Sunday and Monday in Kodai

Sunday and Monday
Sunday was a quiet day with a short morning walk, followed by dosa (rice pancakes with a spicy potato filling) sambar and Puri. This is a typical south Indian breakfast.
We met Vasthant and his wife Malini at the Kodi Golf Club for a beer, chat and lunch. We were feasted with snacks along with the beer, and I was full even before lunch was served. Sriya tried her hand at golf by hitting a few balls with some coaching from Vasthant, who has a very low handicap (12?)

We met some of their friends and then visited their home on the school grounds for some tea and to meet their two kids who had been off at a picnic. One thing that was very obvious is that Kodi is a very safe place for kids and there is little crime of any sort. A refreshing change.
We returned home and watched a Hindi movie (with some English subtitles and helpful commentary from Sriya). Nobody burst into song but there was a moral to the story and it was quite good and certainly fun.

We left Kodi this morning (Monday) around 8am and came down the mountain in good shape and headed towards Trichi (not the full name but what it is known as locally) and on to Tanjore to visit a huge temple.

The main temple was built in 1014 and took about 6 years to complete. It is incredible and the carving on the outside is intricate and very detailed. There was no room for error as the stone, which came from 3 or 4 different areas was placed before being carved. The top of the main tower is topped by what looks like a single stone, but is in fact several stones. The total weight of the top is over 80 tons.

The main tower is about 60m tall (~200ft) and the overall geometry in coordination with the other buildings is accurate to within about 5cm (2 inches). It is an extraordinary piece of architecture even before you start to consider the religious aspects. The logistics and engineering involved and the level of accuracy is phenomenal and something we would have as a goal with today’s technology.

 

 

There must have been some different measurement system because clearly the metric system (as westerners know it,) and the imperial system were not used in those times.
We were able to visit several of the smaller shrines in the complex and received blessings at each. I am sure I will need each and every one of them in the coming weeks.

 

Temple touring is hard work!!

We drove on about another hour to stay at an eco hotel that is out in the rural area. I will discuss this in a separate post.
I had a note today from a long time friend Graham who is following the blog. He said “Andy ... second thing I do every morning is look at your blog ... am devastated if you have no connection & have to wait another day !!!! ... keep it up & have fun”
Nice to know the work is not going unnoticed!!

Kodai More!

 Apologies. This is a duplicate post in error



Saturday evening,

(or at the least started then). We have had a really nice day in Kodi with a relaxed morning at the house and then a good guided hike this afternoon. We went to Dolphin Point, which is down a very steep and rough path and about 2km long dropping about 600 ft in that time. There were loads of small stores or stands selling drinks potato chips and other snacks, and unfortunately there is much evidence of packaging just thrown on the ground, which of course distracts from the connection with nature. 

 

 

Electricity seemed to be available for most of the houses and several had satellite dishes.

There were lots of other people hiking as well. The path that we took continued and you could see some small tightly packed villages several kilometers further on and our guide said that the only way to get there was by foot as the path was too rough for bicycles or mopeds. I did not see any donkeys or similar pack animals, as that would have been the only other option. The path continued down to the plains below Kodi, which was 35 miles by road and would have been a similar or possibly slightly longer distance. Produce like oranges are traded up the mountain from the valley and nuts and wood etc traded down the hill.

We went out to dinner this evening to celebrate Sriya’s birthday and she received many calls today from friends and relatives. 

 

  

  

Seems that abandoned  crofts are not limited to Ireland and Shetland!

Sounds like it is too late for this tree. Read the sign!

It is Vivek’s birthday tomorrow and he is joking that he will not get as many calls.

Vasthant a friend of Vivek’s from third grade, who is now the athletic director for the Kodi International School, joined us for dinner.

The school has been in existence for over 100 years and was originally called “The American School”.

It is a boarding school and has about 600 students and a teaching staff of around 130. About 60% of the students are Indian , and the others are predominantly from Korea, Bhutan, and Thailand with a small number from the UK, USA and other places. It sounds like a school with excellent academics and some good connections to top-flight universities, but also a fairly relaxed overall atmosphere. I was impressed with how enthusiastic Vasthant was about the school and how positive he is about the students and their capabilities. I know of a couple of people who were students and all spoke positively about their experience.

Vasthant’s wife, Malini is the school doctor and a former student.

There are many parallels with the High School I went to many years ago in England.
Apologies for the mixed font. Default is Ariel. Sorry Bruce!!

Kodai More!

Saturday evening,

(or at the least started then). We have had a really nice day in Kodi with a relaxed morning at the house and then a good guided hike this afternoon. We went to Dolphin Point, which is down a very steep and rough path and about 2km long dropping about 600 ft in that time. There were loads of small stores or stands selling drinks potato chips and other snacks, and unfortunately there is much evidence of packaging just thrown on the ground, which of course distracts from the connection with nature. 

 

 

Electricity seemed to be available for most of the houses and several had satellite dishes.

There were lots of other people hiking as well. The path that we took continued and you could see some small tightly packed villages several kilometers further on and our guide said that the only way to get there was by foot as the path was too rough for bicycles or mopeds. I did not see any donkeys or similar pack animals, as that would have been the only other option. The path continued down to the plains below Kodi, which was 35 miles by road and would have been a similar or possibly slightly longer distance. Produce like oranges are traded up the mountain from the valley and nuts and wood etc traded down the hill.

We went out to dinner this evening to celebrate Sriya’s birthday and she received many calls today from friends and relatives. 

 

  

  

Seems that abandoned  crofts are not limited to Ireland and Shetland!

Sounds like it is too late for this tree. Read the sign!

It is Vivek’s birthday tomorrow and he is joking that he will not get as many calls.

Vasthant a friend of Vivek’s from third grade, who is now the athletic director for the Kodi International School, joined us for dinner.

The school has been in existence for over 100 years and was originally called “The American School”.

It is a boarding school and has about 600 students and a teaching staff of around 130. About 60% of the students are Indian , and the others are predominantly from Korea, Bhutan, and Thailand with a small number from the UK, USA and other places. It sounds like a school with excellent academics and some good connections to top-flight universities, but also a fairly relaxed overall atmosphere. I was impressed with how enthusiastic Vasthant was about the school and how positive he is about the students and their capabilities. I know of a couple of people who were students and all spoke positively about their experience.

Vasthant’s wife, Malini is the school doctor and a former student.

There are many parallels with the High School I went to many years ago in England.
Apologies for the mixed font. Default is Ariel. Sorry Bruce!!