Debating Class at Serra Monestery: As the monestery was now full with monks, we went to see the tibetan debating class (In the monestery)- which seems a little like martial arts.... The debating goes as follows: the standing monk is asking questions, and the sitting monk is under test and must answer the questions. with each question the standing monk will clap his hands forcefully.when the standing monk has decided he has tricked the sitting monk into a dead end he will clap his hands, but with the right hand touching with its backside to the left one to indicate victory. then sometimes there is an argument between the monks if victory has indeed been achieved.
then we took chai with kunphel and jampa. each of us wished things in our lives to happen in the next 3 months. we will not tell what we wished for because it might ruin our chances of getting the wish fullfilled... then we left to the horrible bangalore, where we stayed one miserable half-day, and in the evening took a bus to Kannur, Kerala.
Kannur:
First Day in Kannur
we had great luck to stubmle across the cliff exotel lodge. this is a really nice high-end place, that we somehow managed to persuade the manager to give us a beautiful room for 250 Rs instead of his usual asking price: 1000 Rs. this had everything: a sea view, a big nice clean bed, towels, a (non-working) air-conditioner, a TV (which we didnt use) and so on. The manager, Mr Munawar was really kind and was also an important figure around the town. on the first day he took us to a performance of the girls school which is nearby the hotel. the girls there were really talented, and gave performances of classical singing and dancing.
Republic day- 2nd day in KannurFrom the previous night, (when we sat with all the respectible people at the girls performance, people like the head of the PTA or school managers from Kannur province) we knew Our hotel manager was a big shot gut, involved in many businesses and organizations in the areabut we had no idea how much so.Then, on the next day 26th January it was india repulic day (or independance day). Munawar (our hotel manager) took us to see the public function for this holiday. we got into his fabulous jeep and drove to the police parading ground.then after passing brief security checking, he sat us down in the VIP section, just two rows before the minister of tourism of INDIA. apparantly he was born in Kannur and he was guest of honour and gave a speech in the local Malyalam langauge. then there were some people parading (boring) and some people from the soldiers feinted (why? dunno. but nobody was inclined to help them, they just lay there... thaty's india for you). when the function was over, Munawar dragged us to the prime minister, paraded us to him, and made aviad shake his hand and swear that Kannur is the best place in the whole wide world. underline that: Aviad shook hands with the minister of tourism of the whole of india. after that we had some more adventures...For example, at the evening time on that day we wanted to swim in the nearby beach, but somehow Munawar convinced us to drive with him to a farway "better" beach. then he started to drive his jeep on the sand because it was a "driving beach"... whatever, we just wanted to swim. then we asked to be left there, and that he will pick us up at 20:00. by that time the beach was pitch dark with no lights or people there. when he failed to show, a family living nearby offered us help to take us to the place where we were supposed to meet him. it was a 2KM walk on a desrted totaly dark beach, and when we got there he wasnt there. I called his mobile from a phone office and he said it will take him more time to arrive, then the poor people who escorted us had to take us to the bus station, from where we took a bus home.
munawar, the (in)famous hotel manager...
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