Diana Hotel Coimbatore

... across in my life. <br><br>The next day, the driver Aravindan from Kannan Tours &amp; Travels Pvt Ltd took us for a local trip of coimbatore. He took us to Isha Yoga centre where they had a dhyanalingam installed and also to a waterfall nearby Kovai Kutrallam. From there we visited Perur temple and Marudhamalai Murugan temple. Came back to Jenny's for a wonderful dinner and rest in the comfy room.<br><br>Will be starting off to ooty tomorrow

... saw some of the most beautiful houses that I have ever seen. Once again, I was proven wrong.<br><br>So lesson learned, don't judge too quickly. I am glad that my perspecitve is changing and I am sure that it will continue to change throughout my trip. I am also glad that I have seen familiar things that make me feel more at ease about being here. I guess this place isn't as foreign as I thought it was.

... that I am most certainly the "hero", yes they actually use the terms hero, heroine and villan. After an unbelievably breathtaking drive through the countryside as the sun rose we arrived at one of the oldest temple sites around. After a breakfast of smashed rice cakes called iddly, sambar, vadda, coconut chutney and a few other things, the shooting began. We were told that we were ...

... and it was a kick ass house, marble floors and stairs,europrean kitchen, large bedrooms, verandas, flat widescreen tv with surround sound system and 2 pure-bred cocker spaniels thrown in for good measure. It was a newly built house (built on wide expanses of now defunct and dried up paddy fields) and was a long way away from the corregated shantys of Vellore. The dinner made by the woman(except for Paula!). As expected - Taaasty stuff, as we say back in the ...

... lingers while the others on the boat yell and scream and stampede for the elephant side of the boat. (The Indians are notoriously loud and excitable tourists.) Very uncivilized to us at the front of the boat! We head back to the Lake Palace and climb up the stairs and watch the little ferry head off. I step out of the room later and see an elephant right across the water. It's very big and keeping very still. I unload about ½ Gig of memory taking pictures of it until George come by and ...

Riskikesh was to yoga and ayruvedic tea as Honey Valley is to hiking and fresh ground coffee... "Where ARE we?!?!" Julie and I both asked ourselves and each other as we reached the top of a ridege overlooking coffee plantations and rice fields below. We had read about a hidden paradise called "Honey Valley" but had decided we wouldnt be able to spend the time and money to get there, but as fate had it, we were meant to see this bit of jungle heaven because ...

... and give some more people jobs, which many so desperately need. The road to Ooty was of course the back way in, not the way most westerners take, and the obligatory waving and smiling was happening all over in every town. Being on the Harley of India, and being a rare westerner is like being some sort of movie star. All are curious, and most, especially children, wave and call out "hello!" in the small villages. Becoming thirsty, I of course stopped at a small shop stall, you ...

... and will cost hundreds of billions of dollars. The logic behind the project is that Mysore is the next spot for the IT boom and that a reliable and rapid mode of transportation must be developed in order for this to happen. Additionally, in order to draw congestion out of the two cities, specifically Bangalore, a series of five satellite townships specifically designated for different commercial industries are in the works. The project is extremely corrupt (as you ...

... not have had fingerprints impressed upon my cheeks afterwards). This sentiment was also echoed by the homestay sister of one of my friends, who kept saying that I was 'so cute' and pinched my cheeks a lot as well. All of this was not only painful but fairly humiliatin as Nithya and the younger sister are two and seven years younger than me, respectively. However, it is quite funny as well, now that I can smile without wincing. Chaya's generosity was highlighted by the fact that both of ...

... It was as if somebody had taken a western city, an Indian city, and created a hybrid. The traffic was far less outrageous than we'd seen so far, and all the streets appeared to be very well maintained. It was also noticeable that a large proportion of the women walking about were dressed in western attire as opposed to sari's that were almost exclusive in every other place we'd been in. Unfortunately, the traffic also mimicked the west, so it took us about 3 ...