MAR 9, 13 .. IN PONDI .. WHAT ABOUT OOTY / KODAIKANAL
Further down in this post .. I go into .. TRAVEL MAP INSTRUCTIONS .. if you want to ‘work-your-way-down’ fine .. if not .. just scroll down now !
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This truth-for-me I can say without reservation ! Hand washing trousers in a bucket has got to be one of the MOST INEFFICIENT WAYS OF USING WATER that was ever conceived ! Last night I washed my light-weight wash-and-wear ‘Dockers’ trousers and I got-the-job-done and they are ‘cleaner’ .. NOT necessarily ‘clean’ .. but certainly much ‘cleaner’ ! At a ‘cost’ of seven buckets of water ! Mainly water to ‘rinse’ them out.
This water inefficiency is NOT a new concept to me ! It began in November of 1990 when .. here in India .. I began the labor-intensive time-consuming job of washing my own clothes.
“Cap send your clothing out to be washed.” Some VERY FEW do this .. MOST do NOT because of the water that will be used from some horrible water-source and because of the possibility of the theft of one’s clothing. I do not want to lose a pair of Levis’ Jeans to some ‘washer dhobie’ because he can get a lot of money for a pair of Levis on the theft-market.
Being so hot here .. by the time I finished I needed to wash MYSELF from the top-of-my-head all the way down to the soles-of-my-feet ! I was wet from the washing job and sweating at the same time ! Needless-to-say I used clean drinking water as my final rinse! Then sitting under my ceiling fan I got cooled down!
But I got that job done (washing me!) in fine fashion too!
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TRAVEL MAP INSTRUCTIONS ..
Yesterday I wrote that I am going to remain in ‘Pondi’ until at least this coming Friday the 15th. I am playing a game of ‘Russian Roulette’ with the weather here in ‘Pondi’. So far it is ‘bearable’ .. that is to say .. I can DO it .. so far .. the heat has not gotten all-that-bad.
When (IF?) it gets really uncomfortable I will consider my options. My options are quite simple. Move to ‘higher-ground’ .. meaning I will go up into the mountains. I have two primary options that I am considering right now. Go back to Kodaikanal which place I dearly loved last year OR go to Ooty .. explore THAT mountain hill-station and THEN go back to Kodaikanal.
Ooty is a new name to you all ! To find Ooty ..
Go to the Travel Map on this site.
At the upper left of the Travel Map you will see six buttons .. the top four buttons are in the shape of a diamond .. these are Pan Up and Pan Down and Pan Left and Pan Right buttons. To move around the map just put your cursor arrow onto a button and click the button.
Directly below the four panning buttons in the diamond shape will be two other buttons .. one directly above the other. These are ZOOM In and ZOOM Out buttons. The top button is a (+) Zoom IN Button and the bottom button is a (-) Zoom OUT Button .. the (+) button Zooms you IN Closer .. the (-) button Zooms you OUT Away .. try it !
To find Ooty .. go to the Travel Map and ..
Find Puducherry (a yellow pin will be in it!) .
Now on the same screen Zoom IN two times using the (+) button at the top left of the Travel Map. Using the up and the down and the left and the right buttons at the top left of the Travel Map to keep Puducherry in view .. move yourself around until almost DUE WEST of Puducherry you will see the large city of Mysore .. and South of Mysore you will see the city of Coimbatore. South of Mysore and North of Coimbatore you will see a tiny city Ooty. You will have to use the Zoom In (+) button to find Ooty.
Why ? .. Why Not ? .. Go to Ooty ?
Ooty is in the Bluegrass Mountain Area at the extreme West side of the India State of Tamil Nadu. Ooty is known as .. THE QUEEN OF THE HILL STATIONS .. and has quite a reputation among the backpackers. A Hill Station is a cool location higher in the mountains where people travel to get-a-break from the sweltering heat of April and May !
Why go to Ooty ? Well .. Why Not ?
To find Kodaikanal (oh go ahead .. be daring!) again begin with finding Puducherry .. South and West of Puducherry find the sizeable city of MADURAI .. now Kodaikanal will be North and West of Madurai .. almost on-a-line between Madurai and Ooty .. being so small .. you will have to (+) Zoom IN to find Kodaikanal ..
For the adventurous among you .. GOOD LUCK finding Ooty and Kodaikanal!
Time to sign-off for now .. With Joy .. Cap ..
NOW I WILL GO SIT BY THE BAY AND WATCH THE BREAKERS ROLL IN !
Do any of you know how many shots I have to take to ‘capture’ the spray of the surf shooting-into-the-air as you see above to the left! Such a job! Smiles!