The Lost View

The Home Journey

It was a long and tedious journey back to Lund but it all worked well, no delays. The Ambassador crashing down the dark highway to Trivandrum, standing in line at the airport, trying to sleep in the old Airbus to Bahrein. The flight to London had a full entertainment system and I got to see A Country For Old Men and Lakeview Palace. The former OK but the latter pretty bad. Our bags were already in place when we reached the baggage claim belt in Copenhagen. It must be a world record. All and all it took a little more than 24 hrs to travel from Odayam to Lund. Breakfast at McDonalds in Bahrein. The happy mechanic Santa Claus' we saw on our way to India had been changed to Arabic fishermen. Only water in London. Alice was motion sick most of the time but endured. She got some relief on the flight from London when she fell asleep, exhausted.

The Final Days

The final days and saying goodbye to the people we have gotten to know during this month: Niklas and Shah, Dr Sheikh, the yoga teachers, the staff at Kattil, Paella and Blue Water, and the final affternoon swim in the warm ocean. Alice and Anna made henna patterns on their hands while Esbjörn bought a small Ganesha statue.

Swimming, eating, sleeping, spending

Swimming, eating, sleeping, spending our savings... I've already stated my mind about going back to Lund but the kids are looking forward to it.

No consolation

No special events to report today. At least not yet. Thubten and his friend left for Kollam early this morning to catch the backwater tour boat to Allepey. Went swimming in the morning. The ocean water is warm, offering no consolation in the heat. I think I'll eat tiger prawns tonight.

Village Life

Yesterday was cloudy, even with a little drizzle in the evening. To be honest it was a relief from the usual heat. The ocean continues to rise and the waves are reaching all the way up to the breaker in most places. Thubten arrived in the late afternoon; from the intense city life of Bangalore to the slow village life in Odayam. It was good to see him again. Today followed the swim - lunch -sleep - Cliff to do internet and eat - routine. I guess there was a moment of excitement when we discovered that an insect had found a home on top of Alice's head. Not a tick but a small green-yellow bug. We went over to the doctor and he removed it. So now there will be no swimming until it heals. A friend of Thubten came up from Kovalam where he runs a shop and tomorrow they're going up to the backwaters and on to Cochin where he is catching a flight to Delhi.I'm starting to dread our return to the winter and to the hard work in Lund. It would be so good just to stay in India forever. Anna seems so healthy and happy here.

Even More Pix

More Pix

The Backwaters and Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary

On the first day of our outing from Varkala we drove to a spot in the backwaters south of Allepey. The driver was heading to Kottayam (don't exactly know why - language problems maybe?) but we rerouted in time to hit the Allepey junction. The hotel was a 150 years old family home in Kerala style with tiled roof and teak fittings. A boatman picked us up from the road bank and paddled us across. In the late afternoon we took a motor boat ride around the canals, sitting on the roof while the sun was setting, and watching the village life on the banks. When the sun was below the horizon enormous fruit bats started to flap across the sky. We discovered that the popular house boat racket (luxury fitted rice barges) has become silly with a never ending boat train chugging back and forth between Kollam, Allepey and Kottayam. So that's off our list.

The next day we drove up in the Western Ghats and reached Periyar before 1 pm. To get there one has to drive through tea, coffee, and spice plantations. Compared to what it looked like eleven years ago when Anna and I was there, there has been a lot of development. The actual wildlife sanctuary is also more busy with tourists. Eleven years ago there was one boat taking visitors around the reservoir to spot animals on the bank. Now they have seven boats. But the guide was the same guy, Ravi, trying to hush the Indians. The hotel is an old colonial house inside the sanctuary. It had not been maintained so well but we got the best room. Big and with a windowed verandah. Luckily the pool was fine.

At seven in the morning we took off on a four hour trek through the jungle with a local guide. It was a much better option. Although we didn't see any big animals except a wild boar rooting nearby we saw a lot of birds including the rare nattskarra. It was a long walk but the kids did fine. For lunch we went into the nearest town, Kumily, and after that to a place called elephant junction. We went on the longest elephant ride I've ever been on. After that there was a demonstration about elephant logging and after that we got to wash an elephant. The guide asked Anna to climb the back of the animal. Little did she realize that she would soon be sprayed with as much water an elephant trunk can hold! After that the kids got the same treatment. All and all it was fun, although I think the riding elephants should get some rest between parties.

The following morning we were back on the boat - Jala Raja. After a very foggy start we actually got to see quite some animals including bisons, sambars, wild boar and a whole lot of otters. Then we drove back down to the backwaters to stay one night in another old Keralan house just outside Allepey. It is a well known place for ayurvedic medicine and Anna could consult the doctor. We didn't really do much except to watch the house boats and various other more or less sea worthy vessels go by. More fruit batting in the evening. They are such big bats, the size of a small dog.

On the final day we drove back to Odayam again. It was hot and the driver stopped everywhere looking for a spare part that just couldn't be found. Returning to Kattil almost felt like coming home with the big waves rolling in from the sea.

Tomorrow our friend Thubten is visiting us for a few days.

We're back from the mountains, and back to the hot weather. The waves are higher, the beach smaller, and tonight there's even an overcast sky. Will post some pictures after I have processed them. Preview: Last night I stood on a jetty in the backwaters of Allepey and watched huge fruit bats cross the sky while an outfit of mozzies devoured my legs...

Last night we went to see a Kattakali show at Varkala Cultural Center. I didn't expect much else than a tourist trap but it was actually quite good and interesting. It seemed to be a serious operation. Rather than performing a long dance it was like a small introductory lecture about history, make up, etc followed by some scenes from the Mahabaratha. Far from the original temple dance but interesting. Today Tsering went back to her friend in Kottayam and tomorrow she is going back to Chennai to start school again. Tomorrow we are starting out tour to Periyar. The first leg goes to a small place in the backwaters south of Allapuzha, I think it's actually an old Kettu Vallam (rice barge. Don't know when I can access the internet again. On the 6th we're driving back to Allapuzha and on the 7th we'll be back in Varkala again.

Fire Ritual and Cricket

Yesterday was rather eventless although the weather was a bit cooler making it more bearable. In the afternoon we played some cricket. After all, it is the national sport. In the evening we went for a New Year's Eve dinner at Paella. There was another Swedish family and Niklas and Kerstin from The First Place. Esbjorn fell asleep at nine but woke up in time for the fireworks. There was quite a few rockets launched from the Cliff and the Paella owner also fired away. I was hit in the gut but escaped without a wound. Before midnight we did a fire ritual where everyone wrote down something they want to get rid of on a piece of paper and burnt it.