Wayand – June 13th

We have now crossed in to beautiful Kerala state: great roads, the highest literacy rates in India, and famous tea, coffee and spice planatations make this one of the most desireable parts of India. Before we get to enjoy all the beauty though, we had to make it through the strike!

That’s right! As we cross into Kerala we learn all taxis, restaurants, and hotels are closed from 6 AM to 6 PM to protest a 4 rupee increase in the cost of a liter of petrol ($1 = 45.45 rupees). Wonder what they would have done with about the gas price hike that came after Katrina! Unable to proceed to our hotel, we took a bit of a detour and visited the Wyanad Animal Sanctuary. Like a safari, we traveled down undeveloped roads in our SUV scoping for exotic animals, and boy we found them: wild elephants, boars, two types of monkeys, deer, bison, birds of all sorts, and HUGE bee hives – the honey of which we got to taste as locals, covered in bee stings, came by with their harvest.

Unpacking the Car at Dubare Inn

Following the stike, and a fabulous night in secluded mountain cabins by the water, we all took a hike up to visit the tea plantations. On our way back, we chatted with these washers…

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Here is a view of the terrain as we left the mountains and tea plantations and headed to our next destination: Kochi.

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