Hotel City Tower Coimbatore

... their guns on unruly passengers than the elephant.

Finally he decided to move, and stood by the side of the track as we moved off. We arrived in the village of Mettupalayam more or less on time, and then took our onward train to Coimbatore an hour later, unfortunately having to stand for the 45 minute journey, but at least it made it easier to get off as we were near the door.

In Coimbatore we ...

... But getting Rachael there involved transporting her about 500 metres away over patches of rough terrain through the town in a wheelchair that had a broken front wheel. Rajiv being the handyman that he was, I asked him if he was able to fix the chair and that ended up being one of his projects. After the wheelchair was fixed, we started the library routine at 4:00pm everyday. The other kids got wind of it and they all wanted to go ...

... class I did today was probably the hardest yoga class I have ever done!!!! OMG...even all the student teachers were huffing and puffing and afterwards said it was really hard!!! So it wasn't just me...I was pretty pleased with how I went and was pretty tired afterwards, not forgetting red faced and sweaty...nice! I am getting slight headaches after yoga classes I have noticed...I spoke with the Dr about this and he assured me it is just from the yoga...a yoga headache...that's a new ...

... a lovely cook. He was caretaker, cook, gardener all rolled in one. One morning we went for a trek through the estate and that was beautiful. Lonely stretches with only the birds and sometimes a monkey or two for company. Cautiously peering around bends to spot a bison or two. But they kept away from us.

Coonoor is a quiet holiday, offering opportunities to discover oneself. To discover the silence within.

... going for miles and miles. Apparently Tetley owns most of the plantations around here. We kept climbing along the switch back roads, playing chicken with on coming traffic and then we made it to the Reserve. We pay the entrance fee for the car and drive in for a few kilometres and come to the main reception area for the park. There we go into the hotel to tell them that we have a reservation at the Lake Palace and they tell us to go down to the dock. So we go down to the dock and pay the ...

... as soon as I work up the courage to talk to one I'll try and confirm my theory. ooty the town doesn't have a lot going for it (beside the gardens) but the surrounding countryside is fantastic. On sunday clint, a girl from the UK and me, met a local guide, Ranjeev, a member of the indigenous tribes, the Todas. We ended up taking a fantastic day hike though the hills, villages and tea plantations near ooty. If anyone is going to ooty please ...

... Dumbo, don't freak out! Dumbo didn't freak out, and was very peaceful and obliging, and when my ride was over, I got to have a picture with him, rubbing his trunk and telling him what a good baby he was. I looked right in that elephant's eye and it looked right back at me. Now THAT is something not many people can say they've done. I got my picture and then Dumbo raised his trunk toward me, I'm not sure if it was in affection or irritation, but I got scared and ran the hell ...

... to do (Chunnel, anyone??). The government had been illegally acquiring land through eminent domain in the name of the BMIC and then selling it off to developers at prices that reflected the future development going to take place there; basically making a ginormous profit in order to pay for the BMIC that will be generally unaffordable to those it has the most potential to benefit. The overall dodginess of the situation continues with this: Mr Naghabushan has been to ...

... load onto this website in the coming weeks, I just have to find the time). I have also been writing down lots of recipes to try out on all of you when I get back to the States (well, those of you who are actually in the States). Tonight, Chaya is cooking a special dinner for us and our friend Stephanie, who also lives in the same complex. Chaya is so excited for us to experience all of these aspects of life in India; she buys us exotic fruits for us to try, took us out to an excellent ...

... without incident (except being forced off the road by buses from time to time) and we arrived back at the home for an hours rest or so before setting off on the next trip, to hill-station Ooty (I'm not even going to try spelling the full name of it) in the Nilgiri mountains and then onto Madumalai where we were going to take part in a safari through the jungle on the back of an elephant. In Ooty, we stopped by the house of Goshni, an instantly likeable girl with ...