India

New Year’s Day 2013. We set off at 10 a.m. after a rather disappointing breakfast considering the banquet offered the previous evening! The staff seemed a bit subdued as well! John bought a Ganesh wooden statuette and got on the internet to post 2 blog items and get emails. Unfortunately in the time Face book refused to load the video of the greeting to Ciarán. It was another long scary drive with a stop at a fascinating Orthodox church with murals well explained by the resident guide who quite unashamedly asked for a donation. We had coffee and vegetable snacks at a touristy café which was a bit overpriced. When we finally arrived at the town for the Periyar reserve we found we were at a hotel in the town. The room was described as a jungle lodge with a balcony view over a flooded waterway and various hotels and distant hills. It was clearly run down and not up to standard. I spoke to the driver and the local agent and to Anthony who explained that air con was not available at this altitude. The main concern was the dampness of the bed and towels and we got fresh towels from the next door room which were invited to view. The manager and staff seemed indifferent and the important documents went in a safe near the shop. One of the bags was locked in the car. We used a heater rigged up in Heath Robinson fashion to a plug to warm the bed but the linen was not changed. The attitude was that within an hour it would feel damp again! Chandra took us to the Bamboo café a ramshackle shack which served excellent cheap food! And so to bed and slept indifferently!

January 2 Up early to leave at 6.45 to get to Lake Periyar to go on the boat ride at 7.30 a.m. We were not sitting together but Liz sat on the outside seat to get photos and used the binoculars. We saw plenty of birds, otter, gaur (bison) wild boar but no elephants. Some of the crowd were very noisy and taking small children on such a trip is crazy! Everyone was supposed to sit down wear life jackets and keep quiet. One wonders if the whole business isn’t ruining the reserve. I suppose they need to make money to save the tigers – only 42 left in this reserve. Still we enjoyed the fabulous scenery.

Back for an indifferent breakfast (nothing seemed to have any taste at all) and then to the Spice plantation with Ammas our guide who was quite delightful and showed us the many different spice plants and quizzed us -  we ended up with 10 points each. We then went on the elephant ride for 30 minutes which was much better than Jaipur as we were sitting over the elephant’s back – I don’t think my legs have ever been so wide apart! Then we went to the spices shop and bought a lot and on to the Indian mart shop where I was offered a superb teak Buddha for £118 (far too big for our home) and settled for a smaller one which today we found was sold at a much inflated price unfortunately. I’m not into bargaining! Back to the ATM and hotel for a rest and a swim. At breakfast we had met a very nice couple from London Craig and Sook Singh and they were at the pool and invited us to join them at dinner. We went to the martial arts one hour show which was fantastic in its agility and daring – grand finale 2 men leaping through a flaming hoop together! The 4 of us ate at Spice Village and had a most enjoyable evening. Sook is a banker aged 41 a lifelong Labour supporter and his family came from the Punjab. He has a 2 year old daughter. 2 of his sisters are teachers in the East End where he grew up. Craig is originally from Edinburgh and probably in his 30s worked for John Lewis but now a manager for an IT company connected to TalkTalk. The conversation was wide ranging and we will definitely meet up again. They live in Covent Garden.

January 3 A sleepless night and a poor breakfast. Left at 9 and stopped at a little café where we bought 2 books on Keralan cookery one of which tells a lot about the Syrian church said to be founded by St Thomas. Once again a scary drive which we would call dangerous driving but this seems to be the norm here. We arrived at the houseboat at 12.30 and went on a motorbike to the boat which is only 2 months past refurbishment and air conditioned. We were greeted by the 3 crew and given jasmine garlands to wear. This proved to be a relaxing and happy day watching the world go by and waving to other boats and children on the shore. People washing themselves and their clothes and lots of birds. We visited a fine large Catholic church and a carving shop founded by the owner’s grandfather Mr Chakro. We bought a nice elephant for Ciarán. Oh that I had waited and bought my Buddha and Ganesh here – oh well too bad – it’s only money! But all this shopping does add up! The lunch of the boat of grilled fish and dal, rice and yoghurt and cabbage was delicious. The sunset was wonderful over the rice fields.