8.5.11 – Mountains and Molly’s green house (Wayanad, Kerala, India)

8.5.11 – Mountains and Molly’s green house (Wayanad, Kerala, India)

Our shiny white taxi, loaded sky high with cases, folding cot, push chair, left the hotel driven by a charming and helpful taxi driver, Kuttan.  Soon we had left the hubbub of the city behind, and were heading up towards the towering mountains of the Ghats Range.  Thick trunked coconut palms, wide, split leaved banana palms accompanied us.  The road, which, although bumpy, was surprisingly good, hairpinned its way upwards.  We squeezed past lorries, zigzagged around rickshaws and motor bikes, tooting our horn at every occasion possible.  Traffic does not travel very fast here – 30 or 40 kilometres per hour.  It’s fascinating to see the process in action – you want to overtake or turn a corner.  So does a rickshaw and a bus.  You all head for the piece of road you want to occupy, tooting to alert the others to your intentions.  The one that gets in front first is considered to have ‘won’, and the others fall back.  In fact, the system, which bears more resemblance to how crowds negotiate pavements while Christmas shopping, works surprisingly well.  We have seen tens of thousands of vehicles since we arrived, and only twice have I seen one with obvious accident damage.

Tea plantation

Soon, the palms give way to rubber plantations, plastic bags tied to the trunks to collect the precious sap.  Then tea plantations, round pillow-like bushes, rich with green shiny leaves.  Taller and even shinier were the coffee plants, larger and darker leaved.

Ghat Mountains

The mountains rose up to our left, blue and sheer, their jagged tops towering above the greenery all around.  At last we entered a little village, shops crowded along one side of the street.  A gap between two shops gave entry to a sandy path, at the end of which was a bright apple green house, enclosed by a wall, and backing onto the jungle.  At the double gates to the enclosure, a man awaited us, whom we later learned was Stephen, and who remained with us for our stay, helping us in every way he could.  

Our car drove into the courtyard and stopped.  And so we arrived at Wayanad Homestay, our residence for the next two days.  The house was lovely – a living room and dining room, comfortably furnished and air conditioned.  The kitchen was off this, and there was a downstairs bedroom and two more upstairs, all en suite.  Stephen, the man who had welcomed us, brought us lime juice and so we settled in.  Upstairs, there was a sunny balcony, overlooking the courtyard and surrounding jungle, where a few cattle grazed.  Stephen told us to make sure that we closed the door leading onto the inside landing, as the monkeys might get into the house and create havoc.

Glad of the chance for a rest, we settled in.  Catriona went shopping with Calum, Bill and our helpful taxi driver, who stayed with us all the time we were there, ready for our every beck and call.  Returning, Catriona cooked for us, while Stephen helped us find whatever we wanted and was of course enchanted by Molly, who had claimed her ‘green house’ as her own territory.

Molly's Green House, Wayanard