Kerala Trip - Part 2

We reached Palakkad Junction before 5 am and it was still dark outside. The auto rikshaws in the town are large and roomy which was a good thing as Tarun was already waiting for us. The 3 of us with all our luggage, squeezed into one. We were off for the municipal bus stand to catch the first bus to Kollengode which left at 6.am, and it hadn't arrived yet when we got there. Ever so gradually the sky filled with light. I managed to dash off this sketch as the bus pulled in. I'm sure the place would have been far more bustling and crowded in another hour but by 6.15 we were off.
Palakkad to Kollengode is only 30 km, but it took an hour. Mainly because the bus stops for every man, woman, child, goat and chicken standing on the side of the road. At Kollengode we bundled ourselves back into an auto and set off towards the Chuliyar dam armed with a long and complicated set of sms directions. Our destination was Suman's farm.

The road to Suman's farm was deserted at 7.30 in the morning. Already it was getting hot and in peak dry season the landscape was golden brown. On the left was the farm - our base for the week and on the right some dense undergrowth full of peacocks that were heard a LOT but rarely seen, and beyond that, a stone quarry. If you continued further down this road you eventually leave the hamlet of Mechira behind and reach the hills. We hoped to camp there but permissions needed to be sorted out and eventually we sadly resigned to staying on the farm instead of camping in the wilderness.
The farm was quite a wilderness too. In our enthusiasm to do everything camping style we prepared our lunch outdoors. Parvez built a nifty little brick stove and everyone set about pealing and chopping vegetables.
There were now nine of us and in the mid-day heat preparing a meal for nine out in the open is a very hot and sweaty affair.

The others who had come by car had carted many large vessels and buckets along. They had bought vegetables and provisions already. In the blazing heat we ate instant maggi noodles with veggies thrown in. Back in Madras I never buy maggi. I scoff at it . It's for people who don't know how to cook. I cook real food... etc. But after the long journey, hungry and tired,  sitting out there with friends on a shared adventure, and thanks to a generous daub of lime pickle it was a delicious meal. 

Kerala Trip - Part 1

Saturday evening. We are packed and all set for a much awaited camping trip. John and I will be joining a bunch of close friends in heartland Kerala - away from the big crowded cities and all the creature comforts that we get unnecessarily used to. The idea is to try and rough it out as much as we can - possibly camp away from human habitation, electricity and a host of other things we take for granted. We charged our phones and cameras, disabled data and packed with great care crossing off everything on our lists.

3 sets of clothing in total - hand washing the ones on your back each time you bathe. Basic medical and toilet kit. All kinds of protection from the sun and bug bites. Some handy survival tools and camping gear. We bought a 3 person tent specially for the trip and  when all the packing was done, we were quite proud to find that everything for 2 people fit into one big rucksack and 2 knapsacks. Everything except the groundsheets, that is.

I love my sleep dearly, and no matter how much I'm prepared to rough it out, I need a good night's rest to be functional the next day. While browsing online for the tent, we found that the sites kept suggesting "ground sheets" to us. Firm foam sheets that you lay on the floor below your sleeping bag to cushion you from the rough terrain. These were quite expensive, but their specs were not so high end. And I decided I had to have it. So the evening we were to leave we went hunting in Royapettah, in the narrow lanes full of car upholstery shops.

We found exactly what we needed at a tenth of the price and ended up buying 2 extra sheets for friends that we had to cart with us.

Rolled up, the ground sheets were quite light but very voluminous. Thankfully we had upper-berths on the train and we bridged them between our berths. Hats and shoes went on top of that and with all the luggage stowed away I began sketching on the journey. I had a brand new sketchbook for this week-long adventure and was determined to sketch right from the start and keep it loose and quick. We would be reaching Palakkad Junction at 4.45 am the next morning so after a quick sketch I called it a night. 

Coming up in the next post - The next day and all its sketches!