Going bananas, B-A-N-A-N-A-S....

Sorry to all my followers its been awhile since I've written I've been ill I haven't had much to say and not feeling up to it.  Yesterday did a little shopping and today had a big adventure to YadagiriGutta a very large temple about 1 1/2 hours away from Hyderabad.  The drive over wasn't with my usual driver Abdul it was a new driver I've never been with.  It was a scary ride I believe I saw my life flash before my eyes about 18 times on the way there.  I'm all about the fast crazy driving but if the guy ahead has his break lights on slow down before you make a stop.  Becca has arrived also and took the trip up with a few people from the class, Travis and I.  We got there just as the gates had closed for a couple hours so we went to an old temple near by.  At that temple my class knew how much I wanted to see the monkeys and there was one there.  They bought me some bananas to throw to him and before we knew it there were 5 or 6 hanging around.  One came down let me hand him the banana right to him another decided he couldn't wait and grabbed one right out of my hands and ran off. They are pretty smart they would peel the bananas before eating them.  I've attached a pic of me handing a banana over to one of the monkeys.  On the ride out of the little village we saw a funeral procession.  They carried the deceased on straw down the streets and the body was exposed with a sugar cane in his mouth for a sweet end.  They also tossed flowers up in the air beated drums and chanted happily celebrating the man's life.  We had some time to buy so we went over to Surendra Puri which had replicas of all the gods and demi gods and their stories.  Like a large diorama, it was great I got to go to heaven and hell and back all in a couple hours.  Cameras weren't allowed into the park but we spent about 2 hours inside and the heat was sweltering.  Once we were done we headed up to YadagiriGutta and went into that temple with a giant idol that you are only to see partial side view because of it's power.  On the way home I rode with Abdul so I could feel safe.  We stopped off at a roadside restaurant and had tandoori chicken and biryani.  Today has been a really long day I will talk soon.
KB