Munnar: My hotel was amazing, but my room didn't have an attached bathroom. My room opened up into the family's kitchen and dining area. This meant that I had to walk amongst the family owners in my PJs just to use the bathroom. Still, the hotel was up the Church hill quite a ways, and thus was really quiet and had some nice views of the city. Also, the garden was great, allowing for some nice relaxation. Most everyone else was paying at least 800 Rs to stay there. I paid almost a fourth of the price. And, I felt a little too close to the family that owned the place.
Ernakulam: Between Munnar and Kalpetta, I spent one night in Ernakulam (Cochin). I had high hopes for the place, thinking to get a place with a TV and ordering in pizza. No such luck. The supposed Domino's Pizza was in fact the now defunct Dominoz Pizza Corner. And my hotel? I went to about ten different places, and each was completely full. I didn't realize that there was a huge IT Conference going on there at the time. So, I went with the first place I found, which cost me a whopping 450 Rs for one night. Still, it had a TV. I bought some food and ate in my room. That night, things went a little crazy. I had gone out to buy some water, and when I returned, about 20 centimeter-long, green or black, flying bugs were flying around my room. Strangely enough, their wings would break off, and the critters would land anywhere and everywhere and just start walking. Wings littered everything. The bugs weren't particularly dangerous. Just annoying. So, I scooped them up and tossed them out. About an hour later, seemingly out of nowhere, about 40 of them appeared. They seemed to multiply randomly and there were more and more of them. But, I got rid of them. Then, at about 12:30am, I turned off my light and TV. I got into bed, and suddenly heard sounds of flying. I sat up, and something hit my face. Again and again. I switched on the light, and there were about 200 of these suckers. 200 and counting. Everywhere. Falling onto everything, including me. I fled my room, ran down to the reception area, woke up the guy, and demanded a room change. I quickly threw all my stuff into the next room, and slept the night with great worry. But, thankfully, these bugs never came into my new room. No, instead, I had a swarm of mosquitoes. It was at that point that I decided that I HAD to leave Ernakulam for good.
Kalpetta: Being sick isn't fun. Especially stomach sick. Having communal squat toilets all the way on the other side of the building doesn't make it easier. Neither does the immense noise from the nation highway right outside. Still, the 60 Rs. a night pricetag makes it much easier. I could stay there are recuperate wtihout paying too much. And the people were nice, though one of the owners was a bit nosy. He actually followed me into my room and started going through my stuff until I stopped him. Still, not a bad place to be.
Mysore: I just got here, but I already know that my hotel room, for 125 Rs. a night, is also interesting. It's located in a very popular restaurant. And when I say in, I mean in. The door into my room is actually next to a couple of the tables. Luckily, I can listen to live classical music play right outside my door. We'll see how this works out. The room is nice. The setting is odd... Okay, I like it. Sure, it's a little weird to walk into my room with all eyes wondering where I'm going. Still, now that I know the whole waitstaff, who is there from open to close, I'm having a great time. I can step outside of my room to have a beer and to write. Of course, I spend money at the restaurant (this is why the hotel can charge so little for the rooms). The only drawback is that the noise continues until about 1am, thus making it hard to fall asleep before this. This issue, coupled with the super comfy bed, makes it tough to wake up at a decent time. Still, I do really like this place.
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