Legends Inn 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 ...

... really opened my eyes to what it is like down here. I know that the north is different than the south, and hopefully I will be able to explore the north at some point, but for now, my perspective of the Tamil Nadu and Kerala have changed.

I was thinking that everywhere down here was a little uncivilized, for lack of better words. The place that I went shopping in my first days was very dirty ...

... cutie pies), doing laundry, and taking advantage of fast internet! We went to see a movie (a must do in India!), and ate dinner at, believe or not, Subway! The subs were great - they had an Indian flair (eg. Chicken Tikka), and were a nice change from rice, idly, and dosai!

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In a place aptly titled the Bison Valley, we stayed in the Planters Bungalow. The bungalow overlooked the valley and we had great moments 'bison spotting'. The bison is a shy creature and keeps away from humans and here they were all over the valley. Since we were staying there on weekdays, we had the place all to ourselves.

Coonoor is a place untouched by time. Tucked away in the Nilgiris, the ...

... the rubbish thrown everywhere was nothing to do with poverty,it was just the way of the people. Rich people just throw stuff out the window as if it would eventually disappear. They call it the "freedom" (appartently missing from the western world one told me), this also includes been able to **** (and maybe even ****??) wherever they want (however you would rarely see this). However (back to the point...) Franklins house was a couple of km outside of ...

... around three feet, not including the tails. They stare at us, and scamper about and then pee on us (almost). We take the hint and go the front and wait for the boat to come get us for the tour. The British girls who are staying here tell us it is quite the experience, not the sightseeing itself but the boat. It's a two storey ferry and since we are staying at Lake Palace, we are somewhat privileged, so they have kept the entire front of the ferry empty for us, put in a few plastic chairs ...

... only way to get up to Honey Valley is to trek or take a jeep. Since it was raining when we arrived, we were happy to have requested a jeep to meet us at the bus stop and as we held on for dear life, we realized why the average rickshaw would not have made it to the top. The road was bordered on both sides with a variety of bright lush jungle flowers and as we passed a sign reading "Welcome to Honey Valley", it felt like we were arriving home. This is ...

The day before was spent catching up with Amaladas Uncle, Vimila Auntie and meeting the rest of their family. We heard a lot of great stories over the past few days, like the time Rabin's father went the wrong direction and "they drove to the North Pole" before turning around to go in the appropriate direction. (Something Rabin's father had never 'fessed up to). Vimila fondly remembered the time she spent with Florence/Amma in North Battleford, when she lived there years ago. Today ...

... be forced to move into cities, which means they will become slum dwellers, which creates a whole other host of problems that are self-evident. Now onto other parts of the case study! Our first night we stayed at a silkworm/coconut/banana farm, which was wonderful. People complained a lot at first as 13 of us slept in one room on a tile floor, but it was a great bonding experience. The farm was so beautiful and the air was amazingly clean (even though we weren't after a ...

... Retreat - was completely in the middle of nowhere, so we drove along pot-holed dirt tracks for an hour or so before finally arriving in the dead of night. We went straight to bed, to get up a matter of hours later to prepare for the safari at 6:30am. My father became very ill over night, and so was unable to make the safari the next day. Myself, Suchee and Prabhu all took part, although it turned out to be more of a stroll through the woods than a jungle ...