I,m Crispy. Get me outa here!!!!!
Slept really well again. Woke at 0800, breakfast and out. We had arranged for a tuk tuk to pick us up at 9 am to get us to the forestry commission tiger reserve for 09:15. Waited till 5 past and he didn't show. Quickly out onto the street and flagged a passing one down. Tuk tuks buzz around the towns like wasps. Everybody uses them for convenience and the average cost of a short journey is around twenty pence. We have used them in the past just to cross busy roads as twenty pence is better than trying for half an hour to cross a busy thoroughfare whilst risking life and limb. Other than Singapore I can't think of any Asian place we have been too that understands the concept of a pedestrian crossing.
Arrived at the reserve at 0920 and welcomed inside the park office by a group of young rangers that were going to be our guides. Tickets checked. Lunches handed out, and leech socks put on.
I like to keep the contents of a "provided lunch" secret for as long as possible. You wouldn't believe some of there stuff we have found inside these little lucky bags. It can be anything from cold goat Marsala in a little plastic bag to crisps and snickers. I decided to keep this as a little surprise for Crispy when we got to the halfway point. ( I had secreted a packet of biscuits in my rucksack just in case Crispy wasn't up to cold goat).
Crispy has been secretly worrying about the prospect of getting close and personal with leeches. That's why I didn't tell her about them before this morning. A fact she definitely was not happy about. I suppose its something inherently primordial about things that want to eat you, or in this case feed on your blood.
I personally have no real problem with our little bitey wriggly friends as we got very close and familiar with each other whilst trekking in Nepal. Crispy has never even seen one before today.
The leech socks are thick canvas gaitors that go inside the shoe and fasten just below the knee. Most, but not all, leech attacks are aimed at the lower legs and these socks afford great protection if not street cred. I was speaking to the guides,whilst crispy fiddled with her socks, about what they use to remove leeches after they had made a successful attack. I mentioned earlier that my preferred deterrent is chewing tobacco rubbed into your boots and socks. My preferred removal technique is iodine or a lit cigarette. These guides prefer tobacco powder sprinkled over the boots and socks as a deterent and the "pinch technique" for removal. This "pinch" is alright but has the potential to leave the mouthparts in the skin. This can lead to infections so is not ideal. As we had no iodine and I don't smoke anymore it seems that we were stuck with the "pinch" method. Ah well we will have to manage.
Crispy is getting really good at her beer Keller lederhosen dance as she practiced it whilst I was talking to the guides. "What's the matter I said" . "there's one on your bag" she shrieked whilst jumping up and down slapping her thighs and buttocks. If we ever go back to Bavaria I'm going to enter her into a competition. We are definitely onto a winner. Sure enough there was a cheeky little leech attached to the strap of my rucksack and stretching itself out in Crispy's direction. I thought we would at least get into the jungle before seeing them but the little buggars had sent a welcoming party. I could see that Crispy's resolve was crumbling. I reassured her as best as I could that she wasn't going to die from leech bites and that the trek and bamboo rafting would be worth the risk. All credit to her she tightened her belt, stuck out her chest and strode off after the guides. Its this stiff upper lip and bulldog spirit that won the war. I was so proud of her as I know she really didn't want to go.
The purpose of the trek is wildlife watching. Although its a tiger reserve the chances of seeing a tiger are infinitely small. This reserve is the biggest in India. It is 925 square kilometers of mountain and virgin jungle and It holds 45 tigers at present. You do the math.
I have never seen a tiger in the wild but one did come into a small village I was staying at in the foothills of the himalaya. It was in the early hours of the morning and we were asleep when a right cerfuffle broke out. The villagers were running through the village with burning torches like the extras in a b grade frankenstein movie. It seems that a tiger was after an early breakfast of their goats. We never heard or saw the tiger after that night but it was strange trekking through jungle knowing one was knocking about.
There are however lots of other wild animals here including over 1000 wild Asian elephant. As we were trekking with a family of eight Indians , the chances of seeing anything at all plummeted into the void. Plus they also had an annoying little shit of a boy that could not keep quiet or still if his life depended on it. In the end we managed to see bison, boar, black monkey and fresh elephant tracks.
After 2 hours trekking, most of it spent with Crispy doing her dancing and grabbing me or a guide every time a leech attached itself to her person, we arrived at the bamboo rafts.
The rafts were several bamboo logs loosely tied together with yellow nylon rope. Tied to the makeshift deck were 4 seats to each raft. Lunch was taken in the jungle and to our complete joy found that it consisted of pastries and cakes. Perfect. All washed down with a carton of pineapple juice.
I think Crispy was dissapointed that it wasn't cold goat but you can't win them all.
After lunch we boarded the rafts, which sunk another couple of inches with each additional passenger. Seated on the hard bamboo chairs trying not to get the camera and this eye pod wet, we were off. The guides had transformed themselves into able sailors and skillfully navigated us around the jungle lake. Again no wildlife other than birds but a very pleasurable experience non the less.
Back to the shore and into the jungle. Another 2 hours of trekking through leech infested jungle back to the reserve office.
Quickly de socked and boots checked. As guessed Crispy's trainers contained two of the nasty blighters. After a short panic attack we were all set and thanking the guards set off for home.
Crispy was desperate to get back for a shower. Walking through the town she discovered a very small leech had attached itself to her lower lip and until now had escaped unnoticed. Another small panic attack and lederhosen dance and we were home.
She's now paranoid and reading her book in bed. She is exhausted bless her. The mossies are biting here on the balcony but there's no wi fi in the room so I am still sat outside. I hope you all appreciate my sacrifice. But I do have my sprite (wink wink)
She has called me back to the room twice already as she is convinced there are leeches on the bed. Both occasions they have turned out to be small pieces of black cotton. Oh how she laughed.
Tomorrow we are on the move again headed 120 miles over the mountains to munnar and the tea plantations. The bus leaves at 0945 so up at eight. Crispy loves her adventuring.
Bare and Crispy, Kumily, Kerala, India
Slept really well again. Woke at 0800, breakfast and out. We had arranged for a tuk tuk to pick us up at 9 am to get us to the forestry commission tiger reserve for 09:15. Waited till 5 past and he didn't show. Quickly out onto the street and flagged a passing one down. Tuk tuks buzz around the towns like wasps. Everybody uses them for convenience and the average cost of a short journey is around twenty pence. We have used them in the past just to cross busy roads as twenty pence is better than trying for half an hour to cross a busy thoroughfare whilst risking life and limb. Other than Singapore I can't think of any Asian place we have been too that understands the concept of a pedestrian crossing.
Arrived at the reserve at 0920 and welcomed inside the park office by a group of young rangers that were going to be our guides. Tickets checked. Lunches handed out, and leech socks put on.
I like to keep the contents of a "provided lunch" secret for as long as possible. You wouldn't believe some of there stuff we have found inside these little lucky bags. It can be anything from cold goat Marsala in a little plastic bag to crisps and snickers. I decided to keep this as a little surprise for Crispy when we got to the halfway point. ( I had secreted a packet of biscuits in my rucksack just in case Crispy wasn't up to cold goat).
Crispy has been secretly worrying about the prospect of getting close and personal with leeches. That's why I didn't tell her about them before this morning. A fact she definitely was not happy about. I suppose its something inherently primordial about things that want to eat you, or in this case feed on your blood.
I personally have no real problem with our little bitey wriggly friends as we got very close and familiar with each other whilst trekking in Nepal. Crispy has never even seen one before today.
The leech socks are thick canvas gaitors that go inside the shoe and fasten just below the knee. Most, but not all, leech attacks are aimed at the lower legs and these socks afford great protection if not street cred. I was speaking to the guides,whilst crispy fiddled with her socks, about what they use to remove leeches after they had made a successful attack. I mentioned earlier that my preferred deterrent is chewing tobacco rubbed into your boots and socks. My preferred removal technique is iodine or a lit cigarette. These guides prefer tobacco powder sprinkled over the boots and socks as a deterent and the "pinch technique" for removal. This "pinch" is alright but has the potential to leave the mouthparts in the skin. This can lead to infections so is not ideal. As we had no iodine and I don't smoke anymore it seems that we were stuck with the "pinch" method. Ah well we will have to manage.
Crispy is getting really good at her beer Keller lederhosen dance as she practiced it whilst I was talking to the guides. "What's the matter I said" . "there's one on your bag" she shrieked whilst jumping up and down slapping her thighs and buttocks. If we ever go back to Bavaria I'm going to enter her into a competition. We are definitely onto a winner. Sure enough there was a cheeky little leech attached to the strap of my rucksack and stretching itself out in Crispy's direction. I thought we would at least get into the jungle before seeing them but the little buggars had sent a welcoming party. I could see that Crispy's resolve was crumbling. I reassured her as best as I could that she wasn't going to die from leech bites and that the trek and bamboo rafting would be worth the risk. All credit to her she tightened her belt, stuck out her chest and strode off after the guides. Its this stiff upper lip and bulldog spirit that won the war. I was so proud of her as I know she really didn't want to go.
The purpose of the trek is wildlife watching. Although its a tiger reserve the chances of seeing a tiger are infinitely small. This reserve is the biggest in India. It is 925 square kilometers of mountain and virgin jungle and It holds 45 tigers at present. You do the math.
I have never seen a tiger in the wild but one did come into a small village I was staying at in the foothills of the himalaya. It was in the early hours of the morning and we were asleep when a right cerfuffle broke out. The villagers were running through the village with burning torches like the extras in a b grade frankenstein movie. It seems that a tiger was after an early breakfast of their goats. We never heard or saw the tiger after that night but it was strange trekking through jungle knowing one was knocking about.
There are however lots of other wild animals here including over 1000 wild Asian elephant. As we were trekking with a family of eight Indians , the chances of seeing anything at all plummeted into the void. Plus they also had an annoying little shit of a boy that could not keep quiet or still if his life depended on it. In the end we managed to see bison, boar, black monkey and fresh elephant tracks.
After 2 hours trekking, most of it spent with Crispy doing her dancing and grabbing me or a guide every time a leech attached itself to her person, we arrived at the bamboo rafts.
The rafts were several bamboo logs loosely tied together with yellow nylon rope. Tied to the makeshift deck were 4 seats to each raft. Lunch was taken in the jungle and to our complete joy found that it consisted of pastries and cakes. Perfect. All washed down with a carton of pineapple juice.
I think Crispy was dissapointed that it wasn't cold goat but you can't win them all.
After lunch we boarded the rafts, which sunk another couple of inches with each additional passenger. Seated on the hard bamboo chairs trying not to get the camera and this eye pod wet, we were off. The guides had transformed themselves into able sailors and skillfully navigated us around the jungle lake. Again no wildlife other than birds but a very pleasurable experience non the less.
Back to the shore and into the jungle. Another 2 hours of trekking through leech infested jungle back to the reserve office.
Quickly de socked and boots checked. As guessed Crispy's trainers contained two of the nasty blighters. After a short panic attack we were all set and thanking the guards set off for home.
Crispy was desperate to get back for a shower. Walking through the town she discovered a very small leech had attached itself to her lower lip and until now had escaped unnoticed. Another small panic attack and lederhosen dance and we were home.
She's now paranoid and reading her book in bed. She is exhausted bless her. The mossies are biting here on the balcony but there's no wi fi in the room so I am still sat outside. I hope you all appreciate my sacrifice. But I do have my sprite (wink wink)
She has called me back to the room twice already as she is convinced there are leeches on the bed. Both occasions they have turned out to be small pieces of black cotton. Oh how she laughed.
Tomorrow we are on the move again headed 120 miles over the mountains to munnar and the tea plantations. The bus leaves at 0945 so up at eight. Crispy loves her adventuring.
Bare and Crispy, Kumily, Kerala, India
No comments:
Post a Comment