back on the road again..
Another great nights sleep at the hillstation. It must be the altitude. A large Indian family arrived late evening and I thought trouble could be brewing. They decided to camp outside our room as it was by far the best view. Not as if you could see amything atfter the sun had set.
It was dark. Not the kind of dark we know at home but dark sky dark. Unless you have seem complete darkness its difficult to imagine. If you can touch your eye before you see your finger then thats dark. They say we have areas of dark sky in the UK but its bollocks. I,ve only ever experienced it when travelling and only then in remote areas at altitude.
The conversation and laughter from our band of happy campers trolled on till eleven o clock. "Right" I said to crispy, "we are not gong through this again.". I quietly put my shorts on and made my way outside.
I got within a few feet of them, as there was only one small light, and said loudly "ok ' its eleven o clock", "bed time". Bloody hell, you would think I had thrown cold water over them. I've never seen any one move so fast, not even Crispy when faced with the prospect of bus vomiting. They shot off in all drections like scalded cats. I tried to remain vey serious in case I needed to be more stern but they must have heard me giggle as it was perfectly quiet from that point on. Hence we awoke completely refreshed. Which was good as we faced our longest single journey today From Munnar back to the coast.
I have verbalised at length about the various forms of transport we have used and there is no need to here dilate further on the subject. Other than to say it took just over five hours and involved no vomiting. We did stop a couple of times and had the chance to admire some amazing waterfalls plus a troop of monkey that were looking for a free meal at a layby.
Crispy loves monkeys. I detest the nasty little shites. We have had some close encounters with our hairy ancestors in the past and I wouldn't trust one as far as I could throw it. In my opinion they are like wild dogs except they look cute and are hyper intelligent. You wouldn't stop to say hello to a feral dog and monkeys should be no different. The last time we had a run in with these little shites, a baby monkey was getting giddy round Crispy in the Gambia and scratched her leg. We had to beat a hasty retreat along a suspended walkway as the mother, who was considerably bigger than the baby, took umbridge at me shooing her baby away from poor old Crispy.
We could feel the air temperature rising with every thousand feet we descended. It had been a very comfortable twenty two degees in the mountains. We didn,t need fans or air con (which were not available anyway) and even slept under the covers on a few nights. Within a few hours and a few thousand feet of altitude were are back at sea level and its in the thirties, humid and sweaty.
We are in Allepey (Allapuzha, as we locals call it) again in the backwaters and staying in some gorgeous little riverside cottages overlooking a waterway. Only a few kilometers from the town and beach but remote enough to be quiet and peaceful.
We sat on the balcony watching the houseboats and other small craft go by, drinking the last of our Kingfisher from the naughty boy shop in Munnar. It was going down a treat. "I could do with another" I said to Crispy. "Me too" she replied. I needed to find the local government shop.
I strode out of the garden and onto a small country road. I knew it wouldn't be long before a tuk tuk spotted me and sure enough within walking three hundred yards I was hurtling aong in the back of a tuk tuk en route to the centre of town.
The government shop is four kilometers from our cottages in a really seedy part of town. The worst thing about these places is that you have to stand in line within a metal cage with what I assume to be the local AA members. In full view of the street. As luck would have it there were only a few old lushes, including me, waiting so I was in and out in no time. Back in the tuk tuk, which I had asked to wait, and back to Crispy at the cottage. A round trip of Forty five minutes for four bottles of Kingfisher. Bargain.
Shoes off and back on the balcony with my hard won beer.
Before long the sky darkened and a tropical thunder storm loomed overhead. It was amazing to watch. sheet lightening illuminating the heavens and thunder booming as the storm reached its peak. Within thirty minutes the storm had passed and the skies started to clear. During the storm five little lizards sought refuge with us on our balcony and were happily playing a game of tig on the ceiling. There are also three lizards so far in our "outdoor" bathroom. Crispy has not give them names as yet but if they are still there in the morning then I am sure she will. Crispy loves these little cheeky squaters.
Then came, what for us was, the most amzing sight of this trip. Fireflys. We have always wanted to see this amazing creature. At first we thought that they were just mossies catching the light but as they came closer it was obvious they were fireflys. They are about the size of a wasp and glow like a flickering candle flame. A warm yellow light that starts below their head and spreads through their bodies as they turn the light on and off. A truly magical sight as they slowly danced through the air. We are so pleased we have seen them and hope they do a repeat performance tomorrow night.
Tomorrow we are gong to try and get to the beach and have a look around. We will see what the day brings. The wifi is down at the moment because of the storm so we shall have to post this in the morning.
Bare and Crispy signing off, Allepey, Kerala, India
addendum....
Not many pics I,m afraid as the eye pod was struck in the bottom of the backpack. Got some good snaps of the hairy little sods (that's the monkeys not us by the way) but they are on the big camera......
Another great nights sleep at the hillstation. It must be the altitude. A large Indian family arrived late evening and I thought trouble could be brewing. They decided to camp outside our room as it was by far the best view. Not as if you could see amything atfter the sun had set.
It was dark. Not the kind of dark we know at home but dark sky dark. Unless you have seem complete darkness its difficult to imagine. If you can touch your eye before you see your finger then thats dark. They say we have areas of dark sky in the UK but its bollocks. I,ve only ever experienced it when travelling and only then in remote areas at altitude.
The conversation and laughter from our band of happy campers trolled on till eleven o clock. "Right" I said to crispy, "we are not gong through this again.". I quietly put my shorts on and made my way outside.
I got within a few feet of them, as there was only one small light, and said loudly "ok ' its eleven o clock", "bed time". Bloody hell, you would think I had thrown cold water over them. I've never seen any one move so fast, not even Crispy when faced with the prospect of bus vomiting. They shot off in all drections like scalded cats. I tried to remain vey serious in case I needed to be more stern but they must have heard me giggle as it was perfectly quiet from that point on. Hence we awoke completely refreshed. Which was good as we faced our longest single journey today From Munnar back to the coast.
I have verbalised at length about the various forms of transport we have used and there is no need to here dilate further on the subject. Other than to say it took just over five hours and involved no vomiting. We did stop a couple of times and had the chance to admire some amazing waterfalls plus a troop of monkey that were looking for a free meal at a layby.
Crispy loves monkeys. I detest the nasty little shites. We have had some close encounters with our hairy ancestors in the past and I wouldn't trust one as far as I could throw it. In my opinion they are like wild dogs except they look cute and are hyper intelligent. You wouldn't stop to say hello to a feral dog and monkeys should be no different. The last time we had a run in with these little shites, a baby monkey was getting giddy round Crispy in the Gambia and scratched her leg. We had to beat a hasty retreat along a suspended walkway as the mother, who was considerably bigger than the baby, took umbridge at me shooing her baby away from poor old Crispy.
We could feel the air temperature rising with every thousand feet we descended. It had been a very comfortable twenty two degees in the mountains. We didn,t need fans or air con (which were not available anyway) and even slept under the covers on a few nights. Within a few hours and a few thousand feet of altitude were are back at sea level and its in the thirties, humid and sweaty.
We are in Allepey (Allapuzha, as we locals call it) again in the backwaters and staying in some gorgeous little riverside cottages overlooking a waterway. Only a few kilometers from the town and beach but remote enough to be quiet and peaceful.
We sat on the balcony watching the houseboats and other small craft go by, drinking the last of our Kingfisher from the naughty boy shop in Munnar. It was going down a treat. "I could do with another" I said to Crispy. "Me too" she replied. I needed to find the local government shop.
I strode out of the garden and onto a small country road. I knew it wouldn't be long before a tuk tuk spotted me and sure enough within walking three hundred yards I was hurtling aong in the back of a tuk tuk en route to the centre of town.
The government shop is four kilometers from our cottages in a really seedy part of town. The worst thing about these places is that you have to stand in line within a metal cage with what I assume to be the local AA members. In full view of the street. As luck would have it there were only a few old lushes, including me, waiting so I was in and out in no time. Back in the tuk tuk, which I had asked to wait, and back to Crispy at the cottage. A round trip of Forty five minutes for four bottles of Kingfisher. Bargain.
Shoes off and back on the balcony with my hard won beer.
Before long the sky darkened and a tropical thunder storm loomed overhead. It was amazing to watch. sheet lightening illuminating the heavens and thunder booming as the storm reached its peak. Within thirty minutes the storm had passed and the skies started to clear. During the storm five little lizards sought refuge with us on our balcony and were happily playing a game of tig on the ceiling. There are also three lizards so far in our "outdoor" bathroom. Crispy has not give them names as yet but if they are still there in the morning then I am sure she will. Crispy loves these little cheeky squaters.
Then came, what for us was, the most amzing sight of this trip. Fireflys. We have always wanted to see this amazing creature. At first we thought that they were just mossies catching the light but as they came closer it was obvious they were fireflys. They are about the size of a wasp and glow like a flickering candle flame. A warm yellow light that starts below their head and spreads through their bodies as they turn the light on and off. A truly magical sight as they slowly danced through the air. We are so pleased we have seen them and hope they do a repeat performance tomorrow night.
Tomorrow we are gong to try and get to the beach and have a look around. We will see what the day brings. The wifi is down at the moment because of the storm so we shall have to post this in the morning.
Bare and Crispy signing off, Allepey, Kerala, India
addendum....
Not many pics I,m afraid as the eye pod was struck in the bottom of the backpack. Got some good snaps of the hairy little sods (that's the monkeys not us by the way) but they are on the big camera......
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