We spent the weekend in the mountain town of Kodaikanal. It was beautiful there. On the way up the mountain we stopped at a couple scenic overlooks and took pictures of waterfalls. One is the tallest fall in India. It was so pretty, and provided the backdrop for an even more impressive valley veiw below. Once we got to Kodaikanal and checked into the resort, we visited a lake that offered shopping, horseback riding, boating and biking. I rode a horse around the lake and did a lot of shopping. I got some really awesome souveniers for people! I can't wait to deliver them! Lauren and I rented a 4 person peddle boat with 2 other girls from the hospital group for a half hour. However, once we got out to the middle of the boating area, our boat starting taking on water. Unfortunately, the bulk of it was in my seat and under my feet! I was soaked! Since we were in the mountains, it was much cooler up there and I was in for a very chilly and unconfortable night! We ended up heading back to the dock having only used up about 15 minutes of our time. We got some fun picture though. :-)
Saturday night, we had a bonfire at the hotel with a huge buffet and music. It was a really nice break from the busy, noisy city of Madurai, and all three groups (education, social work and microfinance) were there. I got a chance to get to know some of the other people outside the education group. We left early Sunday morning so we could make several stops on the way down the mountain. Most of the places offered the same kinds of tourist shops, but there were a couple stops that ended up being quite eventful! We stopped at a scenic overlook, and there were monkeys everywhere!! We had a couple people get growled at by monkeys and one person even got their package of cookies stolen right out of their hand! The monkeys were all over our vans. I even saw one pulling at the door handle! They have definitely figured out how to scavange the tourist vehicles! When our van was loaded and waiting for the others to get loaded, a couple monkeys climbed up on the roof of our van and were playing with us, tapping on the windows and hanging over the edge. Sentil, our driver, shooed them away with a stick.
At the next stop, we had a half hour to walk around in a wooded area. I wasn't really sure who thought it would be a good idea to walk around in the woods for a half hour, but it was a very beautiful place. Unfortunately, it was still teaming with monkeys. Since there weren't vendors/food stands at this sight, there were fewer monkeys, but they were just as naughty. When we first arrived, as the last few people were getting out of the van, a monkey climbed through an open window and scared the daylights out of the people still waiting to get out! The van drivers came to the rescue again and got the monkey out quickly, but a few of the people were pretty shaken up by the event! Then, I was walking with a few others, including the other Kari, and a monkey came charging at Kari, growling. We all scattered and it kept after Kari. She yelled "NO!" at it, but it kept growling and eyeing her purse. Bupender, the T.A. for the social work group, ran at the monkey with a stick and was throwing sticks and pine cones and it went away. It was one of those moments where I was thankful it wasn't me, worried for Kari and seriously wishing I'd been filming! lol.
As we continued down the mountain, we stopped for shopping a couple more times, and stopped for lunch. Several of us headed straight for the pizza parlor! I think we were just in need of some American food. I know I was. I love the Indian food, but it's not really something you want to eat 3 meals a day. After lunch, we were supposed to descend the mountain without stopping, but it didn't exactly work out that way for my van. About 60 km from Madurai (still about 1/2 way up the mountain) our brakes overheated and we were coasting down the mountain road because we weren't able to stop the van. A few people were freaking out, but I was just sitting back, enjoying the ride. I figured it wouldn't do any good to freak out, and would probably just distract Sentil from getting us to safety. At one point, the driver of another van (the one 2 of the professors were in) went ahead of us and stopped up the road, got out of his van and started sprinting along side our van with a big rock. He tried to throw it under the tire to stop us but we just kept going. Then, because we were moving so slow, the monkeys got upset and a whole troop of monkeys started chasing our van, growling at us and showing their teeth (a sign of aggression). Eventually they gave up chase and Sentil found a spot in the road that leveled out, then went slightly uphill. There was also a rock quarry right at the end of the uphill slope, so he headed for that. Luckily, the van stopped on the level part. We waited on the roadside (monkey trouble free) for about 30 minutes so the breaks could cool down. Apparently this happens frequently and Sentil knew what he was doing (although he had limited English to convey this to us). The rest of the trip, once we got going again, was uneventful. I was exhausted when I got back to the hotel, so I skipped the blog and went straight to bed!
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