New Year's in the Nilgiris!

Sunrise over the Nilgiris and a sea of mist.

The mist ocean. 3,000 meters up.

Our first Ooty breakfast!

An incredible sky...

...and terraced hillsides.

The Kota men dancing.
(The Kota's are a tribe of musicians who live in the Nilgiris Hills of Tamil Nadu.)

The ladies' dance being eagerly watched by a little lady.

The ladies again.

Allie and a shy Saleem, our driver.

Best ... photo ... ever.
The Kota village and a little villager.

A traditional dance.

Future dancers.

Now it's Mike's turn!

The ladies' song.

The plants that Doriyoudhan, a very eager villager, picked for Allie, who was suffering from traveler's stomach. He spent 4 hours that morning picking plants from the jungle to create an "All-Purpose Medicine."
...Allie almost burst into tears.

Bubble Bubble Toil and Trouble... making the concoction.

EW.

Sunset over the Ooty valley.

The view from our hotel.

Adorable children in front of a floral model of India at the Ooty Botanical Garden.

The Chennai Children

Das being a clown, like usual.

Mike & Akhbar

Uh oh...

James & George

A very full bus on the way to a Christmas party!

Monisha, Mike & a new bike!

Allie & Methu

More bicycle excitement!

Love.

A group photo!

They really enjoyed posing for the camera...

Ice cream time!

Somebody is a bit big for this bike...

Angel, Mike & James

The Great Sari Extravaganza

And so it begins!

The first time around.

Folding the shoulder piece!

A brief look at the shoulder piece. (The first folding attempt was a fail!)

Take Two. Over the shoulder!

A brief outburst.

Karina trying to help... umm.....

SUCCESS!

The other side.

Kancheepuram

Another beautiful temple.

Mike's artistic picture of a silk loom.

A sari in the making.

The hugest dosa ever.

The Chennai Express.

Allie at the YWCA hostel's pond, an urban oasis.

Inside the St. Thomas Basilica.

Every morning, after cleaning, the matron of the house does a chalk drawing outside the front door. This one was particularly Escher-esque.

Mike serving chai and making friends.

O. S. Thyagarajan's concert... a typical Chennai afternoon.

The biggest store of pots and pans ... on that block.

Where the magic happens.

Mike and the Kota musicians at the Music Academy.