Boat trip and Carpets

After an accident on Lake Periyar a few years ago when a tourist boat overturned and 45 tourists drowned, regulations are tighter and we all had to wear lifejackets and stay in our seats. The guides were good at pointing out the birds and animals. We saw snake birds, bison, wild boar, a red mongoose, kingfisher, an osprey and many other birds but sadly no elephants. Our own guide pointed out lemurs, deer and an Indian squirrel as we drove back for breakfast.

At 11.00 it was time for a tour of a spice farm with an optional elephant ride but we felt we had already covered that. The walk through the spice farm was fascinating but we are afraid that the information mostly went in one ear and out the other. Basically all the spices and a few herbs already grew in Kerala and one or two have been imported from the West Indies or Zanzibar. It seems the first American millionaire made his money from importing pepper - from India. This might make a good quiz question. The local coffee beans were quite small. Some spices we could identify by smell but others need to be soaked, heated, ground or all three before they released their taste. We then visited one of the local spice shops where we bought an enormous quantity of spices. Maybe we can set up a spice market in Kinnesswood!

This was followed by a visit to a Kashmir shop recommended by our guide, where we saw lovely carpets among other things. Many people from Kashmir try to make money elsewhere in India as very few tourists visit there any more because of the unsettled political situation. It was time for a beer, a lie down by the pool and a think about rugs. We later had a wander along the street and guess what - ended up in the carpet shop buying a carpet for the hall. Since our last weigh-in at an airport suggested we had only used half our luggage allowance we decided to buy another bag and carry it home with us, from which you'll gather it's not actually a very big carpet.