Periamalai (Big Hill)

About to head off on our hike

Priya in the kitchen.

Ashwin and a jackfruit tree!

At Lalbagh Gardens

Bengaluru palace, home to the Wodeyer family, former rulers of Mysore State

Last week we took a short break and headed to Periamalai, a village near Bangalore where Prabhu has been several times to help with a surgical camp. The SMART clinic there was founded and run by Dr Jeyachandran and provides free care to the residents of the nearby areas (many are tribal people) who would otherwise have very limited (if any) access to health care. Over the years the clinic as grown into a small hospital and apart from in addition to medical visits, surgical camps are conducted every 3 months or so.

We had a wonderful time in Perriamalai -Leann saw patients with Dr Jeyachandran and Dr Rohan, Prabhu assisted with some minor cases, Ashwin and Priya had fun playing in the cool fresh air, and we all went hiking in the nearby hills - and got caught in the most beautiful thunderstorm (outside of Minnesota) we'd ever seen. (the thunderstorm did cause a very small stream we had forded on the outbound leg of the hike to become a three foot deep torrent on the way back, which sucked the shoes right of Ashwin's feet, which was a little exciting!)

After two days in Perriamalai we spent a pleasant weekend in Bangalore, where we enjoyed getting to see our nephew /cousin Vijay. Bangalore bears the 'Garden City' title with pride. The world class Lal Bagh and Cubbon parks are oasis in an otherwise hectic urban landscape. We also enjoyed a great Japanese meal at Harima restaurant which included good Chimay beer( worth it even at 7 dollars, says Prabhu).