Monkey see, monkey do

Since I started my trip, people here and there have been mentioning Hampi. But getting there (unless you’re in a couple of different spots) is a giant pain in the neck. My lady friend reminded me that I love going to the middle of nowhere to see something cool! So, from the tea plantations of Munnar, I took a 4 hour taxi to temple-city Madurai, visited their holy shrine, slept, and then spent a full day in transit and headed to Hampi, the site of countless ancient temples, and a long-gone 7th century civilization.

The buildings here are as spectacular as Angkor Wat, Tikal or Machu Piccu. Because it’s so hard to get to, tourism is not out of control busy, and because the buildings are spread out, you can often find yourself alone - which is of course lovely.

Lonely planet called it ‘otherworldly’, and an Israeli I met said it was like being on Mars. I don’t know that I’m on board, but it was definitely worth the time spent getting there.

Today I’ve been up since 5, and two auto rickshaws and a train later, I’m at the airport, heading to the Himalayas.

I say tomato, you say tomato

Wow! I didn’t share it, but a week ago, I was still debating each and every day if I should call it quits and fly home early. For the moment, that’s off the table.

I’ve visited a bunch of places - stunning beaches and cliffs in Varkala, hot and busy Kochi (pass), and now the hill station Munnar, the tea producing area of Kerala.

To say that it’s beautiful here is an understatement. It’s so lovely that it’s ridiculous. There’s also construction galore - building more and more hotels and homes. I did a car tour of the area (blech) and learned that on Saturdays there can be two hour traffic jams (from what I can tell, this is mostly caused by cars parking on the side of the roads). I also went for a gruelling 16 hike which was utterly spectacular.

There’s lots of money being made here. Tea plantations, spice plantations, tourism, and at the bottom of the food chain are the tea pluckers - women who are working in gruelling heat and then throughout monsoon to harvest the tea which makes this area so popular. They earn 420 rupees a day ($7 canadian), assuming they reach their quota of 27kg of tea. Without these workers it would all fall apart.

If you go back and look at the little dots on the left side of the tea plantation - those are the tea pluckers, the ladies who get your cuppa and ensure this whole industry thrives.

One week in country!

Good news! Even as an ancient backpacker, I’m still engaging in self-discovery. At first I thought I was just old and set in my ways, but it turns out after years and years of more sedentary travel, it takes a minute to figure it all out again.

I’m now in a small beach town in Kerala, more on that later.

Staying in a village in Rajastan was a glimpse into rural life. Gender roles are very clear, the caste system is still very important - and all the food was fresh. Different cooking oils used for different seasons, spices hand crushed. Visited the village oil press where you’d bring in what you wanted squished. Wonderful! In the village I was shown one home, where people from the shepherd caste lived. They met the threshold to receive groceries from the government during Covid. So, in front of their house was a painted yellow sign showing the last date they had received aid.

Then a couple of flights to Kerala’s capital Thiruvananthapuram aka Trivandrum, which is much easier to say. It was a welcome change from hectic and dry Rajastan. It felt like I found my rhythm, found a little balance in the chaos. And I saw the most incredible temple 7 or 8 stories of hand carved goodness. (Probably godness too). I was woken up daily at 4:48am and learned that Maha Shiviatri was upon us, and the temple next door would be loud all night long. Definitely time to go!

If at first you don’t succeed try, and try again.

Day one in country was pretty intense!

Bizarrely, the sounds of India reminded me of the beach in Tel Aviv, where the peaceful sound of the ocean is accentuated (marred) by the sounds of non-stop paddle ball, played by everyone. Except it wasnt the ocean, it was smelly city, and it wasn’t paddle ball, but constant honking.

The horn honking is insane. you honk if If you’re going to hit me, if I’m going to hit you, if you’re in someone’s way, if someone’s in your way, if you’re turning, if you’re going the wrong way down the road, if someone else is going the wrong way down the road. It’s wild, and somehow it works. You also need to cross the street in this chaos, which also somehow works!

I walked for 11 hours, had a mediocre tea at a cafe with absolutely incredible views of the pink city of Jaipur, directly across the street from a lovely palace called Hawa Mahal.

I ate vegetarian food for three meals in a row. I did not expire. Wonder of wonders. In a largely vegetarian society that doesn’t eat beef, I suspect this will be an adventure.

Day 2 - a terrible sleep, but much less overwhelmed by the noise and smells. Went to see the most famous of Jaipur sights - the Amber palace / Amer Fort. Outstanding, and lovely views of the city. I went wandering as I usually do, and stumbled on an underground tunnel. When exiting I noticed there were two choices, so of course I took the other one - which let to a longish hike up to a higher Fort/palace - Jaigarh Fort. It was way less busy and way higher up - with stunning views. Then down, down, down to see my first step well. Lovely!

Day 3 - at the airport, off to Jodhpur, heading for a homestay. As instructed, I arrived at the airport almost two hours ahead, but now realize 45 minutes would have been plenty!

Deplaned, drove to a lovely homestay outside of the city. Eating my vegetarian cooking lesson.

Goodbye Canada, goodbye family

Off to India for a month! I’ve been anxious about leaving for quite some time, and it’s only in the last week that I’ve been able to figure out some of what has been going on… I used to thrive on ambiguity and spontaneity, but now find it scary - what a change. I used to sleep in dorm rooms with 40 people in them, but now need near-silence and a cpap machine.

But, the biggest change of all - is of course - my family. I didn’t anticipate how difficult it would be to not be surrounded by my most loved and important people for such a long time. I will miss the three of you so very much.