Last day in India

We are at our last hotel of our trip. This morning we were hoping to visit an elephant reclamation centre, but as usual it is Monday and the animal’s day off! There does not seem to be a set day for these days off, and we have hit a couple of them. To fill you in on our last 3 days as we have been without internet and/or anyway to add to the blog, here is what we’ve been up to:

Thekkady/Kumily
We finished off in Kumarakom and drove for about 5 hours to Thekkady/Kumily. It was absolutely stunning scenery as we drove thought the Ghat mountains. There are no railings here and the road has been cut into the mountain face. I can't say rock, because it’s rock and a lot of sand. In driving these roads at the grand speed of 5km/hour you feel like you are going at break neck speed, barely missing cars, tuk tuks, dogs, cows and people. Again everyone and everything assumes you will miss them no matter what they do - and somehow Perumal does! I could NOT sit in the middle or the front seat. Those that have the need for excitement did - or those that could sleep through anything did!

The Tea plantations are wonderful to see. There are acres and acres of beautifully landscaped farms that have row after row of plants interspersed with silver trees. The silver tree wood is used for wood furniture and to grow pepper plants (which are climbing vines). So the plantations have multiple crops.

On the mountains we saw coffee growing, rubber plants (with a Midas sign, but no Goodyear sign). Watching the rubber flow is like watching sap run from the maple trees. The dried sap from the rubber tree is just like an elastic. Neat to feel and see.

We went to a spice plantation and that was really interesting to see where/what the different spices originated from. Sam’s favourite was cinnamon bark, as she said it tastes just like cinnamon hearts. Our guide had lots of info on how the different spices could be used for different ailments, along with cooking ideas.

Our best fun was the elephant ride that we had right before the spice tour. We rode for half an hour and lumbered along a trail that the elephants could likely have done in their sleep. But for us it was fun. We took lots of pictures of each other on our beasties!We stayed in a place called Spice Village. It is part of an ECO program, which means that they try to minimize the impact of their presence by using more environmentally friendly means of providing services. They have done a nice job. The chalets were quite nice and the food was good. They had cooking demonstrations, native dancing and a good store, but no air conditioning (although the cabin rooms were only about 25oC) and lots of mosquitoes.

From Spice Village we drove 5 minutes into Periyar Wildlife Park, and took a boat ride to see the wildlife - we saw an elephant that was 1mm long, a mongoose that was 1cm long, a bison that was about 3cm, and 2 deer that were close up. They have some excellent ideas for tourism, but don't quite carry them off well sometimes. We saw the elephant in a cove, but the boat has a set path and will not deviate from it at all. The chances of any animal coming close to a boat filled with 50 people are extremely small.

After some recuperation time and serious debate – the rain clouds were looming ominously by early afternoon – we decided to try our luck on a nature Trekk. The groups before us hadn’t seen much, but they said it was a nice walk. So after watching monkeys steal people’s food for half an hour (they really are sneaky little buggers. I completely understand why they annoy the locals!) we were off on our three hour hike through the woods.

Our first bit of wildlife (other than birds & monkeys) was an introduction to the Indian leach. Their leaches do not live in water. They live in wet fertile ground, which, during the rainy season, meant that we were carrying sticks to hit them off of our shoes and the leg coverings our guide had given us. Nevertheless, the forest was beautiful and we actually did get to see some wildlife! No live elephants or tigers, but we were shown an elephant skull from one that died of natural causes about 4 months previously. The other animals had stripped him clean, so there were just bones left to see thank goodness! Our guide also showed us tiger footprints (which was neat) and week-old tiger droppings, of which all that was left was the deer fur (I could have done without that one, but others thought it was interesting). Then we saw our first non-monkey animal from a reasonable distance: a huge Indian Giant squirrel. This thing would have made mincemeat out of our black squirrels. The rest of the hike proved equally interesting, as we got close enough to bison for them to know we were there and stare at us as if we were a threat. When you see the pictures, you’ll understand that it’s a little bit funny since without Dad’s 5X zoom camera they’re not much bigger than large dots with heads, and the mongoose running around in front of them was even smaller. But we did get closer to a group of wild boars, who decided once they’d seen us that they weren’t interested in sticking around for a photo op.

The rain held off until almost the end of the hike, so we were pretty happy about that. And it had stopped by the time we went into Kumily to do our shopping. Sam & Alex bought salwars (the long tunic with pants & a shawl) and we had to pick them up. Buying fabric and having it sew to fit definitely makes a difference! They both look great (if I do say so myself!). Also in Kumily, Perumal recommended that we see what is called Kalaripayattu. It’s a very old form of training for warriors in the area, and is now considered an advanced martial art. You have to start at about age 4, and must train for 16 years before you can perform in front of an audience. They were incredible to watch, whether they were fighting each other with hands, sticks, daggers, or swords & shields! The body control necessary for some of their moves was fantastic. And they even jumped through rings of fire.

Cochin
The morning of our second last day was spent driving, but we got in our fair share of site seeing in the afternoon in Cochin. This area – like the rest of Kerala – was never conquered by the British, but it did have signed treaties with them, and before them the Dutch were a huge trading partner. So there is quite a bit of Dutch influence in the buildings. One of the main tourist attractions is the Dutch Palace. It was built by the Dutch for the Maharaja as an apology for looting a nearby temple, and to secure trading rights. Although under construction, the museum in the palace was really neat. They had a lot of information on the history of the monarchy of Cochin, as well as artifacts and large paintings of their maharajas. From there, we went to the oldest Jewish synagogue in the area and walked the bazaar. Alex found her new favourite painter, although she’s going to have to save up a bit of money before she can buy anything of his! We also got to see the outside of St. Francis Church, the church where Vasco De Gama was originally buried, before they were moved to Portugal. The Chinese fishing nets were another great stop along the way. These are huge structures that were designed to dip into the water and pull fish out. Although no longer in use, they do present a beautiful picture and make the beach a more interesting place. At the end of the day we returned to our hotel & said goodbye to Perumal. It’s a little strange to think that he won’t be picking us up in the morning.

So now we’re relaxing in our hotel on our last morning in Southern India, getting organized and making sure we have everything! We’re off to the airport at 1, and will hopefully get a chance to see a bit of Delhi this evening. See everyone is a couple of days!

Jan & Alex

Kumarakom (20)

At Kukarakom
We arrived at the hotel, only to find out that although our boat comes in at 9:30 our rooms were not to be ready till 2. So we had to rough it till then. And boy did we rough it! This is another TAJ hotel and it is beautiful. Hopefully we’ll get some pictures up for you, but don’t feel too sorry for us. We swam in the riverside pool (we have some work to do on our riverside pool now!), then went and did pottery, basket weaving and played pool. This time Jack and Jan were the clear winners. Although the table probably won more than we did! At 2 we were in our rooms and then stepped out to the 250 m meandering pool that rambles around all the huts (rooms) that make up the Kumarakom Lake Resort. The rooms we are in are similar in architecture to those of the original Kerala homes (although some slight adjustments have been made I believe!). The washrooms are neat in that they are outdoors. So right now we can stand outside and get wet from the shower and from the torrential rain that is coming down. The sink and the toilet are under an overhang. Beautiful marble throughout, and Beth, they have made beautiful use of different rock sizes to make the bathroom a very peaceful place.
We had planned on a bike ride after working out. Fortunately we hadn’t planned the reverse as we would be rather wet if we’d gone biking first. So I obviously didn’t touch enough wood this morning when I talked about how little rain we’d had! We may end up not getting out of this hotel today – but there are worse things in life to have to live through. Later - Jan

House boat trip to Komarakom (20)

On the boat house
It was our backwater boat tour day. We got up early to be able to get to the jetty for noon. It was 180km away from Puvar at Alleppy. It took exactly 5 hours to get there from the time we left our hotel at 6:50 in the morning (the girls were wildly ecstatic about that!)
The boat ride has been fabulous. The rice fields are 1km in size, with an 8ft dirt wall or “dike” around each section. The river has a retaining wall built by the government about (what we could get from our captain) about 200 years ago. So the rice fields are 8 ft below the dike and the river at the moment is about 2 ft. The sections are generally around 10 ft across. Most of the homes are built on this 10ft stretch of land. There is a communal walking path that everyone travels on from home to home to store, etc. Around the lake (Confusion Lake is what the locals call it.) there are 2 streets worth of houses for some of the lake, but most of the homes are built along this very small stretch of land. There are schools wherever there is the land for them. People travel around by very swift canoes and there are excellent ferries just zipping around dropping people off and picking people up.
In May/June the Monsoons come and flood the lower land. Every few years the rains are high enough that many of the homes are covered up to ¾’s of their height. The locals either float on the furniture in their homes or move up to their roofs until the water goes down – usually in about 3 days. It then slowly goes down. When we got here, they were busy pumping the water out of the rice fields and into to the river (an uphill battle!) today they use electric pumps, but before that they used a hand turned wheel system which sounds very similar to water wheel. No one here is overweight! Then when the land is walk able, they plant the rice. The fields are easily irrigated.
It was a peaceful trip in the backwaters. We all slept and read and took hundreds of photos. For the first time in 3 weeks we had lunch. It was a huge spread, delicious and they were disappointed because we only ate about 1/3 of it. We explained that we did not eat a lot, so when dinner came the cook had cut the quantity in half and that we almost ate everything. Most people on this trip must eat until they are bursting! The first game of yucker resulted in a win for Jack and Alex – a rematch is on for tonight!
We stopped for the night at around 6pm. This gave the staff enough time for a swim, and get ready for the night. It gave us time to get in position to see a sunset on this side of the coast. Something we haven’t seen yet. Although it has never rained on us while we have been outside, we have had a couple of days of rain while driving and many nights of rain, but not once has the umbrella come out for rain – just sun. The sunset was nice, but not as spectacular as our own. Again probably because of the clouds that were in the sky. During dinner the fishermen were in their canoes out setting up their nets for fishing. The houseboats don’t move at night because of the nets. The river is dotted with lights as they move around. The second yucker game went Jan and Sam’s way. Sam was the first one to bed at 9:45pm. 5:45am was a bit early for her!
The next morning, Jan and Jack were up early to see the next group of fishermen up gathering snails (they tell us mussels, but this river is fast flowing, very brown in colour and used for everything by thousands of people.) They use a stake stuck in the water to anchor their canoes into the riverbed, swim down them and pick up their catch. There must be some time/event to decide when they start as they (6 boats) were in position for about an hour before one called out something and they all started diving down their stick and collecting. They go down for about 20 seconds in about 5 ft of water, collect the snails and throw them into the bottom of the boat. Sometimes they have a basket they take down with them, fill it up and pour the contents into the bottom of the boat.
We had another great meal – breakfast and then were off the boat at 9:30.

Day 2 in Puvar (18)

Day two in Poovar. We woke up at a reasonable hour, ate a fantastic breakfast buffet, and headed off in the boat to meet Perumal who drove us into the city of Trivandrum. There we went to a temple and got a really terrible tour (we weren’t actually allowed into the temple), and still had to pay for it. However, the palace next door was much more interesting.
In the palace we saw portraits of all the kings who lived there, and we saw the artifacts from all over the world that they collected. We saw their ivory and crystal thrones, and swords and daggers they fought with. In addition, the wood carving details in every single room were exquisite, and all very unique. Many of the sculptures we have seen, especially on the temples, have been casts, but seeing all the little imperfections on every single lotus and horse and elephant on the walls and the ceilings proved that these were the real deal! Apparently it took only 4 years to finish the palace, so our question was how many people would it take to build such a place in only 4 years!!? (Answer 1000 people a day for 4 years) All the temples we have seen seem to average around half a century of building time.
Then, after a miscommunication about a visit to the zoo, we headed back to the hotel. That was fine though, because Mim and Alex went to the spa to get massages and Mim also got a lengthy facial (I’m very very very jealous). Sam and Dad grabbed a boat with another family over to the waves. The waves that day were huge, and we got some good body surfing in, along with a couple of scraped knees. The undertow was insane, so we were being very careful to keep our feet on the ground. Then we headed back to the hotel, and in the boat we observed an sand reclamation underway! Some of the local villagers were filling up their pole boats with sand from the dune we were on. Apparently sand here is very expensive, and there was ample clean sand where we were. So they dumped wet sand into their boat until it was juuuuuuust above the water, then one guy poled while the other guy bailed out the water from the wet sand.
After some swimming in the pool, we met back to the rooms to relax, then emerged for dinner, which was superb. The most awesome fried fish ever, and a great buffet (to make the cut as a great buffet, it must include great dessert). Then we made preparations to leave the hotel the next morning at 6:45! Onto the houseboat we go.
-SuperSam

Kanyakumari to Puvar (17)

We got up early today and went out on a local ferry to the Thiuvalluvar Statue and the Swami Vivekandanda Rock Memorial. Getting to these two was an adventure. We recognize that Indian people have a very small personal space and we have a much larger one. We’ll leave it at that and say that the ferry we were on in Canada would hold 100 people. There were likely 200 on the one we were on. None of us were uncomfortable using our elbows, as it was required. We are not exactly blending in with the people here – height and skin colour have made us quite the objects of interest (note the word object). Sam’s height and Alex’s eyes have also captured the attention of young and old and on occasion some very rude young men. Sam has rediscovered t-shirts and long pants, Alex and I have developed radar skills to move in and stop some of the behavior that is a bit more intrusive than we like! The girls have had their photo taken many times with people that are fascinated with them. We have loved this trip, met many nice people, but there is definitely a difference in what we consider our personal space. Sam’s comment after this trip was, “if this is what we have to deal with, can you imagine what it must be like to be famous? I’d go crazy if I had to deal with this every day.”
On a good note, we arrived on the rock(s), and can understand why the poet Thiuvalluvar went and sat on the rock to contemplate things for 3 days. It was so peaceful, powerful and awe inspiring to be sitting so close to the ocean as the waves crash against the rocks. We forgot time and were there for almost an hour just watching and listening to the surf.
We then had a 3 hour trip to our next destination – Puvar. We all have different ways of getting through the driving. Jack and Sam enjoy the excitement , I’ve opted to read my book, and Alex falls asleep. Driving beside the Ghat Mountains is pretty spectacular. The windmill farm(s) is also very impressive. But those things are pretty noisy! Can’t imagine living close to one.
We had a 10 minute boat ride to get to our hotel and we were pleased when we arrived. It is a wonderful setting, a lagoon in front with a sand bar that we have to take a boat to, crashing waves, and a facility that is wonderful. We had some fun when we first got to our rooms as there were a few things not quite right (it is NOT tourist season here, so repairs are going on in hotels, and there are not huge crowds of tourists anywhere). So while taps were fixed, light bulbs changed, safes replaced (I love this – they have the safe in every room that you can lock with your personal code – however they are not bolted down, so they are easy to walk around with. We have discovered that a couple of times when the safe has not worked, or I have forgotten the number, they came and opened it for us. In Canada they make a big deal of it, tell us they have to get a locksmith - here they call housekeeping and the person walks in, punches a couple of number and the safe door opens, or if not working properly, they take it away and bring it back! It pays to check this out while travelling so that you can decide whether to leave your valuables in your room safe or the hotels’ safe at the front desk!). Everyone was terrific and we were out and ready for the beach within an hour.
We had a short ride over to the beach. There are signs telling everyone that the ocean is not safe to swim in and that the hotel is not responsible for personal loss. So needless to say Jack was the first one into the ocean! The waves were lots of fun, but at the same time pretty scary (for me!). They do not come in just straight into shore, but sometimes they run across the shore as well. Jack and the girls had a great time and we have some great footage of them in the water. Literally you can stand on the shore and have the water at your ankles, and 2 seconds later you are covered up to your shoulders. If you fell, getting up took a few seconds. Another family came over and was watching us in the water. They decided to try what we were doing as well. Unfortunately they were in full clothes and when the waves hit them, they had quite a bit of difficulty getting back up. The boat driver had a few scary moments getting them back up and out of the waves. They did eventually and laughingly admitted that it was lots of fun. They had come out to the beach to look, so had no towels. We gave them a couple of ours to dry off. They then went back to the hotel and into the pool. We went for a walk along the beach. There were no sea shells which surprised us considering the wave action that we were seeing. Then we too went back to the hotel for a swim and to get ready for a game of ping pong. Jack is the Champion, but the 3 of us are mentally getting ready for a rematch tomorrow!
Since we are at the seaside, we opted for a seafood dinner at the restaurant by the water. Lobster, squid, fish and curry were the choices for tonight. And as usual, by 9:45 Jan & Jack are ready for bed and Alex and Sam are off to find a computer to communicate with friends back home. Good night all – Jan.

Trichy to Madurai (16)

Yesterday, our arrival at the Taj Gateway Hotel was an adventure in and of itself. Sam got to lay by the pool and observe neon caterpillars, big orange bugs, and peacocks (a lady got pooped on), as Alex did the same but with a book while cursing the glorified pigeons’ chattering. Meanwhile, Mim and Dad wandered off to check out a temple in the city. Turned out that was pretty neat; it was enormous, and Dad had to buy a skirt to cover his knees. I think he secretly wanted to buy the skirt, and he wore short shorts to that end (ha). In the evening we enjoyed being first to the restaurant, per usual, at 8 o’clock. We sat outside and enjoyed the fireworks of Independence Day and the lightning of the storm that was brewing. As we ate, we simultaneously fed the area’s bug population, and have the marks to prove it.
Today was most excellent. We woke up at the unearthly hour of 8:30am to go to the Gandhi Museum in Madurai. Have no fear, however, because it was well worth it! There was extensive information on Indian history and how Mahatma Ghandi was involved as well as how he himself influenced the country. There were tons of photos and artifacts accompanying the text. It was (as far as Alex is concerned) the best museum we’ve seen yet.
Next, we wandered all the way down to the southern tip of the country. All four of us stuck a limb into 3 different oceans at once! The Bay of Bengal, the Indian Ocean, and the Arabian Sea. Swimming was out of the question due to the rather large waves ripping into the shore, as well as the temperature, which was a mere 30 degrees. The fact that we now find 27oC hotel rooms frigid does not bode well for our return to Canada!
As seems to be the norm along the coast, the locals were beginning to gather on the waterfront to eat, shop and relax as we were exploring the monuments and admiring the view of the oceans. We weren’t the only tourists, but we were definitely in the minority, and garnered more than a few stares. Alex had her picture taken with a little boy and his mother after the boy developed a serious case of shyness when she noticed him trying to take a picture of her with his parents’ phone.
Also along the shore was a monument honoring those who died in the 2004 tsunami, and a large memorial to Mahatma Gandhi. We got a personalized tour of the memorial from one of the men charged with watching over the monument & keeping an eye out for future tsunamis. The monument, which stands out as a very oddly shaped building on the water’s edge marks the place where Gandhi’s ashes were kept before being cast into the three oceans (so that they could spread around all of India). The memorial building was separated into three areas: the outermost was designed to represent Christianity, the next chamber represented a Hindu Temple, and the final dome a Muslim Mosque, thereby showing Gandhi’s desire to unite all of the people of India. Over the marker where his ashes were kept in the inner-most room was a small circle cut into the ceiling. Each year on his birthday at the time of his birth (October 2nd?, 2:20pm?) the hole covering is opened and a beam of sunlight comes through the roof to touch the marker. It was an interesting tour, and well worth having a guide, as we would have known none of this without him.
Now we have eaten dinner and are marveling at the speed at which the trip seems to be disappearing. We are already one week in, with only a week to go!
Alex & Sam, signing out!

On to Madurai
We finished our visit to Trichy and headed off relatively early to Madurai. Again, falling asleep was not often possible as there was so much to see. Usually as you fell asleep someone would say look at that and you are awake again!
The scenery is marvelous, and we got near the Ghats today so the mountain ranges in the background were fabulous. We passed chili pepper fields, sugar cane, coconut fields (yes farmed just like apple orchards), the trees that they make their homes with are planted just like our forests are replanted, teak trees (which the ones we saw have about 15 years to go), rice is big here as well. The drought here though is having a severe effect on everyone. The fields are quite dry and they are hoping for some heavy rains. I’ve never seen cashews in their shell, so that was interesting as well. They look like a hard white kidney bean. The interesting thing is that many of the farmers dry their rice, nuts etc on the road. So a 2 or 4 lane highway will have about a 2X6 ft area covered in the farmers crop drying. Consider Greenland, the roads to the cottage, #7 with something drying on the road and us seeing and not driving over it. One thing we recognize here is that everyone assumes the driver will not hit, drive over etc anything on the road - so children, cattle, goats, dogs, adults will walk leisurely across a 2 or 4 lane highway and traffic will swerve around to avoid them. We have been aware of a few misses in this area, so seat belts are mandatory!
The highlight of our day was stopping along the highway and having a coconut opened and drinking the seemingly never ending milk inside. All four of us had a drink and we could barely finish it. The coconut itself was much sweeter than we thought, so we gave most of it to the goats.
Our hotel, the TAJ Gateway, was a nice oasis on top of a hill overlooking Madurai. The girls opted to have a snooze by the pool as Jack and I went to see the local, very large, temple in the middle of town.
It is Independence Day in India, so we were treated to a wonderful display of fireworks and sheet lightening this evening!
Pictures will be posted when we get reliable internet access!