We left Leh on 9th August at 2 am on a minibus. I think the high altitude must have affected our brains as we'd decided to get a bus that takes a minimum of 16 hours, on roads that are in horrible condition and which goes over 5 passes, most of which are at over 5000 metres. The road had been closed for 3 days before we set off due to landslides. Anyway, in summary this was the the scariest journey of our lives.
The buses drive shaft broke and the driver spent hours making running-repairs. The distance from Leh to Manali is 474 km and it took us 23 hours, this is the same time that it took us to fly from the UK to New Zealand! There was only one driver and after 17 hours we had to go over Rohtang La, a notoriously hazardous pass, in the dark. I was terrified as we'd been told by other tourists that the road was really twisty and muddy and I knew that the poor driver must have been feeling tired by now. Anyway, as we made out way up the pass the driver started driving erratically and was losing his concentration. The Italian passenger in the front was keeping an eye on him and talking to him but it was a very frightening situation. The road on the way down was horrible, there was so much mud and lots of trucks. When we finally arrived in Manali, at 1am, the sense of relief was enormous. The scenery on the journey was totally mind blowing but we should never have opted for such a long journey. You live and learn.
We spent a few days in Manali recovering from our ordeal and enjoying the mountain views. Incidentally, they grow and smoke a lot of cannabis in Manali. Maybe we should have had some to calm our nerves!!!
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| Huge cannabis bush in Manali |
After Manali we got another bus to Shimla. Fortunately, this journey was much shorter (only 10 hours) and incident free. Shimla is a hill-station, where the entire government of India fled to every year to escape from the heat of Delhi. The British built some very nice buildings here, including the Town Hall, mock-tudor post office and the Gaiety Theatre, and because of the rain we felt like we were back home.
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| Gandhi in Shimla - taken on Independence Day |
We then got the 'toy-train', which was constructed by the British in 1903, between Shimla and Kalka. The journey of 100km took 5 1/2 hours and we seemed to stop at every station for an unnecessarily long time. We had great weather and the views were lovely and it was strange being back down at more-or-less sea-level for the first time in weeks. We then got a train to hot and humid Delhi and walked through bustling streets at 10pm to our hotel.
We spent 3 days in Delhi, mostly hiding from the heat in our air-con room and then we flew down to Kerala in the south of India. We'd planned on getting a 50-hour train, just for the experience, but there were no tickets left, so we had to fly instead.
We spent a few days in Fort Cochin, which is a relaxed harbour town that feels a world away from Delhi. Fort Cochin was occupied by the Portugese, the Dutch and the British and has quite an interesting history and a few old buildings. The Keralan people have big happy smiles and are very welcoming. We enjoyed the great weather and spent our days pottering around the town, watching the fishermen bringing in the catch with the same design of nets that the Chinese first used here in the 1400's and drinking cheap beer and eating delicious food in the Seagull Hotels with the drunk, friendly local men.
Whilst in Cochin we went for an Ayurvedic massage, which involved lots of warm oil and a loin cloth. I was massaged by an old lady who'd been seen it all, so to speak, and I thought it was quite soothing. Nic was massaged by a man and he did not enjoy it as much! We also visited Jew Town (yes, it really is called this) and went to watch a Kathakali performance. Kathakali means 'story-play' and is over 400 years old. With painted faces and splendid vivid costumes characters from Indian epics dance a story accompanied by percussionists. We watched the 2 performers apply their elaborate make-up and then watched the amusing and enthralling performance.
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| Chinese fishing nets |
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| Starting the transformation |
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| Actor showing horror? |
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| Actor showing disgust? |
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| Fabulous costume |
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| Tradition states that women our played by men |
We went by government (no frills) bus from Cochin to Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary, up in the hills. Due to the insane amount of traffic, frequent traffic jams and accidents caused by crazy drivers this journey took 2 days instead of one. We ended up spending a sleepless night at a hotel next to the noisy bus station in Calicut, a typical busy, polluted Indian city. We got the impression that they don't see many western tourist here and we felt like film stars and were made to feel very welcome.
The following day we got 3 more buses to Tholpetty and stayed at a lovely guest house located at the entrance to the wildlife park. In between jeep safaris, we ate delicious food and chatted with the lovely owner and the other guests. We went on 3 short safaris with a couple from Germany and their 2 young children. We saw elephants, deer, sambar (large antelope-like animals) and bison. We saw lots of tiger pooh and fresh paw prints but sadly no tigers. They only have 16 tigers in the park so you have to be very lucky to get a glimpse.
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| spotted-deer |
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| The elephants had broken the electric fence and so they come and go as they please! |
Next we got the bus to Kannur and spent 6 days at a great guest house next to a secluded beach. We hadn't planned on spending so much time here but we couldn't get tickets for an earlier train and we couldn't face another long bus journey. Whilst we were here it rained and rained and rained so we took the opportunity to relax and hang out with the manager and the other guests.
In Kannur we went to a small local temple to see a Theyyam performance. This artform is thought to predate Hinduism and to have developed from folk dances. There are around 450 different Theyyams each with a distinctive costume, face paint and headdress. The latter are sometimes 5 metres tall! We saw a man applying his make-up and costume and slowly he became Shiva. At times the dancing and drumming was quite frenzied and the performance was mind-blowing and surreal. We would love to come back in future between December and April, which is Theyyam season.
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| Being made welcome at the temple |
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| Becoming Shiva |
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| Giving blessings |
We were in Kannur on the last day of Onam, a 10-day festival that is only celebrated in Kerala. Our tuk tuk driver, Vineeth, had kindly invited us and a couple from Italy/France to his home to meet and celebrate with his family. We were overwhelmed by the welcome we received and we spent a few happy hours being entertained by Vineeth's very musical family. We sang songs and the 4 guests had the dubious pleasure of singing their national anthems. Nic and I made everyone laugh because we couldn't remember the words to 'God Save the Queen'; most embarrassing! We would like to thank Vineeth and his lovely family for the happy memories that they gave us.
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| A lovely Onam tradition - a new picture made from cut up flower petals is made each day - this one took 4 hours |
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| Vineeth making his drums sing |
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| Vineeth's daughter making my hand pretty |
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| Portugese fort in Kannur |
