kochi to kumily

after having made friends with a few traveling brits in fort kochi, it was decided to head east into the mountains to visit the periyar wildlife reserve outside of kumily in kerala. the trip consisted of about six hours of being thrown around on a classic indian bus, with hard seats and instead of having glass for windows, only a few metal bars were in place to keep all appendages inside the vehicle. these sort of trips were much more stressful traveling solo and having a group of friends with which to enjoy the ride made it a much more fulfilling experience.

the most interesting part of the journey was that none of the indian men who boarded the bus would sit next to the english girls with whom i was traveling. the men would rather stand or sit three to a seat than sit next to them. at one point when there were no more sitting or standing options, a man pulled me by the arm to the seat across the aisle where one of the girls was sitting and told me that i should be sitting with my people. this came as quite a surprise but everyone took it in stride and it turned into a bit of a joke. regardless, the social taboo that is sitting near a western woman for an indian man became quite apparent. it could very well work the opposite way, that western men should not sit next to indian women, but i haven't had the chance to test this theory as of yet.

the periyar wildlife reserve is quite a beautiful place and we trekked to the top of a peak about one thousand meters high, which allowed for a really incredible view of the western ghats on one side and the deccan plateau into tamil nadu on the other. there were a few issues with leeches but all in all it was a very nice way to spend an afternoon. no animals were spotted, however, which was not surprising, especially for one of the guides who had been working in the area for decades and had only once seen a tiger.

animals or not, it was quite nice to get into the mountains for some fresh air and a much more relaxed atmosphere in general.