Western Ghats
on the road to Kochi
the highway was up in the clouds
our bus stopped half way down the mountain because Robert was going to throw due to the twisting roads
all the vehicles honked at each other constantly
we stopped along the roadside to buy pineapple slices
Kathy was glad to finally arrive in Kochi along the Arabian Sea 9 hours later.
“Hairpin Turns and Landslide Zones”
We left Ooty early heading west toward the Arabian Sea through the Western Ghats which is a range of mountains on the western side of India. The hairpin turns and the many vehicles provided much excitement for 5 hours. The monkeys waved as we sped by hoping for us to throw them our food scraps. The very high mountains were breathtaking! We passed through many villages and enjoyed the friendly people doing their daily chores. We took many pictures of the colourful tropical flowers and active animals on the road. Our bus driver, Sita, was very talented. He weaved our bus in and out of very narrow tight places saving our lives many times. His assistant, Cobrahead, stood near the door and whistled when the roadway was clear to speed up. Robert felt motion sickness and Milla had “the runs” so they were very happy to stop for a break. We discovered that our bus had outlets next to all the seats so that we could charge things like our cameras, phones, and computers.
Kochi is our destination for today and it is in the province of Kerala. This area is the most literate of all of the Indian provinces. It has the lowest birthrate and infant mortality rate. Because we are at sea level, and because we are so close to the equator, we need to protect ourselves from the denge mosquito bite. Susan brought some vitamin B patches to help us with that. The province of Kerala is one of the top 10 most popular tourist destinations in the world. Kerala means, “land of the coconuts.
After arriving late into Kochi (pop. 5 million), and being delayed by the supper time traffic, we checked into our Trident hotel. Our room was musty so after viewing 5 different rooms, we settled in for the evening. The evening meal was great as always and the pool was steamy warm. After Milla searched for her purse, and struggled with the tv in her room, she joined us at poolside.
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