I awoke in the night with a sharp pain in my thigh. I ignored it and tried to go back to sleep, I may even have been successful for a while, but the pain returned and it was in several other places as well. I got up and went into the next room not to disturb Lynne - you can do this when you have been upgraded to a two-room cottage.
Minutes later Lynne was asking where I had got to. I went back in, turned on the light and discovered that my side of the bed was seething with ants – very small but with large teeth - and they were now beginning to invade Lynne's side. From 4.15 to 4.30 I stood and scratched while Lynne set about mass insecticide, boiling a kettle and pouring the contents into the crack they were emerging from. Being awake at this hour is not unusual for me and an ant attack was more interesting than insomnia.
The scene of the attack It is now 04.38 and all the ants are dead |
A message on our arrival yesterday had informed us that our early morning elephant ride had been cancelled - the Maha Shivaratri (Great Night of Shiva) festival had commandeered all available beasts. After the night’s events we were not sorry.
We rose at a reasonable time, had a leisurely breakfast of omelette and parathas (Lynne) or idlis and chutney (me) and fresh fruit (both). Breakfasts on this trip had offered surprisingly little pineapple thus far; this morning there was plenty of it, fresh, sweet and luscious.
A bright, fresh clean, Kerala morning |
Mani dies, cops smell foul The front page of the Deccan Chronicle 07/03/16 |
Not only were the elephants off, Thomas said, but so too was the coir factory visit (closed for the festival) and the cashew processing plant (on strike for the last three weeks - well, this is Kerala.) Our day seemed to have crashed and burned, then Thomas suggested we visit Varkala Beach, some fifteen kilometres away.
The drive was short, despite the hold-up at a level crossing.
Level crossing on the way to Varkala |
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Varkala is just south of Kollam, but too close to mark separately on a map this size |
We dropped into a shop and after a fierce but light-hearted bargaining session bought a couple of table cloths and two shirts. The shopkeeper accused me of taking the food from the mouths of his children, but he had a big smile on his face, so I took it as a compliment for trying, being well aware that he knew the price he had paid for the merchandise and I did not. No doubt he made a handsome profit and we parted the best of friends.
Varkala Beach |
Priests on the beach , Varkala |
A long dress might not be ideal for paddling, Varkala Beach |
Lynne on Varkala Beach |
Following the jackfruit through Kerala |
….and on the other side Thomas selected a restaurant for lunch. It looked unimpressive, but Thomas’ track record is good so we followed willingly. On his advice we ordered a tuna-like fish curry, an unspecified fried fish and masala crusted pearl spot. The pearl spot (officially Green Chromide) is a small oval fish with a distinctive circular spot at the base of the pectoral fin. It thrives in the brackish conditions of the Kerala Backwaters and in 2010 was declared Kerala’s ‘State Fish’. Highly regarded but too expensive for many locals they are frequently served to tourists – and we should be grateful for our good fortune.
Accompaniments included cabbage with coconut, pickles, sambar, poppadums and drumsticks. Drumsticks are long (drumstick shaped!) pods which can be seen hanging from trees everywhere. The jelly-like pulp has to be scraped from the inedible pods which are invariable served split. The locals like them, but I have never quite seen the point.
Lunch over there was little else to do but return to our hotel and the sybaritic pleasures of a lakeside resort.
Lunch over there was little else to do but return to our hotel and the sybaritic pleasures of a lakeside resort.
This post started (almost) with the view across the lake from the back of our bungalow It finishes with the view from the front. |
We paused in reception to inform them, a touch belatedly, of
last night’s ant antics. I do not know exactly what I expected, perhaps an
apology and the immediate dispatch of a fumigating minion, but we received a
half smile, and a jar of insect repellent. I doubt that was four-star service,
but no matter, Lynne’s boiling water had already done the trick.
*There were some very
acceptable Nepalese restaurants, too. Yak curry is good (as long as the meat is
not fried in yak butter).
India's Deep South
Part 1: Bangalore to Mysore
Part 2: Mysore, Somnathpur and Srirangapatnam
Part 3: Kabini and the Nagarhole National Park
Part 4: The Road to Ooty
Part 5: The Nilgiri Blue Train to Coonoor
Part 6: Across the Palakkad Gap and up to Munnar
Part 7: Munnar - Tea, Dams and Elephants
Part 8: Madurai
Part 9: Rameswaram
Part 10: To the Very Tip of India
Part 11: The End of India and Beyond
Part 12: North to Trivandrum (Thiruvananthapuram) and Kollam
THE ENDPart 3: Kabini and the Nagarhole National Park
Part 4: The Road to Ooty
Part 5: The Nilgiri Blue Train to Coonoor
Part 6: Across the Palakkad Gap and up to Munnar
Part 7: Munnar - Tea, Dams and Elephants
Part 8: Madurai
Part 9: Rameswaram
Part 10: To the Very Tip of India
Part 11: The End of India and Beyond
Part 12: North to Trivandrum (Thiruvananthapuram) and Kollam
Part 13: Ants, Mollywood and Varkala
Part 14: The Backwaters of Kerala (and some Coir)
Part 15: Marari Beach, Rest, Recreation and Refuse
Part 16: Kochi, a Second Visit
Part 14: The Backwaters of Kerala (and some Coir)
Part 15: Marari Beach, Rest, Recreation and Refuse
Part 16: Kochi, a Second Visit
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