Yelagiri Hills - Day 1

The assistant headmaster of the boys school we taught in, invited us to visit Yelagiri Hills this weekend. A friend of his from his school days, L.S.K. Ramesh (jewellery store owner) funded our weekend by paying for our meals, allowing us to stay the night in one of his properties, lending his driver with car to transport us and paying entrance fees to local attractions. Had an amazing time being spoilt and we will never forget his generosity and I am still finding it difficult to fathom why he did it.

We got the bus to Vanyambadi for 7.30am on Saturday and had breakfast. Best puri, vada, masala vada and coffee I have had since I arrived. Driven up the side of the mountain on a steep zig-zag road chased by big troop of monkeys who we gave stale buns to. When we reached the summit we saw large homeycomb panels hanging from trees which is a great source of income for the area. Visited the man-made lake/park at the summit and shared a pedal boat with Ellis and Roch. In the afternoon we went to the botanical park with fish tanks (generously called aquarium), flower fields, playground and artificial waterfall. Early night after watching some Tamil Dr. No. House was in very rural area so a few large flying insects, big ants and cockroaches roaming the path to the outside bathrooms. 

It was a fantastic weekend but thought provoking to see the the touristy Yelagiri Hills which is relatively clean with plenty of enclosed restaurants and hotels. While in contract, the villages below are full of people living in poor conditions with little/no income. 









Journey up the mountain.









Continuing the panorama. 
















Me and the lake. 
















Roch (my mighty team leader) and me doing some pedalling while Ellis mans the camera. 




















Botanical gardens.




















Artificial waterfall with soggy Indian boys. 

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