March 6th: Breakfast at Dash’s and the Sunday Farmer’s Market

A chipmunk eating breakfast on a grassy knoll

Dash's kitchen... witness the magic

We met Will and Maura to walk to town for breakfast around 10:00 am. On the way we stopped to say hello to some friends of theirs and were invited to eat at Dash’s house (the theatre teacher for the International School). Dash said she preferred company with her usual Sunday morning French toast and screwdrivers. We made a trip to the store on Will’s bike and to pick up more eggs, etc. while Dash thawed bacon and sausage (a virtual delicacy here in India) and Emily grated some nationally-famous cheddar-style cheese made right here in Kodaikanal at a company started by an International School alumni. We had bacon, sausage, scrambled eggs with cheese, French toast with syrup and, of course, a tasty concoction of vanilla vodka with       orange juice, cranberry juice and lime – a collaborative effort and our best breakfast so far! 

Sunday cocktails

After a very high calorie morning we were off to the Sunday Farmer’s Market in the middle of town. All of the farmers from the plains below transport their goods up the hill for this weekly event, selling everything from vegetables and spices to “fresh” and dried fish.

Breakfast with Dash (left)

Going to the Sunday Market

OK - Another $10 to the one that can identify these things...

Shallots if I remember correctly...

Spices, lentils, etc.

"No thanks, baji"

We spent some time winding down at Will and Maura’s and went for dosas for dinner (more melted cheese goodness). It was a very high calorie day when all was said and done. 

(Frickin' retards) Going to town

Monkey picture of the day

March 5th: Dolphin’s Nose & Maura, Will, and baby Muirenn

Our view from the trail to Dolphin's nose (above the clouds!)

The clouds make their way up the steep hillside

In the morning, we got in touch with Will and Maura and were happy to hear that Maura was feeling a bit better. We made plans to meet up in the afternoon and headed out for a hike to a rock formation called Dolphin’s Nose, at Will’s suggestion.

The hike takes about an hour and a half, winding through small villages and down a long, steep path to a very dramatic rock precipice that drops off at least 1000 ft on one side. We were a too nervous to get too close that edge (although that wasn’t the case for all the tourists there), but managed to get some nice pictures and enjoy the stunning views.

After hiking back up the hill we finally headed over to Maura and Will’s house to see them and their baby, Muirenn (who was exactly one month old today). The two of them moved here three and a half years ago to teach at the Kodaikanal International School, a boarding school for grades K-12, which teaches the children of many of India’s wealthier foreign (and Indian) families. We spent the rest of the afternoon and evening catching up and getting to know the newest member of my family!

The building in the distance is our hotel

This was the side with the 1000+ ft drop-off! 

Emily on the Dolphin's nose

"I think I may have spotted something, governor, I'm damned certain of it..."

(Gutter Monkey)

Emily with one-month-old Muirenn (her newest 1st cousin once removed)

Muirenn's happy parents, Maura and Will 

Cats, Muirenn, Chris (front to back)

Opening gifts from family far away (while Idli
watches from the stairs)...

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)

March 3rd: Off to Kodaikanal

This map shows the road route but you get the point

We made our 1:30 pm flight to Madurai (via Chennai, about five hours total) and met our driver who would take us the rest of the way into the Western Ghat mountains to Kodaikanal (another 3 hours drive).

I took a few pictures of the gorgeous tropical
sun setting in the haze   

We only had about 40 minutes of daylight left once we were landed, so we missed the views as we drove high up into the mountains. We arrived at our hotel around 10 pm and could see lights from the towns and villages miles below us – I couldn’t wait to see what the light of the morning would show! We then made arrangements to have breakfast with Emily’s cousin, Maura, and her husband, Will, the next day. We slept well on beds that were finally long enough for us!

You can see the mountains we are headed to just in front of the setting sun

March 2nd: Rough haul back to Delhi

We woke up feeling slightly better than the day before but still quite weak. We managed to pack our stuff and have a very small breakfast (it seemed like we had briefly forgotten what eating was like).

Airport near Dharamshala (the last time I was here no pictures
were allowed) Also noteworthy, is that our airline began it's
life as a lowly Indian beer company (Kingfisher)
 - I hope their air service is nothing like their beer! 

The airport was down the hill in the valley and we gave ourselves a fair amount of time to catch our plane to Delhi where we would stay the night, leaving for Kodaikanal in the morning. We managed to avoid getting ill on the car ride down (about an hour) and “enjoyed” the small terminal at the military base-turned commercial airport. The hour and a half flight made the 15 hour drive from Rishikesh seem arcane and old-world-ish. When we descended into Delhi the haze was unbelievable – the local meteorologist called for sunny with 100% chance of smoke.

Forecast for Delhi

We returned to our hotel in Delhi and were visited briefly by an old friend of mine (just two years my junior) from my previous trips, Samula Kahn (a very accomplished Indian vocalist who is widely thought to be the next great master of the family line, Kirana Gharana, which I studied). We made arrangements to meet with him again when Emily and I return to Delhi on the tenth.

We continued to try nursing ourselves back to health at the hotel while repacking for the departure in the morning to a much warmer climate.

March 1st: Bad food…

Not much to say about the day, except that at around 2:30 am Emily and I both woke up vomiting – we were clearly suffering from food poisoning. We were both physically ill all night until around 10:00 am and spent the whole day miserable in bed, hoping we would be able to manage packing and the trip to the airport the next morning (we head back to Delhi for a night and then onto Kodaikanal in the south to visit Emily's cousin Maura, husband Will, and their new baby, Muirenn).

We were both wary of eating at the hotel’s restaurant because it was always empty – not to mention that we’d also had a strange feeling about it – unfortunately, we didn’t listen to our instincts.

We lost a whole day bedridden and had no real recourse except to try to stay hydrated and get better as soon as we could.

(Sorry, no pictures - trust me, you don't wanna see this anyway)

Feb. 28th: The Tsuglagkhang Complex

Also known as H.H. Dalai Lama’s residence (or photang) and the exile equivalent of the sacred Jokhang Temple in Lhasa, Tibet, the Tsuglagkhang Complex is the primary destination for Buddhist pilgrims, and is where the Dalai Lama holds his once-a-year public teachings (as well as private gatherings, teachings, and affairs of state). I was fortunate enough to attend his public teachings in 2001, however, as one can imagine, it was difficult to get closer than about 40 feet to him because these areas are reserved for actual monks – still, it was quite inspiring to see him in person back then.

This is were H.H. holds his teachings...
 (this area is packed with monks!)

We were not permitted to take photographs throughout most of the temple so we don’t have a lot of pictures to show, but the statues and altars were beautiful. The Dalai Lama was on the grounds, somewhere, but busy, I’m sure, with more important things than entertaining us. He is scheduled to commemorate the 52^nd anniversary of the Tibetan National Uprising Day (when Tibetans finally, and unsuccessfully, tried to fight back against the invading Chinese) on March 10^th - unfortunately we will have left Dharamshala by then. (Visit www.dalailama.com for all the info you could ever want on His Holiness.)

The complex sits on the edge of the mountains with views of the mountains above (the Dhauladhar Range) and the Kungra Valley bellow.

Chortan Buddhist Temple in McLeod Ganj

We ate lunch at a restaurant overlooking the McLeod Ganj’s hub of activity – the jumping off point for new arrivals – and spent some more time shopping in the town’s wonderful shops. We ate dinner at our hotel’s restaurant for the first time, sharing a thali dinner between the two of us. 

Some local critters doin' their thing outside our balcony...

Nice try, Ryan, but this is not an asiatic brush-tailed porcupine...