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!!