.

We spent many a thoughtful hour wandering on the Lower Terraces, with numerous stops to take in our lovely surroundings and to reflect on the future. Andrew spent a lot of time thinking about Wongan Hills and all the dreams and plans he will soon begin to set in motion there. The sound of softly flowing water from the fountains and the watercourse running down the centre staircase helped to block out the sounds of the city and give the terraces their heavenly feel.

Some of the gardens that surround the Shrine of Baha'u'llah and Mansion of Bahji. There is such a great emphasis placed on the beauty of the natural environment through the extensive gardens that surround almost all of the Baha'i Holy Places and it is these gardens that really help to create the reverent, sacred and meditative spirit that seems to encompass all of the places that we visited.

Gardens and ornamental decorations in front of the Mansion of Bahji - the last house that Baha'u'llah lived in and where He passed away in 1892. Baha'u'llah's Shrine is just to the west of this Mansion.

The International Archives Building with the Shrine of the Bab in the background. The Archives Building holds hundreds of original items from the time of Baha'u'llah, including thousands of original texts in His handwriting. This building was the first of the Baha'i Administrative buildings to be completed (in 1957) and is currently undergoing major restorative work to make it earthquake-resistant.

A view from beneath the main entrance to the Shrine of Baha'u'llah, which is a further ten minutes away straight down the path in front of this entrance.

Eagles abound! These majestic birds are an appropriate symbol with which to adorn the surroundings of the Shrine of the Bab.

More gardens! These ones are in front of the Haifa Pilgrim House, which was the main meeting place for all the pilgrims before the new Pilgrim Reception Centre was built nearby.

Cactus gardens, also in front of the Haifa Pilgrim House. I was never particularly taken with cacti but after seeing the gardens here I was somewhat won over, much to Andrew's delight, who is an avid cactiphile (I think I just invented a new word!)

More stories from Haifa

Seeing as we have now finished with the Turkish leg of our adventure (unless Andrew decides to add anything more!), I thought that I would continue on with some more pilgrimage stories and photos from Haifa...

Andrew sitting outside the Pilgrim Reception Centre soaking up some early morning sunlight!

The first thing that we had to do upon arrival in Haifa before our official pilgrimage programme was due to begin was to register at the Pilgrim Reception Centre located halfway up Mt Carmel, adjacent to the Shrine of the Bab. We began our first excited walk up the mountain at about 7:15am the next morning (Monday 8th January), so eager were we to be there at the opening time of 8:00am. Later on we found that we could manage the walk from our hotel to the Pilgrim Reception Centre within half an hour. Registration was simply a matter of collecting our name badges, a package of information containing our schedule for the next ten days and maps of Haifa and Akka. We then watched a brief audio-visual presentation which also gave us further information about the upcoming programme and some do's and dont's so that everyone could enjoy the experience as fully as possible.

The whole process of Baha'i pilgrimage is very orderly and carefully-planned, from the moment you make your request to come on pilgrimage, to the moment you set foot in Haifa about 3-5 years later! I had made my initial request for pilgrimage some time in 2000 and early in 2005 received an invitation letter saying that my name had come to the top of the waiting list. I was able to add Andrew's name to my request so that we could participate in everything together. With the letter we received a list of about 12 pilgrimage dates that we could select from, covering an eighteen-month span. We were lucky enough to receive our first preference, which thankfully allowed us the time to travel to India and Turkey beforehand.

Over 350 Baha'is from around the world arrive at the Baha'i World Centre every fortnight for their nine-day pilgrimage. This large group is further sub-divided into language groups - the predominant ones being English, Persian, French and Spanish. There are roughly ten of these smaller groups, with approximately 30-35 pilgrims in each one. It is in this smaller group that you make most of your visits to the holy places during pilgrimage. Each group has a pilgrimage guide who takes the group on their scheduled visits and explains some of the history and stories behind each place that is visited.

The Prison Barracks in Akka, where Baha'u'llah was held for 2 years. The cell on the right with the two windows close together facing towards the sea was Baha'u'llah's.

Apart from our scheduled visits to the Shrines of Baha'u'llah and the Bab and other sites such as the prison barracks in Akka, plenty of time was also allowed for individual visits to these places, as well as other places of interest such as the site for the future Baha'i House of Worship in Haifa. We also visited a number of houses that Baha'u'llah stayed in after He was released from the barracks in 1870 until His passing in 1892.

An obelisk marking the site for the future Baha'i House of Worship on Mt Carmel

On the second day of our pilgrimage, we were very warmly welcomed by the nine members of the Universal House of Justice - the democratically-elected international governing body of the Baha'i Faith. Each of these nine members shook hands with every single pilgrim, often stopping for some time to chat, just like old friends! This was a real highlight for me personally - these wonderful people, who occupy such a highly-respected and esteemed position in the Baha'i Faith, talked and mingled with all of us with such genuine warmth, affection and love, that one could not help but be inspired and touched by this seeming contrast of power and status combined with deep humility and sincerity.

The Universal House of Justice building is modelled on the timeless classic Greek architectural style of the Parthenon

On one of the last days of our pilgrimage, we were taken on a tour of the Baha'i administrative buildings that grace Mt Carmel in an arc just to the left of the Shrine of the Bab. Again it was wonderful to be inside these majestic, timeless buildings that are now thoroughly embedded into the mountainous landscape around them. It was interesting to hear that the Universal House of Justice building, the centrepiece of the arc buildings, was actually modelled on the Parthenon - a classic design built to withstand the elements, as well as architectural trends over the centuries! Each of the Baha'i administrative buildings extends for a number of storeys below the surface, so what you see is really just the tip of the iceberg so to speak! All of the Baha'i buildings in Haifa and Akka have been entirely funded by voluntary contributions from Baha'is throughout the world.

The Centre for the Study of the Texts.
Andrew used to call this building, somewhat irreverently, "the doughnut building", but later re-christened it "the polo-mint building"!

One of the other major highlights of pilgrimage, apart from just being surrounding by so much beauty, history and tranquility, was meeting other Baha'is from around the world. There were over 30 nationalities represented amongst the 300 pilgrims, including Baha'is from New Zealand, Sweden, Canada, Brazil, Malaysia, Spain, Gabon, Romania, Cameroon, France, USA, El Salvador, Seychelles, South Africa, Vanuatu, Ireland, Shetland Islands, Peru, Tonga, Papua New Guinea, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Chile, Guatemala, Dominican Republic, Russia, Argentina, Puerto Rico, Thailand and New Caledonia, as well as dozens of Aussies! Being amongst people from almost every corner of the planet, united in one purpose, sharing the same beliefs and ideals, we really felt like we were part of a global family. It was something special to be able to cross barriers of language, culture, race, age and circumstance so easily...for us it was a chance to witness the unity and diversity of the Baha'i Faith in action!

The members of our small pilgrim group - Group C. There were Baha'is from Canada, USA, Sweden, Scotland, Ireland, New Zealand, Zimbabwe and Australia in our group. Our pilgrim guide, the lady in the light blue jumper on the right, was Ursula Grossman, with Finnish-German heritage.

Bazaars, buses and baklava

OK...I'm afraid I just can't hold on any longer...I'm not trying to overshadow Andrew's impending narrative, I'm just trying to put off doing some school-work! More photos and stories from Turkey...

Wandering the cobbled streets of Sultanahmet at night-time was always a lovely experience...well, apart from being harangued by a multitude of carpet-shop owners and waiters doing their utmost to get passer-bys to come into their respective establishments!

We arrived in Istanbul late in the evening on Tuesday 2nd January. We went straight from the airport to our hotel and once we had dumped our bags in our room we took off again straight into the cold night air to find ourselves some dinner. We managed to locate a place fairly close by - a tiny little cafe with about three tables and a huge gas heater taking up most of the room inside! Here we tasted the first of what was to become our staple diet in Istanbul - chicken and vegetable kebabs. Istanbul was much, much colder than New Delhi. After the first night, we hurriedly dug out our gloves, scarves and beanies before we ventured outdoors again. The next day we decided to just explore the part of the city we were staying in...a thoroughly beautiful area called Sultanahmet, which is home to the major tourist attractions of Istanbul as well as most of the tourist accommodation. This part of Istanbul really felt like an old, exotic city: the cobbled streets, mosques and churches, dazzling shopfronts and the sounds of traditional music wafting into the night air late in the evenings really set the scene for what was a most enjoyable, though all-too-brief visit.

Crossing a large courtyard on the way from Sultanahmet to Fatih

On the third day, we decided to spend the morning walking to another part of the city called Fatih, where Baha'u'llah had spent four months in 1863, after being forced to leave Baghdad. We found some of the places that He had visited and spent some time just wandering around and taking in the sights. We came back to Fatih the next day, when we had an opportunity to visit one of the houses that Baha'u'llah actually stayed in during His time in this city. There we happened to meet a Baha'i family from Queensland who had just returned from their pilgrimage in Haifa and were stopping in Turkey en route to Australia - doing much the same as we were. We discovered from them that the weather had been terrible during their time in Haifa - apart from the first day of blue sky and sunshine, it poured down torrentially for the following nine days! This got us a little bit worried about the conditions awaiting us in Israel, but we ended up having all the luck with ten days of perfect weather!

Sitting outside a mosque in Fatih, we posed for a photo (I think we only took about three photos of ourselves together during our entire trip!).

On the way back from Fatih we stopped to look in the window of yet another sweet shop, but suprisingly we didn't go in (maybe because we hadn't actually finished the box of sweets that we had purchased earlier that morning!).

Yum...dozens of varieties of melt-in-your-mouth pastries and baklava! We resisted for once, but made up for it in Haifa where we bought a half-kilo box which we promptly polished off in about 2 days!

It was also on the way back from Fatih that we decided to venture into the Grand Bazaar to escape the biting cold of the elements outside. The place was huge and very different from our experience of market-shopping in India. We went in pursuit of cushion covers of a particular size and shape, but would you believe, couldn't find any - though we had many offers from shop owners who said they could whip some up to our particular specifications in a matter of hours!

Beautiful mosaic glass lamps at the Grand Bazaar

The next day, Saturday, we decided to go to Edirne and back - a one-way journey by bus would be about two and a half hours. We caught a taxi to the bus station and our eyes boggled at the sight of literally hundreds and hundreds of individual bus companies all offering trips to various parts of Turkey. Luckily, we knew which bus companies we had to find and we managed to buy our tickets fairly quickly and board our bus about half an hour later. The buses were a huge surprise. Brand new, sleek and comfortable and staffed with two attendants who handed out beverages and food throughout the journey - it was more like a plane trip than a bus ride, but far more comfortable! It was here that I got my first taste of 'simit' - a bagel-like bread that is sold on every street corner and tastes every bit as good as it looks! The highway from Istanbul to Edirne was as good as the vehicles that traversed it. We sped onwards at over 100km an hour and were at our destination in no time at all...what a remarkable change from travelling in India!

Some of the residential areas of Istanbul that really made us appreciate what we have at home

One of the saddest things that we observed as we travelled, were scenes such as the one above. As soon as we had left the heart of the city, for kilometres into the distance all we could see were masses and masses of tall apartment buildings, squashed in so tightly together that there was no room for trees, parks or even a blade of grass. Istanbul is home to over 20 million people and the only affordable housing for the majority of people are such multi-storey apartments. It made us think of how very lucky we are in Australia. Even with the cost of housing going through the roof, homes still have gardens and trees and even those who live in small apartments still have tree-lined streets and parks around the corner. These people had nothing natural at all left in their environment. We asked the owner of the carpet shop where we purchased our rug about this: where do children play and run? The young lad who was also working in the shop told us that when he was growing up, he used to play soccer in the streets with his friends, but now, there was too much traffic even for this.

The Salim Mosque in Edirne

We reached Edirne and walked to the Salim Mosque shown above. Near this mosque was another house that Baha'u'llah had stayed in during His five year stay in this city. The caretaker of the house met us at the mosque and we walked to the house which was a few minutes away. Here we were shown around the house, which had been beautifully restored, and we were also shown the site of another house that Baha'u'llah had stayed in. All that remained were the foundations - but work is starting this year to rebuild the house in its original form. We then wandered around Edirne for a couple of hours before returning on the bus to Istanbul once again.

Shanks purchasing some carob in Edirne

We arrived back in Istanbul at around 8:00pm. We came back to the hotel briefly and were just about to head out the door to find some dinner when the family who ran the hotel we were staying at persuaded us to join them for dinner instead. We had already spent a few hours talking to Bulent and his wife and their gorgeous, cheeky daughter Yasmin. We ate a simple meal of fried fish, salad and bread and then talked away long and late into the night about so many things, including food, schooling, Islam and carpets! We kept them amused by teaching them various Aussie phrases ("G'day mate" being the standard one), but we also had a chance to try to understand more about life in Istanbul from their perspective. There, like here, it has become almost impossible to afford a house and, again, like Australia, many people are leaving the rural areas to come to the cities for work - no-one wants to work on the land anymore. We also asked them about their impressions of the many Australians who come to Istanbul en route to Gallipoli (known as Gelibolu in Turkey). Luckily the reputation of Aussies here appears to be pretty good, which may explain the warm reception we received! Once again, spending time with this family was one of the highlights of our time in Istanbul...connecting with people from a different culture and religion, discovering so many commonalities in the lives that we lead and being treated with so much hospitality and warmth - this for us is really what travel is all about and where its influence has the most positive effect.

The very special family who ran the hotel we stayed at in Istanbul

We were very sad to be leaving Istanbul just five days after having arrived, but also tremendously excited about the last leg of our journey. In the end, we were so busy at the airport trying to change our tickets for the return leg that we ended up having to run to our gate just before they shut the doors, and slightly embarassed about being the last passengers on to the plane, we plonked ourselves in our seats and spent the rest of the flight looking out the window at scenes such as the one below, thankful for our time in Istanbul and awaiting the next leg of our adventure with mounting anticipation.

Snow covered mountains in southern Turkey as we flew towards our final destination

Istanbul in the evening

Lorraine
Flying over Istanbul as we prepared to land, the city beneath us sparkled with thousands of lights. This time, no smog, fog or layers of pollution to cloud the scene below...just a gem-encrusted landscape enticingly drawing us ever nearer.

This is the first time that I have travelled in a country where everything is foreign to me - something that was making me slightly nervous the closer we drew towards our destination. Every time I travel in India it is like a home away from home - I feel more Indian than ever and quite settled. When I visited Canada many years ago with my mum, it wasn't really a challenge either - we had family there and the language, food and culture was easily negotiated. Shanks has only travelled to Europe with his parents as a child, and although his memories are still very clear, this is his first time to Turkey as well.

The other thing that started worrying me as the wheels of the plane touched ground, was that we were landing in a foreign country without a travel guide. I realised that having a travel guide is something of a security blanket - just a quick flick of a page and you can work out where you are, where you want to go and how to get there. Landing without any information at all makes one rather nervous. On the plus side, we had, at the last minute managed to book a hotel and arrange for an airport pick-up, so after clearing immigration and customs in all of about two minutes (it actually seemed a tad too quick after India!), we were mighty pleased to see a young lady with a placard bearing our names on it. Racing through the city streets at night, wide-eyed and wonder-struck, it was funny to see the types of things that eased me into a sense of familiarity again - a BP service station that was a carbon-copy of the ones at home; Christmas trees brightly lit and decorated; a children's playground in the typical blue, red and yellow plastic common to playgrounds everywhere...

It was also a bit of a shock to the system, after having been in India for a month, to see clean streets and cars sticking to their lanes (albeit on the wrong side of the road), even if there was a complete lack of indication before switiching lanes. As we sped through the streets, we passed high rise buildings, department stores and restaurants - everything looked very modern and upmarket until we swung a few corners and found ourselves just as suddenly on narrower roads and cobbled streets. Out of the corner of our eyes, we caught sight of a beautifully lit mosque, a dimly-lit shop with loaves of fresh bread lining the windows...and then we were there, in front of our hotel, and eager to get out of the car and observe the scenes around us.

We are in a part of town called Sultanahmet - one of the older parts of Istanbul. It has a beautiful feel to it - quaint guesthouses and 'pensions' as they are called, cobbled streets, shops brimming with Turkish rugs and ceramics. We went for a wander to find a bite to eat, and came to a tiny restaurant, sheltered from the cold, where we eagerly tucked into our first plate of Turkish fare.

This morning, we rose late but managed to make it to the rooftop restaurant for breakfast, which was included with the room. A simple meal of bread, cheese, tomatoes, cucumber, egg and olives was devoured as we took in the view through the rain-spattered windows - the Marmara sea looking rough and grey, dozens of houses with crumbling tiles and flocks of pigeons and gulls swooping and swirling before us.

We are already feeling our focus change as we prepare ourselves for the momentous occasion that looms before us - our pilgrimage to the Holy Land. The cold, grey weather is somehow playing its part as we turn our thoughts to the journey that Baha'u'llah and His family and companions made during the icy winter (the coldest in living memory) from Constantinople (Istanbul) to Adrianople (Edirne). During that jouney they had to light fires next to the frozen-over springs for a couple of hours just to obtain drinking water.

The plane flight from Delhi was also quite exciting as we flew over Tehran (in Iran), where Baha'u'llah was first imprisoned before being exiled to Baghdad, then over eastern Turkey above some the towns which Baha'u'llah and His companions passed through on their exile from Baghdad to Constantinople. If only the plane was not delayed so we could have seen more of the journey in daylight!

Elusive wildlife

On the way to Bandipur Wildlife Sanctuary

Our last stop in Kerala was to be a visit to Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary, but alas dealing with beauracracy in India is slower and more treacherous than driving on the roads. Permits are required for a vehicle travelling outside its home state and as we had changed plans our permit for Kerala was due to expire during our visit to the wildlife sanctuary. Our driver attempted to get an extension on the previous day on the stroke of 5pm but apparently punctuality counts at knock-off time at least. He was told there was a permit office 22km from Kalpetta, our destination and base for visits to the wildlife sanctuary. The next morning in Kalpetta we discovered that the permit office was in fact three hours drive away on a road that was considered bad even by Indian standards. To avoid the risk of paying a fine upwards of 5000 rupees we decided to abandon our plan and head to Mysore in the state of Karnataka.

The Baha'i couple we met in Kalpetta

Before leaving Kalpetta we followed the sign to the Baha'i centre whuch we had noticed when arriving the day before. With some help from a few locals we found the centre, which was unfortunately closed. Rajendren, our driver, managed to translate for us that we were hoping to meet some of the local Baha'is and, after a brief discussion, one of the neighbours' sons piled into the car with us and directed us to a small office in town. Here we were very warmly welcomed by Sudhakarau, one of the Baha'is from Kalpetta, and shortly after we were greeted by his wife Mary as well. Their genuine warmth and hospitality was an example to us all and epitomised a phrase from the Baha'i Writings - "Let your heart burn with loving kindness for all who may cross your path". We discussed the various activities in our respective communities, in which we had a common language as Baha'i activities are similar across the globe whether on small islands in the pacific or in large sprawling cities. They, as we do, held childrens classes, study circles to deepen knowledge of the faith, and devotional meetings where writings are read and shared from the Baha'i faith and other religions, often on a specific theme. Our meeting was short but left us feeling blessed and joyously aware that we are one family on this beautiful planet.

Scene from Bandipur Wildlife Sanctuary

After crossing the state border we realised that the road leading to Mysore didn't follow the route we expected but, as fortune would have it, passed within 18km of Bandipur Wildlife sanctuary. A quick decision saw us having one last attempt at an Indian wildlife adventure. The 18km km's was speedily traversed in just under one hour - there must be a point in the ratio of bitumen to potholes where a road should realisticly be classed as a gravel road! At 6am the next morning, we all rugged up and headed off for a 90 minute jeep tour of the wildife sanctuary. Our hopes were high, as a tiger had been spotted a few days earlier, but unfortunately it was not to be for us. We did, however, see plenty of wildlife, some of which were chital (a small spotted deer which was very common), elephants, Gaur ( a wild Indian bison), peacocks (and peahens) monkeys, langeurs, sambar deer, wild boar and numerous birds.

Some of the wildlife at the sanctuary...

Gaur

Elephants

Chittal

Peacock

Langur

Kodai to Mysore photojournal

Lorraine:
Here are some more photos from Kodaikanal right through to our arrival in Mysore a couple of days ago. Enjoy!

Scene from the gardens at our hotel in Kodaikanal...

...where we started each day with a leisurely breakfast and steaming hot chai!

Astrid & Christian cooling off with coconut water

during a break on one of our long car journeys!


What if the one you want is at the bottom?
Fruit & vegetable markets at Kollam.


Men at work making pappadums at the markets in Kollam.
They were very pleased to have their photo taken!


In Kollam, we went on a beautiful boat tour through the backwaters that meander through some villages. These boys were after pens and scored three from Astrid!


Enjoying the ride!


Lush tropical scenery on either side

The backwaters are predominantly used for trade, transportation and fishing

Midway through the journey we stopped for a quick drink and bite to eat...

Now that's what I really call "fast food"...and healthy too!

Our wonderful guide who steered us through the backwaters. In one of the many examples of the people who do the really hard work getting the least money, we were shocked to find out that he was being paid Rs 125 a day (equivalent to about $AU 3.65) for up to three 3-hour cruises he takes tourists on each day. Our group of 6 paid the government-run tourist department a sum of Rs 1800 ($AU 53) for the cruise. Needless to say we gave him a big tip.

More market action at Ernakulam

...and more

Arriving in Kalpetta (a town close to Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary) late one night, we were suprised and excited to see a sign saying "Baha'i Centre". We were able to meet with a beautiful couple the next day and the warmth and hospitality that we were greeted with was a powerful reminder of one of the underpinning Baha'i principles that the earth is one country and we are all one family.

Beautiful pheasants at an aviary in Mysore

White peacock at the aviary

Very happy campers!

Enjoying the peace and quiet at Karinji Lake in Mysore