Jan - March 2012 India Blog 2. Away in Waynard

So there we were Finn,

enjoying the beach, curries and beer and suddenly we decided to move north. I think we just wanted to have a look somewhere else, but TBH it was a whole new experience “travelling” with you, our bags and the unknown.

As I say we wanted to try to stay clear of the madding crowd, but in doing that we ended up going not only where there were no crowds, but nowhere to stay. It was great to try out a local form of backwater trips. These were infact local taxis that took us through a series of islands and arrived and left exactly on time.

We arrived at Vaiyaparamba where we’d read that there was somewhere to stay. So we asked and were invited in the direction of a hut on the beach to drink chai and meet the locals. Everyone was incredibly friendly and there was the promise of somewhere to stay. We waited on the beach until we realised that the accommodation was a hovel at the far end of the island and the last “bus” to the mainland left in 10 minutes. A dash across the island, bags bumping and bopping and phew…we only just got it……

From the backwaters we decided to go off to see the wildlife in Wayanard. It was a bit disappointing, especially having spent so much wildlife in Africa, but you loved the monkeys, though the rest left you snoozing.

What was gorgeous in Wayanard was the countryside. It’s difficult again comparing with Africa, the game parks simply don’t compare and in many ways I prefer the countryside in Morocco, but there’s no denying how stunning and lush some of the hills wer

Walking along rivers at dusk was a joy and although it’s somewhat romantic to view daily bathing in rivers as a wonderful way to clean yourself, I remember living in Congo and washing in Lake kivu each morning and yes it was wonderful.

What you don’t have in Africa are autorickshaws and we certainly had our fill of those. What a racket, but in many ways, what fun. Then again there’s the chance to travel in those great old Indian Taxis.

Fun, yes, we enjoyed that…but somehow I missed Habiby and yes, I know that I dreamt of coming back with a vehical and driving through Asia…now there’s a good road trip…d’ya fancy that? I hope so…let’s see what the future brings.

Our final stop in Wayanard was to ride on an elephant. Back 30 years ago, I remember hitching a lift on an elephant and staying with a guy who owned one. It was a joy and whilst I loved you having fun on this one, somehow it felt wrong. The elephant was simply trudged up and down a track with no other elephants for company. Knowing how intelligent these animals are, I don’t think I’d do this again.

But, what there was always was yet more excellent food. This might be in homestays or in towns or out in the bush. I love Indian food and it’s diversity…yum.

You’ll get it one day, or it won’t be for our want of trying.