Madame and I have just returned from a two-week adventure in South India, mostly in Kerala. When I say ‘adventure’ it’s not like we were backpacking or in any way roughing it. And South India is a lot easier for first timers like us than the north. But still it felt like an adventure to us. Even being on the roads in India (with an expert driver) qualifies for the word ‘adventure’ and a few other words besides.
It was a fascinating trip and we met nothing but kindness, great service and warmth from people everywhere.
Here are a few scenes from the trip.
A temple to Parvati in the hills above Mysore, our first day. Illuminations in Mysore as part of the Dashara festival. Taken from a traffic jam. It was crazy busy. In demand for selfies from a group of high school students from Kerala up to Mysore for the day. Hairpin bends on the road to the hill station of Ooty. The main road to Ooty goes through a wildlife reserve, with warnings about tigers and elephants. We only saw monkeys. Lots of monkeys. Savoy Hotel, Ooty The lovely botanic gardens in Ooty. Indians love selfies when they’re on holiday. Dewalokam (home of the gods), a beautiful, tranquil organic farm with rooms to let. All the spices we’ve bought from the shops – we saw them growing here. Local women working on the pineapple plantation. One pineapple takes a year to grow. Beautiful houseboat on which we cruised the waterways of Allepey Demonstration of Kathakali, the Keralan traditional mime/dance. It’s in danger of dying out as young people don’t want to get up at 4 to practise eye movements for two hours before school.
I’ve always liked Indian music since the first time I heard it (courtesy of George Harrison on Sergeant Pepper) but never really understood the rhythmic and melodic structures. I thought it would be nice if, during the trip, I had the change to meet musicians and maybe get a small insight but wasn’t that optimistic about it happening. However after speaking to the house band in our hotel in Kochin, our last stop, I found a tabla player who gave me three lessons. A demanding but patient teacher, and a highly skilled player since childhood, meeting Ravish Shet was a treat that rounded off the holiday in a way I’d never have dared to expect. During the second lesson someone nearby produced a guitar and I was able to jam with Ravish. We left with the promise he’d play tablas on some recordings for me. As a goodbye he let me record a short, breathtaking, improvisation.
For my first time in India it was an amazing trip. If you’d like to explore any more here are a few links:
- Dewalokam homestay
- Xandari Riverscapes
- Kerala Kathakali Centre
- Greenix Village (where I saw Kathakali and Indian martial arts)
- Intense India Tours (arranged the whole package)
- A performance by Ravish with a sitar player
Glad you had a great time in India. We have never used a tour company – just the Rough Guide, the internet and the phone.