The Journey begins.....

Some time off the hectic schedule was always needed for us. Me sitting in front of the laptop day in and day out, my Dad working, my mom under rest post-surgery with nothing much to do, and my sister going through the same ordeal as I was..... We needed something different; something had to change..... 

That's when my maternal uncle asked us if we wanted to come on a family trip to Coonoor and Ooty with his family, to which we said YES, but later became concerned abt my mother; whether she'll be able to climb up the stairs and steep surfaces. But she wanted to come anyway, and all four of us went on the trip. 

We got on from Kollam, and my uncle's family got on from Kayamkulam. My uncle has a two-year-old younger son, and his antics kept us engaged till we reached Coimbatore. Stayed there for a night, and the next day, our journey began....... 

We first went to Dolphin's Nose and Lamb Rock viewpoints, which were high off the ground. Was scared like anything to look down from the top. My mom walked better than I thought she would during the trip. Went through tea gardens and eventually reached a restaurant somewhere high up the hills. It was really starting to get cold, and I had a jacket on. But still..... I ate some of the best food I could find anywhere at any restaurant there and continued further on our trip..... 

Then we went to Sim's Park (Not sure why it's called SIMS Park, but anyway......). Went there, played for some time (Only Kids, not adults like me). The most painful part was when me, my sister, dad and my cousin (uncle's elder son) went on a pedal boat. Yes, u guessed it right... I had to pedal the boat along with my dad around a lake for roughly ten minutes. I am a very lean guy with weak legs, legs that were not meant to pedal boats. Anyway, all four of us got on our life jackets, sat on the boat and me and my father started pedalling. The route was to go around a circular pond, going under one end of the bridge, cutting across the pond and back through the other end. By the time we reached the one end of the bridge, we saw many fishes under the bridge. But the fishes were not of concern, the pain in both our knees were. By the time we got to one end of the bridge, my father had given up on the effort. He started panting..... I said, 'If we are to go back, we have to pedal this thing. Maybe we'll rotate who pedals the boat; I'll pedal till the end of the bridge, you take over from there till we are halfway across the pond, and I'll pedal the rest of the way. I can't say this worked, but we reached somehow. The only thing both me and my father realized was that both of us had to start exercising to strengthen our legs as soon as we get to Thiruvananthapuram.

As it was evening, we decided to get to our lodging. It was really starting to get cold, so cold that I started chattering with my teeth despite having the jacket on. We reached a small cottage-like building, and it was getting dark.... And Cold, REALLY, REALLY COLD!!!!! So cold that I could not walk without having slippers or shoes. Dinner time at the table and food was ordered well ahead of time, and it was smoking hot when served... YUM!!!! 😘😘

The next big surprise was at bedtime. The sheets, despite being really thick, was still ice cold. Moreover, I thought the cottage had a room heater, but it didn't... We had to sleep in the cold....🥶🥶🥶

My cousin (uncle's elder son) and I were to sleep in one bed while my sister slept in another. Seeing that both of us cannot sleep in this cold, I told him to keep the bed over the body but not sleep off to heat the bedsheet up with our bodies. Then my father, who was next door, suggested covering our heads with the sheets and breathing hard...... 8th Std- Science- Mode- Daddy- during- Bedtime rocks!!!!! 

We then slept off, thinking about the day and for the adventures waiting for the next day........