January 25: Mmmm, maybe bring a light sweater

Jan 25


So we got to Coimbatore this morning a bit before 10am. After meeting up with some of Martin's buddies at the aiport that he played volleyball with back in his salad days, we had breakfast with the head of the volleyball federation in Coimbatore (also known as Cotton City because of the cotton industry located there). After a great breakfast and ewre given more silks and garlands for our visit, we headed to a friend of Martin's house for a quick stop and then it was off to the mountians and a waterfall. The drive was beautiful and had a ton of rural scenery, a side of India I was very interested in seeing. We rode through some very small town where the main domesiles were thatch huts made from the fronds of the coconut trees. Coconuts are a HUGE staple here as cash crop but they provide much, much more than food. Coconut Oil is used in cooking, in linaments, used in hair, the fronds are used in housing materials, the milk is used in cooking and  whatever isn't used is often left on the ground to decompose and become mulch.

On our way to the kopuntain and waterfall we could see the mountains rise up in front of us amidst a light mist. The peaks were amazing and the best way to describe them were they reminded us of the hanging forests from the movie "Avatar" (if you haven't seen the movie in 3-D, so yourself a favor and see it). The water fall was pretty cool but was more of a "stand underneath on a ledge" waterfall and not a "jump in a pool of water" waterfall. The great part was we were granted access to the rocks above the fall with a fat roll of rupees. The rocks above were 10x's as amazing as the falls itself and could see the water coming down the mountain between huge rocks. The granite formations were pretty gnarly and there was even a small temple/shrine to the river god up there. It was maybe 15' x 8' and looked like a cement altar but was cool nonetheless. We hiked around, climbed a LOT and took a ton of great pictures.The visit also included some encounters with monkeys that live up there, small wild chickens and a rooster (Little Jerry Seinfeld as I named him) and a fortune teller whose parrot picked cards out of a stack and the teller read what the cards said. Funny enough it was pretty right on. Mark and I were both told we were going to be successful in what we do and would overcome any challenges. My fortune though, eerily enough, included the work I do youth (Dig 4 Kids and Orlando Gold) and Mark was told he was going to live a long long life. Both of our cards contained different Hindu Bachelor Gods. Awwwwww yeeeeeaaaaahhhhhhhh.....

So after the hike and the mountain we went back to Martin's friend's house for lunch. The house is on a huge coconut farm and it was a beautiful place. Very simple but very nice. Amidst the rows of coconut trees and some workers, there was a cow there (as there are at many houses out here) and some dogs as well. We had a whole assortment of food and had a great visit. The highlight for me was we got to trya dish made frmo goat's blood. Yep, the blood of a goat (not sure if it was the son of a motherless goat). First off it was delicious and I had seconds. Second, if you didn't know what it was you never would've known. I feel like I'm living the life of Andrew Zimmern from Bizarre Foods on the Travel Channel. We are so thankful for all of the hospitality we have been shown. Needless to say, Martin has a LOT of friends and he definitely has quite a bit of juice as we continue to find out.

After lunch, we drove to a secondary school in Tirrupur and met their boys volleyball teams, about 35-40 kids in all, and their staff and physical directors. We continue to be amazed at the receptions we are getting which are nothing short of treating us as dignitaries. Ambassadors of volleyball maybe, but I'm not that big of a deal in my own country, so it's a bit strange and, again, humbling, to get this treatment elsewhere. If we didn't have pictures of all the ceremonies, we don't think anyone would believe us. After meeting everyone we did a group photo with the boys and girls teams and then got absolutely mobbed by the kids who wanted our autographs. Martin again told us we were the first Americans they'd ever met and probably ever will, as well as the first white people. Being so isolated like that within a large community with no outsiders is so far off my radar screen it's hard to conceptualize. We were absolutely mobbed by the kids asking for autographs, saking us questions,  asking how we liked India and welcoming us. It was really surreal and felt like were Kobe and LeBron walking into a high school basketball game.

After a while, we had to get on the road as it was still a 3 hour drive to the resort we are staying at which brings me to now. We are driving to a town called Ooty for the Republic Day Festival tomorrow. The resort, which is a government house, is in a town up a mountain and is has a LOT of tea fields. Mark and I have no idea where we are except that roads on the drive up to the resort (we are quite a ways up, and the road was partially washed out in some parts by rains recently) and the twists and turns make PCH look like a long desert highway. It's very cold here and there has been very little relaxing on our day off. Oh well. Our resort consists of a few rooms that we are all in and Mark and I are sharing a king bed that is really two twin beds and a king sized sheet and blanket. Awesome.

Oh yeah, Martin told us the weathe might be slightly cooler and to bring a light sweater. Uh, yeah. Way cooler than "light sweater" tonight. But as he says, we can get one tomorrow at the stores, no problem.
I have no idea what Martin has planned for us tomorrow: meeting with another volleyball federation president, meeting with another head of something or other, and whisking us off somewhere but I hope it involves rest somewhere along the line. I swear, if Martin isn't the Mayor, he certainly is more important than one,

Good night from cold and chilly Coimbatore.