Hope this finds everyone in good health and spirits. Its been a long time since Christmas when I last dropped a line. As i said despite the dolphins, beaches, food and sunsets on the beaches I still missed home and all the fun of getting together over Christmas. Mum tells me it was a lot of fun with a strong turn out this year!
Thanks for all the birthday messages. Guess Kathryn has been hassling you a bit – sorry. I was in a hill station called Munnar in the tea and spice plantations. In the morning we went for a hike up the through cardamom plantations and then along a ridge and down into the village, then hired a motorbike and rode around for a couple of hours and got on it back at the Hotel. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine my headache would be so mild the day after my 30th birthday! Kathryn made me a card with all your messages and it was really great to hear from y’all. She drew a picture of everyone and i had to guess who it was which was funny. (the bearded, hairy drummer was easy). Mostly though it was touching to read the messages and think of you all back home. I miss you, although its good here.
Im in Pondicherry now which is a former french colony which is a really chilled place, amazingly compared to the other indian cities I’ve been to and the food, being french, is great. They have their own licensing laws so beer and wine is easy to come by and doesn’t involve a trip to a seedy government liquor store. Its a bit of a lottery whether a hotel or town has a bar in Tamil Nadu so we’ve had to get smart to get a drink, often planning in advance. No-one has been more rigorous about this than kathryns dad. Since cows are holy and wonder the streets at their own will, steak has definately been off the menu for some time – a welcome return. It has shaded boulevardes, coffee shops and a great shoreline. The marine parade has this huge Ghandi memorial with cardved pillares around it, and kids climbing all over it, theres 2 lighthouses and an amazing rooftop restaurant to watch it all happen. Unfortunately we all caught a bug there and it took some time to recover. We headed up to Chennai to fly to the Andaman Islands.
Thinking of you!
