Hail the Lord. No mobile network, but a decent Internet connection here in the little town of Kumily, Thekkady. Much better than the painfully slow connection at Alleppey. And we got charged at Rs 75 an hour!

Enjoyed the drive from Alleppey to Thekkady yesterday. It was an extremely scenic and pleasant route as the car began its ascent and the weather got cooler. The coconut trees gave way to other trees, which I couldn’t identify. Thought of asking the driver but his vocabulary was limited. We made him play Kal Ho Na Ho in the car, and he seemed a little miffed, since he didn’t understand any Hindi (and very little English too).

The place we checked into (Hotel Ambadi) is pretty nice with neat cottages (actually they’re ground floor rooms) that overlook a small garden. The place is quite well maintained, and recommended for medium budget accomodation. Can’t say about the food yet, since we couldn’t have any dinner. I was still recovering from the day’s lunch and Steph couldn’t eat anything because of a bad stomach infection. The tomato soup she ordered tasted like hot ketchup and I was not very happy with the noodles. We’ve resorted to digestive biscuits, raisins and cashew nuts for the moment.

There are spice shops all over the place so I must pick up some exotic spices tomorrow. Anything to improve my cooking 🙂

Woke up late today, had a hearty breakfast of toast and eggs. Sketched a little during the afternoon and then the peace and quiet lulled me into sleep. We had to cancel our sightseeing plans for the day. I’ve got a slight sprain on my right foot and Steph’s still recovering from her infection.

Hopefully, we recover by tomorrow so we can do some sightseeing around town and Periyar lake.