Muthoot Cardamom County Thekkady

... rupees (about $2.15 USD) and rising food prices, typically large Indian families are struggling to get by, especially those owning shops. Some employ their children to lure customers in with their sweet nature, others stand in your path. It is a fact of Kerala at this point in time; you will be hassled by all the shops lining the streets (one after another) in every single town. Whether it's a spice shop, wood handicrafts, rugs ...

... s our horticultural experience: Banana White aubergine Tomato Jackfruit Pineapple Coffee Cocoa Tiny bees Telegraph plant (randomly bends its leaves up and down like a signal) Bleeding heart Holy cross orchid Prawn bush Powder puff bush Nutmeg and mace Ginger Golden bamboo Cinnamon Cari leaf Stevia Elephant ear yam (I didn't know Elephant Ear is a yam) Wood carvings Lightbulb plant Touch me not (temporarily wilts ...

... in our flash cottage hotel room and wandered about town taking in the sites and getting solicited for purchases left and right...madam...just looking, later...ok?, come to my shop...share some tea...please come in....and it just goes on and on and on...Tomorrow we head out to the Kerala Backwaters for a homestay in a village and some relaxing boatrides...it just keeps getting better and better!

... impression. For a while there things got a little nervy. I've spent two full days at Periyar, doing both the guided trek and the boat ride on the lake. Though the guide-book rated the guided trek more highly, it was actually the boat ride which produced the most animals. Monkeys, bison, warthogs, deer, and shed-loads of elephants - specifically around fifteen elephant-sized shed, shed-loads. None of them seemed overly perturbed by the bizarre floaty things full of ...

... smile and go on, in control of his/her emotional state and reaction. I have a quote from a book by Osho titled "Freedom: The Courage to Be Yourself". It goes as follows: "The moment one takes responsibility for oneself...and remember, it is not all roses, there are thorns in it; it is not all sweet, there are bitter moments in it. The sweet is always balanced by the bitter, they always come in the same proportion. The roses are balanced by ...

... the jungle that are present whether I listen or not... Bobby didn't stay on any of the trails that we crossed. Instead, we climbed pretty straight up the side of a hill winding our way through huge grass and brush, bamboo groves, and waterholes, until we reached a giant stone. Jeanne and I had some asthma problems, and after I took the inhaler, I felt a bit better. I think it was actually the elevation gain that was the most intense. We had eaten some pineapple, mango ...

... that's a loose estimate.) This morning I woke up early again and walked to the nearest phone booth and called my mum, which could not have made me happier. Hearing a familiar voice that nearly leapt through the phone at me with excitement started the day off with a bang. Happy Birthday Grandpa! Hello to everyone at home! I'm loving it here and will write more soon! By the way, I've added some pictures to most of the previous entries, so check 'em out if you want the visual effect as well.