Kumily

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ooooh gosh, how is the election going?! it must be sooo exciting. what a shame i am missing it.
*end sarcasm mode*

anyway, much more importantly, the journey here to Kumily was fine. the ferry was effectively a local bus ferry, it kept just popping between different sides of the waters doing quite short drop off and pick ups. the whole backwater area is much more water than land. it's was a very nice journey and as it was a govt ferry not a tourist ferry it only cost about 10p.

then the bus i was dreading... well, imagine a not that exciting, but still boneshaking and terrifying, roller coaster... that lasts for four hours. i wasn't sick :-) but it swang around the bends so enthusiastically i had to hold on the whole time to avoid sliding off the seat or becoming way to intimate with the person next to me. it was actually okay, as it got higher into the mountains the scenery is stunning. tea planations are somewhat more attractive than coffee plantations, i have to admit.

Kumily is a pleasant enough small town, and we are staying at a beautiful homestay recommended by Mark and Jeanette who we met in Kodagu. it is run by a lovely and interesting family. an older german guy owns it, he married a local lady and they had a daughter. she then married a german guy, and they have a gorgeous daughter, around 5 or 6 years old, who speaks english, german and malayalam! there is a really nice garden which this morning was full of monkeys!

we are right next to the Periyar wildlife sanctuary, home to many elephants and several tigers and some more boring animals (i dunno, some deer, buffaloes or whatever). anyway, it is quite expensive to do tours of the park and there is no guarantee of seeing an exciting animal. if fact it's probably unlikely. so we are just intending to appreciate the scenery and if we see any animal it will be huge bonus. we are doing a couple of the cheapest options for accessing the park, which will be a three hour walk at 6:30am (!) tomorrow morning and then a boat trip later. we might also do a tour of a tea plantation although we have been warned that whereas they look beautiful from across a valley sweeping across the contours of the mountains, from close up it's just a load of shrubs.

oh! i forget to say, whilst still in Allepey i learned how to make proper chai. it's a very complicated procedure, involving over 10 steps, which i have written down. i will practise whenever possible and demonstrate when i return.

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Comments

[Alistair]

You may as well stay ;)
Hi Karen, It's all bad news really. David Cameron has almost won the election and Wednesday went down last week. You might as well stay in India ;) Alistair

[Lucya]

I will look forward to trying real chai when you get back!