On the road again...

Just a quick reflection....

We were in Kodaikanal a few days ago. It's a beautiful mountain town which reminded me of the northen regions of India, Daramsala and such. We were there for the blink of an eye, just enough time to soak in the mountain vista, take out the polar fleece (first time in India!) snuggle for one night under a duvet and then we were off again...

Not our most preferred way to travel but after hearing from Stefanie at Sadhana about this place we just had to see it.

We said goodbye to our friends from Sadhana; Holly, Charles, Kate and Patrick who had arrived at Kodai with us the night before and took a taxi to the small mountain village of Prakasupurum. From there we walked along a rough track traversing along a lush green mountainside.


This place was clean, fresh and expanded in every direction in the way that only mountains could....aaaaaahhh :)

(A friendly cow grazing the grass underneath the gum trees on our way to Karuna farm)

Another half hour of walking brought us to the top of a steep valley; here was Karuna farm where we would stay for a night. Situated on a steep valley overlooking the Tamil Nadu plains, Karuna farm was set up in the late sixties by Nevil, an indian guy who came to Kodaikanal to settle in the quiet of the mountains and set up his own community. From what we saw (which wasn't much since we had just one night there) and heard there are about 14 farm plots with individuals or families living on them. We as guests had our own little hut and we felt quite isolated from any community but it was nice just to chill out in the quiet of the mountain.

Nevil had begun all those years back by replanting trees on this steep terrain and by now it is well established with big trees and small plots of banana tress as well as vegetable garden terraces.
(Miriam outside our cute little hut with it's own outdoor kitchen and bathroom.)

Walking around the farm, we let the small wooden signs lead us around. One of them was the "rock" and this place proved to be my most favorite of all.
Following a narrow track along a stream and then out over open terraces we came to a giant rock outcrop at the lowest reaches of the farm. Here the terrain dropped almost vertical all around us and provided a magnificent view of the entire valley. We sat here for a long time, simply taking in the scenery...



- Jo