Today was the long dreaded ride up the mountain to Thekkady. I did not throw up. Yay! Because of my body's reaction the one time I had to ride in the very back of the van, I am now allotted the seat immediately behind the driver. This means the coldest air from the AC hits my face and I don't have to deal with as much vibration. The erractic motion from the driver weaving in and out of traffic and the constant start/stop are the same no matter where anyone sits in the van. Today I also made use of the ginger gum our instructor had and took extra of the Stugeron (motion sickness meds). I was sleepy but not any more so than my seat mate with the really hard head. I know it's hard from the couple times it slammed into my shoulder. It had to be uncomfortable for him, and he always appologized, but I gave him my travel pillow--it just seemed like he needed it more (for cushion if nothing else! ;).
We did stop a couple times, which helped a lot. Once for breakfast, once for tea, and once just to look at the scenery. Once we'd checked into our hotel room (and ate some lunch) we were off to view a spice plantation and see some elephants. Yes, I rode the elephant, but we actually went on a walk about on a trail in the woods and I communed with her the entire time. I thanked her for allowing us to ride on her back and she peed and pooped. I'm not sure if that was her response or just the function of the moment. It was a wonderful experience.
We finished the evening with an amazing martial arts performance where swords, metal bands, metal poles, acrobats, and fire combined to make an hour pass by in only a few minutes. I was on my feet alot shouting and clapping after each performance. Dinner finished out the night with a short stop to pick up some cashews from a Kudumbarshee micro-enterprise that sells to tourists (and looks like every other mom and pop business on the street).
Off to bed for now with an early wake up (5am) to go to a nature preserve before heading out of the mountains and back to Trivandrum. Night all.
We did stop a couple times, which helped a lot. Once for breakfast, once for tea, and once just to look at the scenery. Once we'd checked into our hotel room (and ate some lunch) we were off to view a spice plantation and see some elephants. Yes, I rode the elephant, but we actually went on a walk about on a trail in the woods and I communed with her the entire time. I thanked her for allowing us to ride on her back and she peed and pooped. I'm not sure if that was her response or just the function of the moment. It was a wonderful experience.
We finished the evening with an amazing martial arts performance where swords, metal bands, metal poles, acrobats, and fire combined to make an hour pass by in only a few minutes. I was on my feet alot shouting and clapping after each performance. Dinner finished out the night with a short stop to pick up some cashews from a Kudumbarshee micro-enterprise that sells to tourists (and looks like every other mom and pop business on the street).
Off to bed for now with an early wake up (5am) to go to a nature preserve before heading out of the mountains and back to Trivandrum. Night all.
No comments:
Post a Comment