Kodaikkanal Kandukondain
Just returned from a trip to Kodaikkanal – NSS Unit IV Post Camp 05, with Arvi, Srinath, and yours truly as organizers. And organization was a nightmare, although the trip was really enjoyable.
The problems actually started before the bus even left Chennai. We had got it into the parking lot of Children’s park in Guindy, and had 46 students grumbling about the distance they had to walk inside. The bus, supposed to leave at 4.30, left after 6 with 51 ready-to-make-whoopee students stuffed within.
You had to hand it to our driver though. Narain Karthikeyan could have taken tips from this guy when it comes to the highway. Within the first three hours, we had overtaken 45 lorries, 23 minivans, and 16 other buses, not to mention motorists and car drivers. That meant, of course, that we’d reached Villupuram by dinner time.
The first night on the bus was rather peaceful (not at all like last year, we brought the roof down). Everyone quieted up and went to sleep by 11.
Reaching Kodai at 8.30 in the morning, we found to our great dismay, that the hotel had not kept its word. With only 9 rooms at our disposal, and with several students waiting, we had a bit of a problem at hand. Of course, we adjusted and left for sightseeing.
We returned to the hotel, aweary at 8, and the rooms still weren’t there. After a lot of arguing, we got 11 rooms, and that problem got resolved.
On top of this, one room key got lost.
The next morning, we faced a dilemna…we had nothing left to see. We solved the problem by a combination of Antakshari, shopping and free leisure time to roam the streets of Kodaikkanal, which is a rather charming place, come to think of it.
Then the driver started grumbling that he needed to reach the city by 6 am the next morning, and that hence, we had to leave Kodai by 2. Knowing his proclivity for life on the fast lane, we made a sort of rebellious halt in Srirangam for an hour and a half. This got him really pissed off, and he applied his anger to the steering wheel with the concentration of a devil. Result: we still reached at 5.15 with one angry driver.
Could hardly stand on Monday, but went to lab anyway.
Great exp. Till next year then.
The problems actually started before the bus even left Chennai. We had got it into the parking lot of Children’s park in Guindy, and had 46 students grumbling about the distance they had to walk inside. The bus, supposed to leave at 4.30, left after 6 with 51 ready-to-make-whoopee students stuffed within.
You had to hand it to our driver though. Narain Karthikeyan could have taken tips from this guy when it comes to the highway. Within the first three hours, we had overtaken 45 lorries, 23 minivans, and 16 other buses, not to mention motorists and car drivers. That meant, of course, that we’d reached Villupuram by dinner time.
The first night on the bus was rather peaceful (not at all like last year, we brought the roof down). Everyone quieted up and went to sleep by 11.
Reaching Kodai at 8.30 in the morning, we found to our great dismay, that the hotel had not kept its word. With only 9 rooms at our disposal, and with several students waiting, we had a bit of a problem at hand. Of course, we adjusted and left for sightseeing.
We returned to the hotel, aweary at 8, and the rooms still weren’t there. After a lot of arguing, we got 11 rooms, and that problem got resolved.
On top of this, one room key got lost.
The next morning, we faced a dilemna…we had nothing left to see. We solved the problem by a combination of Antakshari, shopping and free leisure time to roam the streets of Kodaikkanal, which is a rather charming place, come to think of it.
Then the driver started grumbling that he needed to reach the city by 6 am the next morning, and that hence, we had to leave Kodai by 2. Knowing his proclivity for life on the fast lane, we made a sort of rebellious halt in Srirangam for an hour and a half. This got him really pissed off, and he applied his anger to the steering wheel with the concentration of a devil. Result: we still reached at 5.15 with one angry driver.
Could hardly stand on Monday, but went to lab anyway.
Great exp. Till next year then.
posted by Dispatcher | 18:57
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