Hotel Grand Palace Kodaikanal

... fills the air with its heavy scent. Stray mangy dogs and not fussed cows try to salvage anything in the debris. I enter a few somewhat dubious places but apparently they are no longer serving food. I decide to go see the sandalwood forest and take a taxi, who is Mr. Speedy (around the sharp turns) and arrive in record time. I begin a walk in the forest when it starts pouring rain. I run back to the car and we speed back to Munnar, ignoring all requests to slow down or to stop to ...

... with for the day (and go to ‘tibet’ again - I sell the chilli veg to them with gusto). Their names are Tess and Ian and they’re 18 and 20. They’ve dropped out of college and they are full of future. They make me feel very old. They walk around the town with matching woollen blankets wrapped round them (as is the refugee style fashion up here) and they look incredible cute. We hang at their hotel with them for a bit and talk ...

... waterfalls, rocky outcrops. And my room's view wasn't much less than that, more actually. It was on the edge of a slope and provided spectacular views of the neighbouring mountains and towns way, way below. Alot of the time clouds rolled in so the view was hindered but still can't beat being amidst clouds, like literally being on cloud nine pret-near (but wasn't quite feeling that unfortuantely ...

... trees are full of exotic epiphytic orchids but too far away to make out exactly what. There are several waterfalls on this route but they were not in spate. Must be fabulous in their season. Meals in Kodaikanal were a bit disappointing, unlike in Ooty where you are spoiled for choice. Probably this is an off season problem. Never forget proper walking shoes and adequate warm clothing. Nights and early mornings are freezing. If you do not have ...

... to say what's next without offending some distant persons here in cyberspace. I come to find that I have about the most pleasant manners I have witnessed in India (many foreigners I have associated with do as well), and that I am about as easy going as they come, and I handle unfamiliar and unknown and confusing situations quite well; with a smile and shrug. I am a champ with regards to traveling. Some people are not quite so. A particular person in our group ...

... of medical insurance some places at least. The doctor also makes house calls once and a while, and the other day we went with him to a patient who lived a 1 hour drive away from kotagiri. An eldery man had suffered a stroke while walking, and fell down and broke is left hip. When we visited him you could not get in touch with the man and his left side was paralysed. He had been like that for 2 weeks now, and had also ...

What a change of scenery! On Saturday morning we rose just after 6 and got a rickshaw to Ernakulum bus station where we boarded a bus to Munnar. The journey lasted some 4.5 hours and was back breaking but the scenery was amazing and the change in climate was most welcome. The countryside, as you will see from the photos is green and mountainous. It is a huge tea growing region and some areas are tea for as far as the eye can see. We had decided upon a hotel ...

... Abend kommen Rudi und Hemma mit Dominic und Jacob. Mary hat uns zwei kleine Enten organisiert, so dass wir etwas besonderes zu essen haben. Weihnachten selbst ist Potluck beim Prinzipal der KIS und am 26. sind wir zum 60. Geburtstag von Sara Ann eingeladen. Ich fürchte, das wird die folgenden Tage dann so weiter gehen. Ihr seht wir sind alles andere als einsam. Mittlerweile schläft Myra in ihrer Schaukel und Rudi und Lars sind wieder zurück aus dem Wald - der Corpus ...

... weg von norddeutsch heimeliger Weihnachtsatmosphäre. Bis vor ein paar Tagen waren Ulrike und ich unten in den Plains und sind mal wieder auf Entdeckungstour gegangen. Wer die Reise per Atlas mitvollziehen möchte, hier unsere Reiseroute: Von Kodaikanal steil den gewundenen Weg bergab nach Palani, einer Hindu-Pilgerstadt am Fuße unserer Berge nach Norden hin. Von dort gen Westen, Richtung Kerala, das mit seiner üppigen tropischen Vegetation uns immer wieder in den Bann zieht ...

... richt und Sportaktivitäten. Langeweile kommt da nicht auf! Das bei weitem ab** zeitraubendste Projekt war das "All School Play", dessen Leitung ich leichtsin***** Weise üb**nommen hatte und das mich nun jede freie Minute kostete. Eine echte Mamutproduktion mit üb** 50 Akteuren auf d** Bühne, Kostüm-, Requisiten- und Bühnenbild-Komitees, tausend Anfragen üb** dies und das, Proben bis spät in die Nacht (so manch** Arbeitstag wurde da 15-16 Stunden lang) und imm** neuen Problemen ...