Vettaikaranpudur

I left the illam yesterday for Vettaikaranpudur.  It was hard to leave, I’ve become so close to everyone there.  But I’m also excited to do some traveling.  

I was a bit nervous since I haven’t done any traveling on my own in India and the buses seem confusing, but I found all of the buses ok and once I got out of Nilakottai there seemed to be more English around, and everyone was very helpful in telling me which bus to take and where to get off.  I was worried also because I hadn’t really finalized my plans with the guy I met on Couchsurfing and when we tried calling him at the illam we couldn’t get through, so I was relieved when I tried him on a pay phone in Pollachi and finally spoke to him.  As I was sitting on the bus I was picturing imagining myself getting off at a small village with no accomodations, and not being able to find him. But it all worked out I got on a local bus for the last leg of the journey and met him at a tea shop near his farm.  

Rohit and his family are really nice.  They live on a farm in a beautiful new house, I actually feel a bit out of place.  We took a walk in the farm with his sister Mojitha and saw the workers collecting cocoa pods, we even tried some, the seed is bitter but it’s surrounded by a gooey fruit that is quite good.  

His family is scattered throughout the area so we went to his grandfather's farm nearby and then his uncle's house.  We went back this morning and took a dip in their waterfall.  It was a bit chilly since the sun wasn't out at all, and it's just generally chillier here since we're near the mountains.

This afternoon I took a bike ride through the village and around the countryside.  It's beautiful out here!