I'm writing this post from the middle of the mountains in Kerala, India. Our week-long vacation started on Thursday evening and I've been here for the past two nights. I'm staying at a hotel called Camp Noel (http://campnoel.com/) that's extremely isolated in the Western Ghat mountains and I'll be here for the next four nights. I'm also here by myself. I decided that after six weeks of constant time with the group, I need some space alone in a quiet, natural setting. I really haven't had the time I need on the program to rest and reflect about everything that has happened, and also to prepare myself for the next nine weeks of the program. I also desperately needed to get out of the city, especially a place like Chennai, and breathe some clean air. I'm very lucky to be a guy because it means I can travel on my own here. I know some of the girls would have liked to do their own thing, but it just isn't an option for them.
I'm also the only student on the trip really traveling alone for vacation. One student went on her own to visit family in Delhi, but it isn't quite the same thing. Other students are traveling with boyfriends and girlfriends or moving in groups that range from two to seven. Two groups went north to Delhi to see the city, the Taj Mahal, and large temples, but most students are going to Goa for a couple of days and then south to different parts of Kerala.
So far I've had a great time here. It was very strange to be alone at first, but traveling alone feels wonderful after so much time with groups of different sizes. I realized that Friday night was the first time I've slept in a room alone without someone from the group in six weeks. To get here, I flew across the peninsula from Chennai to Kochi and then a car from the hotel picked me up at the airport and drove me five and a half hours to the hotel. The last hour or so of the drive is very difficult and slow going along a dirt road that runs through a tea plantation, hence the isolation. After I first got to the hotel, I slept for about sixteen hours with a couple of breaks for meals. I really felt the wear and tear of the trip.
I'm very isolated physically, but ironically, the hotel lobby has the fastest and most consistent internet I've had in all of India.
I'm also the only student on the trip really traveling alone for vacation. One student went on her own to visit family in Delhi, but it isn't quite the same thing. Other students are traveling with boyfriends and girlfriends or moving in groups that range from two to seven. Two groups went north to Delhi to see the city, the Taj Mahal, and large temples, but most students are going to Goa for a couple of days and then south to different parts of Kerala.
So far I've had a great time here. It was very strange to be alone at first, but traveling alone feels wonderful after so much time with groups of different sizes. I realized that Friday night was the first time I've slept in a room alone without someone from the group in six weeks. To get here, I flew across the peninsula from Chennai to Kochi and then a car from the hotel picked me up at the airport and drove me five and a half hours to the hotel. The last hour or so of the drive is very difficult and slow going along a dirt road that runs through a tea plantation, hence the isolation. After I first got to the hotel, I slept for about sixteen hours with a couple of breaks for meals. I really felt the wear and tear of the trip.
I'm very isolated physically, but ironically, the hotel lobby has the fastest and most consistent internet I've had in all of India.
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