Kodaikanal: Day Six

Well, the last day and the trip down the mountain wasn’t quite what we were hoping for. Around 4:00pm it started to pour down rain and we left the hotel at 5:00 to be sure to catch the 9:30pm train back to Chennai. After only five minutes in the car (this time a big SUV, Toyota Qualis) Kaia started complaining about being sick and his mouth hurting. I thought that he was just being a bit fussy because he didn’t have a nap, but minutes later I discovered that he was being serious. Very serious. All the food from the day—mostly rice—came out, onto him and me. However, this time, it was not a little bile, but large volumes. We pulled the car over and he then puked twice more—projectile vomiting, which is amazing for a 2 year old—as the rain poured down on both of us. I don’t think that I have ever seen him so sad as this moment—vomit all over his front, out his nose, dripping off his chin, sobbing and bracing himself for more.

We kept it all together (surprisingly) while the rain kept falling and car sped by, got him dressed and re-started our descent. It was not a pleasant drive down for any of us. Kaia vomited about every 10 minutes and cried the entire 3 hours. We drove slowly, but the 15^th hairpin turn in a row is painful no matter the speed. When he kept saying, “I want to go home, I want to go home”, it was becoming clear that to take our next trip (scheduled to depart on Monday, April 17^th) to the mountainous areas of Darjeeling, Sikkim and Kalimpong would be bordering on child abuse. The roads up there would be equally as windy and we’d be much further from home than 6 hours by train. By the time we had gotten to the train station and Kaia was sleeping in the car as we waited for the train, indiamama and I, covered in vomit and longing for the comforts of home, decided that the next trip would have to be canceled. It was very disappointing, because we were all looking forward to going up there and really experiencing a different part of India, but it was just not possible. Traveling with kids is not like the old backpacking days where you could go wherever you wanted on a whim. By the time that we arrived home at 6:30am, I had realized just how much Chennai and this place has become our home. It felt so good for all of us to be back. So while the next three weeks wont be out of Chennai, it will be a time for us to all relax here in the home that will soon no longer be that.

The photos below don’t really relate to this posting, but are of a bit more happy times before we went down the hill…visiting the local temple, listening to our new iPod, etc…

Why I Love this Time: That decisions like this one are not difficult at all.