The Jungle Book! (Kodai hike, September 19th)

We awoke to a fresh cup of coffee and two pieces of chocolate cake from our new friend, Angel, Rani and Jason's very sweet daughter. She has this beautiful, long, black hair, goes almost to her knees. While we sat there enjoying our coffee, there was a knock on the door from our hiking guide, Peter. He joined us for a delicious breakfast. This new kind of fried, puffy chapatti. So good.
Equipped with our cameras, backpacks and ridiculous, knee-high, man socks we bought in town we headed out with Peter for our '3 hour' hike to Dolphin Nose rock. We walked through the town, passing so many cows, trudging in the mud and lazing around munching on grass in fields of flowers. Women carrying wood on their heads passed us while we walked, off the main road onto winding paths lined with flowers. After about a mile we reached our first viewing point. It was unbelievable, indescribable. We are so high up in the mountains, the clouds are below us, nestled in the blue mountains. We hiked for many hours, trying to avoid slipping down the steep rock paths or tripping on the huge roots carpeting the ground. The honeymooning couples, brides dressed in beautiful saris with bare feet walked beside us, carefully navigating the muddy stones. It was magical being up in the green mountains, misty clouds all around us, and waterfalls and eucalyptus trees painting the mountains side. There were colorful houses with bright laundry hanging outside and people washing their clothes by the river. We climbed out on the edge of the rocks sticking out into the sky, the mountains all around us, with the clouds all around us. Sometimes the white mist would wrap around us so that everything was white, but then it would clear and the incredible green mountains leading up to the flat plains (where Bethania Orphanage and Chandra's school are) would come into sight. I was so scared standing on those rocks, sticking out into the thin air, the clouds all around, but I was brave for some photos. Hahaa.
After taking in the views we headed back up the mountain huffing and puffing in the thin air, stopping on small benches for breaks along the way, while the smiling honeymoon couples skipped ahead of us. Peter our guide taught us lots of Tamil words during our hike, and we practiced as we walked, learning 'how are you?' 'Good.' 'Tree, cow' all in Tamil. Peter says we'll be speaking good Tamil by the time we leave in November.
We hiked to a huge set of waterfalls, deep in the jungle. It was incredible, beautiful waterfalls, jungle trees and vines all around us as we climbed in the waterfall and balanced on the rocks in the river. The jungle was so full of clouds and mist. Peter pointed out the bison footprints in the mud and the place where he saw a 9 foot long black python. It was like out of jungle book..
Just as we reached the road, after leaving the waterfalls, it began to pour and we had to duck inside a tiny hut to escape the rain. Luckily I was there to entertain with singing! No need to thank me, kelsey and peter.
We then enjoyed a nice lunch at a Tibetan restaurant in town, full of poster of the Dalai Lama and signs saying '50 years, occupation.'
After our delicious lunch we headed home for coffee with Rani's family and to practice our newly learned Tamil.
Tomorrow is our last day in Kodai before we head back to the hot, dry plains with Chandra. :)