We then headed back to Kerala, slightly further south, to Kumily, and stayed at Green View, with a green view and Nilgiri langur monkeys.
And having seen a Hindu ceremony, it was time for a Keralan Catholic one
Kumily is on the edge of the Periyar Tiger Reserve, where we spent a great day with the rangers. There were 12 tourists, an armed guard, and 6 other rangers, and we started on hiking through the park then continued by bamboo raft.
Another hike, lunch, a rest, then back again, and so far the only new wildlife we had seen was a kingfisher. Slightly despondent, we return by raft, then the final hike and … finally we see an elephant … who stays for a while … then ambles off!
After all this activity, time for some downtime, so on to Backwater Farm at Cherthala, where we will end our road trip … we’re on our own from here on!
Next we headed east over the Western Ghats into Tamil Nadu and the views were stunning
Our destination was Madurai, famed for the Meenakshi Temple, dedicated to the goddess Meenakshi (considered a form of Parvati) with a sanctum for her consort, Sundareshwarar (or Shiva).
We visited during the day, and saw the gopurams or temple towers that stand at each gate and are covered with brilliantly painted sculptures of gods and here are Parvati and Shiva sitting on Nandi bull.
We returned later to the temple to watch the daily ceremony, where the statue of Sundareshwarer is taken from his shrine, amidst music from drums and a kind of oboe, to just outside Meenakshi’s shrine where it is cleansed in wafts of incense, then taken inside, so just as any other married couple, they can spend the night together!
We arrived at Olive Brook, a homestay with 4 cottages, beautiful gardens with poinsettias growing outside.
We were taken on an afternoon walk down the road through cardamom and tea plantations and later, after a cookery demonstration for veg and coconut curry, we had a wonderful home cooked meal, where the dishes just seemed to keep coming!
Onwards to Echo Point, where a large group of noisy Indians obliged with the shouts over the water to get an echoed shout back. But this is India, and despite the beauty of the landscape it is marred by the continual rubbish, a pile that was being burnt as we were there.
And finally to Top Station, which was a little disappointing as we were in the cloud, and although we walked down to the viewpoint, it wasn’t until we walked back, the cloud lifted slightly …
We drove to Coimbatore railway station and said farewell to our driver.
We boarded our train to Kochi … comfy reserved seats for 4 hr journey, £3 each … British Rail please take note!
Our first day was spent following the walking trail of things to see in Fort Kochi, including the church where Vasco da Gama was buried (although he was later dug up and taken to Portugal, so maybe not so interesting), but it did have fabric fans called punkahs, that still work to keep the congregation cool, operated by punkah wallahs.
We also saw the Chinese fishing nets, supposedly brought by traders from the court of the Kublai Khan, and which feature in more ads for Kerala than anything else, although usually at sunset.
The Queen Mary II was here for a day, and all day we saw Cunard crocodiles of cruisers making whistlestop visits to the sights … this was India in a day! The ship did look huge and sparkly as,it left port in the evening.
Very few places are licensed in Kochi, and less serve wine, but Friday night we really fancied a bottle with dinner so booked a table at the swanky Malabar House Hotel.
We were shown to the candelit courtyard, where three men were playing Indian music. We ordered our food, and remained very calm when the waiter told us they couldn’t serve alcohol as the first day of the month is a dry day in Kerala … only in India! Nonetheless the food and the ambience couldn’t be faulted. Other lovely spots for dinner were the Fort House and Killian House hotels and we also had a good meal at Casa Linda. Must also mention the Kashi cafe where we went for lunch, which proved so lovely, we popped in each day.
Went to a theatre to see dance and kathakali, a form of ritualised theatre unique to Kerala. Arrived early so we could see the actors put on their make up. The Kathakali relies on eye movements and hand gestures to explain the story, and the costumes are hugely elaborate.
The last couple of days were slow days. We went to the Jewish part of town and saw the synagogue, which was very interesting but no photos, as was the Mantancherry Palace, built by the Portuguese for the local raja, then added to by the Dutch, with exotic murals of scenes from the Ramayana. We took a couple of ferries, one to Vypeen Island, just for a walk and a different view of the fishing nets and another to modern Ernaculam to wander round the shops, including a department store with serious customer service.
We had an amazing drive up to Ooty, the queen of hillstations, via 36 hairpin bends, with no place to stop, so unfortunately no pics. We spent a little while recovering in the lovely botanic gardens.
We then caught the toy train that connects it with Coonoor, an hour away. Our tickets were 5 rupees each, about 6p, and amazingly, if Chris had filled out a form, he could have had 30% off for being over 60!
The fourth homestay was Sun Valley tea plantation with a wonderful view. The trees are planted between the tea to stop soil erosion, and the ladies are out picking by hand all day.
Next stop, the train to Fort Kochi.
We drove through tea plantations and saw ladies picking tea at the side of the road on our way to our next homestay, which was over the border into Tamil Nadu.
The third homestay was The Wilds at Northern Hay, another homestay on a coffee plantation, but this time on the edge of Mudumalai Forest. We were picked up by jeep as the road was rough!
We sat watching black faced langur monkeys playing in the garden.
We went for a plantation walk in the afternoon, a jeep safari in the early evening and a forest trek in the morning and we saw more deer, peacocks, wild boar, a giant squirrel, a flame-backed woodpecker, malabar and plum-headed paraqueets, a chestnut-headed bee-eater …
… and finally the back of a retreating elephant, but because we were on foot, it would have been dangerous to pursue him and he didn’t stop to have his pic taken!
Our second homestay was Aranyakam, a homestay in a Keralyan bungalow surrounded by a coffee plantation. The veranda was a perfect spot to settle with a book.
After lunch we drove to Kanthampara waterfall where we went walking, and was pretty, but not as dramatic as it would be with more water flowing.
We also went for a walk down the narrow road, passed coffee bushes and also saw the beans drying.
Another sunset and another day done.
Next stop, maybe elephants …
Leaving Mysore, we were heading for four homestays over four nights.
We began our day with a 7am safari in a jeep round Muthanga National Park, but unfortunately the elephants eluded us and the most impressive wildlife was a giant squirrel, peacock and cheetal deer …
Next stop, coffee plantations.
We stayed, no expense spared, at The Park Lane Hotel … for £25/night, nice room, and bustling terrace restaurant with sliding roof and good food.
We climbed Chamundi Hill to the temple. According to legend, the demon Mahishasura was king of the area and was killed by the Goddess Chamundeswari after a fierce battle and there is a statue of him.
The temple might be very important religiously, but was singularly disappointing to view, but we were amazed at the huge numbers of people visiting, a bit like a rugby scrum.
On the way down was a Nandi bull statue, and we saw our first monkeys.
One afternoon we went to Brindavan Gardens which were laid out when the dam was built, backdrop apparently to many a Bolleywood movie, which were lovely to wander round, but we didn’t stay for the musical lightshow as the road back was full of potholes and we didn’t fancy it after dark.
Finally, we spent a lovely day nearby at Srirangapatum where the highlights were another of Tipu Sultan’s summer palaces, built of wood, with every inch covered in painted decoration, unfortunately no photos allowed, his tomb …
… and a Ranganathittu bird sanctuary, where we had a boat trip and saw crocs, bats, pelicans, storks, cormorants, spoonbills …
One evening, rather than eating at Park Lane, we went to the Tiger Trail at the Royal Orchid Hotel for dinner. The restaurant is set in an open courtyard with trees and twinkly lights and looks very pretty. Service was friendly but rather slow, but this was more than made up for by the food which was delicious.
We then set off on an 8 day tour by car heading south.
First stop was a 57ft statue of Gommateshvara on a hill at Sravanabelagola. Every twelve years, thousands of devotees congregate to perform Mahamastakabhisheka, a ceremony where the statue is covered in milk, curds, ghee, saffron and gold coins, next to happen in 2018. We had to climb the 614 steps without shoes but could wear socks and there was a great view from the top.
The interiors of both these temples was also fabulous, each carved pillar being different, and with sculpted ceilings, but they were quite dark and hard to photograph.
Off Travelling Together 