Update from KAREN (Monday) What a day. The longest day in history! We got up and left at 4am without breakfast or washi9ng, and in some cases sleep, we set off in search of tigers, elephants and exotic Indian animals, in our minibus, with the promise of a ride on an elephant! Travelling windy roads on no sleep lefty many of us grumpy and travel sick apart from Richard who was surprisingly perky and kept up conversation for the whole 4 hour journey! Not sure whether we ate but then we entered the tiger reserve full of excitement and expectation. The first sighting of wild elephants was amazing. On journey to the elephant ride we saw both wild and domesticated elephants-truly amazing! We arrived at the elephant part with the incredible news there was no elephants to ride on!! It was too sloppy for the elephant! So instead after refreshing ourselves in the lovely rest room we set off in someone else’s minibus to search for tigers! Suffice to say we didn’t see a tiger or as many elephants on the way in but we did see a Gaur!! We were also told off by a chap for talking “This is not a coffee ride.” right he was. We saw the elephants and headed for breakfast and the cleanest toilets in India, according to Richard (whose standards appear to be ok with a loo brush in the hand basin)!! Back on the minibus to Ooty. We walked albeit slowly and with slightly jelly legs round the botanical gardens created, of course by the British 100 years ago. Chinese for LUNCH!! What a difference a curry free meal made to all our spirits. But they were soon to be deflated when we got on the train. We jumped one 1st class carriage, got kicked off and jumped into 2nd class! But the relative comfort once we remolded our legs and knees we set off. Some incredible, amazing and breathtaking scenery. Truly beautiful. Lots of mountains and green plantations. Then from our relative space in 2nd class was moved to a cramped 1st class. Though we did manage to get tea! Incredible journey in total 3 and a half hours on the slowest train in the world (1hour by car). Though Gord did get the first facial wash!! We got out at Kalar full of joy and good humor ready to say goodbye to the kids at the orphanage. There was both joy and sadness as we played with the children. It was very hard to put into word show we felt. It was full on and there was a blur of emotion. We sang “Our God is a great big God.” Louder than ever and prayed blessings for the kids. Tried hard not to tell them we would see them soon. Both joy to have seen them but heart breaking to leave. They are all so beautiful, I am sure we will always remember them. Late back to hotel…quick shower and food before bed at 11pm.
Posted on: Thu, 04 Jul 2013 08:51:25 +0000
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