India: mountains and nature

Pictures from the trip across the mountains







































Another crop - jackfruit:






This is also a crop - this is teak!


Orchid roots on a tree:


Lotus flowers:

Agricultural India

Not everything in India is roads and cities. Crossing the mountains and in Kerala, we came across multiple plantations, estates, and farms - most of whose crops I was seeing for the first time. Do you know - or can you guess - what they are? Answers on the bottom of the post.

Crop #1:
















Crop #2:


Crop #3:






Crop #4:






Crop #5:


Crop #6:



Answers:
Crop 1: Tea
Crop 2: Banana
Crop 3: Rubber
Crop 4: Rice
Crop 5: Tapioca
Crop 6: Cashew nut

Urban India

My impression of urban India in the few days that I've been there is first and foremost of roads:



It's a nation of motorcycles, which go by a very descriptive name of "two-wheelers".




It's amazing how many street regulations can be replaced by just sounding the horn! There are reminders on the backs of most trucks and buses:


This rule seems to be the only one being followed. Need to make a turn? Forget blinkers, just sound horn. Need to pass a car on a narrow road? Sound horn. Need to make a u-turn on a highway because Oleg saw a bird on the other side (it happened)? Sound horn!


Yes, there are cows on the streets:


And they do have the right of way!


Everyone customizes their conveyance:




The name of this bus is well suited to an IT conference. With a name like this, the driver should have become a Unix admin.


Ubiquitous taxi car:


And another variation of it, made into trucks:


This is the Tata Nano, an attempt at the cheapest real car for the masses.




Quick commute...


I like the color combination on this one:


The road rules are famously free-wheeling. This looked like a one-way street until...


... the blue car pushed its way in and made it a two-way street.


But, wait there is more:


Now it's a three-way street! (Btw, don't forget to sound horn!)


In general, situations like the ones below become very familiar:




Ferry service in Cochin. The right side is packed full of two-wheelers. The bird on the top right is a Brahminy Kite.


This is just funny. I wonder who the third guy is...


Sunrise in Chennai.