9:00 Wake up. The desk calls us and tells us that our guide is waiting for us. Ember tells Emma and me that they're serving free breakfast so we head down and get some.

9:30 Our tour guide, Kodan, is (was) a member of the Toda tribe - the original inhabitants of this land. He also tells us that a relative of his is a member of our church. He first takes us up to a popular viewing point called Doddabetta. It is a beautiful overlook and it even features a telescope tower. He then takes us to a hiking area and takes us up a short path to a place called Lamb Rock. When we first get get up there we are above the clouds covering all of the surrounding area. It looks a lot like the photos I've seen of the South American rain forests. I can't help but notice that this place is teeming with monkeys.

>From Lamb Rock we go down to the Ooty Botanical Gardens which are very well kept. The grass in this park would be a golfer's dream come true. The park is crowded with the locals which is kind of cool to see. The air is so moist here - its no wonder that so much grows here. After a tour through the garden we drive 20 kilometers into the hills to another forest. This forest is nothing like I would have imagined for India. Ember describes it as what Alaska is like and I imagine the same thing (although I've never been there). There are huge Eucalyptus trees all throughout the forest. The trees were brought in by the British in an effort to make this place more like their own home back in the days when the British officers used Ooty as a summer retreat against the hot Indian summers. Kodan leads us up the hill to a tower which we are able to climb up into. The tower is at most a twenty foot lift, but the view at the top is incredible. I can see for miles in all directions. Who would have thought that India would look like this. Again, it is such a great thing to see so many different sides of this country.

On the way back down I begin picking up litter one piece after another in response to signs we see along the way which say "Keep India green and clean." It upsets me to see such a beautiful place like this so full of litter. By the time we get back to the bottom of the trail I have collected a full arms worth of litter. A ranger is next to our car so Kodan asks him where I should dispose of the litter. Shockingly, the ranger asks me to "please leave it in a pile on the ground." Wow. Maybe I should have just hauled it back to the hotel with us.

Before we head back to the hotel Kodan takes us to another botanical garden. I seem to like the previous one a little more. This one is just as beautiful as the last one - the other one just appeals to me a little more is all. The garden is spread over a flat area but then becomes very steep towards the back of the garden as it climbs up the hill side. At the top of the garden is an entrance to a Toda village. Kodan introduces us to the people there - many of whom he seems to know. Kodan shows us around the mysterious temple (which only the priest is ever allowed to enter) and the handiworks of the local people. He takes us into the house of a woman who knits, in an effort to get us to buy some of her wares. After we politely decline, Kodan then takes us to the house of an old woman who sits us down and then offers us "fresh" buffalo milk. It is sooooo sour! Ember must not realize the situation because she goes for it with one big shot. I think the first swallow got her. I slowly sip at it, smiling politely. Emma just flat out refuses to drink it. After a short "this is going nowhere" conversation with the woman, Kodan prompts us to move on. On the way out of the village some young children offer us some food that tastes like Fritto chips. Unfortunately, I mistake the dirt on the chips for pepper. That was hard to get down.