BANGALORE, MYSORE, NILGIRI TRAIN, MUNNAR ...
On 30h of May, West met East in the middle - if you put India in the middle of a political map.
After travelling the world together for 6 months in 1991, two friends, my husband and a university friend led separate lives, one in London, UK, the other one in Australia. Now the time had come for a big Trip again.
I suggested they may venture in an Enfield Motorbike Tour of their own, but no ... they chose the harder path: travelling with 2 wives and 5 kids ...
The trip planning was amazingly efficient: the two families could work around the clock (two different time zones) by ways of emails, links, bookings results, and the kids were made part of the process: they wanted a 'pool' at one stage, a chance to go 'fishing', and 'seing animals'. Our kids had already travelled in spartiate conditions camping in the outback, had already been to India once, and the other kids had been to Egypt two years ago, so they would not suffer from lack of comfort here and there, nor culture chock. There was an issue of climate for the English kids who were coming straight from the English Winter, as the Australian ones (mine) were just coming out of summer and were used to high levels of heat and humidity. Nevertheless, we made sure there would be some comfortable hotel here and there, as to give them and ourselves a chance to refuel our minds and bodies. By the end of the trip, as we were heading for our last hotel, my son -11 years old - asked if it was a 'fancy' hotel ... one with hot showers ... - we had several experiences of shower water cuts with shampoo on the head, and having to finish it off with precious mineral water. When we came back home, I found that despite me being very strict with not loading the bags unnecessarily, one of my son's most precious possession had been to pack a toilet roll carefully smuggled from one of the hotel with stayed at. Planning is not all, we also needed luck, and luck we got ! ... no one got sick during the trip, and we found lots of nice little surprises along the way, like an unexpected elephant ride, a guided visit of a spice garden in Munnar, and nice people who facilitated our trip like the local French woman in Bangalore (married to an India man) who found us a beautiful 12 seater coach and an erudite driver, or a complementary bird walk early in the morning in the backwaters by the hotel owner... and other less savy experiences like a driver clapping merrily in his hands on a high speed road, or second class train ride from Metupalayam to Coimbatore with 'plenty of seats' turning out to be a very Indian concept, us having to squeeze in between families, and the kids having to climb on upper shelves near the mega fans with cockroaches running on their arms, but we survived it all. The little English boy showed the cockroach running on his arm as a novelty: he had never seen anything like that before ... his mum contained her horror, and my son was laughing as well, plenty of that in Australia ! The three older children, our daughters were happily making photo montage on with fancy apps, and sending them to their friends, indulged in tattooing, ventured into shopping on their own on the last two days and asked plenty of questions to the apprentice-guides coming with us to learn from more senior guides as we went. What I learned was that what children realy need when travelling with them is other children !!!
Itinerary
3 nights in Bangalore - Timeless City Market in rickshaw, Ranjani Restaurant at UB City, local Science Museum, Botanical garden - delightful stay at Casa Cottage (French-Indian couple)
1 night in Mysore - Visit of Sultan's Palace
1 night in Bandipur National Park in Wildfower Resort - Excellent resort for the superior designs of its amenities, the amazing food and service, good safari facilities
We were incredibly lucky to see a leopard in the distance running and expanding, and a tiger in the wild, who turned his gaze and looked at us, during our excursion - beware safaris are dusty endeavours, so protect yourself.
World Heritage Nilgiri Train from Ooty to Metupalayam via O'Connor - slow (10 km/h) but allows you to take in magnificent mountainous tea-plantation landscapes
1 night in Coimbatore - transit place for the night, spartiate hotel opposite the train station.
Early in the morning, our driver came from Munnar to take us to his brother's hotel Olive Brook. Munnar is not only known for its spices and tea plantations, it is also a Chocolate Manufacturing area to the children's delight. Great Hotel there overlooking the plantations, cooking class in the evening.
Then, we continued down south in order to catch our plane in Trivandrum, with two nights on a houseboat fishing (kids) and relaxing for the parents (reading), then 1 night a Greenpalm Holmes in a special place where we had already been catching up with the very community oriented and delightful owner. There, we learned about rice fields, waterways management, cashew nuts plantations, and fish farms. We had a nice canoe ride signing happily traditional songs as the sun went down.
Last 2 nights - Beach Hotel II in Kovalam near the airport, beautiful sea resort on Arabian Sea. This is a place where we had already stayed as well, with incredible views and dhotis ready for you after the shower. Decoration is tasteful and delicate. The restaurant, called Fusion, offers a mixture of East and West foods. A very very relaxing place. Experiences a mild tsunami backlash. Swimming definitely forbidden the last day ... the Life Guard was adamant : if any one goes swimming, I will only rescue the kids ! :)))
