First Indian Holiday!!!

Just returned from my very first Indian holiday!

Throughout September (amidst teaching and battling mosquitoes) I’d been planning this holiday. It’s my first Solo trip that I’ve organized alone, with some help from our country Reps. A lot of responsibility! I’m proud and relieved to be able to say it all went according to plan and Anna and I had a great time!

We had twelve days off due to the Dessera festival, all the pupils went home so we had the chance to explore India.

The destination Kerala, “God’s own country”. Located in the South West of India. Famed for it’s beaches, backwaters and wildlife. Perfect.

Indigo flight 6E 317 got us there in two hours. The train would have taken over 24, India is so huge!

Afterwards we spent over 8 hours on a bus to get to our first destination, the jungle town of Kumily. The ride was fascinating (with some close encounters of the creeper kind!) exhausting too, but we survived.

Finally we reached our accommodation, Coffee Inn.

Me, blending into the garden surroundings! Behind is the reserve.

Coffee Inn

This was by far the most interesting lodgings on the road lined with souvenir shops, guest houses and restaurants. Bright orange, wooden, carved with interesting statues and décor, I loved it.

There is a nice garden and it all back out onto the wildlife reserve which meant we could wildlife watch for free.  From here we saw many birds, black monkeys, wild boar, Buffalo, fruit bats (!) and deer. As well as the sightings there was plenty of strange noises at night.

View from the garden!

We spent our first night in a tree house!

Then the next day we were upgraded to the Luxury cottage for the same fee as the tree house! Only 300 rupees a night each!

 Why? Surprisingly, the owners were so impressed that we are teachers in a Blind school that they wanted to treat us! (Helped we were there on off season) but what a luxury!

Elephant Experience

Our first and favorite activity. We had the whole elephantine shebang for only 25 quid. Anna and I are in agreement that it was the best ₤25 we’ve ever spent.

So what made it all so good!? Well the elephants of course!

Lucky 

Our experience began with a ride through the jungle and Cardamom plantation on the vast back of a tusker named “Lucky”. Nothing like horse-riding! It was surprisingly slow and steady, although I struggled to find a rhythm. They are surprisingly silent with their big padded feet. We were pretty high off the ground too! Two men came with us, one to guide Lucky using Malayam (Kerala’s state language) commands and the other to take photos. An expert apparently, we kept catching sight of him trying artistic shots with leaves etc. I really enjoyed the ride.

Oooh, arty! 

Raised Trunk brings Lucky - worked for us, had a great holiday!!!

Afterwards we rewarded Lucky with some melon. Feeding an elephant is slightly bizarre! Their mouths are so strange. I think the feeding was Lucky’s favorite part.

Managed not to lose my hand!!

Next we met the lovely Ramba. She gave us a timber pulling demo. Elephants have been used for this for centuries in Asia. Nowadays they are only used when areas are inaccessible to other vehicles. Elephants impact the ecosystem much less than vehicles. Ramba was guided by her rider by the use of his feet. He sat right behind her head with his feet on the backs of her ears and depending on the way he tapped them, she would know what to do. Great to see it in action.

Dragging the 200kg log

Then Ramba was rewarded with a nice bath! In a specially built pool she was instructed to lie down.

Not dead I promise!

We were given scrubbing brushes and told to get to work. Elephant skin isn’t as I expected it to be. It’s rough and thick and dry not leathery at all. She was pretty hairy too with thick coarse hairs all over her head. She kept flapping her huge ears and slapping us! They flap their ears to cool down.

About to get slapped!

Then came the best bit!

She looks like she's having fun too! 

KABLAMMMMMM!

Climbed up onto her back and got sprayed. I was under the impression that it'd be a light sprinkling... nope! More like being blasted by a water cannon! So insane and exhilarating!!! 

Periyar Tiger Reserve

Chatting to our Ranger friend at over Chai, taught me a lot about the Reserve. Periyar Tiger Reserve  surrounds the village of Kumily and stretches on for miles and miles. Over 5000 sq Kms have been left exclusively to nature. The reserve places restrictions on the number of tourists who can take part in activites within the reserve to limit the impact on the ecosystem. For us, this meant only a group of four people could go on the Jungle Safari. In my opinion this improved it as we weren't trouping along a track in a big procession!

They have apparently eradicated 99% of poaching in the area! This has been achieved by educating locals (especially tribal people who traditionally hunted in the forest and more recently were poaching) about wildlife and their impact on it. The government has provided employment to tribal people as guides on hikes (like the one I went on) or on farms. This is a great idea, it makes the wildlife much more valuable alive than dead.

The reserve is famed for it's tigers, but they are notoriously difficult to spot! I  was told there's about 55 tigers on the reserve. I was surprised by how few that seems. They occupy territories of around 30kms each so sighting one is very rare. I was happy just to stare at the hills in the knowledge that in those woods live tigers!

As someone's who is going to be studying Sustainable Development next year, hearing about these works was really interesting!


That night we had an Indian head massage as a holiday treat. It was a traditonal Ayurvedic massage which involved special oils which have been used in India for centuries. Nice and relaxing.

 Jungle Safari

Up bright and early at 4.30am the next day. Taken to the reserve by our driver Bibbin in an open top jeep. He drove like a demon, tearing around corners and overtaking everything on the road. Racing through the dawn certainly woke me up!

Had Chai in a tea plantation as the Sun rose over the misty mountains. 

Finally reached the reserve. The drive was surprisingly chilly! I froze for most o f the morning! Cold up in the mountains compared to Hyderabad!

The Safari began with a disclaimer "Forget all you know about Safaris, this isn't Africa. You won't see tigers walking across the road. You need to look hard to spot things, if there's anything to spot." Looking around at the dense vegetation, I could see why this was necessary!

I spotted (after a lot of staring in the wrong places!):

• Monkeys
• Flying Squirrels
• Birds 
• And... A bear! Yes a bear!

Photographic Evidence!! (blurry as it was very far away!!) 

Had breakfast at the Gavi resort. Nice Buffet. Here we were given our Jungle guides and partnered up with zwei ganz freundliche Frauen aus Deutschland!

Jungle Trek

Before setting off for our 3 hour trek through the jungle we had to prepare by donning a lovely pair of leech socks. These seemed ridiculous at the time but came into their own going through the jungle! Would have bled to death with the amount of leeches!

Canvas - number one leech prevention hardware (just add salt)

Ready for Adventure!

After a short canoe trip over the lake we sett off on our trek. As soon as i stepped off the boat, I was enveloped in greenery. Our guide lead us away from the beaten track in the hope of spotting more wildlife. It was all very exciting. PLUS our guide's name was Baloo ala the Jungle book! 

Baloo leading the way

 The walking was through the dense undergrowth, most of the time was spent  examining the forest floor for hazards. Though actually seeing rainforest litter after studying it in Biology and Geography was pretty exciting (yes, I get excited by dead leaves...). Also lead to many frog sightings!

On the rare occasions I felt secure enough to look up, the views were rewarding... until the next time I slipped around and had to look down again.

One of the 20 spices of Orchid in this forest

Rainforest canopy.. I've stood under!

Baloo knew all about the forest he was constantly listening out for things we couldn't hear and taking us through narrow twisty trails. Every now and then he pointed out some animal trails. After a while I began to see them too.

Baloo showing us an Elephant mud bath, they rub in the dirt to keep cool and bug free. 

TIGER PRINT!!! Closest we got to a tiger, but when we were just hiking in the forest it was a kind of relief not to be eaten!

We heard a lot of animals but spotting them wasn't so easy. Saw some monkeys, heard even more and saw birds. But for me it was exciting enough to be in the Jungle!

Hopped over a few streams

Cheesy photoshoot at the Banyan tree - India's national tree with some bad habits... 

 The jungle was so interesting. Full of life.

Some of the more hair-raising parts were towards the end. We had to cross a very rickety bridge which swung with every step! Then scale a dam! But as intrepid explorers we conquered the challenges (even if a certain someone had to be helped up the wall...)

of course we had to have our photo taken while standing on the ricketiest bridge ever!

You can hardly tell I was terrified!

We did it!!!

The hike was so good. I honestly feel so privileged even to see an actual rain-forest nevermind be able to explore one!

Boating

After a de-leeching sesh which involved rubbing salt on shoes and detatching the ONE leech that'd managed to get me. Then a  refreshing buffet lunch, we were off on a relaxing boat trip over the lake. Our destination was a waterfall. It was very beautiful and as tourists, perfect for a photo! 

Lake Gavi

Happy hikers!

View Point 

To finish we took a hike up the mountains to admire the view. Despite tired legs, the view was worth it!
Missed mountains living in Hyderabad!

beautiful!

Returned via Jeep, cruising down the hills. What a great day!

Spice Plantation

Took a tour of a spice plantation. Was fascinating to learn all about the plants which have been flavoring my food (and attacking my tongue!) Learnt a lot, but luckily for you I'll only mention one. Pepper is one plant but from which four spices can be obtained, whit, red, black and green pepper. All depends on the treatment of the plant. Now you know!

Our Guide giving us the lowdown on Coffee Beans

That night we went to the Murda Cultural center for two performances.

Kathakali

Kathakali is a traditional Keralan dance form which tells od stories of the gods. The stylised dance involves bright make-up, elaborate costumes, facial expressions (like you've never seen before) and specific hand gestures. The dancers learn from the ages of ten for a decade. The dances are traditionally performed a temples and can last from duck till dawn. Luckily ours only lasted an hour. All this info was helpfully given to us before the performance. After a long time of having to guess, I was grateful for the explanation. It's good they make it so accessible to tourists and help people like me understand their culture.

First we got to watch the make-up being applied. It was fascinating if a little bizarre. Green = good guy.
Got to meet the "female performer" who surprised us by being male. He was very interesting to talk to.

Femme Fatal 

 The dance was very entertaining. With drums and cymbals accompanying.

And of course a photo opp. at the end!

Kalaripayattu

Indian martial arts. This was in a specially designed hall with a fighting pit surrounded by seats. Reminded me of a gladiator pit! There was a shrine at one end and special oil lamps which were lit. Prayers were said by the performers and then the show could begin. The art form is deeply rooted in religion and dance. 

It was incredibly fast and incredibly acrobatic. Quite a spectacle! I was blown away by what they could go! Leaping in the air, dodging swords and mock-fighting. One man kicked a ball from standing. The ball was hanging 7 foot off the ground. He kicked it into the ceiling! Another twirled fire batons and another leapt through not one but two rings of fire!  Amazing!

Of course afterwards there was a photo op!

in case you can't tell, i'm totally winning

After we took photos with the performers, something strange happened. They asked to take photos with us! Felt strange that we were somehow special... Especially after I'd seen the same guy leap through flames! We refused the many other strangers who'd asked for phtos randomly but we felt obliged to these people. Still not used (and never will be) used to people wanting a photo with me, just because i'm foreign!

Both shows were terrific!

Lake Periyar

Took a short walk through the wildlife reserve on the main road to get to the ferry terminal. The walk was nice. On a beautifully paved road (much better than Hyderabad's roads!). To get in the parks cost 300 rupees. Foreigners get charged extra! 

On the way we stopped at a rest-stop with benches and a cafe. there was so many monkeys. All playing. So cute!

 Got the ferry from the park office. It cost 150 plus 25 for my camera!
the ferry was crowded. This made for huge excitement at any wildlife spotting! Saw deer and cormorants. The view was great.

Periyar is artificial, Valley was flooded by the British to provide water to neighboring state Tamil Nadu. The dead trees were quite spooky!

  Last activity in Kumily was shopping. There was honestly 20 shops all selling similar items. We went around each and found the best of each product. Got some good deals on beautiful handcrafted items thanks to our haggling. We found being nice worked best!

Sad to leave Kumily, had a great time there. But the adventure must continue!

Spent a rest day in Kottayam. Before getting the government ferry to Alleppey.

Ferry

The ferry to Alleppey cost 10 rupees and was a great way to escape the buses ( by this point we'd spent over 12 hours in public buses) and see the backwaters for the first time. It was such a nice ride. We had a friendly local point out everything of interest and give us random facts! 

our ride 

saw so many cormorants and crows

Rice paddies

Alleppy -"Venice and Amsterdam but Indian"

Alleppey was lovely. Our hotel had a TV!!!!! Watched so many rubbishy films and Malayam (Kerala's language) Music videos. 

The "travel desk" helped us plan day trips and activities. Restaurants were very good too. Loved it. The Canals were really nice and tree lined. Around the peaceful canals was the usual hustle and bustle of Indian life. Bright advertisements, crisscrossing wires and a million people! 

Backwaters 

Took two trips on the backwaters. 

The first was an all day canoe trip with meals included. Early start, met our guide. Took a ferry to his house on the back waters. There watched "honey I shrunk the kids" terribly dubbed in Malayam with the guides family while he prepared the boat. 

Our awesome guide. He paddled us for hours in the baking sun while we sat reclining in the shade. He told us so many stories. Made animal noises, meowing when we passed a cat etc. Chatted to other boat men as we went by and even absentmindedly serenaded us! Won't forget him in a hurry! 

 Tame Brahminy Kite. Felt like a Pirate!

Cutting the coconuts.

Had a traditional Keralan breakfast at a canalside cafe. Drank fresh coconut water. "thunder coconuts"
Then on with the cruising. It was so peaceful and relaxing. I really felt immersed in the beautiful surroundings. So much to see, people going about their daily lives, washing clothes in the canal, boats going by of all shapes and sizes. Flowers floating on the water. Birds everywhere. I loved it.

Went for a walk to see a local "place of interest" The birthplace of a Local Keralan saint. Over 200 years ago he did a lot of good works in this area and is famous today. Christianity is much more present here than in  Hyderabad.

 Rice

"help me" Training boast for racing

Overall a great way to spend the day. 

Second back water trip was in a motor boat. It wasn't as long as before but the trip was very relaxing too. 

 monument to a communist Martyr. The party is very popular here.

So beautiful and relaxing I loved the backwaters!!! 

Beach! 

I'd missed the sea, was so happy to "be beside the seaside". The beaches were much nicer than I'd expected! Alleppey beach was closer with restaurants and stands on the sand. it was nice, a few people did want a photo but we denied them. just had to be wary. but, apart from one man offering to be Anna's husband it wasn't as bad as we thought it'd be. We were of course covered up - certainly no bikinis!!

Also went Sari shopping in a huge store! 5 floors, tallest shop in Alleppey I got two Salwar Kameezes (nicest ones I own now) and two cheap Saris for teaching. Anna got much cooler Saris, a CHRISTMAS Sari and a traditional white Keralan Sari. 

I really enjoyed my stay in Alleppey. It was... sublime! The backwaters are some of the most beautiful places I've ever been! 

Last night - Kochin 

Up early to get another bus, only 2 hours this time, to Kochin. Wanted to make the most of our last day and see what we could of the historic city. 

Taken to our accommodation in a super speedy auto. Dumped our bags then headed out.

Immediately an auto driver waved for us then danced over. He advertised a tour of Fort Kochin for 50 rupees. He even had a leaflet. I was sold. 

Then proceeded the craziest funniest tour of the area. in his "Porsche" (sticker on the back of his auto proved it!

He showed us many things and cracked jokes, told us facts and for the second time on a tour our guide made animal noises! Yelled "Teachers coming through" while driving across a busy road!

He stopped at a lot of government approved shops, if we went in he received food coupons from the government.  

Our sights:

 Chinese fishing nets, very famous in Kochin.

 Organic spice shop. I bought Lotus perfume!

 View from the Dutch tower built 120 years ago

 Old Dutch factory, new Indian mural. Ginger left to dry out in the sun.

 Mattancherry Palace. Had very intricate murals inside. Learnt a lot about the royals.

Synagogue

Kochin was really beautiful!

Back at the hotel I met some more Germans and got, for the second time to practice my German! At this rate, if I keep meeting them on holiday I hopefully won't forget it all! 

Had a good end to the trip!

Overall a great hoilday. So proud that it went accoriding to plan. Was so great to explore a totally different part of India. Felt very mature expolring without an adult to guide me. Crazy to think I've been on a holiday that I planned  in a forgein country and it all went well! Never thought I'd be doing this at 17! 

I'm so so lucky to have had this experience! Thanks to everyone who helped get me here in the first place! 

Had a nice welcome back to school too! 

I love India!