In which we have hot water and tv

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Ok, so when the Lonely Planet call's a place "beautiful", one generally tends to assume that one won't be stepping off the bus into mayhem and dirt. Ah, but then one would be assuming wrong. After a five hour, bone jarring, terrifying, wish-I-could-teleport-myself bus ride to Kottayam, twelve hours on a train (the only humane way to travel) to Managalore, overnight, where we had to beg our way into the AC compartment for a bed, and then another five hour body-rattling and bruising bus ride up to Madikkeri, we stepped off the bus glad to be on solid ground, and took our first look at the "beautiful" Madikkeri.

Hmmmm. It was noisy, yes, dirty, yes, there was litter everywhere, yes, but "beautiful seemed a bit of a stretch. We started calling hotels only to find out that it was a long weekend which meant that everywhere was booked because everyone and their uncle had decided that Madikkeri was the place to be. We asked a man nearby where he recommended and he helpfully pointed out the Hilltop Hotel, which we had already told him was full, three times. Carlie, with some wonderful ingenuity, managed to find a place that told us to call back in ten minutes. We waited two, called back and scored a room, with hot water (amazing) and a TV that worked (doubly amazing). We said we'd be there in two minutes. After being shown to our room we had a short fit of 12-year old squealing and jumping when we discovered the bathtub, and that not only did the TV work, but it had cable! Oh thank you, thank you, thank you Karma gods!

We immediately took turns having blissful warm showers and watching some National Geographic (we learned all about the FBI this time), then went for dinner. After dinner we went back to the TV and stayed there until about an hour ago (the next day at 3pm) when we decided we should venture out into the sunlight for essentials such as food and toilet paper.

Now, some of you may be tucht-tuchting us for watching so much TV while we are on a trip such as this, and truth be told I would agree, normally. Everyone knows that I am a TV junkie and watch my fair share at home. On this trip however I haven't missed it and wasn't really expecting too. TV watching here is more like escapism than anything, our way to have a few hours of home. We watched some Indian stuff too, an MTV reality show to do with cricket (what else!) and many bleeped out words in Hindi. We watched the end of Melinda Melinda (a movie that is meant to be watched from the beginning), The Princess Diaries: A Royal Engagement (all the way through), and some CSI (all three versions). There, in our deluxe hotel room (think Motel 6 but with more power cutouts), munching on crackers and homemade chocolate, we escaped from India for a bit.

Don't get me wrong, we still love India and are having a fantastic time. We will be very sad to leave in three weeks and look forward to the many things we have left to do. But to escape from it all for a few hours, to forget the heat and dirt and stares and stress for a bit, just a little bit, is worth every penny of the $5 extra a night each. We feel rejuvenated and ready to tackle more of the rickshaw rides, bus rides, feelings of foreignness and other general oddities that are all part of traveling in India.

So now we head back to the room and watch Hamlet (the Ethan Hawk version) and Bourne Identity, before we head to an Eco-retreat tomorrow (i'm guessing that they don't have TV). Oh, it is going to be a good night!

xo
Sarah

P.S. Sorry for no pictures, I forgot the camera. Next time, I promise.

P.P.S.--Pop Quiz! Where did I get the idea for my title from? (hint: not from the blog)

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Comments

[A. Karen]

Hi Sarah, Good to hear you and Carlie have been rejuvenated. Please don't leave me hanging. What are those little green things?

[Sarah and Carlie]

Little Green things are.........
Lol, ok ok, they are tea seeds. Yes, those little green things are, in fact, the begining of big green things whose leaves give us the lovely black liquid that allows us to start our days.

[anonymous]

Thank you. :)