Kerala - Part 2

Our journey continued from Kottyam with a 4 hour bus with no with glassless windows into the mountains, the bus was really struggling to make it up the hill so it was no surprise when it broke down! It wasn't too long standing on the middle of the mountain side, at least it was slightly cooler than the backwaters (30 rather than 38). It wasn't long before another bus came along, except it was packed so trying to squeeze our bus load with all our luggage was comical to say the least. Someone very kindly got up for the girls. The rest of the ride was terrifying, the road was so narrow, with sheer drops down

the side of the mountain as we winded up and around the mountains. The bus had so many near missus with oncoming traffic, it was better to close your eyes and pray. We were very relieved to reach our destination, Kumily! We got a tuk tuk to the Homestay. Jungle view is amazing also, with monkeys and giant squirrels (beautiful colours) in the trees right outside! The girls were delighted. Ram is a great host and when he saw our interest in the wildlife he immediately gave us some binoculars. Walking out for dinner, some children stopped us and started chatting, Elodie played badminton with them for the first time. Some Dutch people staying here, and met a Swedish family in the restaurant we had dinner in. Their daughter had married a keralan. Met James from Bath who hacked his finance job in and left London on one months salary to travel India for 4 months. Found a restaurant a short walk away that was advertising the sale of beer...we didn't need to go anything further. Just as we were clinking our tankard like glasses together for a big hearty 'cheers', I sign caught my attention just above where we were sitting, 'liquor strictly prohibited' it said.

WEEK 18

28/01 E woke up screaming in middle of night, she could see light at front door we thought it was open (Shells terrified too, thought desperately trying not to be lol). Went for jungle walk at 7am with Ram. Saw monkeys, a Malabar squirrel and heard lots of birds and the jungle chicken. Got a great view of a Racket Tail Drongo, girls (especially little Clo) very impressed. Walked into Tamil Nadu. Did a 3 hour jeep safari up some steep climbs and rocky paths. Didn't see much but scenery was stunning. Saw a hornbill, very rare, Shells super chuffed, it was worth the 3 hour safari drive. Pete was terrified going up the hills. The driver was eager to show us his family home (as so many of them are) as time was on our hands we thought, ‘why not?’. It was a very humbling experience. It was tiny, only one bedroom yet it housed 9 people, including his grandparents, sister, brother in law and their kids. They had so little yet they were so happy and so proud. We have seriously got it all wrong back home! Went to Periyar National Park, saw lots of grey monkeys, they are not shy!! Shells said the 'S' word in front of girls. She took them to the loo and by closing the loo door exposed the hiding place of an enormous spider about a foot wide, OMG terrifying. Had lunch in a hotel restaurant in the park, lovely and civilised, Elodie had roast beef! The whole point of doing this trip was to do the afternoon boat trip, during which we had been promised the sight of lots of wildlife. To our dismay, we discovered, it was sold out. There was a huge mob of people trying to get tickets, another queue of about 50 hopefuls waiting patiently for a cancellation but Shells did some Oscar award winning acting and miraculously got some tickets. Talk about an anti climax, great scenery but sat on lower deck in the middle so couldn't see much, not that we missed out, there were some wild boar in the distance and a couple of cormants – big deal. The highlight of the trip was a massive argument between the staff had two Indian passengers, as far as we could see the latter had stood up and taken their life jackets off. The engine was cut and there and an almighty row. The next minute a police boat arrived and escorted the wrongdoers off the boat. Nobody attempted to leave their seats or take their life jackets off after that lol. Met Arnie, a German working for a US IT company in London with a Bangalore office he is managing, he was sat with the 2 naughty guys and was desperately trying not to laugh for fear of also getting thrown off, all very amusing. Walking back through Periyar Wildlife Park we saw a sign for Kew Gardens 8307km and the Grand Canyon 14850km, a good reminder of how far away from the Western world we are. The area mass of interesting too. Periyar is 305 square km whilst little Kew gardens is 1.2 - ah. On the way back there was lots of monkey action. We witnessed one large one become very threatening - glad it wasn't to us. Elodie was desperately trying to see, 'just keep walking sweetheart' lol. Grand Canyon is 4926 - wow! We took a photo. Got back to Jungle view about 5.30pm and were delighted to be greeted by a large family of grey monkeys. How cool is that?!? Dinner at the same hotel. It was ok but Shells couldn't really eat or drink beer, definitely a sign something not quite right. Early night as shells not feeling too good.