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Exotic temples, curry spices, and tea are just a few of the pleasures that South India has to offer as I discovered during my recent excursion to the southern state of Tamil Nadu.   My boyfriend and I set off to fly from London to S. India for a ten-day holiday to visit his family in Coonoor.  Because India is such a large country, direct flights into southern cities from abroad are hard to find.  Due to our short holiday break, we had to choose the quickest travel route by flying to Bombay first and then taking an internal flight to Coimbatore.  As Coonoor is a relatively small town, most visitors fly into the nearby industrial city of Coimbatore.  The flight to Bombay was quite pleasant overall. British Airways tends to be pretty consistent although I’m still convinced the seats are getting smaller in economy class. Arriving into Bombay was unusual. Apparently we had arrived on their celebrated ‘day of tourism,’ so they serenaded us with Indian music as we stepped off the plane.  Normally, I would have been delighted, but at 2am I was groggy and not in the mood to wait in a long immigration. We later found our hotel and slept for the night.  The next day we continbued on to Coimbatore. The Jet Airway flight was very comfortable, we arrived safe and sound into Coimbatore airport.  My boyfriend’s father was the only pale face in the crowd, which made him easily recognizable.  We were very pleased to see him and anxious to finally get someplace to relax.  The drive to Coonoor was

April Palmer is originally from Orlando, Florida, but has also lived in Maryland and Tennessee. She graduated from the University of Tennessee in 2000 and has been living abroad ever since. She currently lives in London, England,  attending graduate school to earn an M.A. in Mass Communications.  By August 2002 she hopes to be graduated and to have found the ‘perfect’ job!  April says that she loves living abroad, because it has allowed her to travel meet fantastic people. She also says that through all her travels and experiences she has come to really appreciate the country of her birth and looks forward to returning home. .. Additional Resources Living Overseas  Unique Lifestyles  International Jobs Marketplace  Living and Working in Asia Pacific  Contact April Palmer  .

To give you a bit of background on the area, Nilgiri or ‘Blue Mountains’ is the oldest and second highest mountain range in India.  Coonoor is one of the three Nilgiri Hill Stations you come to after leaving the 

southern plains.  If you go a bit further north, up to 7,000ft, you reach the Ootacamund (Ooty) area of the Toda, a tribal people whose belief systems and practices centre on the buffalo.  There are single-storey stone cottages and bijou fenced flower gardens all throughout Ooty.  Up in the hills, the air is so fresh and even the water is soft.  We enjoyed the tropical climate as we strolled through tea plantations.  The landscaping was amazing: tea bushes symmetrically line the hills making it easy for the workers to pick the leaves.  There are small villages situated throughout the hills where people stay busy washing their clothes and doing their daily chores.  As we walked we discovered several small colourful puja (prayer) temples for the local Hindu people.  The people in these lands are religiously diverse --  there are Muslims, Christians, Jainist, and Hindu.  People are very dedicated to their religious beliefs and rituals. I was especially impressed with how hard the women work, they carry large sacks of food and wood on top of their heads while walking for miles into town.  Almost every woman wears a sari as part of the Indian tradition.  Saris come in all different colours with various unique designs interwoven in the fabric.  The Tamil people of southern India are much darker in skin colour than northern Indians. On day four, we drove up through Ooty to shop for a bit before heading to Bamboo Banks for lunch.  Ooty isn’t much different from Coonoor except that it is more commercialised and a bit

larger.  The views of the mountains as you drive down from Ooty are breathtaking.  The roads are narrow and bumpy.  Cows wander aimlessly through the streets as you drive along, so you have to constantly stay on guard for people and animals.

Several times I requested to pull over when I wanted to capture a ‘Kodak moment.’  For one stop there was a beautiful view of the hills, but I was more curious to watch a local elderly man as he stood on a giant rock looking into the distance. His eyes told a story as he looked into the distance; it was a moment that I will cherish.  It was exciting to finally reach the dry desert-like landscape of our intended destination; there were large numbers of cactus along the side of the road.

Bamboo Banks was difficult to find, because of its off-road location.  It is basically a campground of cabins, stables, outside patios and beautiful gardens.  My boyfriend’s parents have known the owner and his wife for many years, so they were happy to meet us.  They prepared a huge Indian lunch for us and some other visitors in town.  The owner has a reputation for being outspoken about controversial subjects, so I was forewarned not to take him too seriously.  Around 5:30 pm, we headed into the

Mudumalai jungle to see the elephants being fed.  We looked for tigers and leopards but we only saw peacocks and some deer.  There were several adult and young elephants.  They were surprisingly tame and friendly; we were able to touch them and take pictures.  Two of the elephants had to participate in a puja (prayer) session.  Basically they made them kneel down and ring a bell as the people walked in a circle. The trainers appear to take very good care of them and feed them well. On the drive back, we managed to photograph two black face monkeys; they are so full of personality, and both were eager to pose for the camera.  We drove through a village on the way back to Bamboo Banks and could hear loud singing and drum playing coming from one of the Muslim temples.  Our driver informed us that it was a call

for prayer.  It is amazing how people of various religions live together in peace.  In India, people seem to accept each other’s differences, more so than in other neighbouring countries.

We checked into our cabin once we returned to Bamboo Banks.  Although it looked nice from the outside, the inside was crawling with insects.  The shower was home to a family of daddy-long leg spiders, and the toilet was infested with an army of ants. We couldn’t wait to head out for dinner.  The food was amazing; we had several different choices of curry, soup, balsmati rice and all with the sauces that go well with an Indian meal.  We finished it off with a nice desert wine and chocolate cake.  The best part was the Kulfi (Indian Ice Cream) it had nuts and various flavouring that made it so yummy!  We listened to a bit of the owner’s political rhetoric and then decided to get some sleep.  At about 5am, the Hindu temple decided to sound the music and call everyone into prayer. I relaxed to the cultural experience.
 

We later returned to the jungle.  It was very misty and quite cool, but that just made the setting all the more alive.  In the jungle, you imagine tigers and wild elephants appearing at any moment; however, that usually isn’t the case. Our elephant was very friendly and quite cute. The trainers tend to be very small and agile so they can sit on the elephant’s head and steer with a stick. We saw deer, red squirrels, and peacocks.  Our elephant was so happy to be touched.  Apparently Indian elephants are very tame and passive compared to the African elephant, which can be very dangerous.  The drive back to Coonoor was up hill for most of the way.  I tried to take some pictures of the lovely scenery, but the fog made it difficult to get a clear view.  The next day we decided to enjoy the great weather and take some golf lessons at the local country club or Wellington Club.  Inside the club, it is amazing to see all the memorabilia of the British days.  There are pistols on the wall and large portraits of British generals who fought in battles.  After our game of golf, we sat in the old bar and enjoyed a Nimbu Panni (lime juice and soda), which is quite a refreshing drink on a warm day.  The golf course was very busy as there are many locals and visiting military officials who play often.  Later that afternoon we went for another long walk through the tea plantations and villages.

Just being surrounded by wilderness and fresh air makes you appreciate life again.  On the final day we got an early start and headed for a beautiful area at the southern end of the Emerald Dam called Avalanche. We drove through many small villages along the way.  People walk along the roads carrying loads of heavy sacks of food on their heads.  The elderly work in the fields ploughing and stray dogs run everywhere through the streets. There was no sign of starvation ever being a problem because the land is so fertile in India; they can grow different crops.
 

Upon arriving to Avalanche, we parked the car in a small village and took our picnic basket down to a clearing by the lake.  The views were breath taking.  Normally during the monsoon season in India, the area where we were sitting would have been at our waist in water.  Although it appears at first to be dessert like if you look over your shoulder there are large dense forests of green everywhere.  There were no unusual noises, just peaceful sounds of nature all around us.  We ate a delicious Indian lunch of Perathas with chicken kebabs and then took a walk. On the drive back, I was able to take some pictures of the puja temples and villages along the way.  That night, we packed our bags and prepared for the long journey home.  In reflecting back to the ten days, we had an amazing time, full of adventure and experiences that we will cherish forever!

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