March 4th: Around the lake

The requisite view from our balcony in the morning...

Kodaikanal is nestled in the Western Ghat Mountains in southern India and is a tourist destination for many Indians (including the recently married). It is cleaner than most areas we have been through, but this might be due to the fact that the southern states (especially Tamil Nadu) tend to be more progressive and less populated (at least compared to Uttar Pradesh). We noted immediately how much better (and wider) the roads were, and that those driving on them actually paid attention to the lines in the road. We were blown away to see people actually signaling to change lanes!

The streets of Kodaikanal

Fresh fruit makes that guys ass itch

We called Maura and Will in the morning and got some bad news. There has been a virus going around, Will had suffered from it and was feeling better, but now Maura was feeling very sick. With a newborn to look after and one of them down, neither would be coming out today.

The lake...

Om mani padme hum..

We spent the day wandering around the small town, which has a nice lake in the center of town. We walked the around the lake taking in the nice, warm weather (and getting sunburnt), checking out the posh villas, watching the many birds, and trying to avoid the packs of loud, roaming Indian teenagers on rented bicycles (who seemed to have taken an interest in us). There were classic small-town tourist attractions, like cotton candy, paddle-boats, horse-back tours around town, carnival novelties (Indian style), and, peddled like saltwater taffy at a depressing coastal town, chocolates.

A Kingfisher (we flew on this guy's airline)

Fruit vendor with nice tropical fruit...

Us and an old boat house
(popular picture spot, believe it or not)

We ate dinner at a well-recommended Tibetan restaurant and headed back to the hotel in the evening.    

A clearer view came in the afternoon (I'm not yet sure about
the altitude difference from the valley below - info to come)