Monday, April 15th
Mangalore has a population of about 500,000 and is located on the west coast of India on the Arabian Sea. The port handles 75% of India's coffee exports and most of the cashew exports. Boat building and fishing are also important to the economy. Companies here also produce chemicals, fertilizers, oil refining, information technology, and agriculture products. As we came into our docking pier there was huge piles of what appeared to be coal but may have been manganese or some other ore used in the fertilizer plants. Next to us at the pier is a huge bulk cargo ship being loaded with fertilizer for exporting.
We boarded our bus a half hour late at 9am for our "A Day in the Life of Mangalore" 3 hour tour. The bus looked to be 20+ years old but was quite comfortable and had good air conditioning. The later is a MUST for here as it is another very hot day. Our guide for this morning also taught in a college and his English was very good and his accent was much easier to understand than our guide yesterday. He also had a very good sense of humor and was very informative. It is obvious from our guides yesterday and today that they are very proud of their country and enjoy sharing it with us. We did quite a bit of walking today and the people were very friendly and wanted to say hi, ask where we were from, and talk to us. Most all understood English. From what we have seen in India so far, I would definitely say it is not a clean country. The streets are littered and dirty. Our guide says there is basically two groups economically, the rich and the poor. Most are in the latter group. Pay for manual labor is $8 per day but more skilled people may make $40 per day. Professionals are paid well for India.
Our first stop was at the Belmont house. It was built during the British rein in early 1800's. It was a large home with several bedrooms and nicely furnished. The grounds are also beautiful and well kept. Most of the older homes in Mangalore have red tile roofs. The tile are made in a plant here that is well known in India. The tile keeps the temperature inside several degrees cooler than outside. Air conditioning is rare. Next we drove to a huge fruit and vegetable market in town. We disembarked the bus and walked through some streets to see local life on our way to the market. As I said the people wanted to talk with us and were so friendly. The market was a bustling place with men and women carrying their produce from trucks outside in the their little stalls for selling. With the 30 of us walking the narrow isles and them with the big sacks on their heads it was a mess. I would not have been happy if I were them, as we were just in their way, but they seemed ok with us. The market itself was packed with every kind of vegetable, spice, or fruit. After leaving the market we made several shopping stops. Last stop was at a cashew store and I bought a big bag of nice big cashews. I also had the guide take me to a pharmacy (they do not call them pharmacies) while the others were in a mall. The "medicine" shops were very small and you could not walk in. You just walked up to a window. I got a couple of Zpacs for $5 total. By the way, at both Indian ports so far we have had armed Indian soldiers at pier close to our ship. 6pm now and sailing for Goa, India.
Looks like coal but not sure what it is.
Loading with fertilizer
Our docking pier
Tour buses
Indian trucks
No temples for you today but this is St Sebastian Catholic church.
Not a typical Indian house but older one that used to be owned by wealthy British person now owned by Indian woman
Nice grounds of the house
Anyone know what flower this is??
Shots of rooms in the house
Our guide demonstrating their coconut shredder.
Coconut curry is being made and that is one of their staples.
All the city buses we saw were packed full, standing hanging out the doors. Bet it smelled good in those buses!
These are not leaves but some kind of fungus growing on the tree truck.
Tuk-Tuk taxis lining the left side of street ahead. There were thousands, some taxis but most personal ones.
Police headquarters. Our guide said it was very safe here.
Any kind of bag imaginable.
This man was lying in the street with all kinds of traffic around him.
We are walking up to the fruit and vegetable market.
I wanted this!
They appeared to be kiwi fruit being unloaded via baskets then carried inside.
Friendly man
Photos taken inside the market.
Spices
Every time I asked what something was they told me and said it was to make curry.
Messy outside AND inside!!
Cashew store
A "medicine shop". Only walk up windows in all of them.
They are shoveling sand from the small boat onto the truck.
These cows and bulls were just inside security gate for port.
https://goo.gl/photos/ixfshsq4NjgPTDpc7
We boarded our bus a half hour late at 9am for our "A Day in the Life of Mangalore" 3 hour tour. The bus looked to be 20+ years old but was quite comfortable and had good air conditioning. The later is a MUST for here as it is another very hot day. Our guide for this morning also taught in a college and his English was very good and his accent was much easier to understand than our guide yesterday. He also had a very good sense of humor and was very informative. It is obvious from our guides yesterday and today that they are very proud of their country and enjoy sharing it with us. We did quite a bit of walking today and the people were very friendly and wanted to say hi, ask where we were from, and talk to us. Most all understood English. From what we have seen in India so far, I would definitely say it is not a clean country. The streets are littered and dirty. Our guide says there is basically two groups economically, the rich and the poor. Most are in the latter group. Pay for manual labor is $8 per day but more skilled people may make $40 per day. Professionals are paid well for India.
Our first stop was at the Belmont house. It was built during the British rein in early 1800's. It was a large home with several bedrooms and nicely furnished. The grounds are also beautiful and well kept. Most of the older homes in Mangalore have red tile roofs. The tile are made in a plant here that is well known in India. The tile keeps the temperature inside several degrees cooler than outside. Air conditioning is rare. Next we drove to a huge fruit and vegetable market in town. We disembarked the bus and walked through some streets to see local life on our way to the market. As I said the people wanted to talk with us and were so friendly. The market was a bustling place with men and women carrying their produce from trucks outside in the their little stalls for selling. With the 30 of us walking the narrow isles and them with the big sacks on their heads it was a mess. I would not have been happy if I were them, as we were just in their way, but they seemed ok with us. The market itself was packed with every kind of vegetable, spice, or fruit. After leaving the market we made several shopping stops. Last stop was at a cashew store and I bought a big bag of nice big cashews. I also had the guide take me to a pharmacy (they do not call them pharmacies) while the others were in a mall. The "medicine" shops were very small and you could not walk in. You just walked up to a window. I got a couple of Zpacs for $5 total. By the way, at both Indian ports so far we have had armed Indian soldiers at pier close to our ship. 6pm now and sailing for Goa, India.
Some of the newer housing.
https://goo.gl/photos/ixfshsq4NjgPTDpc7
