Spice and tea trails of Kerala, part 7, To Periyar National Park

The drive from Madurai to Thekkady took a while, so the journey was broken with short stops at a brick-making factory (shown above), and then a vineyard (shown below) where several people wanted their photos taken with our ladies.

Santhosh was good enough to give us cricket updates on his mobile phone

Everyone very much enjoyed the visit to Abraham’s Spice Garden, a short drive down the road from where we were staying.  We were given an informed guided tour of the garden, where all sorts of spices, herbs and flowers grew, and then given the opportunity to stock up on spices in the shop.

Jackfruit

Cardamom

In the evening, there was a Kalaripayattu display.

The next day involved a walk in the Periyar National Park.  We were ferried over the river on a raft made from bamboo, and then followed our guide for the morning along various tracks.

The highlight was finding a tiger pugmark.

The next event was a boat trip on the lake, during which we spotted a surprisingly (given the time of day and the noise that everyone was making) large number of animals, including two groups of elephants.

The day wasn’t over, though.  In the evening we had a hoot at Bar-B-Que Thekkady, where the group prepared its own dinner.

Spice and tea trails of Kerala, part 6, What are we looking at?

Sometimes, on a group trip, you become part of a crocodile.  For example, the group is on an outing to a venue, temple, building, castle or whatever, and once you’ve been dropped off by your transport, you follow each other down the lane, or through the market, and so on, and the group looks just like a crocodile as each person in the group follows the person in front of them.  I was on an Exodus trip where one of the group nearly left the holiday early because she said there were too many crocodiles.  I’m not too fond of being part of a crocodile myself, but I can’t see any real alternative.

When you’re walking in a group down, or up, a mountain or through the bush or jungle, the crocodile tends to get rather spaced-out, with those in front walking at a faster pace than the tailender.  When the guide, who is usually at the front, stops to point out something (a bird, a plant, a crop, something in the distance, etc), those at the back gradually catch up with the front of the crocodile.

It’s then that you can hear the question from those at the rear, as everyone at the front is looking at whatever it is that has previously been pointed out by the guide: “What are we looking at?”

This happened a lot on the day we said goodbye to our tented camp, where we’d had breakfast even though we’d all spent the night in the guest house at Top Station, and walked single file along a track and out of the hills to Mundhan.  It was a very good day, with lots to see.

In the distance is a tribal village where the locals avoid contact with others, as much as possible.

Chai stop in the village where you can hire ponies

Our Exodus group leader, Santhosh, gave us information about every place we visited.  Each evening, he would brief us about the next day’s events, and then he’d invite us to ask him questions about absolutely any aspect of India, its history, people, geography, politics or society.  The resulting questions ranged from the bland to the ridiculous.  Santhosh was extremely knowledgeable and able to answer just about every question.

Coffee

After the walk, we were transported to our hotel, the Green Royale, near Bodinayakanur in Tamil Nadu.  Whoever it was who designed this lovely hotel, where we were absolutely delighted to be invited to a coming of age ceremony for a local girl, went a bit over the top when it came to electrics.  There were 37 switches in the room Lindsey and I were given.  These were mostly plugs and light fittings.  37!!

The next day, we drove further east to Madurai.

Madurai was where the group formed into a crocodile and visited the Tirumalai Nayak Palace (shown above), and the magnificent Meenakshi Amman Temple (shown below).

As we left the temple, in front of us were a dozen microphones and a group of photographers.  I was about to step up and state, “Unaccustomed as I am to making speeches…” when someone pointed out that a proper VIP was about to visit the temple.

Spice and tea trails of Kerala, part 5, Around Top Station

Top Station is a place of wonderful views (when the weather is clear).  Top Station used to be the upper terminus of the Kottagudi Aerial Ropeway.

In the distance is our guest house

Tea pickers

Spice and tea trails of Kerala, part 4, Towards Top Station

My plantar fasciitis was giving me gyp, so the day after the Meesapulimala walk I took the easier, shorter walk option.  This went through the tea plantations and villages until we picked up the Jeeps and rode to Top Station, below which we camped.  The main group had a long walk, got very wet in a localised downpour, and Lindsey was bitten by a leech!

The next day was warm and dry, the views glorious, but the tents were still wet, so instead of moving to a new campsite as planned, we did a circular route from Top Station, and then stayed in a basic hotel.

Spice and tea trails of Kerala, part 3, Meesapulimala Peak

We didn’t get great weather for our climb of Meesapulimala, the second highest mountain in Kerala.  In fact, by the time we got to the top, it had more or less clouded over.  A pity, as the views would have been impressive.

Back in camp, I said hello/goodbye to dinner.

Spice and tea trails of Kerala, part 2, Munnar and the Silent Valley

Munnar is quite an attractive and busy town, situated in the mountains of Kerala.  It’s surrounded by tea estates, through which our group walked on several days.

There’s something uplifting about walking through tea plantations.  There’s a certain peacefulness, and while the scenery was not as dramatic as in north India, there are many expansive viewpoints in the Kerala mountains.

In the background of the photo above is Meesapulima Peak (2630m), which the group climed on day 5.

The group walked through the Kanan Devan tea estate.  While the quality of tea produced in Kerala tends not to be as high as, for example, Darjeeling or Sri Lanka, the packets of lemon and masala tea we bought have proved to be really tasty and thirst-quenching.

To get from place to place we sometimes used Jeeps.

The tea estate workers were provided with basic, free accommodation by the founders of the estate, along with medical treatment and primary schools.  This continues today, but one wonders what the future is for such work, as mobile phones and TVs bring the wider world to the fingertips of children who grow up in these villages.

Our campsite for two nights

Spice and tea trails of Kerala, part 1

This post is way out of sequence, as we completed our India trip a number of weeks ago.  There’s a video of the Spice Trails part of this holiday.

Fort Cochin is definitely worth a visit.  There’s quite a history to the place, there are interesting old buildings, ‘Chinese fishing nets’, and various gorgeous boutique hotels and nice restaurants.  It’s far more touristy than Kochi and offers many opportunities for shopping.

One of the backstreets in Fort Cochin

We enjoyed a couple of very nice meals in Fort Cochin.  The restaurants were busy, and on one occasion I couldn’t help overhearing what was being said at a nearby table.  The customers were French (like quite a high percentage of tourists in Fort Cochin) and, of course, they were taking their food very seriously.  One ordered a soda and hot water with lime, but no honey, the next one ordered a soda with honey but no lime, and the third wanted to know whether the meat curry contained coconut.  When the waiter said that it didn’t, she decided on the fish curry instead.  They then spent most of their meal discussing what they were eating.  I tend to not be like that when in a restaurant – I simply make a choice and leave it to the cook.

Kaylan Silks

We had a couple of days in Fort Cochin and then Kochi before joining the Exodus Spice Trails of Kerala group trip, and after walking around various sites we visited the Kochi branch of Kaylan Silks.   Well, I can honestly say that I’ve never been in a store like that before.  I found out later that there are 240 staff in the shop, most of them dressed in identical sarees, and they are very attentive.  In fact, you end up with your own assistant, who guides you through the shop and points out various goods of potential interest.  She doesn’t package up any purchases, though – this is done by someone else.  Another person deals with the bills.  That person doesn’t take cash, though – that is done by other assistants on the ground floor, where you collect any purchases when you leave.  Everything to do with money is double-checked by a second salesperson.  There were also several lift attendants, guards, money counters, and so on.  After trying on several sarees, Lindsey bought a pair of Indian style trousers and a lovely blue dress.  When we came, eventually, to collect our packages on the ground floor, we were told that because we’d spent a certain amount we were entitled to a 40 rupee (about £0.40) discount in the food store on the top floor.  Well, I’d had enough by then, after watching Lindsey try on I don’t know how many dresses and trousers for over an hour, but the assistant was adamant that we had to spend the voucher, so we went back upstairs and bought some crisps.  This shopping trip was a good introduction, showing us how different many things work in India.

A booze shop

Alcohol is very restricted in Kerala.  A previous government brought in a near-complete ban, but more recently this has been partially lifted.  Many hotels are still not allowed to sell alcohol, and if you want to buy beer or spirits you have to go to special shops, run by the government.  One of the first stops on the Exodus tour was one of these shops.

I bought a bottle of British Empire beer

It’s a bit of a cliché to say so, but the Indian experience is definitely a bombardment of the senses.  That’s why it is so great!  Every meal is a new experience, and the traffic in the streets is almost unbelievable.