Day 28 -Sunday - Pondicherry

Awoke at 10am. Started working on Picasa and blog immediately. Wanted to leave the guys to rest as much as possible. Ian got up around 12.30 and Peter arose at around 2pm. We ordered coffee and followed this with a simple collection of sandwiches. Aidan and Greg joint arrived next with ideas of where to go next. A suggestion of heading to the tip of India was put out there. Ian and Peter had already come to a decision of staying another night to play some more. I agreed another night on the soft cold white bed linen, pillows, duvet and mattress might be an acceptable idea. Best nights sleep I had since arriving in India. We agreed we'd look into the our next location over the next hour. Greg and Aidan headed off to check buses. Eoghan arrived as one sandwich we had ordered, an hour earlier, arrived. We rang down and reconfirmed the order. Confusion ensued. Reorder the sandwiches with one for Eoghan. Ian did some travel book and internet research. Kodaikanal seemed like a good location to head to next. A mountainous scenic area at over 2000 metres. We relayed this to Aidan and Greg when we saw them again.

Spent the rest of the day relaxing, sleeping, reading on the private entrance balcony. The Coco swinging bed was a luxury. Eoghan came back again as we ordered coffee and cakes. Tough life at times. Aidan returned to tell us they had booked a bus to Mudrai and they were going to head to Kodaikanal and see what they were going to do from there. We agreed to meet the day after. The boys headed off to pack so I myself and Peter joint shortly afterwards to collect our rucksacks from the Qualithe.

We ordered dinner when we got back. Ian and Peter happily got to order the lamb. I went for a chef's recommended curry. Ian decided on a bottle of red wine. We were brought for different wines in small glasses to taste from. They were all chilled. We tried to explain this to the staff although we were speaking a different language. We asked for an Indian Cabernet Shiraz from the shelf. Eoghan reappeared just in time to order grilled sandwiches in time before getting the bus. The food all arrived just after nine. One hour after ordering and 20 minutes before the private bus to Mudrai. The lads were not impressed. The lamb was cold, although due to hunger and a lack of faith in the issue being resolved, in any form of timely manner, ate the food. The curry I ate was warm, rice cold. The red wine was remarkably good. Aidan, Greg and Eoghan bid us farwell with hugs and smiles all round.

The wine went down a treat. Ian and Peter ordered a cheese platter with a collection of fruits. I ordered the chocolate mousse. The small chunks of cheese were delivered on a bed of chopped lettuce and half the fruits listed, with no crackers. They called for the manager to complain. He said that he thought they wanted the cheese as a dessert and that's why the bed of lettuce was used. Perhaps a famous Indian tradition. Ian very diplomatically explained what he thought of the hotels food service since they arrived. The man was incredibly apologetic and agreed with all the faults. He offered the replacement desserts that he made himself and a bottle of the same wine as a peace offering. It was very acceptable. The wine that is. We spent the next fews hours lounging in a world far from any India I had ever imagined. Perhaps something I had seen in a movie. It was just what the doctor ordered. Boys finished off the evening playing some poker and me to my blog and Picasa. I finally fell asleep at 3 or so in the morning.