Dy 31 - Wednesday - Kodaikanal

I treat the lads to some French toast and beans for brekkie. Ian's stomach starts aching him and finds it hard to finish. We spend an hour reading and relaxing. Ian begins feeling a lo worse and decides to try and sleep it off. Myself and Peter go to meet the others. We all meet outside Byrant Park. The lads treat themselves to omelets off one of the street vendors. We pay the 5rps entry fee. We are handed 5 old crumpled up tickets. The low floating clouds limit your vision to around 50 feet, making the park seem small and unimpressive. A small rose garden with over 200 varieties, is the main feature, listed in the Rough Guide. I lean over and smell some of the many colourful roses. That wonderful sweet deep fragance greets me like a friend. With little else to see we head to the lakeside. Passing numerous chocolate stands along our route. As in every location in India, each place is famous for something. Kodaikanal has its chocolates and essential oils, and every second shop and stall is selling these homemade produces. We stop and buy a sampling. The lake looks man made and is lined with more stalls and vendors. Swan shaped pedal boats squeak across the surface like drunken flies skirting over a pond This time Tibetan shops selling clothes. We are greeted with smiles. I learn from one lady the word for Hello in Tibetan.

After walking over one third of the lake, we come across a boat yard and inquire about taking out some pedal boats. The place is just closed. The skies open and the rains begin. We take shelter. Order some coffees off a very enterprising vendor that finds us. We make a plan :) We agree to have dinner in town and to return to a blazing fire and some cards in the cottage that night. We jump into a white taxi van and head straight for the town. I found out the previous night the taxi colours are white because Kodai is predominantly a Christian area. We find a little restaurant. Eat, collect some supplies, I Skype home and walk back to the cottage. I arrive to join the lads who are setting up the game of poker. The open fire is flickering away. Its like a scene from an old Irish movie. Whomever had designed the interior to this place was definetely not from India. The furniture was a collection of old French and British pieces. The night was an incredibly pleasant one as we passed the hours at a mere entertainment value of 200rps per person. We finished up at around 2am and were content with our nights entertainment. Ian wasn't feeling any better lying in bed during the whole night,