Little Adventures in India

By this time next week we will be back in the United States. Coming off the plane in our sandals and elephant pants we would have ended our time in India.  Although it is a sad thing to think about I think we ended our last weekend trip with a day full of wonderful little adventures in Kerala.

Our day began with a sudden switch of plans.  Although everyone had been told that we would need to meet for breakfast at 9:30 am our plans got pushed up an hour and all of a sudden we were scrambling to eat breakfast and get our things packed so we can check out quickly when we returned.

Some may have found this sudden change in plan frustrating or annoying but what I have learned when it comes to traveling is always be flexible. You can plan for weeks and nothing may come together like you thought it would but it is important to take everything in stride and just enjoy the journey.  I think learning to be adaptable is an important thing to take with you at school, work and in life and I think my adaptability in this trip   has definitely increased.

Our first trip of the day was on a boat tour.  The boat tour was serene and scenic but what really captivated me was the pathway to the docks.  The pathway to the docks was swarming with monkeys.  I’ve seen monkeys in zoos and sanctuaries but I had never seen monkeys in the wild and to walk among them was something I’ll never forget. They seemed so at ease with people walking around them it somehow reminded me of the fearless squirrels in Iowa City.  The monkeys were definitely one of the highlights of my day.

Following the boat tour we had lunch and moved on to the next part in our trip, the spice farm. The spice farm could easily be passed by if you were just driving along the road; there was a small stand that sold all their spices and a path that led to their many acres of spices and tea plants.

Honestly, the tour didn’t seem that interesting to me and I was hesitant to spend 45 minutes looking at plants but lucky for me, Swati felt the same way.  We paid for the tour but had one thing in mind, the paddle boats.  Only ten minutes in to the tour we saw the sign that led to the boats and made a dash toward them.  Turns out the paddle boats turned out to be paddle boat, singular.  It was an old boat with a dingy draping tarp, debris lined the floor, and it was docked with only a thin straw like rope.  There was no attendant and so we took our chances and leaped in. It was a blast! We had a bit of difficulty making it back to the dock but it was nice to do something off the itinerary.  About thirty minutes after our boat ride everyone was rounded up and we headed back to our host city.

Our return trip was going well.  We had a good driver, minimal traffic, and good movies to watch.  A great combination for a road trip but this all took a turn for the worse when we felt a sudden swerve. All I could think was I do not want to know what it was and then somebody called out “Oh my goodness, it was a cow!” Now cows are considered very holy animals in India and to hit one is sacrilege.  I felt a sudden pain of guilt and worry for the poor cow. I was reassured that the cow was only side swiped and fell down but the people near the cow were not happy they began to chase our van and our driver took off.

All in all today was another good day in India.  It was a mixture of a little miscommunication, adventure, and mishaps but also a lot of laughter, good memories, and great company.

-Maya