Karnataka

Monday 1st December 2008 (Al)
Caught the bus for an hour and a half to a little village and dropped our bags with the homestay we would stay the night with. It was a beautiful home nestled amongst lush gardens, coffee and banana trees with a little stream and rice paddies at the back. We grouped up with 3 Swedish guys who had already done a few days trekking. A 6 hour trek through rice fields, forest and to the top of a small mountain (1800m) made for amazing scenery and good exercise. At the top of the summit we had a great home made lunch wrapped in banana leaves. Probably the only place in India we have heard nothing….how’s the serenity? We trekked back down and back to the homestay for a warm bath (bucket of hot water) and dinner. It was divine home cooked Keralan food. The homestay couple were gorgeous. They really made us feel welcome in their house.

Tuesday 2nd November 2008 (Al)
Another bus ride and we were trekking for only 4 hrs today to a magnificent little spot with a waterfall. Again the scenery was stunning and we really enjoyed the trivial questions from our guide Vijay, a lovely man who had been doing trek guides for over 15 years. Karnataka is a slice of heaven on Earth. it’s a world away from the craziness on Indian cities. Loved it.

We decided to endure a bus ride and jeep taxi all the way to Kannur along the worst stretch of potholed road I've been on in a long time. The locals were laughing at us as we got in the jeep knowing exactly what the road was like. We eventually made it covered in dust and a little tired. No trains left to catch down the coast so we resigned ourselves to a night in a hotel next to the station until the early train the next day.