You say 'Be Safe'! HOW can you Be REALLY Safe when you come to India for months-on-end?
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Deep breath! This is going to be a fairly long Post!
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IF any of you think that just because I have left Pondicherry and I am not in Calcutta or another large city .. that because I am now in Little-Old-Kodaikanal .. that I am now 'safe-from-hazards' .. think again!
I can .. and I now will .. make the following statement .. with regards to 'being-out-at-night' here in India ..
As much as I love Kodaikanal .. and I do love 'Kodai' ..
AT NIGHT .. and this statement applies to the night .. KODAIKANAL IS THE MOST DANGEROUS PLACE FOR ME TO WALK THAT I PERSONALLY HAVE EVER EXPERIENCED HERE IN INDIA!
A good part of this problem is that my Raahat Inn is located on THE main roadway leading up into the downtown area of 'Kodai'.
I STAY-IN-AT-NIGHT (I am not going to be out-on-the-street after 6:30PM!) with the sole exception of walking to my 'default' restaurant that is immediately adjacent to my hotel!
I have pretty well 'memorized' this several hundred feet of 'land mines'!
In the first three photos below .. the street you are looking at connects me with the main roadway and my Internet Cafe. I have no choice but to walk up and down this street. There is no sidewalk. The traffic 'pushes' pedestrians onto the road's 'shoulders'. You don't want to step off the 'shoulder' into the below ditches!
And a closer view of the above ditch.
Here the 'sidewalk' is the below green grassy strip.
Behind the motorcycle in the above photo this street joins the main roadway which I show below.
'Pick your poison'! You can walk on either side of the main roadway. There are no sidewalks on either side! Below is one of my Calla Lily plants I have been photographing! See the bus coming at me.
Then suddenly I must share my piece of the roadway with a COW! Look closely to the left of the photo at the edge of the roadway on the other side. No room over there either!
Just look-at-the-expression on the dog's face! The dog looks 'mortified' at the condition of the walking surface.
And yes we all can see the ladies above walking on the paved roadway .. but only when there is no traffic!
IN the below photo ARE YOU going to 'fight' for your share of the paved roadway with the bus!
And how about this truck? "Ah sorry Mister Trucker .. but I have a 'right' to my space!"
A closer view of the above surface. It's 'twist-an-ankle' time on this stuff!
The cars will 'give-a-little' IF they can! Do you see the idiot in the 'Jeep' passing? This means the downhill traffic is pushed to the edge of the roadway to avoid him!
This on-coming vehicle has to stay on his side and I have to get off the roadway! Again it is NO better on the other side if you look across at the left side of the photo below.
I FACE the on-coming traffic! I would no more 'walk-with-my-back-to-the-traffic' as this lady is doing than fly-to-the-moon!
Now 'get-with-me' on this. The vehicles going downhill either turn off their engines or just coast .. motorcycles and cars and trucks and buses.
So? You CAN NOT HEAR THEM COMING FROM BEHIND YOU if you are walking downhill on their side of the roadway. One absent-minded-slip stepping onto the roadway without first looking back to see if it's safe and you are a 'traffic statistic'!
In this section I simply STOP .. stand still .. wait for traffic to pass-me-by then get back onto the paved roadway.
The below photos are in the 'heart-of-downtown' Kodaikanal.
Forget the danger at night! Even in the day .. IF you are NOT paying attention to where you are walking .. you can really injure yourself! Do you all see the 'little-break' in the sidewalk ahead?
Step down into this 'little-break' and you are in one big heap of trouble!
Go back up two photos. At the very top center of the photo .. you will see at the end of the red tile sidewalk .. the below MESS that you risk stepping down into!
In the below photo .. the sidewalk just takes-a-break from being a sidewalk and becomes a 'big gap'! The opposite side of the sidewalk gives you an idea of the drop-off!
Just more-of-the-same!
Below you are 'hemmed-in' between the wrought-iron railing on your right and the wall on your left. The wrought-iron railing on your right is there because the local authorities do NOT want you in the street in this section of the city.
'Geez Louise'! Give-me-a-break!
And now (Taa-Daa!) into MY Raahat Inn!
The Raahat Inn consists of two separate buildings connected by open-air cross-over walkways between the two buildings. I am in the building on the left and I use the lower of the two walkways you see below.
In the first photo below you are looking down the hallway of the first building as you come to the cross-over walkway into (my) second building.
It's hard for you to see BUT as you will see in the two photos following the one below .. at NIGHT (even during the DAY!) .. if you are not careful .. there is a tremendously dangerous 'tripping hazard' a few feet past the black-mat on the floor that you had better beware of!
Why this is here I don't know!
A real close-up view of this beauty!
LASTLY .. IF you are walking from the other direction towards we in the below photo .. you had better REMEMBER that the steps do NOT go all-the-way across the hallway!
One .. just one! .. bad fall because of the numerous hazards you encounter while walking about and you could be in REALLY SERIOUS trouble.
On my first-ever trip to India from the autumn of 1990 into late spring of 1991 my friend-of-friends .. 'YMCA' Alan Rimberg told me ..
"Cap! Only 'risk-takers' come to India for long periods of time!"
'YMCA' Alan was hit by a truck riding his motorcycle here in India and ended up in surgery in a hospital in New Delhi. It cost Alan (in early 1991 money) Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000) to be flown home to New York city.
To-this-day .. the numerous lessons Alan taught me during several months of inter-acting with each other .. remain embedded in my head!
I don't think 'truly normal' folks enlist in Uncle Sam's United States Marine Corps either!
Semper Fi! .. Cap
Our Calla Lilies are coming into full bloom. See the below Post!
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Deep breath! This is going to be a fairly long Post!
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
IF any of you think that just because I have left Pondicherry and I am not in Calcutta or another large city .. that because I am now in Little-Old-Kodaikanal .. that I am now 'safe-from-hazards' .. think again!
I can .. and I now will .. make the following statement .. with regards to 'being-out-at-night' here in India ..
As much as I love Kodaikanal .. and I do love 'Kodai' ..
AT NIGHT .. and this statement applies to the night .. KODAIKANAL IS THE MOST DANGEROUS PLACE FOR ME TO WALK THAT I PERSONALLY HAVE EVER EXPERIENCED HERE IN INDIA!
A good part of this problem is that my Raahat Inn is located on THE main roadway leading up into the downtown area of 'Kodai'.
I STAY-IN-AT-NIGHT (I am not going to be out-on-the-street after 6:30PM!) with the sole exception of walking to my 'default' restaurant that is immediately adjacent to my hotel!
I have pretty well 'memorized' this several hundred feet of 'land mines'!
In the first three photos below .. the street you are looking at connects me with the main roadway and my Internet Cafe. I have no choice but to walk up and down this street. There is no sidewalk. The traffic 'pushes' pedestrians onto the road's 'shoulders'. You don't want to step off the 'shoulder' into the below ditches!
And a closer view of the above ditch.
Here the 'sidewalk' is the below green grassy strip.
Behind the motorcycle in the above photo this street joins the main roadway which I show below.
'Pick your poison'! You can walk on either side of the main roadway. There are no sidewalks on either side! Below is one of my Calla Lily plants I have been photographing! See the bus coming at me.
Then suddenly I must share my piece of the roadway with a COW! Look closely to the left of the photo at the edge of the roadway on the other side. No room over there either!
Just look-at-the-expression on the dog's face! The dog looks 'mortified' at the condition of the walking surface.
And yes we all can see the ladies above walking on the paved roadway .. but only when there is no traffic!
IN the below photo ARE YOU going to 'fight' for your share of the paved roadway with the bus!
And how about this truck? "Ah sorry Mister Trucker .. but I have a 'right' to my space!"
A closer view of the above surface. It's 'twist-an-ankle' time on this stuff!
The cars will 'give-a-little' IF they can! Do you see the idiot in the 'Jeep' passing? This means the downhill traffic is pushed to the edge of the roadway to avoid him!
This on-coming vehicle has to stay on his side and I have to get off the roadway! Again it is NO better on the other side if you look across at the left side of the photo below.
I FACE the on-coming traffic! I would no more 'walk-with-my-back-to-the-traffic' as this lady is doing than fly-to-the-moon!
Now 'get-with-me' on this. The vehicles going downhill either turn off their engines or just coast .. motorcycles and cars and trucks and buses.
So? You CAN NOT HEAR THEM COMING FROM BEHIND YOU if you are walking downhill on their side of the roadway. One absent-minded-slip stepping onto the roadway without first looking back to see if it's safe and you are a 'traffic statistic'!
In this section I simply STOP .. stand still .. wait for traffic to pass-me-by then get back onto the paved roadway.
The below photos are in the 'heart-of-downtown' Kodaikanal.
Forget the danger at night! Even in the day .. IF you are NOT paying attention to where you are walking .. you can really injure yourself! Do you all see the 'little-break' in the sidewalk ahead?
Step down into this 'little-break' and you are in one big heap of trouble!
Go back up two photos. At the very top center of the photo .. you will see at the end of the red tile sidewalk .. the below MESS that you risk stepping down into!
In the below photo .. the sidewalk just takes-a-break from being a sidewalk and becomes a 'big gap'! The opposite side of the sidewalk gives you an idea of the drop-off!
Just more-of-the-same!
Below you are 'hemmed-in' between the wrought-iron railing on your right and the wall on your left. The wrought-iron railing on your right is there because the local authorities do NOT want you in the street in this section of the city.
'Geez Louise'! Give-me-a-break!
And now (Taa-Daa!) into MY Raahat Inn!
The Raahat Inn consists of two separate buildings connected by open-air cross-over walkways between the two buildings. I am in the building on the left and I use the lower of the two walkways you see below.
In the first photo below you are looking down the hallway of the first building as you come to the cross-over walkway into (my) second building.
It's hard for you to see BUT as you will see in the two photos following the one below .. at NIGHT (even during the DAY!) .. if you are not careful .. there is a tremendously dangerous 'tripping hazard' a few feet past the black-mat on the floor that you had better beware of!
Why this is here I don't know!
A real close-up view of this beauty!
LASTLY .. IF you are walking from the other direction towards we in the below photo .. you had better REMEMBER that the steps do NOT go all-the-way across the hallway!
One .. just one! .. bad fall because of the numerous hazards you encounter while walking about and you could be in REALLY SERIOUS trouble.
On my first-ever trip to India from the autumn of 1990 into late spring of 1991 my friend-of-friends .. 'YMCA' Alan Rimberg told me ..
"Cap! Only 'risk-takers' come to India for long periods of time!"
'YMCA' Alan was hit by a truck riding his motorcycle here in India and ended up in surgery in a hospital in New Delhi. It cost Alan (in early 1991 money) Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000) to be flown home to New York city.
To-this-day .. the numerous lessons Alan taught me during several months of inter-acting with each other .. remain embedded in my head!
I don't think 'truly normal' folks enlist in Uncle Sam's United States Marine Corps either!
Semper Fi! .. Cap
Our Calla Lilies are coming into full bloom. See the below Post!
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