Off to Kakinada

Today, we had a wonderful day.

It started at 6 am at the Church in Rajahmundry.

 We came to get a photo of the Seminary Class.  Here they are, still in progress.

The teacher is going on his mission in March, the future Elder Beeraka.

 The students look intent on learning.

 Rajahmundry Church in the early morning light.

 We waited for a few minutes for Seminary to finish class.

The Church is true in Rajahmundry, and Young Women are the same around the world.

 This is the Seminary Class that we came to see.

 What a great group of youth!

 Elder Wigg & I got to pose with the Seminary class, Elder & Sister Allison & President Chinna.

 Elder Wigg and I had a chance to visit with Hanisha, the sister of one of our Elders in the mission field.

 Our driver stopped for gas and this bike was fully loaded, also getting gas.

 The morning is misty and humid.

 These trucks are lined up to be loaded with bags of rice.

 Stacks of rice straw, in the misty morning.

 A mature cotton ball

 This is a scarecrow in the cotton field.

Jerome walking the road less traveled.

 This is a pretty pond with fence posts through the center of it.

Many people in the rural areas here ride bikes or bicycles.

 Kakinada

 I love these nets drying in the sun.

 The fishermen work a long day, repairing and straightening their nets.

 These ladies are walking from Kakinada to their village.

 Some take an auto from town.

 But most travel by 'bike'.

 Many walk. It was an amazing sight to see these ladies walking the beach.

 The beach on the Bay of Bengal

 Mending their nets

 One lone lady just walking along.

 I think these are Barn Swallows. One has his back to me and the top one, his underside.

 White-throated Kingfisher

 I think these are Barn Swallows, as close as I can tell.

 These women are sorting the fish.  It's got to be back-breaking work.

 A woman at work.

 This fellow is mending his net.

 Fishermen at work

The women are so strong and carry most things on their heads.

 Working in the fields

 This is a herd of goats.

 Fishermen at work drawing in their nets.  I love the sparkle of the water.

 These school girls were trying not to smile.

 This lady is sorting the fish.

 a small fishing village along the road

 Kakinada is on the Bay of Bengal. The road follows the coast for a long way.  It's a lovely drive and goes all the way to Visakhapatnam.

 A little village

 flat fish drying in the sun on burlap

 A tractor with a load of bricks

 Men woking in the rice fields, bagging the rice and loading onto the ox cart.

 Back in town, the fruit vender is loading his cart.

 2 girls walking home from school

 3 ladies at the local corner store

 the streets in Kakinada

 This looks like a pretty nice trike.

 The pots and pans man

 The sales clerks in a fabric store we looked in.

This little city is beautiful.

 These 2 people are working on a silk sari. It's hand woven and so beautiful!

 The weaving mill looks pretty extensive and complicated.

But the most amazing part was watching his hands at work.  How does he keep that pattern right?

Each little stick there is a thread which he uses to carry the pattern. Wonderful to watch.

It's a beautiful job!  A great skill and many hours of labor goes into each sari.

 Ox carts laden with rice bags.

 We saw 2 golden Asiatic Jackals (we thought they were Indian Wolves at first) that were trying to drag a dead turtle.

 This lady stopped to talk, but Chinna had to talk to her as she didn't know any English.

 These fishermen were drawing in the net.

 President Chinna enjoying the visit.

 I love this shot of the men watching the fishing.

 They seemed patient, but drew on the net together, leaning into their work.

 This lady got me a little sand.

The beach and the view is beautiful!

 There were 7 birds in a row on these fenceposts.

 from back to front: Black Kite, Indian Roller, Black or Ashy Drongo, 2 Brahminy Kites, 

Juvenile Brahminy Kite, Black Kite.

I don't know what these birds are yet.

 White-throated Kingfisher

 There is some off shore drilling.

On the beach, there were a few statues.

 There are always many beautiful colours around to see.

 Kids, I'm not sure what they floating on for sure.

 The harbour

 Inside the harbour building there were many people selling their fish.

 Jumbo Prawns for sale

 These are pretty, but I'm not sure exactly what it is.

 These are the prawn merchants.

 The men are negotiating a good price for some prawns.

 Crabs

 I like this picture of the ships coming in to unload their fish.

 Patiently waiting for his turn to unload.

 These are the prawns that Chinna bought.

 This must be a hard life on the water.

 beautiful coloured boats

 I don't know, but maybe this lady is contemplating life...?

 granite blocks

 a pretty little lighthouse

 The thatched roofs of the huts near the harbour.

 The rented church building

 Visiting in the Elder's apartment

 Hot wings were really delicious.

 Rice is nice.

 Sister Allison

 The Elders: Elder Head, Elder Newbill, Elder Penumuru & Elder Taylor

Momma and her baby piglets next to the road, right in town.

 Brother Vaddi

 Brother Vaddi & his family

 Elder Head, Elder Penumuru & Elder Wigg

 Brother Vaddi's nieces, I think.

Brother Vaddi & his family

 President Chinna was our guide for the day.  He also translated to the driver and anyone else we met during the day into Kakinada.

 The sun is going down over the rice paddies.

 What a beautiful day it has been!

 Jerome is watching the sun set from a different viewpoint.

 Now that's amazingly beautiful!  I even like the wires!

Driving back into the city, we continue to see interesting sights.