In front of the Cottage
The Cottage - Rear View
The cottage we stayed was on top of a hill kinda area. It had 5 bedrooms - three in the first floor and 2 in the second floor (loft conversions). We stayed in one of the two rooms on the second floor.The ground floor has a patio and 2 reception rooms and a large kitchen and dining area. Outside the house, there was a large caravan permanently fixed.This was more or less not usable, but it gave us a chance to have a look at how a carvan would be from inside. The cottage had large space by the side and the backyard had a view of the entire town that was at the foot of the hill. It was a very calm area. Thank god there were no house nearby at all.We would otherwise have been served ASBO orders for being such a noisy neighbour.
Our Room
Inside the Caravan
Piano Inside the Cottage
The Kitchen
Dining Area
With just around 2-3 hrs of sleep, woke up and quickly gobbled the sandwich that Preethi had made and a fantastic tea.
With our initial plans going for a toss, we wanted to make sure the next one doesnt, so started our trip to the Skandavale temple in Carmarthen. It was a little more than an hour's drive from where we were. The ride passed through lots of villages and the last 5 miles was the most exciting as it was not a pukka road and it was a single track which we need to share with the on coming traffic also.
After a nice drive reached the temple on time for the pooja. The pooja was for a good 2 hr plus and we were in for a pleasent surprise as all the poojas were done by the locals (The welsh). It was so nice to hear them sing bhajans and they were taking intricate care in every aspect of the pooja. The different 'Abhishekams' and the 'Alangarams' were done to the tee. Naresh's cousin, Srikanth joined us here.The pooja got over around 12:00 we were told that the lunch would be served only after the Lord Murugan pooja at 1:30 PM. To kill time, we had some wonderful teplas that Hethal had brought for Montu as he had special dietary restrictions and we took a small trek to the Maha shakthi temple at the top. It was a good 20 mins climb and the passage was very scenic. On the top there were some animals that were brought up by the Ashram. We took some photos on the top and started the decent for us to attend the Murugan pooja. The Murugan pooja also was done by the monks. At the end of the pooja, we were given a fantastic lunch as prasadam. We had our stomach full of the lunch and shortly after, started our way back home.
Lord Ranganathan
Lord Shiva
Lord Murugan
Cows in the temple
After a drive home, we had a refreshing glass of cofee and to kill time till the other group come home, we saw the "Pink Panther". What a hillarious movie it was.. Once all the group was back, had a good round of fun and dance. After which, watched Oceans 11 on DVD. Kamal had made lovely Mutter paneer for dinner and we had it with a sumtuous quantity of Paratas.
Post Dinner had another round of dancing and off we were to the bedroom..
zzzzz....
