In Which I Eat Good Food and Look at Elephants (Ideal Life)

When on Semester at Sea, it is a daunting task to make the most of a country. Your options are few: make all your planning ahead of time in America (forfeiting all plans you might want to make with friends or any new things you learn), do all your trips through an organized Semester at Sea trip (not a lot of work, but extremely expensive) or do your best on the ship with the few resources you have and just wing it. Unfortunately (maybe?) I have mostly fallen back on the third plan. In countries like Burma and Vietnam, we relied on Lonely Planet and hearsay to make plans. In India, due to circumstances, Derek and I were on our own, but we were determined to make the most of it.

After doing some research in our handy Lonely Planet guide, we visited an amazing restaurant Dal Roti and, at a café in Fort Cochi, we noticed a poster advertising tours to Munnar, complete with elephant rides (a must for me). We decided to bite the proverbial bullet and do it. Constantly on edge for fear of being a scammed American, we paid $50 each for two days of a hired driver & guide, two vegetarian breakfasts and a dinner, in Munnar.

On our way to Munnar, our driver stopped by the river so we could see three elephants bathe. I had this constant discomfort about the way the elephants were being treated and simply how beautiful the elephants themselves were. Like I mentioned in my Burma Zoo post, other countries don’t necessarily see animals the same way that Westerners do. So it is difficult to turn a blind eye to men hitting elephants with sticks, but this isn’t your culture and you have to do the best to accept the good and the bad, I think.

baby elephant!

Continuing towards the mountains, our incredibly kind and friendly guide & driver Anthony stopped at a stand on the side of the road. A giant poster displayed a white woman laughing and enjoying herself on the back of an elephant.  Seemed legitimate enough. Down a dirt path were four elephants and a shack. Within that shack, I could purchase a short elephant ride or an elephant ride and an “elephant bath”. Of course, I chose the second one, and not long after I found myself assisting in the bathing of an elephant. Then, I sat on the back of the elephant as he sucked water into his trunk and power-washed my head. To say I felt “cleaner” after my “bath” would be a lie, but to say I wasn’t enjoying myself would be a complete fabrication.

powerhose trunk

scrubbin’ the elephant

Away from the sweltering heat of the coast, the mountains showed a true beauty of India. Everything was incredibly cool blues and greens, contrasting the dusty oranges and reds of Fort Kochi. Munnar is known for its tea plantations, planted by the British many years ago. Rolling hills sprawl all over the place, covered with generations-old tea tree bushes. The tea is harvested almost entirely by women in colorful clothes and taken to the tea factory where it is repeatedly sorted, sorted and then sold into black, green and white teas.

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On our last day in India, Anthony drove us to the Alleppey Backwaters, a touristy but still beautiful series of canals and wide rivers in Kerala. We rented a boat and meandered slowly and calmly

around the canals. It was amazing and only served to backup my ultimate plan of living on a boat.

 

Essentially, India proved to be this incredible stew of smells, colors and feelings, all stewed together in the incredible heat. It was a heavy feast for your senses and it was entirely enjoyable.