For Grandma
The day was begun with masala dosas, sambar, idli and chutney. The latter was not chutney (disappointing) at all but some soggy coconut thing with mustard seeds in - the rest was quite nice. We then got into be car and drove the few hours to Thekkady. Or Periyar. Or Kumily. I'll go with Thekkady, why three names are necessary I do not know! On the way we stopped briefly at Idukki's dam, which is one of the biggest curved arch dams I've seen, and reminded me of one I saw in the Alps a few weeks ago.
On arrival we booked a nature walk in the national park for early tomorrow morning, and then lunched on what was a bit of a pot-luck of baked goods. The "banana pup" (as it was called on the bill) was particularly good. We then went for a walk in the villages, climbing steadily through the houses and being greeted on the way by both excited and very shy children.
When we returned, it was nearly time for us to go to see the "cultural program", described as a dance show, then a martial arts show. I am always highly skeptical of these, but with little else to do and some heavy persuasion from our driver, I went along. Gosh did I wish I hadn't gone to the dance show! It involved two men, very oddly dressed (one as a woman) basically pulling faces and rolling eyes at each other, in an exceptionally creepy way. I'm not sure if it comes across in the photo well enough! The background noise to this was a guy alternately wailing and talking into an extremely loud microphone, whilst also clashing symbols to a drum accompaniment. I'd initially been a bit grumpy it had started 20 mins late as we could have walked further, but I actually think that was 20 mins of spared pain.
The martial arts show in the other hand, was quite entertaining! Five rather fit looking young lads demonstrated skills in things like "sword fighting", "long stick fighting", "two short stick fighting", and "fire jumping" (all very original names). Even the audience involvement wasn't cringey, with the boys leaping over a huddle of ten people.
With the shows finally over (and my ears ringing a little) we headed out for some Keralan food, including a perfectly spiced fish dish wrapped in a banana leaf, and an actual biriyani rather than the veg fried rice we had managed to accidentally order before. All of this was eaten alongside parotta bread of course, and I even risked a lassi for the first time, which did wonders to counteract the heat of the biriyani.
The day was begun with masala dosas, sambar, idli and chutney. The latter was not chutney (disappointing) at all but some soggy coconut thing with mustard seeds in - the rest was quite nice. We then got into be car and drove the few hours to Thekkady. Or Periyar. Or Kumily. I'll go with Thekkady, why three names are necessary I do not know! On the way we stopped briefly at Idukki's dam, which is one of the biggest curved arch dams I've seen, and reminded me of one I saw in the Alps a few weeks ago.
On arrival we booked a nature walk in the national park for early tomorrow morning, and then lunched on what was a bit of a pot-luck of baked goods. The "banana pup" (as it was called on the bill) was particularly good. We then went for a walk in the villages, climbing steadily through the houses and being greeted on the way by both excited and very shy children.
When we returned, it was nearly time for us to go to see the "cultural program", described as a dance show, then a martial arts show. I am always highly skeptical of these, but with little else to do and some heavy persuasion from our driver, I went along. Gosh did I wish I hadn't gone to the dance show! It involved two men, very oddly dressed (one as a woman) basically pulling faces and rolling eyes at each other, in an exceptionally creepy way. I'm not sure if it comes across in the photo well enough! The background noise to this was a guy alternately wailing and talking into an extremely loud microphone, whilst also clashing symbols to a drum accompaniment. I'd initially been a bit grumpy it had started 20 mins late as we could have walked further, but I actually think that was 20 mins of spared pain.
The martial arts show in the other hand, was quite entertaining! Five rather fit looking young lads demonstrated skills in things like "sword fighting", "long stick fighting", "two short stick fighting", and "fire jumping" (all very original names). Even the audience involvement wasn't cringey, with the boys leaping over a huddle of ten people.
With the shows finally over (and my ears ringing a little) we headed out for some Keralan food, including a perfectly spiced fish dish wrapped in a banana leaf, and an actual biriyani rather than the veg fried rice we had managed to accidentally order before. All of this was eaten alongside parotta bread of course, and I even risked a lassi for the first time, which did wonders to counteract the heat of the biriyani.
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