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Getting off our houseboat at Allepey and bidding a fond farewell to the crew, we took a taxi from Allepey to Ernakulum, and then boarded a train heading up to Calicut. After a scenic and quaint 4 hour journey, in a compartment with friendly people and a very attentive tea wallah, we jumped into a taxi for a 3 hour trip into the hills to a village called Tholpetty, just outside Wayanad Nature Reserve. A late night arrival at somewhere new is always slightly eerie and full of promise, but anticipation was heigtened by the sight of some wild elephants at the side of the road just before we arrived.
We stayed at the catchy-named 'Pachyderm Palace', in a rustic but comfortable wooden hut on stilts. Highlights of our stay was the wonderful cook / hotel manager called Vinu, who didn't let a moderate grasp of English vocabulary and total lack of grammar stop him talking to us almost constantly. We stayed there for 3 days, and felt like we became part of the furniture - he gave us lots of advice on when was best to see tigers in the reserve (at least, I think that was what he was on about) and was overjoyed when we asked if he could show us how he cooked his delicious food, using only a coconut-palm fired oven and generally using locally gathered ingredients. One evening, just as he was giving us a cooking masterclass, the local police chief phoned and invited himself and 6 of his chums around for a free meal. It was fair to say that Vinu wasn't exactly happy about this, but in India if the police ask you to do something it's a good idea to do it, so our cooking lesson was interspersed with a few choice Malayalam words about Vinu's opinion of the local constabulary. We met the policeman, (I could pick him out as he had the biggest moustache), who seemed very charming, and became louder as he and his chums got stuck into a few beers - something that apparently is against the law for police in this state. Vinu apologised on behalf of his noisy guests by sending us half a bottle of arak, the local equivalent of absinthe made from cane (I think). After trying some arak, we politely gave it back to him the next morning.
During our 3 days here we took 3 jeep safaris and had a terrific half-day walking tour through the reserve. Sadly it wasn't a case of tiger, tiger burning bright but one of tigers tigers not in sight. The only sign was a much-photographed tiger footprint, but we were assured that there were 16 or so of the reticent beasts hiding in the jungle out there somewhere: it was with something of a mix of emotions that we came back from our walk having not bumped into 600kg of tooth and claw hunting machine. We did however bump into 2000kg of trunk and tusk bark munching monster - although the guides made sure we were a sensible distance away from the elephants who I suppose generally didn't think much of humains trapising through their food. As we were creeping after a herd of elephants into a bamboo thicket however, it was unnerving to see one of our diminutive guides break a gap-toothed grin and smile gleefully 'this veeery dangeerous!!'. Some of the other wildlife on offer were Bambi-replica spotted deer, different types of monkeys and the cute but odd Giant Red Squirrel.
Our entry back into people-thronged civilisation at Calicut was via an ancient Jain temple and some steep hairpin bends that we hadn't seen during the night on our way to Tholpetty - much to Bryony's relief.
That evening we took a romantic walk along Calicut's golden-sanded beach. We had a good stroll and watched a spectacular sunset, as dozens of locals gathered on the breakwater behind the beach to watch us. Some decent-looking bodysurfing waves were very appealing, until we passed a gentleman in the shallows who was, shall we say, using the facilities provided by nature that far surpass any facilities offered by Royal Doulton. We decided that turning around before we reached the far end of the beach, where numerous other people seemed to be doing similar ablutions, would perhaps give us a chance of keeping the sunset uppermost in our memories. One man clad in his undies did venture out into the waves, clasping a rubber ring, but by this time I certainly didn't envy him his paddling experiences.
After a night in Calicut at a hotel, over-priced due to the entire town being the focus of a medical conference, we are off to the madness of Mumbai!
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