I'm knackered!! :-)
There are several reasons why I have moved so much - first I wanted to hurry to get to Rajasthan, so I could have plenty of time there. Then when I found how err.. invasive.. the Rajasthan and Maharashtra men are, and was disappointed by a couple of recommended hotels, I was in a hurry to get further South. Plus, the people I have travelled with have all been on shorter trips then me and trying to pack in plenty of sights.
Kerala is much more laid back, Chantal wanted to see the hills so soon after we arrived in Cochin we took a 5 day/ 4 night tour of Munnar and Periyar in the Western Ghats, and Kottayam (I'm really glad I did, it was fantastic - see the photo album!).
Periyar wildlife reserve includes 46 tigers and 2000 (wild) elephants, but it is 777 square km, so although I'm terrified of large animals we were advised that we're not likely to see any of them, so I was persuaded to join. A few minutes into the walk, we spotted a bear footprint. The guide said "slow" or "sloth" bear - I'm not sure which and also "very lucky" and "very dangerous". Oh good: more large creatures to worry about. We also think we saw an elephant in the very far distance - in Chantal's 25x binoculars it was a small blob, and on my 10x zoom it was a pixel or 2. After visiting the viewpoint (see photos), we then saw several huge steaming piles of elephant evidence, the guide said it was a large group.
We extended the walk a little beyond the intended 3 hours as we scrambled all over the hillside, avoiding the regular paths, through plenty of long grass. It was mostly about eye height on me, just right to obscure thorn branches. We got *very* close to the elephants several times, judging by the guide's comments and the smell - a three-way cross between stables, woodsmoke, and sweat. However, (thank goodness!) we never actually saw any of them. So no photos, sorry. Apparently it's quite common for them to split up and play hide and seek with you. At one point when they were near we saw another bear footprint, and I had a completely unjustified sensation that they scared the bear away to protect us. Who knows...!
I do have a few pics of monkeys, plus a tame elephant, plus some kingfishers at the bird sanctuary, but my camera's 10x zoom isn't really quite enough for wildlife, so all of them except the tame elephant are somewhat obscure and I haven't bothered uploading them now.
We've no more sightseeing booked, will spend 3 lazy days here in Kovalam, then Chantal returns to Belgium on the 8th.
I could stay on, but there are quite a lot of touts on the beach (chosen because it's convenient for Trivandrum airport) and I gather that Varkala beach (60km north) hasn't been quite so Benidormed, so I'll probably head that way.
I found a speedo-style swimsuit in Ernakulam, having got here it's sufficiently Westernised that we could wear bikinis - if only we could find them (Chantal forgot hers)! The shops are very tourist-oriented and mostly sell carpets, large wooden carvings, stones, and overpriced jewellery. The shopkeepers must rely on the package tour traffic rather than backbackers - who surely won't want to buy more luggage!
On the subject of luggage, it's sooo nice having lost most of my rucksack weight, I have replaced very little so far, so still only have an overgrown laptop bag and a daysack to carry. The only downside is keeping on top of laundry, plus I'm a bit short of lightweight clothing - will probably pick up some more this week if I can find it. Everywhere I've been apart from Cochin and Kovalam has cold (sometimes very cold) nights, so I've needed jeans and a sweater, but I think now might be a good time to shed them.
5 Jan 2008
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