While it was definitely time for us to move on from Jungle Hut, we will miss it. Sacchi and Pooja and the crew took very good care of us, the jungle was facinating, and the buffet.... did we mention the food was amazing?

We finally managed to make it out with Abid last week. We continue to be entertained by the different guiding styles, and he took us on a stunningly beautiful hike down into the Moyar River Gorge (pictures are in the same Jungle Hut Album). After Bella's insistance on small group sizes, we were surprised when Abid picked us up at 5:30 in the morning with an extra 3 people in tow. He explained that he's trying to get some of the local boys out into the jungle so they can appreciate it more, and not end up poaching and abusing the jungle. He had mentioned before that we could fish in the river, and we said that would be fun. In the interim, we found out that fishing there is illegal, so that morning we told him that we'd rather the group not fish ("No problem, no problem."). After a nice flat beginning to the hike, we started down the very steep trail into the gorge, with beautiful views across the river into Bandipur National Park. We were happy for the overcast skies, as it was already getting hot and sticky, even at first light. Even as Abid told us in hushed tones that sometimes he saw bear along this stretch, the three tag-alongs took off down the trail ahead of us. We asked Abid if it would be possible to keep the group together so we could all see whatever might be on the trail... he looked puzzled, but called them back. He had told us it would take 3 hours to hike down and 3 to hike back up, so we had prepared for a very long day on the trail. But to Abid's surprise, we were down at the river 45 minutes after leaving the car. When we told him later what we'd been up to in the Kullu Valley, it made more sense - he's really not used to taking mountain people out. Down at the river, the boys pulled out their fishing net (?) and got down to business, and we did some hiking up- and down-river. Not many animal tracks (unless you count those of the tribals that camp there), but lots of lizards and butterflies, some monkeys and giant squirrels, and one really big spider. After a lovely nap on some warm rocks, it was definitely starting to look and sound like it might rain. We told the guys to hurry up and cook their fish, and started back up the gorge. We just made it up out of the steep part when the skies opened up, and within a couple of minutes we were completely drenched. The rain actually felt really good after the tough hike up, and we made it back to the jeep an hour after leaving the river, with the three boys panting and continuously asking us "you tired, legs hurt?"

We definitely saw our fair share of tropical bugs in the Nilgiris. After I posted some pictures that tended heavily toward beetles and millipedes, Dad said it should be titled "Bugs Gone Wild". I don't know if it would sell as well as the other titles in the Gone Wild series... I did end up having an unfortunate run-in with a mystery spider of some kind. I ended up with a nasty bite on my shoulder (we never saw the culprit) and after it got pretty ugly-looking (nothing nearly as bad as the pictures I found online of brown recluse bites) took Sacchi's advice and went to the clinic in Masinagudi. The doc didn't look all that worried, and wrote me a perscription for some antibiotics, which did the trick. A week after I went to his office, it's looking fairly good, although it would be nice if I could keep it dried out better. Nothing is dry here. As things got wetter in the Nilgiris, we also started seeing more mosquitoes, and while they're not nearly as thick nor as aggressive as North Dakota's state bird, we're very aware about the assorted nasties these tropical skeeters can spread. So we've been smearing ourselves with toxic deet, and hoping it's better to slowly poison ourselves than end up with malaria. We do have relief in sight, though - Mom's sending a care package of Avon Skin-so-Soft with Pat (thanks Mrs. Koepke!).

We managed to make it out one more time with Abid for a morning of bird watching in another beautiful setting. I've been keeping track in the Indian bird book Jenny gave me for Christmas, and I crossed the 100 bird mark. Sounds pretty good until you figure there are over 1300 different species on the Indian subcontinent. I'll keep working on it.

Our last few days at the Hut were spent trying to wrap up our self-imposed projects in the office (very little luck there) and figure out where in Kerala we were off to next, leaving when, and by what means of travel. Every person we talked to had a different opinion on the matter. From a Tuesday afternoon departure, we slipped all the way to an eventual Thursday morning exit. We considered trains, buses, and jeeps, and settled on the route Vinnie swore his mom took regularly, involving a Deluxe bus to Cochin. Right. After heated debate with poor Gerald, who could not understand what us silly foreigners wanted, we finally made it onto a local bus (read crowded and uncomfortable) to Thissur, where we'd be changing buses to get to Cochin. The ride down out of the Nilgiris was gorgeous, with tea estates and Wyanad National Park slowly giving way to rubber, coconut, and banana plantations. The windy road was tough on the passengers - 3 of the ladies on my side of the bus spent a good portion of the first hour hanging out the windows. The second bus was a shorter ride, and much more comfortable. Arriving in Cochin (or, as the mainland part is properly called, Ernakulam) we caught an auto rickshaw to the ferry terminal, where we got on a passenger ferry to Fort Cochin, which is a peninsula off the mainland the Lonely Planet assured us was a more romantic choice to stay. Grand total transportation cost for the two of us for 8 hours and 5 different conveyances: 380 rupees (~$8). Hooray for uncomfortable local transport! Walking from the ferry landing to our "Homestay" we turned down several persistent rickshaw-wallas, only to take a good soaking when the ominious dark clouds proved not to be just an idle threat. Now this is the monsoon.

Our homestay is lovely. Homestay here means it's an old home - usually Portuguese or Dutch - that's been converted into a guesthouse. Many, like ours, are nearly 400 years old. Our room has beautiful woodwork, and opens onto a courtyard with a garden in the middle, and a miniature replica of the huge cantilevered fishing nets Cochin is famous for. Our program so far has gone approximately like so: rain - breakfast - rain - nap - rain - shopping - rain Kathakali - rain - etc. The weather has been impressive - we've only been caught out in the real downpours (that's not even a strong enough term for the wall of water that descends) a few times. It's much better to watch it from inside, or better yet, from the covered ferry out on the water. The kids in the field keep playing football regardless. (Speaking of football, we watched the US of A get beat by Ghana the other night... what was up with that penalty call?) We've spent some time wandering around the area, watched the fishermen operating the nets at high tide, and caught a Kathakali performance. Kathakali is traditional Keralan theater/opera/dance, and quite an experience. The locals go to the temples to watch all-night performances, but for tourists the cultural centers host abbreviated versions with introductions in English. If you go early, they let you watch the actors do their makeup - a process that takes an hour and a half! They are done up into caricature versions of Indian gods, goddesses, and demons, complete with elaborate costumes and jewelry. A singer narrates, accompanied by two drummers, and the actors pantomime and dance out the story. Afterward, there was a music performance by a north Indian tabla player, and the same singer from the Kathakali sang ragas. Today we took the ferry back over to Ernakulum for some shopping and a look around.

Tomorrow we're hoping to walk down to "Jewtown", the area where the dwindling Jewish population has resided for at least the last 800 years (I know they've been in India for 2000, but I'm not sure if they started in Cochin). And Monday we might try to do a backwater tour... depending on how bad we think the weather might get. We do have more Cochin pictures coming, but while the internet here is speedy, their photo-editing programs are not.

Labels: India