Yes, for one Saturday we went to Mahabaleshwar, Maharashtra. Trying saying that three times fast. Mahabaleshwar (from this point forward will refer to it as Maha), is a small village located in the mountain range between Pune and the western coast where Mumbai is. The village boasts boutique hotels, even some brand name hotels (there is a Marriott). Also several unique restaurants and shops. All of this hidden in the mountains surrounded by what we were told were some of the most beautiful waterfalls in India.

So we took the approximately 44 mile drive (which of course took 3.5 hours) up the mountain. The low side was on the drive up we passed by an accident where a man laid dead with his guys all over the highway. Our driver told us to close our eyes which we did and when we drove by we asked Sachin (our driver) “was it bad” and he responded “yes, he is dead but I cannot tell you any more it is too bad”. See in India they don’t have alot of overpasses or stoplights on highways. So the only way people can get to the other side (aside from walking a mile to maybe the next street) is to run across or bike across the highway. It happens alot, but in this case a bad ending. Our other traffic snag was trying to see an off the beaten path waterfall. This led us to a one lane bridge that was at a standstill with traffic. Neither side would yield so it took us about 20 minutes to cross a 500 foot bridge. And the worst part was the traffic was so bad up by the waterfall we would have had to walk a mile in mud to see it. We decided to turn around and keep going to Maha.

This particular weekend in August was still during the monsoon season (mid June to late September). So there was nonstop rain up in the mountains. We were drenched and the worst part of it all was that we couldn’t really see all the waterfalls. Here are some pictures.

So lots of potential there for sights but we were always up in the clouds.

After straining to see the views we headed back to the van in search of a good place for lunch.

After driving around town we finally came to a hotel that reminded me of a place back home…

Yes the Olive Garden. When you are here you are family right? Well this restaurant was obviously not part of the chain but was an Indian/Italian fusion restaurant with a great view of clouds. There were some similarities to the US chain, like all you can eat breadsticks…

Looks pretty similar huh? The salad was literally 6 lettuce leaves with little chopped veggies inside with olive oil. And it definitely wasn’t unlimited refills. Tami ordered a pasta with her favorite pink sauce and I tried their spaghetti with meat sauce. The noodles were homemade there and it was pretty decent food. The restaurant was clean and fairly empty. We enjoyed the experience although we missed the feeling of sodium overload and cheesy Dean Martin music like back home.

On the way down the mountain we found out that it is strawberry season. There was a little town that had a huge store that sold everything – strawberry juice, strawberry jam, strawberry sauce, and of course strawberries. We couldn’t help but go up to a vendor and buy a kilo for home. It was pretty reasonable too at about $5 for 2lbs of strawberries.

After we completed our stop for “nature’s candy” we headed back down the mountain for a lovely 3 hour drive filled with traffic jams but at least no deaths.

We would love to go back to Maha now that the rains are gone. The waterfalls will still be in full force from the rains but it should be alot clearer. Despite the curve balls thrown at us, I still really enjoyed the Saturday trip – rain or shine!

It was a Wednesday and I got a WhatsApp invitation from our Pune Expats Group to attend a group gathering at the horse race track that following Sunday. Now one thing I have learned in India is don’t expect too much notice about anything. If there is a party on Friday, you are lucky if you hear about it the week before. Holiday celebrations? Put the decorations up the day of. Need an altar or some food for a sacrifice, buy it on the day you are using it. As a planner, this drives me crazy. So only having a few days lead time isn’t much — but honestly, we didn’t have anything else besides church going on that day. Second, Pune has a horse race track? Sure enough it did AND I had actually been there before and just didn’t know it. The spring beer festival that we also hastily attended was held there. We walked around in mud, drank some local beers, had some hot dogs, and listened to a band. It was crowded and loud, not to be our experience this time around.

So we show up at 1pm which is when the event was supposed to start. Another thing in India – everything starts later or arrives later than expected. We were the first ones there. We said our names, and of course not on the list (nor were our other friends who were attending). Then the ultimate offense — I was wearing shorts. The invite required us to wear “smart casual”. Thinking I was back in the US I thought a collared shirt, a nice pair of shorts, and boat shoes would be a shining example of American smart casual. Judge for yourself if you think this is inappropriate for a Indian race track.

Even Tenley is like “why are you giving him a hard time”. So security after pretty much telling us to leave because I was wearing shorts, called our ExPat leader who eventually talked them in to allowing us to enter. Once in, we saw many people in shorts and some in just gym wear. Oh well.

I have to admit we had a great time. The horse races didn’t start till 2:30. The area they had our group in was exclusive and had free appetizers and drinks. There was also a band playing so we got to dance to a few songs too.

This is a picture I took of the clubhouse area. They had us inside the white fenced area and we had couches and booths for us to sit at. I still to this day don’t know who sponsored our event but I think it was a local real estate developer. Nothing beats free though!

We ran in to some interesting people too.

We asked this guy if he is from Seattle. He looked at us with confusion. We said how long have you been a Seahawks fan. Again, confusion. We brought up his hat and he started laughing “oh i bought this off some street vendor because I needed a hat for the sun today”. Pretty funny and a nice hat for 25 cents.

Does anyone know this guy who we also met?

We had no idea who he was either until I google searched him when we got home. He is a very famous Bollywood actor from the 80s and 90s named Jackie Shroff. He was very nice and humored us with a picture. As with everyone in India he really liked Tenley. So we got to meet our first Indian celebrity!

The rest of the afternoon was fun. I still can’t figure out the betting books but alot of our friends were putting down 100, 200, and 300 rupee bets. Even some of the kids were running around trying to make bets — and I think some actually were able to.

Most of the horse names were similar like you would see in the US. You know things like Sir (insert name here), Raj’s Crown, Second Chances, etc. Very few Indian names which surprised me. The races ran every 30 minutes and so we watched about 4 from both the grandstands and right by the track. Tenley loves seeing the “nays” as she called them.

We left around 4pm to get back home before the busy week began. But it was quite an experience…free food, free drinks, a celebrity sighting, and lots of fun watching horses outrun each other. I would definitely want to come back again and this time I will wear trousers!

Kid’s Birthday Parties in India are nowhere close to what we do in the US in terms of celebration. I remember growing up my birthday consisted of family dinner the night of usually at some Italian restaurant and then when I was a kid we would usually have an afternoon BBQ at home with friends or rent out a section of the local pizzeria. With my boys it was somewhat similar although usually something was brought to the party like an animal, magician, etc. As they got older it became pizza, video games somewhere or bowling, and having friends spend the night. None of these hold a candle to what I have seen thus far in India when it comes to kid’s birthdays.

To start the following example is just that — an example. It is a good representation of what we have typically experienced in the multiple birthday parties Tenley has been invited too. We were extremely thankful and gracious to our hosts as they were very attentive and ran an amazing event.

So first, maybe not surprising but in India the birthday parties are huge. Its not just friends of the kid and your friends, but family and neighbors too.

There are always banners, colorful signs, and balloons a plenty. Balloons on the wall, on the ceiling, and balloon arches!

This particular birthday party was themed after the Kung Fu Panda movie. Honestly, I have never seen the film, but the hosts did a great job with decorations and events. And boy did they have events. First there was a group brought in to have us all learn a few African songs on these little drums. They taught us what to say and how to do the beats for three different songs. Tenley loved it!

Following a half hour of drumming, the little kids played a race where they stuck pasta noodles on their faces and tried to walk across the room before they fell off. It was hilarious watching them balance and then ripping the noodle off and eating it. Then the father of the birthday boy, dressed up as the old turtle from the movie and did a story with the kids followed by a building wide Treasure Hunt. They did a great job because it took the kids almost 45 minutes to run around the building and apartment looking for clues. Once that was finished we had a very delicious and well decorated birthday cake. I was told this only cost around $15 but it was themed, was chocolate and even had fondant. Last time I saw a pretty cake like this it was a wedding cake and it was $1000!. We sang happy birthday and in traditional Indian style the person with the highest authority in the house feeds the birthday boy and then the birthday boy then feeds the other person a bite of cake. It is meant to continue with various people feeding each other by hand but then the cake was cut up and served.

The party was fully catered. There were servers walking around with appetizers and there was a buffet dinner — Veg only as most people are here in Pune. It was extravagant. They had a photographer and a videographer. It was something to be seen and marveled at.

I have been to other birthday parties too — some rent out entire building spaces that have alot of fun kids games and toys, others hosted a mini carnival at our apartment building. All included full catering. Granted these are all on different budgets but you are talking about a fraction of what it would cost in the US. Maybe a couple hundred dollars. Just wild. They sure do like to spoil their children!

Now we have to plan our Tenley’s birthday coming up in early November. What India style party will she get? Stay tuned!

First I will just start by assuring everyone reading that I am ok. It has been two weeks since my hospital experience and I have fully recovered. Things can be really scary when you are very sick in a foreign country and you don’t quite know how to navigate the medical system. But when you are gasping for breath and starting to worry about your life, you find a way!

I had had a runny nose all week. I didn’t think much of it. I actually thought that given the Monsoon season it was Hay Fever. Just felt like bad allergies. Then around Thursday it left my nose and went in to my chest. I just felt congested but as a lifelong asthmatic I was used to that. My asthma medicine helped and I just had to spit up or swallow more mucus than I am used to. Those that know me know I don’t get sick very often and therefore rarely slow down when I feel 80%. On Saturday I played 2 hours of badminton – I was sweaty, I was tired, and I seemed to be able to breath well with some coughing added in. Saturday night the “buck up you aren’t sick” phase ended with a locomotive like hit. I began to really struggle to breathe. And the asthma medicine that I have taken most of my life — didn’t work. My lungs felt like they were in an iron cage and that a huge weight was put on my chest. I literally could only breathe in short breathes, maybe 50% capacity. And you know how you just breathe without thinking about it? Well, I had to consciously think about breathing to do it. It was horrible.

We took it easy that night but even reading a bed time book to my daughter got me winded. My wife wanted to take me to the hospital, but it was 11pm and I was really tired and just wanted to sleep. I promised if I still felt bad in the morning we would go.

One of the worst night’s sleep of my life. I had to think about breathing to do it and my chest was so wheezy almost every breath ended in a cough of phlegm. Poor Tami, I kept her up all night too. I think I dozed off a few times but the utter fear I was in probably led to me getting a fever. It was 103 at one point and after some pain killers went down to 101. I had the chills, the sweats, the works! My side of the bed was soaked by the time morning came. I still had a bit of a fever but I think I broke two during the night. I probably only got 2 hours of sleep — which was just a bunch of small naps together.

So we got up, ate breakfast, and went to the Emergency Room at Jupiter Hospital – the nearest GOOD hospital to our home. I went to the desk and told them I couldn’t breathe and they sent me right in to the room. There was a ton of doctors and nurses so they got to me pretty quick. The gave me an IV for pain and gave me a nebulizer treatment. The good news was my pulse, blood pressure, and blood oxygen levels were all normal. After the treatment they said they wanted to admit me and I said “no”. The last thing I wanted to do was sit in a hospital all day and night Sunday as they figure out what is wrong with me. The hospital treatment did lower my fever and they said they couldn’t do more until they had X-Rays of my chest – which I couldn’t get till Monday because the Radiology department is closed on Sundays. They said they could prescribe me pain killers and an anti viral as well as nebulizer treatments. I told them I would do that from the comfort of my home and come in Monday. The odd thing is I never got a diagnosis. I was told by a doctor later that India is such an old country that they have the ability to be able to look at you an determine your illness. They didn’t even test me for anything!

So my driver took me home where I just laid low all day. I was breathing a bit better and of course the fever was gone. Oh and the total cost for the emergency room and all the treatments? About $40 (without using insurance).

I was breathing better Sunday with the meds so we stayed at home and I was able to sleep normally. I didn’t go in to the office on Monday, just wasn’t feeling great. I went to the hospital for my blood tests and chest X ray. It was so efficient. I went in and paid ($12 for the blood tests and $20 for the X ray) and got my tests. I didn’t have any wait time for blood tests and waited about 45 mins for my X rays. I got both results back within an hour. In India, they do not have electronic medical records so you literally have to carry around a 3 ring binder with all of your medical papers, tests, reports, x rays, etc. So I carried along my notebook all day — it was like being back in high school!

I then had a doctor’s appointment. He looked at the blood results, the X ray, and gave me a general examination. He said there was no pneumonia thank God. He said my reports were fine and that he thought I just had an Indian flu bug that was going around that effected the respiratory system. His visit cost $15 and he gave me several prescriptions for cough medicine and pain relievers (medicine cost $5).

I gradually recovered and went back to work the next day and slowly recovered each day. So what I learned about the India medical system:

1. They have a TON of medical staff so its much more efficient and you get more attention than you do in the US
2. However it did seem less thorough than the US. I mean to not test me for COVID or something else in the emergency room was odd. I also felt it was not good for them to prescribe me an anti viral when they didn’t have a diagnosis.
3. I have said it before but medical care here is very affordable. It would almost be more trouble to use insurance and why? Most of my full bills are less than my copays back home.
4. The medical staff in India is very smart and they have a ton of experience. In the end what they did worked because I can breathe again!

I spent the following week doing nebulizer treatments. Tenley was very concerned about me when I did my breathing treatments so she would always come and give me a hug and then put her little chair next to me to keep me company. She was a great little nurse!

Next time – more fun things to do around Pune!

The first time i heard about Kopi Luwak coffee was from the movie Bucket List with Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman. In the movie Nicholson’s character loves the coffee but mostly because its so expensive and rare. Freeman’s character then informs him that the coffee beans are produced from animal feces which of course turns in to a joke and Nicholson being stunned.

So it wasn’t until I came to Bali that I even knew where it was made. During our honeymoon Tami and I had the chance to go to a Kopi Luwak plantation and sample the coffee. It was different but good, maybe not worth the price, but the rarity certainly made it a treat. Tami liked it because it was the only black coffee she has ever had that didn’t need creamer or sweetner.

Well we went to another planation and here is a bit of a lesson.

This animal is called a civet. Most online forums call it a kind of cat…I would say it is more like a cat meats a raccoon. Regardless this animal provides all the magic. This animal only eats the coffee beans in the surrounding forests but it has a natural instinct to only eat the best of the berries/beans. The animal then ingests the beans and proceeds to crap them out (i know sort of shitty). The crap looks like this:

Sort of like corn on the cob. Gross. Anyway the “hunters” scour the jungles(or the plantations) looking for this valuable feces. It is then broken up in to beans and hand cleaned to take the skin off (and hopefully all the bacteria!).

The beans are then roasted and then grounded manually.

Once it is ground and it ready to go to make a great cup of cat crap coffee.

The coffee does have a lighter note so those that like dark roasts probably will not enjoy this coffee. I know in Seattle I would see some cafes selling a cup for somewhere around $50-75 USD. Here 250mg of the coffee grinds was $125. We had to buy some!

Outside of the Kopi Luwak there were a ton of other teas and coffees to enjoy, we did a sampler:

It was delicious but man did we have a buzz! Talk about mid day caffiene. They give you all this then send your jittering nerves in to the gift shop where you can’t NOT buy anything. I really liked the Bali coffee, the avocado coffee, and the lemongrass tea (one of my favorites). It was definitely a full afternoon of activity and drinking (coffee!).

Well folks those are the key Bali highlights, I hope you enjoyed. Tami and I love this place and would consider retiring here in the future. The weather is great, the people are nice, food is terrific, its very affordable, and life is just alot simpler. Adios until next time!