Youth Hostel (TTDC) Ootacamund

... is over. But at last we gave our best effort as a team keeping as that’s the only way we can survive in the Jungle where we were exposed to wildlife. I salute the local tribe (Mahesh) who takes enormous effort to ensure this trip should give us happy and safe...Hats off to him.. Thank god all our prayers worked and we reached safely to our place. That was the last thrilled night I ever had so far.

Early morning on 22nd we started from Masinagudi at 7am saying good ...

... 1999-2002) and the current head, Mark Noonan, along with the former principals’ wives. We’d been speaking about the school for some time, about the challenges (“There should be more language instruction”) and joys of Hebron (“Our emphasis is on life rather than rigidity and structure”).

Rod’s wife Ruthie used an acronym, “TCK”, that I’d never heard and asked her to explain. “Third Culture Kid,” she ...

... scheduled a number of meetings with staff, students, former Principals and parents who had arrived to attend the festival and pick up their children for a two-week break.

The sky over Ooty was bright blue and scattered with puffs of clouds and the warm morning sun streamed through skylights in the roof of the student dormitories. All male students and girls aged 9 to 12 boarded at Hebron, while older girls stayed in a hostel off campus, and all boarders were cared for by dorm ...

... decided that she should go along as well.

My mission was to write an “institutional profile” of the school, though I didn’t get much instruction out of Dilip other than to read and copy the format of back issues. I was armed with a fresh notebook, a sharpened pencil and excitement at the prospect of not only getting out of Bangalore but also seeing the hills of Tamil Nadu.

We’d come almost 300 kilometers to get to the Nilgris ...

... which of course we never saw them get out and buy. The entry fee was only a dollar - but as Sarah said it's the principle!! Our route through the wildlife park consisted of a long line of Indian buses, all obviously pumping their horns and razzing each other whilst swerving/undertaking/overtaking. Can you believe it, we didn't see any tigers! Udagamandalam or Ooty is at high altitude, approximately 2200m above ...

... the thick brush was a rare occasion.  There was a couple that had been coming to Bandipur for 13 years, and was yet to see one, so Dennis and I lowered our expectations, and enjoyed the ride.    The first two hours of the ride went right along with this theme; we basically got shut out.  A little bit disappointed, we drove out of the park onto the exit road to go back for dinner.  As we were driving back, all of a sudden, the car suddenly stopped and our driver ...

... black coats and fluffy tails. They whizz through the trees like lightening and don't often come to the road. We have also seen giant butterfiles, the size of small birds. A black and yellow one with a tip to tip wingspan of approx 5 inches, and a black one with a splodge of purple which was slightly smaller. I don't want to go on too much about the cold because I know that it is going to be -10 in the UK tonight, but, it's cold ...

... phrase 'you look Indian' at which point I had to explain for the 1000th time that my mum was Sri Lankan tamil. If I have to explain this one more time...I will, so as not to seem rude, but I'll be irritated inside. Of course he did the 'ah! a tamil name!' when I told him my name was Sumathi. But he also did the same with equal surprise and gusto when I revealed my mum and sisters' names. I don't think he recognised that there was a tamil-theme that runs through my ...

... of us got a cad to Chennai and as Heidi and I were the smallest we had to share the front seat......................... shame the fan at the front blows out hot air through the vents at the front continously for the whole journey...........plus the driver was a madman driver...........but then I gues what's new and sort of adds to the beauty of India .........................would have been quite amusing if Heidi and I were not quite so uncomfortably minging! Anyway ...