Asia 2006: Random Bozo goes to Kerala

Blog entry: Fantasia?

Walked through some superb countryside on the border between Kerala and Tamil Nadu today. Didn't get anywhere near the pachyderms but discovered their latrine. Hoorah!

Extended paper diary entry

The bundh (strike and total stoppage of business) called by the BJP (to protest the nation-wide hike in petrol prices) seemed total within its parameters. Almost all shops and godowns were closed: a toddy shop was open (if you knew the right knock on the shuttered door and were quick to sneak in) as were vegetable and chai/general stores in the hillside 'suburbs'. Nedumkandam town was almost supernaturally quiet - the only noise was a fish-seller's horn and some quiet conversation. Having shown me this annoyance (it pissed me off, because it won't hurt the oil companies*), Ajeesh and his journalist friend Anish took me on a walk to try to see elephants on the Kerala/Tamil Nadu border.
*I think the price-rise was forced on the companies by the falling value of the rupee. (When I arrived in India, it was around Rs73/£. By now it was well over Rs85/£ and would peak near Rs90/£ before I left. I think the oil companies were under pressure to allow no rises at all but had eventually absorbed all they could and so 'made up' with a 10% rise. It would surely have been less disruptive to allow more frequent, smaller rises.)

I have no idea why I wrote in my diary 'I am the man with the .JPG brain.'

We didn't see any elephants but we did find their latrine. We also happened upon some illegal clearing of protected rainforest. Ajeesh asked me to photograph it so he could raise the appropriate stink in the media.

At some point during the walk, we were fed rice-water and bananas by a local EDC member. Cultivation appears to stop just below the tree-line - that may easily be 2500 metres above sea-level: we may have at 3000 metres in places. At this height, cattle graze. Just below the tree-line there are chai-stalls and wee shops.

Back in town, we ate dosa with runny chatni. Then we returned to Nikunjam for much appreciated showers!