It is 6am. we are at 1600m and it is cold enough for me to be wearing a jersey and to snuggle into my blanket. the sun is rising through the banana trees in front of me and I can make out a red glow within the clouds above the hills that will be the point of the suns appearance. This is my favorite part of my day.
In front of the sunrise are the silhouettes of the banana plantation and below in the shadows, coffee is under planted. Interspersed is the occasional Mango, Orange and avocado tree.the whole farm drops steeply down down down to the Tamil flats way below us and dotted amongst the plantings clinging to the hillside are perhaps 15 dwellings some the homes of the 5 families that live here full time and the rest are cottages and huts for visitors like us. our home is called Ganga. a stone and cement construction of maybe 30 years with an old tin roof. It has a bed/ lounge/kitchen area as one room and a bathroom /toilet with a very large iron bath.. Hot water is heated on the gas stove in the kitchen and the kids take their baths in buckets because the bath is so impossibly huge to fill with warm water.
Every morning I join the yoga class in the yoga center that is built around a rock to accommodate its size on the side of the hill. After class Boyd dissapears to help construct the house of one of the residents here.
The kids and I amuse ourselves by picking coffee or climbing orange trees and shaking them vigorously , then pouncing on the oranges before they catapult down the steep bank. sometimes we just sit contemplating the view and eat coconuts. we cook our own meals on a gas stove and sometimes foray into the local village for all you can eat dosas ( a kind of fermented pancake)for the whole family for 3 dollers......a current personal addiction.
Today we will head to Kodaikanal on the bus for groceries and to satisfy another addiction......Parotas.... a kind of Indian fried bread with the texture and oil content of a croissant. Plus we need more henna for Tara the henna tattoo artist and of course to sample the home made chocolate from the silly number of boutique chocolate makers. :-)
In front of the sunrise are the silhouettes of the banana plantation and below in the shadows, coffee is under planted. Interspersed is the occasional Mango, Orange and avocado tree.the whole farm drops steeply down down down to the Tamil flats way below us and dotted amongst the plantings clinging to the hillside are perhaps 15 dwellings some the homes of the 5 families that live here full time and the rest are cottages and huts for visitors like us. our home is called Ganga. a stone and cement construction of maybe 30 years with an old tin roof. It has a bed/ lounge/kitchen area as one room and a bathroom /toilet with a very large iron bath.. Hot water is heated on the gas stove in the kitchen and the kids take their baths in buckets because the bath is so impossibly huge to fill with warm water.
Every morning I join the yoga class in the yoga center that is built around a rock to accommodate its size on the side of the hill. After class Boyd dissapears to help construct the house of one of the residents here.
The kids and I amuse ourselves by picking coffee or climbing orange trees and shaking them vigorously , then pouncing on the oranges before they catapult down the steep bank. sometimes we just sit contemplating the view and eat coconuts. we cook our own meals on a gas stove and sometimes foray into the local village for all you can eat dosas ( a kind of fermented pancake)for the whole family for 3 dollers......a current personal addiction.
Today we will head to Kodaikanal on the bus for groceries and to satisfy another addiction......Parotas.... a kind of Indian fried bread with the texture and oil content of a croissant. Plus we need more henna for Tara the henna tattoo artist and of course to sample the home made chocolate from the silly number of boutique chocolate makers. :-)
