Blogs from Thekkady, Kerala, India, Asia

Day 15: Cochin - Thekkady 2 October 2017 This morning after breakfast, we drove to Thekkady (191 km/ 4.5 hrs approx.). It was another beautiful drive with better roads. There were rubber plantations, coffee trees, pineapples, and as we climbed higher, tea plantations. On arrival to Thekkady, we found a casual restaurant which had a lot of Indians so we knew it would have good food – and it did. After lunch we checked into our hotel. Soon after Debbie and I decided to have a massage on the recommendation of Mohar. It was one of the most ‘interesting’massage I have had. I totally undressed and was put on a firm table on my back and a large amount of heated ‘medicinal’ oil was poured over me. The lady whipped me into shape!!!! I wasn’t comfortable ... read more

Who wants to go and see the martial arts display tonight? Muscly men fighting? Don't mind if I do! Lottie Let Loose for a night out of exciting sword fighting with sparks flying, muscle men bounding around a sunken arena below us, massive leaps taken across an ever expanding line of volunteers bent over (heads protected by an arm of one of the martial arts guys in case of flying feet) and an Indian version of baton twirling with the batons ON FIRE! I'd love to see that at a country fete in England; chubby little leotard clad girls spinning sticks of fire! Lots of oooohs and ahhhhs from the audience especially at the impressive dives through burning hoops that get progressively smaller with the biggest guy taking the final leap through a gap that looks ... read more

Day 3 An early start again this morning, six o'clock. Today we started off with breakfast of fresh fruit, pancakes, juice and tea in our hotel. The hotel, Tigers roar, is amazing! We set off with Najim to Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary. On arrival, we walked up to the ticket box which was engulfed by Indian tourists. We had hoped to get on the 9.30 boat, but Najim informed us that it was already sold out. Therefore, we would have to wait for the 11,30 boat. We all agreed that it was worth the wait! We had discussed with Kate that today was going to be our lucky day, and in fact, it was. The ticket man was shouting out in Indian, and everyone was replying with what appeared to be how many people are in their ... read more

We left Cochin and made for Allepy and the backwaters of Kerala. Here amongst the paddy fields are canals with villages alongside. We boarded a 'houseboat'- well we have never had such a wonderful experience! We were offered coconut drinks on boarding our boat where 3 crew were at our service. They served us refreshments and food with such courtesy and pleasantry! We cruised past villages, schools, fields and people doing their washing until 6 pm when we moored for the night. A long canoe took us for a twilight paddle along a side canal where as night fell, huge bats flew overhead and villagers' homes lit up. On returning to the boat we were served supper and spent a very calm, tranquil evening. After a luxurious sleep in the superbly appointed bedroom, we breakfasted and ... read more

It is often a surprise to have a good night's sleep without too many beeps or other annoyances. This was a good night. I woke early to arrange photographs of Graham Leach for Facebook, it being one year since his demise. Catherine and I loaded them at the last minute before we left the hotel. By this time we had also accepted that our blog entries were going to be a fair way behind real time - just too much going on. Today we were headed for Periya in the mountains of Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Breakfast was a bit of a chaotic affair with a poorly lit buffet, and no concept of time-and-motion. People all over the place. We sat next to two younger men who were some sorts of sails executives in a major ... read more