Of Sleeper Buses and Screech Owls

Well, we made it to Bangalore on the overnight sleeper bus.  It was quite an adventure.  The bus itself was nice.  The beds were actually pretty comfortable and there were reading lights and curtains for privacy.  The layout has 2 beds side by side in one compartment with no divider, and one bed across the isle.  When Vikas booked the tickets he was under the impression that we had 2 beds on one side and the third one was across the isle.  It turned out that the tickets were actually for the two on one side and one of the beds in the next two bed compartment.  So, we ended up all three in one two bed compartment.  Vikas and I weren't comfortable with him having to sleep next to a total stranger, and I certainly wasn't going to be able to do it.  That ended up being OK, too.  It wasn't too bad and in a way was nice and cozy to all be there together.  The not so good part was the bouncing and jerking around due to the poor roads.  The worst was when we were crossing the ghats, a set of mountains that lies between Mangalore and Bangalore.  It seems that there are just narrow roads winding around the circumference of the mountains .  There has been too much rain this year and the roads were all in very bad condition, so we were bouncing around the whole time, and I mean REALLY bouncing around.  I didn't get any sleep, and I don't think Vikas did either, but Jasmine slept like a baby.  We're planning to try to change our return tickets to a daytime bus with comfortable seats instead of beds.

On to the screech owls.... I've been meaning to blog about this for a while.  There are a couple of screech owls that hang out outside our bedroom window.  I think they actually perch on the building next to ours and hunt from there.  The make the scariest noise.  When they first come and you're not expecting it, it can almost make you jump out of your skin.  So several nights Vikas and I have laid there and laughed at how loud it is and how startling it can be.  A few nights ago we're sure we heard their successful hunt.  It was even louder than usual. 

Coming up.......Pig walking on train tracks,  cows out the windows and stone mountains.