Blogs from Kerala, India, Asia - page 12

Geo: 8.73, 76.72As the New Year arrives, I reflect on my annual theme. I usually make a theme that is broad enough to be a guide and is not a goal. In 2016, I acknowledged my theme was a disguised goal or, really, a New Year's resolution (which I didn't accomplish), thus the reason I don't do resolutions. They just don't work for me. My 2016 theme of '500 hours of joyful writing' manifested as '50 hours of far-from-joyful writing'. Ah, but, it is often the themes that don't work so well that segue into more inspired themes for the following year. My theme for 2017 is peaceful ease. Like how I feel right now sitting amongst the chaos and buzz of the Coffee Temple in Varkala, writing blissfully as I switch back and forth from ... read more

Geo: 8.73, 76.72"I'm happy to be here, but still a little sad to be here too. Sometimes it's better to travel than to arrive." - Robert PirsigAnd to arrive and be so far from home during Christmas is always hard for me. Ah, but sometimes being home at Christmas is also hard with no family living near us. I've been listening to Firestarter Sessions from Danielle LaPorte and I'm taking some advice from her. Easy is not always lazy or undisciplined; sometimes it is you intuitively waiting for the right timing or inspiration. And easy is just the other side of the coin of hard; you don't have one without the other. But you can choose where you want to spend more of your time. Think of your body, your attitude, your life...do you want to ... read more

Shola is the name given to the montane forests of southern India. They are a hotspot for endemism (species found nowhere else) but there aren't a lot of these forests left nowadays. Most of them have been cleared, and are still being cleared, to create tea plantations. Often when driving around in Kerala you'll see patches of forest on ridges, surrounded by nothing but tea fields. That's the fate of most of the shola, just useless patches, like islands of extinction. But there are also some protected areas of shola and the Pampadum Shola National Park, 36km outside Munnar, is one of these. From the internet I knew there were some government-owned cabins inside the park, but I also knew that they were expensive (they are currently 4500 rupees per night - when at the park ... read more

There are two "entry" points for the Chinnar Wildlife Sanctuary, although both are on the same public road which runs through the middle of the park. The park officially can only be entered with a guide and on foot (there are no jeep safaris here, and you apparently aren't allowed to just get out of your car and wander along the road). But the opening times are not great for birding, with the first possibility for getting a guide being 9am when it is already well past all the morning bird activity. The first "entry" point (i.e. where you can get a guide) is Alampetty, 6km from Marayur, which has two trails leading to a waterfall and some rock paintings respectively. The second one (the main one) is called Chinnar Check Post, 18km from Marayur, and ... read more

Heute stehen Ausflüge nach Cochin an. Noch arg müde ob des frühen Aufstehens gehen wir zum Frühstücken. Alle Tische stehen verwaist da, die Kellner sind mit dem Polieren des Bestecks beschäftigt. Gerade will ich meinen noch müden Hintern in einen Stuhl plumpsen lassen, um mir etwas schwarzes Lebenselixier ein verhelfen zu können, da tönt aus dem Off eine schnell näher kommende Stimme: „Ey, der Platz ist schon besetzt!“. Nach einer dramatisierenden Pause kommt noch der Satz: „Das sieht man doch!!!“ hinterher. Meiner Müdigkeit am Morgen ist es zu verdanken, dass daraus kein netter eindringlicher Hinweis auf allgemeine Höflichkeitsfloskeln wurde. Hilfesuchend schaue ich über seinen Tisch. Den einzigen Hinweis auf seine „Reservierung“ entdecke ich in einer deutlich verschobenen Kaffeetasse, wenn ich mir die anderen Tische so anschaue. Ich belasse es bei einem höflichen Kopfnicken und schi... read more