Day 14 - A walk in the green forest

Up bright and early today for a walk through the nearby Periyar Tiger Reserve. We hit the road, on foot, at about 7:00am for the short walk to the Reserve. There we were met by a pair of Rangers who would guide us through the forest. A little van had set up nearby so we grabbed the chance for a coffee fix. By default, coffee is taken with milk and a ton of sugar in India, just how I don't like it but that's what I got. Down the hatch it went, nevertheless.

After donning a pair of a set of anti-leech coverings for the bottom half of our legs we headed off on the trail. The air was still a little cool but the walk along the narrow paths soon got the heart pumping and the blood warmed up. Not much action on the wild animal front save for a small group of water buffaloes and the odd bird flitting here and there. The path was very natural, that is to say, one made by animals not carved out by humans, for humans. In the Australian parlance, a rough bush track. The walk started on relatively flat terrain and then steadily climbed up the hills deeper into the forest. Up there the monkeys appeared in the trees providing some entertainment for us. No sighting of elephants on this journey but we could certainly seen where they'd been, if you get my drift. As we walked, the sounds from the forest were amazing. One could hear birds and animals calling from all around – just like surround sound. It was very peaceful and very pleasant. The last part of the walk was down a public road where we passed people going about their business in their homes and gardens. After two hours of walking and, according to Pooja's Fitbit, 12,000 steps we were back at the Reserve.

We ate a late breakfast at the hotel and then went back to the room for a rest. While I was in the bathroom shaving and Kerry was on the bed dozing a cheeky monkey jumped on to our balcony, into our room and stole a bag of unopened  cheese rice puffs I'd bought yesterday. They were way over on the other side of the room in a bag but he made a beeline straight for them and was gone. How did he know they were there! Amazing!

Kerry's now headed off for a massage with some of the others. I'm gonna take a walk into the High St to find an ATM. About 1km up the gentle rise from the hotel is the main street of Kumily. Along the way up there one passes many attractive looking hotels and restaurants. There's a sort of "resort" feel to this part of Kumily. There's certainly a feel if greater affluence. Then you hit the High St and "normal India" is back. I headed off following the directions given to me by Tracy and soon found a South India Bank ATM. Pulled out the max 10,000 rupees allowed (AUD$200) and continued down the street. Rather than wandering aimlessly, I had a purpose – to find a new band for Kerry's Fitbit which had failed a few days back. I tried watch sellers and I tried mobile phone sellers but all to no avail. Oh well. I'll try again in Kochi. It's shame not to be using it as I'd finally worked out how to change it from AEST to Indian time! At least Maggie has been able to benefit from my investigations as she's got the same model and had the same problem with the time. Note for Fitbit – make it automatic or make it simple and not dependent on the Fitbit app on your phone.

Kerry came back after being pampered for two hours, I finished updating the CVS website with the results from the Maryborough Swim Meet and we walked up the road a short distance to the Lazeez restaurant for coffee on their outdoor terrace. We found this little place yesterday when searching for coffee and enjoyed the good coffee, good service and pleasant surroundings. On the subject of coffee, which is a daily topic for discussion, a small cup/glass costs about 15 rupees (AUD$0.40) give or take. It's available absolutely everywhere. Very important, however, that you specify black if you want black and specify "No sugar" or "Sugar separate" if you don't want sugar. Otherwise, you'll get white coffee with tons of sugar. BTW, "white" coffee is "milk" coffee.

Pooja had organised an early dinner at Grandma's Cafe, directly opposite the Lazeez restaurant. We sat on trestle tables in a covered area out the back of the shop-front just near kitchen. The music they played was all 70's and 80's so it suited us all well. Even Acca Dacca (AC/DC, for my non-Australian readers) a run. After dinner we walked a little further up the road to observe (and in Dodie's case, participate in) a Martial Arts demonstration. To get to the audience seating we climbed a flight of stairs and took our seats looking down on a large rectangular, tiled floor. Three artists were introduced by the over-the-top, prone to exaggeration MC (as MC's at this type of event are ('cos it says they have to be to get their union ticket), made a prayer to their god ans then proceeded to demonstrate various aspects of their Martial Art, Not sure which branch of which Martial Art it was, but I'll find out. Anyway, towards the end one of the artists demonstrated his ability to dive over seven bent-back members of the audience onto a padded mat at the far end. Dodie quickly put up his hand to be our representative so down to the "pit" he went. He was followed by six others who side-by-side formed a barrier for the artist surmount. From a standing start on a very short runway he managed to fly over all seven and land safely, The finale of the show saw the stadium darkened and rings of fire lit for yet another artist to dive through. After the show finished Kerry and I headed back to hotel to prepare for an early start tomorrow.