May 2, 2013

After having just a tiny little chai with dinner, I couldn’t fall asleep due to the caffeine. Chandler woke up before the alarm and figured we might as well get up to ensure we had enough time for breakfast and to get to the nearby forest park early. Reluctantly, I dragged myself out of bed and preformed what needed to be done to get out the door. We went back to the same “hotel” restaurant as the previous night for idly.

We had no problem finding a rickshaw to take us to the park. It was 20km outside of town and the autos don’t go that fast, but we made it 30 minutes early. We weren’t really sure what to do after our driver dropped us off and just kind of wandered around for a little while. We had read in the guide book that there was a boat to ferry us across the river, but we saw others walking across the river on a natural rock bridge. Chandler confirmed that this is what we should do with some local river guides and across we headed.

Across the river and up a short hill, standing under a beautiful flower tree was an elephant. To our right were three adults and two babies, just milling around eating leaves. There were elephants everywhere we looked. The ones that were wandering around by themselves had chains around their feet to limit their movement, but the elephants with their mahouts, or elephant handler, had free range of motion. As soon as a few others made their way across the river, one of the mahouts brought over one of the babies for petting, feeding and photos. I had died and gone to elephant heaven. This little guy was so freaking cute.

Elephant

After a while it was time for the bathing to begin. We followed several elephants down to the river. Mahouts across the world routinely use a bull hook for guiding the animals. This is a long stick with a sharp metal hook at the end. It can be used to gently guide the animal or for inflicting a lot of pain. We hadn’t seen anyone abusing the animals, but right when we go to the river one of the mahouts dug the bull hook into the forehead of his elephant to get the animal to back up. When the elephant was in position, the animal was commanded to lay down, which it did. As the elephant was laying in the water, the mahout began to violently beat its face with a stick until it mellowed out. Chandler and I started to leave. If that was how the animals were going to be treated, we wanted no part.

We waited around a few more minutes to watch some children begin to splash an elephant that had not been abused. The rest of the animals were guided to the water, given commands to lie down and not attacked with the sharp end of the bull hook or with sticks. Luckily, that was the only elephant that we saw getting mistreated and decided to stay and help scrub a few down. It seemed that the one abusive handler was just an impatient and callous person, as the others handlers were much more gentle and patient.

Our new pet

Chandler and friend

The care the rest of the mahouts gave their elephants was actually very encouraging. Their elephants were scrubbed clean with brushes from top to bottom, a few were given mini pedicures and serious tusk cleanings. We just helped out with splashing them down, a little scrubbing and lots of petting. The elephant’s skin was similar to rough elbow skin with very coarse hairs all over their bodies. They were quite intimidating when up close, especially when standing up and towering over us, but amazingly beautiful. I’ll take two.

Having a snack

The bathing ended after an hour and we decided to leave instead of taking part of the elephant rides offered. After the violent display earlier, we weren’t interested in a repeat and wanted to end on a high note. Back across the river we went and back to town. We caught an auto to a Tibetan refuge complex outside of town and visited the golden temple.

Candles

Inside the main temple

The temple was incredible and immediately brought us back to the Buddhist temples of Southeast Asia. There were many other tourists milling around and it was cool to see four of the major religions of the world, Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims and Christians, all enjoying the beautiful temple. We hung out for an hour, had an amazing tibetian/south Indian (strange combo, think momos and dosa) meal at a nearby restaurant and headed back to town to catch a bus to Mysore.

We took a local bus, which was hot and crowded but very budget friendly, so we didn’t mind it too much. When we got to town, we walked to the hotel the Lonely Planet recommended as being in our price range. When we inquired about the prices, we found they were almost double what was in the Lonely Planet. Chandler haggled as usual, but they only made a big show of knocking off the “taxes” which amounted to a 5% discount.  Frustrated we walked to the next hotel to find it also out of our price range. At that point a “friend” started following us around offering us a room for 600 rupees, a tour around town for 40 rupees and who knows what else. He was relentless and followed us for several blocks despite us completely ignoring him. His attention started gathering other people’s attention, who then also started to “help” us and we were getting more and more frustrated. Chan was on the brink of laying out the next person who called him “my friend”. Finally, we just jumped in an auto to get away from everyone and asked the driver to take us to the youth hostel which was outside of town. It turned out to be a very nice quiet area, full of boarding houses for local college students. The hostel itself was a bit militant with strict “no talking” rules and male/female segregation, but it felt very safe and was clean.

We found an internet café nearby and booked a train ticket back to Delhi for the next night. After another dinner of dosas and some nice hot showers, we spent the remainder of the night chatting (breaking the rules!!!) with other travelers staying at the hostel.

April 30 – May 1, 2013

We had a peaceful night’s sleep on the train and woke up in Mangalore. The guide book said the town had some beaches, but we were more interested in hiking and headed straight for the bus station to get into the interior. We got seats on a local bus for Madikeri right as it was leaving. The local buses are extremely cheap, but not so comfortable. As we bounce along, sweating profusely without any fans, we stopped many times to drop off and pick up passengers. The ride ended up taking 3 hours, but we noticed the temperature dropping as we climb higher into the hills.

We found a hotel no problem and headed out to find a company to hire a guide. This is something Chandler and I would never do at any other time, but transportation, lunch and guide were all available for a very reasonable price. Plus, the trails around here the area aren’t not marked for tourist, so having a guide or the ability to ask for directions is necessary.

Back at our hotel, we washed up and hopped into bed to read for a bit. At about the same time, we both notice teeny, tiny red bugs crawling around which contain lots of blood when killed. Great, we’ve got bed bugs. At this point, we don’t think we can change hotels without losing what we already paid. We are not interested in just suffering through it and waking up covered in bites. As I pack up, Chandler goes downstairs to explain the situation. Thankfully, we are able to change to another room where we search the entire place for bugs before turning out the lights. Good thing we will not be staying another night.

We met the guide and ditched our belongings at the tour company early the next morning. The owner was a sweet old guy, who immediately locked up our gear for the day. We got on a local bus with our guide and headed out of town. At the end of the line, in the middle of nowhere, we got off the bus and began walking up a really steep hill. Soon the sun was blazing down on us and we were sweating. We passed by a number of tea plantations and some coffee plants scattered in the forest as we climb higher in the mountains. Finally, we entered the forest and were blessed with shade. Our guide pointed out cardamom plants and some lime trees.

Finally shade

Tea plantation

Coffee berries

The forest thinned out and the temperature became very comfortable as we reached the ridge. The air was thick with mist and we were unable to see much of a view, but it was still beautiful. We took a few minutes for a snack before continuing along the ridge. We continued to climb higher, seeing evidence of animals like wild boar and elephants. Our guide pointed out interesting features and edible plants, including what looked like white grapes but were very sour.  At one point, as we emerged from the trees we startled a wild boar, which immediately ran away from us. This animal was huge and we were happy its instinct was not to attack.

Almost to the top

Misty path

After reaching the summit, we took another short break and headed down for lunch. We wandered down the ridge and passed a few farms before arriving at someone’s home. A little lady came out and showed us to her kitchen. She served us rice with white bean gravy. It was simple but delicious. She kept trying to serve us more and more and more, we had to be a little forceful to make her understand that we were both stuffed full.

The remainder of the hike wound through a neighborhood. We stopped and smelled some blossoming coffee flowers which smelled amazing. At one point we came across a wedding and we were immediately invited to join the celebration. We were photographed with various people who handed us huge plates of food, even though we said we weren’t hungry. Our guide indicated that we needed to go, but gave us no help in how we could get out of eating the food. Eventually, we were able to get the point across and left. We arrived back in town a short while later. We had just enough time to give our guide a tip, collect our things and catch a bus to Kushalnagar. The town was a little weird, but we found a hotel no problem. The hotel was pretty creepy and dirty, but after a thorough search, we didn’t find a single bedbug. We had some dosa and chai at a nearby veg restaurant, had an ice cream and went to bed.

April 26 – 29, 2013

We had a great room in a little inn with reliable wifi, so while we formulated a plan for the next few weeks, I spent time trying to catch the blog up to speed. Obviously, I’m still not there. Our original idea was to go on a safari to try and see some lions or tigers, but we unsure if we would be able to handle the heat or the expense both in terms of money and time. After two days of wandering around town, drinking lots of chai tea, seeing a few local attractions and dragging our feet on making a decision we came up with a plan. Train tickets are a little tricky to get, but we were able to secure a pair to Mangalore with plans to take a bus to Madikeri.

A little goat scratching

Wall art

Once we had a good idea of what we were doing, we booked a backwater tour, which this region is famous for. A bus picked us up early and took us to the river. We were joined by 7 other tourists, a guide and the canoe driver. It got a little awkward when a French couple insisted I seat in between them so they could have the seats along the side of the narrow canoe. They spent the entire ride speaking loudly to each other so that those of us near them could not hear the tour guide talking. At one point they said (in French) that we must be Americans, otherwise if we were Canadian we could understand that they were talking about us. Too bad they didn’t know I took French in high school and college and could understand them. Ha. Other than them, the morning was nice. We went up a small tributary of the main river, shaded by large trees and saw lots of pretty flowers, birds and snakes.

Strike a pose

We stopped at the home of a woman making coconut fiber rope, called coir. The husks of coconuts are soaked in water for 6 months until they come apart easily and the fibers are twisted into individual strands, which can then be combined to make strong ropes. The coir is the primary component of certain geotextile mats used to protect slopes from erosion and to provide a stable place for plant seeds to germinate on freshly cut earth slopes. We also noticed that the ropes had been used to stitch the boards of our canoe together. In the middle of the canoe ride we were led on a tour of their land which included many spice plants. Our guide had us smell, taste and guess what were the various spices. It was interesting to see these common spices as plants not all dried out, ground up and in jars!

Woman making rope

Coconut fibers

Nutmeg

After the canoe trip came lunch on a small island in the middle of the river. We were served thali on a traditional banana leaf. The meal included rice, different dals, a chutney and a papadum. The best part is that thali is vegetarian! The meal ended with a vermicelli noodle pudding, which was delicious. In the afternoon we took another boat ride from the island down the river to meet back up with our bus. The river was quiet and peaceful and with full bellies, most people fell asleep, including Chandler and I.

Thali

The next day, we decided to do a little bit more sightseeing. We visited the Dutch Palace and Jew town, which is a neighborhood home to the oldest synagogue of the British Commonwealth. Unfortunately, no photographs were allowed in either building and Chandler and I are too chicken to break the rules. The Palace displayed a history of the local Maharajahs and family, a number of formal royal costumes and ornately decorated weapons. The synagogue had a brief history of the building and how Jewish people came to India escaping persecution.

Oldest synagogue in the Commonwealth

We had a train to catch at midnight and weren’t sure when the last ferry left Fort Cochin, so we went back to Ernakulam in the early evening. We had a number of hours to kill and didn’t know what would be open late, so we headed to the movies. We were able to see Iron Man 3 in 3D for $2 each. We could not get over the price. The movie was fun and worth seeing. The crowd hollered, clapped and booed loudly throughout the entire show. We were also surprised there was an intermission, so we could get more snacks or go to the toilet without missing a thing.

It was dark when the movie let out and we still had 3 hours to kill. We went to a bakery to get dessert, but it closed the moment Chandler sat down and took out the computer. We thought we might go to a bar, but on the way there, a man tried to grab my crotch. Luckily, I noticed what he was doing and was able to block him, but this is not the first time this kind of incident has happened. At this point, I have had my rear grabbed by two or three by men in India. By the time you realize what has occurred, the attacker has already mixed in with the crowd. It is really infuriating that this kind of behavior occurs and really pissed Chandler and myself off. We decided to just go to the train station and just wait there for our train.

April 23 – 25, 2013

We left the house with Hari and took an auto rickshaw to the train station, dropping Hari off at the metro station along the way after he had given the driver instructions for us. The train station was confusing because we were on the waiting list and technically didn’t have a seat assignment yet. There wasn’t any guidance as to what we should do, and the train officials were apathetic.  After asking a few people behind the window, one of them grudgingly looked up our ticket number on their computer and wrote our seat numbers and platform down for us.

When the train pulled into the station, we boarded the 3^rd Tier AC Car. This meant that we would have air conditioning and be sharing our cabin with four other people. However, when we found our seats, we found that we were separated into two different cabins. There was only one other person in Chan’s cabin, so I just moved in and claimed a bunk. It was time to get cozy because we had a 48 hour train ride to Kerala.

The ride was really pleasant. We were provided clean bedding and the bunks were comfortable. We could order food from for meals from a porter who picked them up at stations we passed. Chandler hopped off at one point to get some snacks and toss some trash into the bin. We spent most of our time reading and writing a few blogs posts.

Train tracks

Chandler’s cabin filled up in the middle of the night and he had a hard time convincing the men to allow me to keep sleeping in my bunk. In the end, Chandler was able to get the guy to switch spots with me. During the day, the guys would all squeeze altogether to drink watered down rum and eat peanuts. I stayed on my top bunk to avoid the situation, leaving Chan as the star attraction.

Our cabin mates

From the top bunk

The long train ride was nice, but we ready to get off when we finally reached town, Ernakulam. We took an auto to the main jetty to get a ferry to our final destination, Fort Cochin, an old Portuguese settlement. We spent an hour wandering around looking for an inn within our budget. We found a small bed and breakfast, (though there didn’t seem to be any breakfast) which was cheap (500 rupees), clean and had some wifi. It was so hot out, but being on the ocean, we had a nice breeze to make the heat bearable. We spent the remainder of the day eating samosas, drinking chai tea and strolling up and down the old streets.

Ferry ride to Fort Cochin

Baby goat taking a snooze

April 21 – 22, 2013

After all the excitement of the past few days, we were all ready to just relax at Hari’s and figure out where else we should go in India. India is a huge country and trying to figure out what to see in our short time was a difficult task. Eventually, Chandler and Hari came up with a plan that took us down to the southwest state of Kerala.

Cows chilling in the road

We had one mission the next day, to buy our train tickets. The tickets would go on sale at 10am, so naturally at 930, the internet at Hari’s went out. The phone also stopped working so we had no way of contacting Hari to find out how to fix it. We decided to take the metro downtown to find some internet in a café or restaurant or anywhere. Once downtown, we went to McDonald’s for a delicious spicy paneer sandwich and hopefully to buy the tickets. Unfortunately, McD’s required that we have a cell phone number to obtain a password to use the internet.

We finished our lunch and were informed that there was a tourist office with free internet. We headed over to find that we had been duped and just found someone trying to hard sell us a packaged tour of western India. The moment we walked out of that tourist scam office, someone approached us to show us the “government” tourist office. We were getting feed up with people trying to “help” us at this point and headed to anther known internet spot, Starbucks. Again, we were unable to access the web, but found a very kind German girl who allowed us to use her cell phone to call Hari, who got the tickets for us.

With our only goal of the day taken care of, we were free for some sightseeing. We searched the guide book for something close and free and came upon the Gandhi Smriti Museum. This is where Gandhi spent his final days and where he was assassinated. The museum was full of artwork devoted to Gandhi’s life, photographs and quotes by Gandhi and the history of life including a detailed account of his final day. There was a display of his possessions and his bedroom was still intact. This was a very moving place and was good to get an understanding of how much Gandhi did for the country’s independence using nonviolent means.

Gandhi’s possessions

Gandhi’s bedroom

We spent several hours at the museum reading all the information available and left at closing time. We were planning on meeting Hari back at his place, so we jumped back on the metro. That night we had a simple, less rich meal of fried okra, dal and chapattis.