There be elephants......
Last night by the time the kalipari show ended it was getting late. We had intended to go to the spice village restaurant, which is only one of two high end restaurants here, but when we called into have a look it was only buffet. We were a little tired and not hungry enough to justify £28.00 on a curry although we hadn't eaten since breakfast.
The martial arts show involved impressive martial arts including spinning burning spears and other flame doused tools of war. All inside a metal shed with no ventilation. Plus they were using petrol as the fuel of choice. It was like sitting in a car fire.
The lads performing were very good and the show was worth watching. Kalipari is the oldest recorded martial art at nearly 2000 Yeats old
Like I said we really were not hungry but still went into a local restaurant. We ordered but only picked at the food although it was very good. And again no beer. Since last year the government in Kerala have stopped local resteraunts under a 3 star rating from selling, or permitting, alcohol. It seems the local workforce were getting giddy and no one was turning in for their jobs. Now you can only purchase alcohol from a 3 star or above establishment or the government store. These government stores are dark seedy holes where you have to que up in full site of the road. We stopped at one today and I must admit it felt like everyone that passed looked down their nose at us.
Bed and a good nights sleep with no noisy neighbours. Up, breakfast and out.
Today was the elephant junction trip. We have seen and rode elephants many times and crispy loves them. The programme usually involves a ten minute ride around an enclosed park, Five minutes feeding them fruit of various sorts and a photo opportunity. Malaysia has been the best so far, in respect of elephant riding, but this was brilliant. I usually make some enquiries about welfare etc, before agreeing to patronise these places. So for all the animal lovers here's the lowdown.
In India you cannot buy an elephant for less than 40 lak. That's 4000,000 rupee. That's around 40,000 pounds. Then you need to prove to the forestry commission that you have sufficient suitable land and financial means to support it. The government inspect the animal every week and a vet needs to see the animal every month. The only people who can request that an animal works, in any other capacity than tourism, is the forestry commission themselves. If the government suspect that an elephant is being mistreated then it can be confiscated with no compensation to the owner. No surprise that these animals were treated like royalty.
Buggar, just lost the internet and the blog as we have suffered one of the frequent power cuts up here in the mountains. I'll try again. At least we have our beer.
As a matter of interest an elephant will only ever obey its mahoots. Two mahoots train the animal simultaneously in case something happens to one of them. It takes eight years to train an elephant. If an elephant has a baby then it is taken away for six years to a government training facility before being released back to the owner for training by his mahoots. A total of fourteen years training.
Once we had ascertained that these elephants were not mistreated we mounted the elephant selected for us. That is climbed onto her back, not the other meaning as that would have seen the animal confiscated and us thrown in prison.
A huge female who's name we could not pronounce. Crispy christened her Mable.
We rode her for one hour along jungle trails through a village and to the house of the owner. There we were given Marsala tea and offered snacks.
The owner then insisted that we don local costume for a photo with Mable.
Crispy was swiftly ushered away by the women and I was guided into a bedroom by one of the guys. "Take off your shirt and pants" he instructed me. "But we hardly know each other" I said.
"Don't you want to buy me a drink first". He stared blankly at me. The joke was completely lost on him.
The photos were taken. Crispy looking gorgeous and me looking like a right plonker.
Quick change of clothes then back on Mable for another one hours back to the camp. If you have ever ridden elephant you will know that two hours is a long time astride these huge beasts. Its impossible to get in a comfortable position unless your an expert in tantric yoga and the risk of falling off is a constant threat. This constant threat became ever more real as Mable got closer to home. She had plodded along serenely for the past two hours but now sensing home, food and a bath she made a dash for it. Crispy was sat over the elephants shoulders so was more stable. I was sat over its arse so at every stride I nearly split my kipper and dislocated my hips. Still a great experience. Crispy was in her element.
Back at the camp the mahoot gave us a demonstration on log moving with Mable. Incredible to see. I,all try and upload a short video if I can. Then came the best part. We got to wash Mable down, then Mable got to wash us down. Well its only fair.
We scrubbed Mable for a good half hour before sitting on her back whilst she sprayed trunkfuls of water over us. We loved it, absoloutly loved it. If you ever find yourself high in the western ghats with nothing to do, call in and see Mable. Give her our regards.
After saying our goodbyes to our elephant friend we visited a local spice garden. Not the small type garden that the mad professor had shown us round but a fully fledged independent plantation.
We were shown round by a very knowledgeable young man who explined all the medicinal as well as culinary uses of the herbs and spices. Cocoa, coffee, pepper, cardamom, mimosa each tasted and explained. The biggest surprise was coffee. In its natural state the coffee bean is covered by a sticky goo that tastes of haribo. Bet you didn,'t know that. The most interesting was a small yellow flower that once chewed numbs the mouth like local anaesthetic at the dentist. Its been hours since we had them and Crispy is still drooling and unable to speak. I must get some before setting off to Our next port of call.
Excursion finished and back to the home stay. Its raining now and looks like thunder. Earlier it was beautiful so we sat on the roof with a beer and our books doing the washing and drying. Just managed to dry our clothes before the rain came.
Tomorrow we have arranged to go trekking and Bamboo rafting.
Crispy is so excited, I bet she can't sleep tonight.
I still haven't told her about the leeches.
Bare and Crispy signing off, Kumily, Kerala, India
Last night by the time the kalipari show ended it was getting late. We had intended to go to the spice village restaurant, which is only one of two high end restaurants here, but when we called into have a look it was only buffet. We were a little tired and not hungry enough to justify £28.00 on a curry although we hadn't eaten since breakfast.
The martial arts show involved impressive martial arts including spinning burning spears and other flame doused tools of war. All inside a metal shed with no ventilation. Plus they were using petrol as the fuel of choice. It was like sitting in a car fire.
The lads performing were very good and the show was worth watching. Kalipari is the oldest recorded martial art at nearly 2000 Yeats old
Like I said we really were not hungry but still went into a local restaurant. We ordered but only picked at the food although it was very good. And again no beer. Since last year the government in Kerala have stopped local resteraunts under a 3 star rating from selling, or permitting, alcohol. It seems the local workforce were getting giddy and no one was turning in for their jobs. Now you can only purchase alcohol from a 3 star or above establishment or the government store. These government stores are dark seedy holes where you have to que up in full site of the road. We stopped at one today and I must admit it felt like everyone that passed looked down their nose at us.
Bed and a good nights sleep with no noisy neighbours. Up, breakfast and out.
Today was the elephant junction trip. We have seen and rode elephants many times and crispy loves them. The programme usually involves a ten minute ride around an enclosed park, Five minutes feeding them fruit of various sorts and a photo opportunity. Malaysia has been the best so far, in respect of elephant riding, but this was brilliant. I usually make some enquiries about welfare etc, before agreeing to patronise these places. So for all the animal lovers here's the lowdown.
In India you cannot buy an elephant for less than 40 lak. That's 4000,000 rupee. That's around 40,000 pounds. Then you need to prove to the forestry commission that you have sufficient suitable land and financial means to support it. The government inspect the animal every week and a vet needs to see the animal every month. The only people who can request that an animal works, in any other capacity than tourism, is the forestry commission themselves. If the government suspect that an elephant is being mistreated then it can be confiscated with no compensation to the owner. No surprise that these animals were treated like royalty.
Buggar, just lost the internet and the blog as we have suffered one of the frequent power cuts up here in the mountains. I'll try again. At least we have our beer.
As a matter of interest an elephant will only ever obey its mahoots. Two mahoots train the animal simultaneously in case something happens to one of them. It takes eight years to train an elephant. If an elephant has a baby then it is taken away for six years to a government training facility before being released back to the owner for training by his mahoots. A total of fourteen years training.
Once we had ascertained that these elephants were not mistreated we mounted the elephant selected for us. That is climbed onto her back, not the other meaning as that would have seen the animal confiscated and us thrown in prison.
A huge female who's name we could not pronounce. Crispy christened her Mable.
We rode her for one hour along jungle trails through a village and to the house of the owner. There we were given Marsala tea and offered snacks.
The owner then insisted that we don local costume for a photo with Mable.
Crispy was swiftly ushered away by the women and I was guided into a bedroom by one of the guys. "Take off your shirt and pants" he instructed me. "But we hardly know each other" I said.
"Don't you want to buy me a drink first". He stared blankly at me. The joke was completely lost on him.
The photos were taken. Crispy looking gorgeous and me looking like a right plonker.
Quick change of clothes then back on Mable for another one hours back to the camp. If you have ever ridden elephant you will know that two hours is a long time astride these huge beasts. Its impossible to get in a comfortable position unless your an expert in tantric yoga and the risk of falling off is a constant threat. This constant threat became ever more real as Mable got closer to home. She had plodded along serenely for the past two hours but now sensing home, food and a bath she made a dash for it. Crispy was sat over the elephants shoulders so was more stable. I was sat over its arse so at every stride I nearly split my kipper and dislocated my hips. Still a great experience. Crispy was in her element.
Back at the camp the mahoot gave us a demonstration on log moving with Mable. Incredible to see. I,all try and upload a short video if I can. Then came the best part. We got to wash Mable down, then Mable got to wash us down. Well its only fair.
We scrubbed Mable for a good half hour before sitting on her back whilst she sprayed trunkfuls of water over us. We loved it, absoloutly loved it. If you ever find yourself high in the western ghats with nothing to do, call in and see Mable. Give her our regards.
After saying our goodbyes to our elephant friend we visited a local spice garden. Not the small type garden that the mad professor had shown us round but a fully fledged independent plantation.
We were shown round by a very knowledgeable young man who explined all the medicinal as well as culinary uses of the herbs and spices. Cocoa, coffee, pepper, cardamom, mimosa each tasted and explained. The biggest surprise was coffee. In its natural state the coffee bean is covered by a sticky goo that tastes of haribo. Bet you didn,'t know that. The most interesting was a small yellow flower that once chewed numbs the mouth like local anaesthetic at the dentist. Its been hours since we had them and Crispy is still drooling and unable to speak. I must get some before setting off to Our next port of call.
Excursion finished and back to the home stay. Its raining now and looks like thunder. Earlier it was beautiful so we sat on the roof with a beer and our books doing the washing and drying. Just managed to dry our clothes before the rain came.
Tomorrow we have arranged to go trekking and Bamboo rafting.
Crispy is so excited, I bet she can't sleep tonight.
I still haven't told her about the leeches.
Bare and Crispy signing off, Kumily, Kerala, India
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