The Intermission

9 days in the UK- enough time to recover from jetlag, see my family, get to the Isle of Wight, help set up for the wedding, go the wedding rehearsal, be a bridesmaid, and see my best friend get married. Then recover from the wedding, get back from the Island, catch up with some friends on the way, find a South Africa plug adaptor, do some washing, and go to Heathrow to begin the next stage of my adventure!

The End of Part One

My final week in India was spent in the Kerala midlands, quite off the tourist trail, at a place called The Pimenta. I planned the time here with the intention of learning how to cook delicious vegetarian Keralan food, which I definitely feel like I did, though having not been back in my own kitchen yet I haven’t tested out whether any of my new skills have been retained. It was a busy week, with mornings out exploring the local area, visiting food markets and buying ingredients, and afternoons cooking up a feast for the evening meal.

Morning excursions were often fascinating, getting to see local life that I never would have even known about if I had just passed through on my way to one of the more popular destinations either direction of where I was staying. Wholesale banana and pineapple markets, snack making establishments making banana chips on wood stoves, and a truck painting warehouse were just some of the things I had an insight into. Actually writing this down and reading it back they all sound quite dull and/or nerdy… but really they were so interesting! Truck painting possibly wins on sounding the most obscure, but there is a long tradition in certain places in Kerala of having extremely intricate hand painted designs on lorries and trucks, and very few places in which this painting takes place. The winner for me though was seeing the products of the numerous rubber plantations I have seen so many of since starting my travels in Kerala. Seeing rubber gloves and a rainbow of rubber bands out to dry in the sun was quite a peculiar but brilliant sight. One morning I also took a trip to the government-run elephant training camp, and got to see the gorgeous baby elephants taking their bath and playing in the river.This trip happened to be on my birthday so it was a very memorable birthday treat!

One of many fried snacks being made over a wood fire

Hands up who wants a pair of marigolds!

But back to my main objective – cooking. Each day I made about 5 different dishes, under the watchful eye of Jacob who runs the Pimenta and has lived in the area his whole life, so knows a thing or two about what tastes good and where to get the best quality ingredients, though he grows most of the spices himself in the large jungle-like garden on-site. Most days there was a lot of coconut involved in a variety of formats, then lots of types of dhal and a huge range of vegetables, masses of curry leaves and few other spices. Rice is a big part of the diet too, and I learned that you can tell the quality of basmati rice by how long the grain is (value stuff at the supermarket just isn’t long enough apparently!) I was pleased to have a go at making my all-time favourite South Indian dish, masala dosa, though I haven’t quite refined my dosa batter spreading technique so more practice needed before any dinner party appearances of that dish.

Making masala dosa during a power cut

The end of the week came round quickly and before I knew it I was heading back to Cochin to get an early morning flight to the UK, feeling a mix of sadness to be leaving India after 4 incredible, challenging at times, but enjoyable months, and excitement for a whirlwind trip back for some very important bridesmaid duties, seeing family and friends, and as an added bonus the chance to show my clothes a washing machine which they hadn't seen in a while. So the next stop was home turf, for a brief intermission before part two of the travelling adventures began!

Jaya Ganesha

Pranams from Kerala. I have just spent possibly the most peaceful week of my life on the Kerala coast, at Arsha Yoga Gayathri, a small yoga centre north of Cochin. I was treated to excellent teaching, delicious traditional vegetarian food, a beautiful deserted beach (aside from a few fishermen and some dolphins) and stunning sun-sets each day. With only a short time left in India, it was a perfect way to spend my penultimate week and take some time to reflect on the past few months, with the wonderful company of Hari and Meera who run Arsha Yoga, as well as their adorable family of rabbits.

Each day was a 5.30am start, for a pranayama session at 6. Not being an early morning person I wasn't sure about this, but I got used to it surprisingly quickly, and the pattern of the days soon became a welcome routine. Living a yoga lifestyle, beyond just the physical part of yoga which I am more used to, was quite enlightening and something I learned a lot from. Being away from the hustle and bustle of towns and cities was so refreshing, and under the careful guidance of Hari and Meera I felt my practice improving day by day, along with a growing appreciation for all the other aspects of yoga. I didn't realise how attached I got to the place until my taxi pulled away at the end of the week, and I felt an immediate wish to stay for longer.

It was time to move on though, as my Keralan cooking adventure awaited (more about that later...)

Since my last post I have covered quite a lot of ground, but very much enjoyed staying long enough in each place to soak it up. After a few days in Varkala, I headed back to the hills to Munnar in the Western Ghats, where I spent a couple of days surrounded by tea plantations, visited a tea museum, and was thrilled to get another wild elephant sighting while I was zooming through the hills on a tuk-tuk. Almost more amazing than seeing the elephants however, was a large group of 20-something male Indian tourists who seemed to be unaware they were risking their lives in getting too close for a photo. I watched in disbelief as they walked towards the elephants down the bank from the roadside, seemingly thinking they were invincible - possibly one of the most idiotic actions I have seen on my trip. Very luckily for them the elephants didn't seem too bothered by their presence.

One of many well-meant signs, surrounded by litter

Top Station, on the Kerala-Tamil Nadu border

I was determined to take a trip up to the ancient capital Hampi during my time in India, so this was my destination from Munnar, involving a long journey by bus to Coimbatore, the first part through some stunning scenery, then a train to Bangalore, and an overnight train from Bangalore to Hospet. It was well worth the journey though, despite my slight apprehension of travelling alone overnight. The travelling went seamlessly and I met a friendly Israeli couple and an American guy on the train who I shared a tuk-tuk ride with from Hospet train station to Hampi.

Entering Hampi you get an immediate sense of the unique landscape which is home to the majestic former capital of the Vijayanagara Empire. Incredible temples are strewn across dry, rocky hills, with outcrops of huge boulders impossibly balanced dotted around ancient structures. Another striking observation is that of destruction. In recent months, much of the Hampi Bazaar area, which is where many Hampi residents live and work, has been bulldozed, and its residents relocated to a new settlement a few kilometers out of town. This has happened in the name of historic building conservation, as housing a population so close to the ancient monuments was having a detrimental effect on their preservation. The move is obviously a controversial one, and has had a huge impact on Hampi residents who have lived and worked in Hampi Bazaar for their whole lives, not least because their compensation has been minimal. It's quite a topic of conversation with locals, it's so current and the bulldozers are still there amongst the rubble.

On the more positive side, Hampi was a fascinating place to explore for a few days. I met another solo traveller at my guest house from the US, and after realising over a banana pancake that we have a lot in common and a similar outlook on travel, we ended up exploring a lot of the area together, including doing a cycling tour of some of the main temples surrounding Hampi.

Vitthala Temple

View of the Virupaksha temple

Lotus Mahal

At the elephant stables

Making friends with Lakshmi, the Virupaksha temple elephant

A morning greeting at my guest house

Leaving Hampi involved another overnight train journey. This time I seemed to make quite a few friends at Hospet train station, firstly chatting to a few children, then with their siblings, parents, aunts, uncles... It made the hour delay to the train pass much more quickly!

Thankfully the train caught up most of the delay and I arrived back in Bangalore at 6.30am, with just enough time to race to the botanical gardens to join a guided walk starting at 7am, which I had booked a place on optimistically hoping my train would arrive on time at 6.10am. Initially I hadn't been looking forward to spending the day in Bangalore, but train times forced it, and it turned out to be a really enjoyable day. The walk was excellent, Vijay our guide was incredibly knowlegable, and the tour ended up taking almost an hour longer than planned because everyone in the group was keen to learn more. We also had an excellent breakfast stop at MTR, where I had been for lunch on my last trip to Bangalore. Once again it rates highly in my food experiences!

One of 4 courses for breakfast at MTR - rava idly

From Bangalore I took yet another overnight train, so my second night in a row sleeping on the move. I was en-route to Thrissur where I arrived at 3am, attempted to nap for a couple of hours in the ladies waiting room, then took a bus to the Thalikulam, the closest town to Arsha Yoga. From there I took an auto rickshaw to the beach, and somehow instantly on seeing the sea and endless golden sand I was flooded with calm.

The next part I've already attempted to describe, and I'm now at my final destination before my India journey comes to an end, where I'm spending a week learning to cook Kerala style. So next time, another foodie post...

To The Beach

First stop: beach. For some much needed relaxation after our time with Raleigh, myself and a few other Raleigh project managers headed over to Kannur in Kerala for a few days. We were staying in a beach house and got exactly what we ordered - golden sand, palm trees and delicious Keralan cuisine.

 

Me, Simon, Jakhya, Steve and Katherine all in a tuk tuk

From Kannur we headed south to Alleppey for a trip on the backwaters, and then inland to Periyar National Park. Here we picked up the level of activity again, including trekking both on foot and by elephant. We were lucky enough on a boat trip in the afternoon to see wild elephants by the side of the water, a truly amazing sight which I sadly can't show here as my camera memory card is not letting me upload any more photos!

Periyar National Park

On the backwaters

From Kumily, where we stayed for Periyar, we took a very bumpy and eventful bus journey to Trivandrum, spending the first hour mostly in mid-air as we flew around the back of the bus every corner, then stopping once when the driver hit a motorcyclist (thankfully he was ok), a second time to take the motorcyclist to the local hospital, and a third time when the tread came off one of the tyres, which couldn't be resolved so we had to catch another passing bus. Needless to say we were relieved to arrive in Trivandrum in one piece.

After a night in Trivandrum we all went our separate ways - it was sad to say goodbye to the other Raleigh volunteers after sharing some great experiences together, but it was also the start of the next part of my south Indian adventure- the next leg of which has been with my parents who I met up with in Trivandrum. From there we headed into the hills of Tamil Nadu, taking the miniature train up to Ooty - a beautiful but slow journey through forest and tea plantations, with fantastic views most of the way. We spent a couple of nights in Coonoor, a large hill station, staying at a farm which is frequented by wild bison and elephants. We got a bit too close for comfort to a bison on an afternoon stroll through the tea plantations, and also spotted a Malabar squirrel which is quite rare in that area.

Back down from the mountains we had a few days in Cochin, staying at a wonderful home-stay in Fort Cochin. Now I'm in Varkala, back by the beach, before exploring a different area of the Western Ghats around Munnar. I'm not sure I'll resolve the problems I'm having getting my photos uploaded, so it might have to wait until I'm back for a few days in October before I can add more photos. Hopefully technology will be on my side!

A busy couple of months in South India

I'm still in India! A lot has happened since my last post, nearly 2 months ago, and the lazy way to tell you about it is to ask you to go to www.raleighindia.blogspot.com. However to give you the abridged version here, I spent most of the time as a volunteer project manager for Raleigh, starting just outside of Mysore for a couple of weeks for training, then heading to a small village in Karnataka called Hagaranahalli, where my team of 15 (team Foxtrot 2, which comprised 2 project managers and 13 venturers) built 12 eco-sanitation toilets, played with a lot of children and had many baby animal encounters.

PMs in training

Getting some assistance in filling in my project risk assessment during my project planning visit

Mysore Palace on our day off from training

My team, Foxtrot 2, in the school grounds in Hagaranahalli

one of many animal encounters!

A nearly finished eco-sanitation unit

 We then headed down to beautiful Wayanad in Kerala for a week of adventures: cycling, trekking, bamboo rafting and a survival challenge. Epic.

wildlife encounters on trek

Survival in leech infested forest

The morning after the survival challenge

About to set off on a day of bamboo rafting

On reflection it was a truly fantastic couple of months, at the time it felt challenging, frustrating, amazing, hilarious, tiring and inspiring. There were quite a few unexpected challenges thrown our way, and my adaptability (and sanity) has certainly been tested along the way. Once all the venturers departed we had a couple of days back at field base to write up project reports etc, and following that, myself a few of the PMs who had time to stay on in India made our way back over to Kerala for some well earned R&R. I haven't got my photos up yet for the post-Raleigh stage of my journey, so I'll save making you jealous of beach-side bungalows, wild elephants and stunning Keralan scenery until my next post :)