Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary, Kerala India
Anna's entry: Getting to this wildlife sanctuary was a real race, literally. We were told by a bus station master in Ernakulam to get on a 6:40 a.m. bus if we wan to get to our destination quicker. Well, he wasn't kidding... The bus driver of that 6:40 bus was a driving maniac! He was undoubtedly a very skilled driver, but he would not stop for anyone or anything, even for the incoming traffic - no matter how big or small the obstacle was, he would blow his horn non-stop. Cyclists, motor cyclists, buses, cars, rickshaws, truck - all had to get out of his way. Even where there was no room to pass (like on the mountain road), he would still hank that horn, and other drivers had to adjust to his madness. Oh my God, we were glad when the bus finally pulled into the final bus stop - Kumily. We were glad the Indian version of Formula One racing was over. We looked at our watch, we were over an hour ahead of schedule for arrival. The driver pulled over to the bus station, his face was as calm as if he had been sitting on his home couch sipping chai instead of racing that bus for the past four hours....
Kumily is a small village, and it is the entry to the Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary. However, Kumily does not live a "small village" life. Every day there was something happening. One of such events was political activity. Apparently, the current ruling party of Kerala is the Communist party called CPMI. I have not seen that much of the Soviet symbolics since my childhood in the former Soviet Union. I am not kidding you - portraits of Lenin, Marx, Engels; old Soviet Red Flags; Hammer and Sickle posters; proletariat union statues, you name it! Another crazy thing was a mixture of the religious themes and political ideology. As an example, you would see a portrait of Jesus Christ right next to the Soviet flag and Lenin portrait. If you know some Russian history, you would probably know that Jesus Christ and Communist party were on the complete opposite ends, as a matter of fact, believers were prosecuted in the Soviet Union. But here, in Kerala, apparently, those two completely different ideologies go hand in hand, so there you have it - religion on the red Soviet flags.
Going back to the Wildlife Sanctuary... We were the first to enter the park(6 a.m.), and the last ones to leave (6 p.m.). That little adventure requires some detailing. We had it all - wild elephants, fight with a monkey, and uprising in the jungle. I am not kidding you! Let's go one by one...
Yes - we were fortunate to see three families of wild elephants. One of the families had a young baby among them, and they were very careful protecting their precious offspring. Elephants seem like such gentle parents. At one point the entire family decided to cross the lake. Apparently, they are pretty good swimmers, it was very cute watching them entering and exiting the water one by one, with a little baby holding on to the mom by a little trunk. Besides wild elephants, we saw deer, bisons, wild boars, lake turtles, otters, and various types of birds.
In between breaks, Rob managed to acquire an enemy. The rest area was over-taken by monkeys, and they were trying to steel anything they could get their hands on. Well, they picked a wrong victim - Rob. One monkey ran into an information area, and grabbed a sack with some food and money that Rob was carrying. Rob thought it was unacceptable, he chased the monkey, sprayed the water from his bottle on the monkey, and got our stuff back. I needed to leave for a boat cruise. I left Rob and the monkey standing against each other - monkey hissing at Rob, Rob lecturing the monkey. Apparently, that wasn't the last of it - I was told by Rob later that my umbrella was used at one point, but I don't exactly know by who - by Rob or by monkey. But, as a result of all of it, Rob and the thieve monkey were not on speaking terms when I returned. Later on we would meet a lot of other very well behaved monkeys, two of which were new mothers. It was amazing watching them around their babies - just like people, except that they are using the tales to pull their running away babies back. I shot several cute videos of monkey moms and their kids.
We also joined a hiking trip to a rain forest, or a jungle how some people call it. To start with, we had to cross a stream on a raft to get on the other side of the forest, the raft was submerged in the water - there were seven of us instead of five (no safety concerns in India, the more the merrier rule applies). The hiking trip was supposed to last for three hours, but our guide decided to quit it at a two hour mark. Well, Rob politely asked to honor the commitment, the guide tried to give a line of "bs", but he agreed to let us stay behind. The rest of the group heard our conversation, and decided to stay behind as well. So, there we were - seven foreigners walking by ourselves back to the jungle. The guide could not return back with an empty raft, he probably would have been reprimanded by losing all of us, so he began legging behind us. One of the people in a group was Daniel. As it turned out later, he was a priest from England (we did not know that at a time). We met Daniel the next day, and he told us how much he had enjoyed the previous day. He said "I could not wish for a better day - I saw wild elephants, and I joined the rebel in the jungle". And, that how we would remember the Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary. :)
In addition, Rob, Daniel, and I also visited an old spice garden and tea plantation. It was beautiful to be up in the mountains surrounded by the pure green color of the tea bushes, with birds flying and singing, no traffic, no people, at least while we were walking around the hills.
When we returned back to the village, we were back to the madness. Political songs are blaring from the speakers on the streets, red flags, etc. But, we had one very sweet encounter. While waiting for a bus, we stopped in front of a stall shack. A man with a little girl in his arms was standing behind a counter. He saw were were foreigners, and he noticed we were looking at a pile of crazy looking routes laying in front of his stall. He told us it was tapioca route, then he grabbed one and disappeared. I saw his through the door washing the route, and his little girl hands. Then he cut the route into three parts, put them in his daughter hands, and sent her towards us to give us the tapioca. It was so sweet and kind of him and his young girl to do that. They had big smiles on their faces... Then the man ran to the side of the road to stop the bus for us. We knew this man and his little gild only for a few minutes, but I think I will remember their kind faces and sincere smiles for many years to come...
Kochi/Ernakulum, Kerala India
Anna's entry:We chose to stay in Ernakulum, and took ferries to Kochi and Vypeen Island. Ernakulum seemed more authentic and real, while Kochi a lot more artificial - too many tourists and souvenir shops. The ferries were very cheap, for about 10 cents you could go across the lake, plus it added a nice scenery and experience. On one of such boat rides we struck up a conversation with a local, and he gave us a pineapple from his tree. It was the best pineapple I've tried, so sweet and juicy, and the best part - it was a very friendly gesture from a local to make us feel welcome. In Kochi (also called Fort Cochin) we were also cordially greeted by a bus full of elementary school children. They enthusiastically waved to us, all with big smiles on their faces, then they stuck their heads out of the windows and shouted "welcome to India!". It was so sweet and cute! Rob and I keep comparing our traveling experience in India with Central America, and it is completely different. In Central America (specifically in Nicaragua and Guatemala) locals were so closed in and a lot of times unapproachable, and were even hiding their kids when they saw "gringos". In India, quite the opposite, people try to talk to you, shake your hands, bring their children closer to wave to you and send air kisses. People's attitude makes the experience in India so memorable! Of course, there are some people we want to stay away from, and we also get short changed at times, but the average person on a street is friendly, kind, gentle, and over all we are made feel very welcomed.
In addition to Ernakulum and Kochi, Rob and I took a ferry to the Vypeen Island, and then a public bus to the Cherai Beach. We were the only Westerners or "gringos"
as we call it, so people tried to help us out to get to the right direction. The bus we were one had a local pop music blasting, so Rob decided to have fun and was making dance movements as a joke. The conductor was initially surprised about that (it is not typical of locals to do that on a bus), but then he began laughing and pointing Rob out to other passengers. So, unaware, Rob collected several fans on a bus who were giving big smiles and thumbs up.
Another "special" thing about Ernakulum was a big invasion of mosquitoes at night. Luckily, we are traveling with a mosquito net that we set up around the bed, and that wasn't a problem for us, but for others it certainly was - we kept hearing slaps in other rooms, no doubt while chasing the mosquitoes and loosing a battle.
Lunga, traditional men's clothing of South India
Fishing nets, the emblem of Kerala
Bennalium (Goa) India
Anna's entry: Well, it was finally time to leave Mumbai, and we headed out further South. We chose to stop in Bennalium in Goa, because it is a more peaceful place, no big youngster parties, no traffic, no touts. We stayed in a very peaceful place, only $8 a night. The hotel had a big tropical garden surrounded by palm trees, and the best part was the breakfast. After two months of Indian food, we welcomed an opportunity for a simple Western breakfast - fried eggs, toast, and coffee! It was also cheap, both of us ate for about $1 - yes, we are getting spoilt by pricing here. :)
Rob and I walked to the beach, swam in the Arabian sea, and had a peaceful time out. The only irritating thing for me was that local guys are so deprived of women, that there was the whole procession of them walking along the beach to check out Western women in their swim wear. I specifically selected a very modest swim suit to cover everything I can possibly think of, but even that was not enough. Some guys would pull out their cell phones to snap a shot, even a picture of a bare arm was interesting for them. I understand the local traditions, but come on - the entire Indian internet and television is filled up with half naked women, wouldn't that be easier and more enticing to watch than trying to steal a snap shot of a western woman walking on the beach? Apparently, not.... Ah well, let them enjoy...
The sunset over the Arabian sea was very pretty. We spent several days in Bennalium before moving on down to Kerala.
