Beauty... and celebrity

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Have just landed back in sort of civilisation (Mysore) after the 4 days in Cochin and then 3 days in the middle of nowhere near a wildlife sanctuary (Tholpetty, in the Wayanad area of Kerala).

The drive up was outrageous. 7 hours flew by (kind of) - no stopping, no eating, a bit of sleeping for me. Maddest driver in the country (quite a claim) with overtaking on hairpin bends at steep gradient - and several were buses. I loved it! Toby was less sure about its joys which is far more sensible. Its interesting to watch the changes as you go up the coast of Kerala and the changeover from catholic towns to mosque-filled villages. And at the top of the mountains, the most beautiful views I've ever seen and our first whiff of the delicious smell of flowering coffee. Seriously breathtaking place.

Wayanad is amazing. Saw elephants, bison, deer, monkeys, peacocks, kingfishers and the birds that made my poor cat's life hell years ago - the dreaded Indian Mynah birds. (mum, I hissed at them all for you!)

We're staying at a fantastic guest house where the "host" (Venu) cooks amazing home-made keralan food and looks after us like we we're his kids. We went walking with him one day up into the nearest town. Through coffee plantations (in flower, they smell stunningly beautiful - like strong gardenia mixed with jasmine or something), huge prehistoric looking bamboo plants, and a local hill tribe area.

No tourists apart from the two of us and the another aussie bloke staying at our guesthouse (64yo guy from Perth travelling for a month on his own in Southern India after falling in love with India having driven London-India overland in 1970 - interesting man!).

Having crossed the Kerala border into Karnataka on this walk, Venu was suddenly speaking another language - I had no idea there was so many different languages in areas so close to one another. After the small village of Kutta we took Venu up on his offer of a couple more kms to a nice area with good views of the plantations - and in fact where Venu's family live.

As we approached he told us it was his niece's engagement party and would we come along and see his family... and what an incredible experience and highlight of the trip. All the men outside and the women peering out from the windows, until they all started crowded around, welcoming us and touching our hands and crowding around us to get closer - great-grandmothers down to school kids. We were greeted like celebrity guests or something - Toby and I are in fact the new Posh and Becks!

We were sat down had banana leaves laid out before us and served a delicious curry meal (they even gave us each a spoon which was lucky as I'm not the most elegant by-hand curry eater), we were talked to and questioned and had our hands held and stroked - welcoming is a ridiculous understatement. They loved us taking photos on the digital camera and being able to immediately see their pics! What an incredible experience it was. Can't really describe it properly so I'll stop trying I think.

Quite humbling as well to have all the people so interested and excited and welcoming - everyone in the village or along the road saying hello and wanting to ask our names and have a chat - no ulterior motives, just wanting to say hello and so excited that we would stop and chat. My perspective on people and the world has been altered by these last few days. I hope I can hang on to that feeling and take on board some of the engaging and totally disarming lack of self-consciousness that the people here display. Its really beautiful.

And to top it all, in a bus on the way out of Wayanad where I was stressed, hot and bothered, this lovely girl I happen to sit next to from Calicut on her way from a holiday to see her family there, back to Bangalore, gives me her number in case we have any trouble with anything in Mysore and I can call her for help or whatever. I am a bit in love with India and the Indian people.

The wildlife sanctuary drives were stunning, early morning, day and night - the pictures don't do it justice; and the smells and atmosphere serene and intense at the same time. It was a very relaxing and beautiful couple of days.

Toby and I are just so enjoying being here and seeing so many new things and having so many adventures - every time we turn around there is a new adventure. Sometimes scary, but always exciting and something new. It is fantastic.

I'm learning how much I don't know - the language and food differs in India from as little as 50 kms apart. The place we were staying was in Kerala. The nearest town was in Karnataka. So the language they spoke was diferent. How mad is that? And it was only 4km apart.

We left there in the morning morning and got a series of local buses (terrifying!!) through remote countryside down to Mysore (3 hour bus ride) - mostly oxen and fields. Some village and tribal people as well. And lots of v cool scenery.

Toby was up the front of the bus sitting on the filthy floor next to the driver, with our big rucksacks (it was packed, not even standing room) and I was at the back in the ladies-only seats. Its pretty weird!

The lovely conversation with my neighbour more than made up for the general sweaty discomfort of a non airconditioned bus packed like a sardine tin (a village lady actually sat on my lap at one stage) not being able to see the only other person I know in India for 3 hours. Also had a leopard-spotting moment and various other wildlife encounters - and yet more utterly chaotic Indian style driving. 3 cars overtaking a cycle, a cow and an autorickshaw and who cares about the oncoming bus. Horns tooting galore - but all fine and everyone happy. Toby's upside from his perspecitive was a driver's-eye view of everything. So he saw snakes and cows and oxen and god knows what. It was weird to have both had a different experience on the same trip - but good to compare notes when we arrived 😊

Now back in a big city - Mysore is very vibrant and again chaotic. Traffic and noise and beggars and touts. But it seems pretty good so far. Maharaja's Palace looks incredible from the outside. Went through the best fruit/veg/spice/flower market I've seen yet - its such a shame I can't describe the smells and colours properly. More on Mysore later.

Leaving Kerala behind was sad as we loved it so much and had great experiences... but onward to the next adventure!

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