Horses, temples and no spicy food.
Kodaikanal is a mountainous area cool and foggy most of the time. I got sick. I have no idea where and it was right after I talked to my mom on the phone and told her I wasn't sicka dn was being so careful. I, unlike my talented brother am not a good puker. So it took a few hours. After a day , I was fine and we went horseback riding into the deep forest. It felt more like a russian forest ala Chekov than what I imagine India to be. But the mist amoung the trees was mystical. Javed on a horse was entertaining. And the dog with the sweet smile who followed us made me happy. We met her while having a tea break and resting our horses. We had just travelled through a grass covered valley, terraced gardens, white washed stone houses and a small river meandering the base of the hill. Cows rested in the pools of water. The dog with the smiling face came up to us wagging her boney white tail. Everyone else ran but I gave her a few pats. We had our tea and set off into the mountains. Passing some workers planting new trees, I noticed that she was still following us. Farther up the hill, she was still there. Each time I called to her, she smiled brightly keeping a safe distance from the horses. Javed and his friend Aslam who have never ridden before were off pioneering the trail while one of the three guides wouldn't let go of my horse's reins. Trying to tell him, I had it under control, he smiled and seemed to understand. I think they were hyper worried about foriegners. As a result, my trip wasn't as much fun as everyone else's. The smiling dog kept me out of a complete funk.
On our way back we passed by a golf course shrouded in mist and then a pack of dogs. They chased the smiling dog with a menacing growl. We stopped for tea and it started to pour. We huddled under the tea stand eating roasted corn and tea (Not me, my stomach was still very senstive) I tried to find the dog. She was gone. The horses stood in the pouring rain. As soon as it let up, we got back on. And there at the first tea stop was the dog with the effervescent smile. When I called to her, she smiled so big, her eyes lit up. This was her stop and we continued on down the road.
We went to a beautiful temple on a hill in Palani. We climbed hundreds of stairs stopping every few minutes as lean, fit people zoomed up to the top. The view was stunning of the coconut tree valley with a large, looming hill literally popping out of the valley. There were very few foreigners in teh temple so I was able to proceed through the inside. I went into another sanctum (not the right word) of a guru (it's all in Tamil and I have no idea who, what where...) but the priest waved me in and I recieved puja of white powder on my forehead. Paintings lined the cave-like room of this man's meditative journey. I tried to decipher the story but couldn't. We watched a young boy get his ears pierced. And then his younger sister. They waved to me gesturing that I should have my ears pierced. And I gestured back, I've got them already I won't be needing your hand sharpened needles boring into my ears.
We then took a rope trolley down the extremely steep hill. A family of a four waited with us. The mischevious boy got a severe yanking and face slapping from his father. Javed and I had just had a discusssion about beating children. This was more like a heated disagreement. So he waited with anticipation for my reaction.
As soon as the trolley arrived suddenly there were hoards of people packed in the small cars. Every window had metal bars. Facing backward teh trolley descended down a mountain pass yellow and pink blossoms which brought me consolation and ease from my mounting fears.
We left in the heat and drove towards Anamali and the wildlife preserve. We travelled through rice fields, coconut trees and green grassy lands. The preserve was closed. So we continuedto drive. We were both hot, headachey and tired when we arrived in Thrissur, home of a beatiful crisp white gothic church. After a meal and searching for a hotel I splurged on an a/c room and spent a glorious night in a fancy hotel.
Today we are off to Allepy for a Backwaters houseboat tour. I did it last year and it's wonderful. I"m killing time in the net while Javed runs some errands.
On our way back we passed by a golf course shrouded in mist and then a pack of dogs. They chased the smiling dog with a menacing growl. We stopped for tea and it started to pour. We huddled under the tea stand eating roasted corn and tea (Not me, my stomach was still very senstive) I tried to find the dog. She was gone. The horses stood in the pouring rain. As soon as it let up, we got back on. And there at the first tea stop was the dog with the effervescent smile. When I called to her, she smiled so big, her eyes lit up. This was her stop and we continued on down the road.
We went to a beautiful temple on a hill in Palani. We climbed hundreds of stairs stopping every few minutes as lean, fit people zoomed up to the top. The view was stunning of the coconut tree valley with a large, looming hill literally popping out of the valley. There were very few foreigners in teh temple so I was able to proceed through the inside. I went into another sanctum (not the right word) of a guru (it's all in Tamil and I have no idea who, what where...) but the priest waved me in and I recieved puja of white powder on my forehead. Paintings lined the cave-like room of this man's meditative journey. I tried to decipher the story but couldn't. We watched a young boy get his ears pierced. And then his younger sister. They waved to me gesturing that I should have my ears pierced. And I gestured back, I've got them already I won't be needing your hand sharpened needles boring into my ears.
We then took a rope trolley down the extremely steep hill. A family of a four waited with us. The mischevious boy got a severe yanking and face slapping from his father. Javed and I had just had a discusssion about beating children. This was more like a heated disagreement. So he waited with anticipation for my reaction.
As soon as the trolley arrived suddenly there were hoards of people packed in the small cars. Every window had metal bars. Facing backward teh trolley descended down a mountain pass yellow and pink blossoms which brought me consolation and ease from my mounting fears.
We left in the heat and drove towards Anamali and the wildlife preserve. We travelled through rice fields, coconut trees and green grassy lands. The preserve was closed. So we continuedto drive. We were both hot, headachey and tired when we arrived in Thrissur, home of a beatiful crisp white gothic church. After a meal and searching for a hotel I splurged on an a/c room and spent a glorious night in a fancy hotel.
Today we are off to Allepy for a Backwaters houseboat tour. I did it last year and it's wonderful. I"m killing time in the net while Javed runs some errands.
posted by Jen at 10:21 PM
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