More photos from Kodai to Kollam

OK, we're back on the road again! After leaving Trichy fairly early in the morning, we prepared ourselves for another day in the car as we headed towards the hill station of Kodaikanal. After a peaceful 3 days in Kodaikanal, we were back in the car once more for what ended up almost becoming the roadtrip from hell! You may remember our earlier blog about this adventure...we ended up having to stay overnight in Kovalam, as the 300 kilometre trip turned into a never-ending journey of mammoth proportions. Just a few more photos from Kodai and Kollam now...

A brief stop on the way up to Kodaikanal provided an opportunity to feed the monkeys...

And one even managed to jump in the car with us for the rest of the journey!

Kodaikanal was very cold and we stopped at our favourite eating spot for a ginger chai and bhajias (potato & onion mix deep fried in a spicy batter) at least twice a day!

Check out the size of these cooking pots! A small village we passed on our two-hour walk to Pillar Rocks.

The bike that rode itself!

At this restaurant in Kodai we were invited into the kitchen to learn about the different methods of making the traditional Indian breads - roti, chapati and naan.

We got into the habit of packing up any leftover food we had and buying extra rotis to give to any beggars that approached us. One night we still had some food left over so we put it outside in the cold (no fridges in the hotel of course!). The following morning we were wryly amused to see what had become of our well-intentioned offering!

The Indian method of cooling down a boiling hot glass of chai!

Another very satisfied customer. Shanks regularly consumed a couple of these massive dosas in one sitting!

No wonder the restaurant staff were so happy!

A view of Kodaikanal from our breakfast spot at our hotel.

Scenery on the drive from Kodai to Kollam

All smiles aboard our canal experience of Kollam

At roughly 3km an hour, our leisurely cruise through the winding canals was one of the most relaxing experiences we had during our travels

Onlookers!

A typical village dwelling on the embankment of the canals

Fishing on the river

A quick tour of some gardens with spice plants and tropical fruits and our three hour tour was over.

Back to the beginning again

Well, we thought that it was about time to take a step back and share some more stories and photos from our travels in South India...so here we are right at the beginning again, where the adventure started, in Chennai, on the south-east coast of India.

Here we experienced our first taste of what were to become typical Indian experiences...the oft-difficult search for a suitable hotel (it took us three attempts on the night we landed to find somewhere decent), the delicious food (always easy to find), the warm and friendly people (just mention you're an Aussie and you have lifelong buddies) and of course, the colourful and crazy street life...

This is a photo from our first major venture into Chennai, always colourful, always chaotic.

After an hour or more in a taxi, we finally came across this hotel for our first couple of nights in Chennai. We later found a nicer place not far away. It is very rare for Indian hotels to have single or twin-share rooms, so Shanks & Christian became room buddies and Astrid & I did likewise! Lucky none of us snored!

India is the land of very funny signs...we were intrigued by the last point mentioned above!

Does this face look familiar?

Astrid doing her very own masterful impression of an Edvard Munch classic...

Apparently she used to practice as a child!!

Me No Smell!

Whilst dining in a Chennai restaurant, Christian suddenly declared that he never smells and showed us his armpits as proof...we rechristened him 'Odourless Man' from that night on (and I hate to say it, but he was right...in a moment of madness I sniffed one of his socks)!

Astrid pretending to have gastric pains...Shanks wondering why on earth he agreed to come on a trip with two raving lunatics...and it was only day two!

In Australia, if we see a sign saying 297km, we safely assume we'll arrive three hours later. In India, you double your estimation and then add some...in the end it took us eight hours to cover the distance!

Most evenings we would kill some time with a box of sweets...

and a pack of cards...

Shanks would usually pass out first without giving us a chance to see the card-shark skills inherited from his parents!

And so ended the Chennai & Trichy experience...as we headed off for another long road trip, this time to Kodaikanal.

Kodai to Mysore photojournal

Lorraine:
Here are some more photos from Kodaikanal right through to our arrival in Mysore a couple of days ago. Enjoy!

Scene from the gardens at our hotel in Kodaikanal...

...where we started each day with a leisurely breakfast and steaming hot chai!

Astrid & Christian cooling off with coconut water

during a break on one of our long car journeys!


What if the one you want is at the bottom?
Fruit & vegetable markets at Kollam.


Men at work making pappadums at the markets in Kollam.
They were very pleased to have their photo taken!


In Kollam, we went on a beautiful boat tour through the backwaters that meander through some villages. These boys were after pens and scored three from Astrid!


Enjoying the ride!


Lush tropical scenery on either side

The backwaters are predominantly used for trade, transportation and fishing

Midway through the journey we stopped for a quick drink and bite to eat...

Now that's what I really call "fast food"...and healthy too!

Our wonderful guide who steered us through the backwaters. In one of the many examples of the people who do the really hard work getting the least money, we were shocked to find out that he was being paid Rs 125 a day (equivalent to about $AU 3.65) for up to three 3-hour cruises he takes tourists on each day. Our group of 6 paid the government-run tourist department a sum of Rs 1800 ($AU 53) for the cruise. Needless to say we gave him a big tip.

More market action at Ernakulam

...and more

Arriving in Kalpetta (a town close to Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary) late one night, we were suprised and excited to see a sign saying "Baha'i Centre". We were able to meet with a beautiful couple the next day and the warmth and hospitality that we were greeted with was a powerful reminder of one of the underpinning Baha'i principles that the earth is one country and we are all one family.

Beautiful pheasants at an aviary in Mysore

White peacock at the aviary

Very happy campers!

Enjoying the peace and quiet at Karinji Lake in Mysore

Are we there yet?

The jouney from Kodaikanal to Kollam was an adventure that kept going and going and going...We were expecting a long day, as although Kollam was less than 300km as the crow flys from Kodai, there was no good direct road over the mountains down into Kerala. From Kodai, we wound back down to the plains and followed the eastern side of the Western Ghats virtually to the southern tip of India. In this region we were surprised to see hundreds of wind turbines towering over and seemingly outnumbering the coconut palms lining the fields stretching to the horizon. It was early afternoon as we travelled between the boulder strewn granite peaks through to Nagercoil on the western side of the range. As we headed northward the pace slowed with increasing traffic and virtually no streches of open road and we were lucky to average 30km/hr for the rest of the day. Crossing into the state of Kerala and with our destination still 'two hours away' we gave up at about 8pm after nearly twelve hours on the road and found a hotel at the far too touristy beachside resort area of Kovalam. The next morning we covered the last 67km to Kollam in just under two hours - we still find it difficult to comprehend the time it takes to travel in India compared to Australia - as a general rule it takes two to three times longer to cover the same distance.


Kollam is the southern (and less touristy) gateway to the 'Backwaters' of Kerala - a maze of lakes, rivers and canals through which much of the trade and travel in Kerala still occurs.