Central Tamil Nadu

Monday and we crossed back into Tamil Nadu. Last time we crossed into TN we were stared at to check if we were on the list of Maoist activists. Today they wished to look into Lenore and my back packs to see if we were carrying "black money" across the border. The drive thru TN was punctuated by many stops to find an ATM with money in it. We eventually found one!

We saw many interesting things including men and women washing clothes in a river and missing cows on the road! Kodhai the 'woman god'.

The Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple or Thiruvarangam is a Hindu temple dedicated to Ranganatha, a reclining form of Hindu deity, Vishnu located in Srirangam, Tiruchirapalli (Trichy).

The temple has an imposing tower over the entrance gate and two large concentric rectangular enclosures around its perimeter. The entrance to the inner sanctum is through multiple columned halls.

The architecture is Dravidian characterised by the highly decorated and colorful pyramids.

There are many examples of superb stone carving including this row of figures dominated by horses. The detail is both precise and dramatic; e.g. Swords being thrust through flesh.

Our tour through Southern India continued on Tuesday (Day 2 Tricky) starting by the river bank. Trichy is located on the second most holy river for Hindus after the Ganges. An elephant blesses both of us. The photo of the elephant with its handler shows the handler pocketing one of the notes that we had placed in the elephants trunk to initiate the blessing. The photo at the bottom includes our trusty driver/guide ("Mr P") and the owner of the tour company, Padmini.

The middle photo on the left is one the 50 priests who work the riverside. Priests work on a completely free enterprise "fee for service" basis, and most services are booked by mobile phones these days. The next step must be a mobile phone app!

Once again today we saw many long queues outside banks and ATMs. Obtaining money here remains chaotic with the 2000 rupees (about AUD 40) per day limit remaining in place. Many ATMs remain empty due to lack of supply of the new notes, or the ATMs have not been modified to dispense the new notes.

On Wednesday we were pulled up on the highway by soldiers with automatic rifles around their necks, searching cars for "black money". According to news reports they seized many billions yesterday. Fortunately in this case the appearance of a couple of western tourists in the car led to as being waved through.

Kerala Backwaters

 

Noel packed and ready to board the houseboat. Our trip specification said "1 bedroom houseboat"; The company supplied their standard 3 bedroom boat with a 3 person crew! Captain, cook and guide, although in reality they all seemed to swap roles. We were certainly not short of space!

The rivers (38 of them) are the lifeblood of the area. Fishing, washing both clothes and people, water supply for crops as well as transportation of goods and people made the Backwaters essential for life! The first part of our tour was down the main artery that drain a large lake, flowing towards the ocean!

 

{Photo left} Lenore is entering the lounge / diner from the hallway that ran the length of the boat. Kitchen, A/C compressors and stand-by AC power generator were at the rear. Flushing toilets, A/C, hot showers and large comfortable beds as well as ceiling fans made the houseboats quite luxurious.

 

Our Captain Alexander used an umbrella as a sun shade.

Thousands of ducks being farmed by two men in boats.

From their small boats they use calls and a long thin pole to direct lead ducks.

The evening before we saw a smaller group of ducks being led home by a single farmer. They crossed the main channel (about 200M wide) in front of our boat and then swam a kM or more up one side of the river. The farmer provided gentle guidance to the lead duck.

We were travelling at the end of the rice season, and it appeared to be fully harvested. In some areas the grains were being dried, bagged and transported to places where it could be loaded onto trucks. In a number of places the stubble was being burnt causing significant haze.

They certainly try to maximise the load onto boats and trucks.

{Photo left} This was the "red team" loading 2 trucks. Near by the blue team was at work.

In the lower or downstream areas new rice had recently been planted.

{Photo left}And in the middle area of the main channel, we saw huge areas of flooded fields. This photo shows one of the places where the river bank can be opened to allow water to flow into the lower fields. At one location we saw a pump removing water from a newly planted field.

The Christian Church and the Catholic denomination has a significant presence in Kerala. Catholic Schools are literally everywhere especially in the Backwaters.

[According to 2011 Census of India figures, 54.73% of Kerala's residents are Hindus, 26.56% are Muslims, 18.38% are Christians, and the remaining 0.32% follows other religion or no religion. Various tribal people in Kerala have retained various religious beliefs of their ancestors.]

We pulled to the river side in the evening (as the sun was setting) and we were soon joined by 2 other company boats to share a 240Vac outlet; saves running the noisy generators.

Over night it rained quite heavily leaving pools in the burnt rice fields.

 

A day in Ooty

The area that is known as Ooty came under the rule of the East India Company at the end of the 18th century. It developed 19th century as a prime Hill Station with a distinctive English character.
The economy today is based on tourism and agriculture, along with the manufacture of medicines and photographic film.

We visited the Botanical Gardens immediately after after arriving in town.

The following full day in Ooty started at the Municipal Market. You can not see in the photo in one of the butcher shops that the meat is covered with many flies; you will just have to take my word!

Everyone we encountered in the market was friendly and helpful. We bought some bananas and white grapes. Lenore also bought some children's cloths.

The rich soil, temperate climate and abundant rain fall means that the area is perfect for tea growing on the hills, and vegetables on the flats (potatoes, carrots, cabbage, cauliflower, beans, onions all thrive.




These days everyone knows how to pose including the store keeper (top photo). Similarly the man on his foot sowing machine. In contrast, the young lady in the store immediately turned away.

1. In the tea factory. We had the production methods for green, black and white tea explained to us.




2. Some local infrastructure has a birds nest look.







3. This pigeon was getting a good feed from one of the open bags in this store. The shop keeper appeared not to mind. Possibly she took pity as the pigeon had a misaligned beek!

Doddabetta is the highest peak in the area, and is about 10 km from Ooty. It overlooked our hotel which in turn was a few kM out of town. We felt very cool at the top, and the street vendors were doing a great trade selling warm caps to local tourists.

Although the hills are almost exclusively covered with eucalyptus, these timber getters were harvesting

People along the way

People are continuing to wish to be photographed with Lenore. This is with the doorman at our Mysore hotel.

In Balgalore we visited the big Bull Temple. The priest welcomed us, and put red dots on our foreheads, and accepted a donation. The Bull is carved from a giant piece of granite, coated black. We saw an almost as large outdoor big Bull just outside Mysore; the location of a suitable granite boulder is of major importance.

This lady was carrying firewood up the "36 hair pin" road into Ooty. I'd imagine that many of those killed on this road would be pedestrians. We gave her one of our bottles of water and a couple of bananas!

When we moved into rural Tamil Nadu the dress code for older men visibly changed. This is wearing the wrap around cloth style.

In the same rural town (to above)which is just outside a tiger Reserve, a wedding was taking place. We have seen many weddings, but this one came to us and we ended up in the middle of the celebration.

I also shot a little video with the brass band coming through loud and strong.

In a rural town outside Mysore:

"Once a teacher, always a teacher! Lenore was back in the class room today, a Saturday.




We visited a small government primary school (years 1 - 7) in a rural area just outside Mysore. There were 60 in this combined class today as a young teacher was away "at college"; no discipline problems here! The class politely stood and greeted us. (I am not quite sure what they thought of having 2 Australians drop in unannounced.)


Then the formalities of going to the principal's office where we chatted with the principal and 2 senior male teachers. There are 145 children enrolled in the school, and 130+ in attendance today. The Principal wished to serve us tea or coffee but our guide/driver moved us away; very protective of our digestive track. Then onto a class 6 room, with desks for the students, and a slightly older (mid twenties) female teacher. I think there were 2 other classes we did not visit.


Education is highly prized here, and many parents choose private schools. Private Students must have 3 uniforms of different colours. They wear their main uniform on Monday and Tuesday, a second on Wednesday while the first is washed to wear on Thursday and Friday, and then their Saturday uniform.

PS The photographed class room has no ceiling or fans! It was a mild 32C today, but I suspect it would be hot in summer."

In the gardens surrounding the Mysore Summer Palace, on a hot afternoon, this lady was at work. Selling water or drinks I believe.

Lenore in action again, at the Mysore Summer Place. After being invited to join their photo, Lenore took one of them.

In the Tiger Reserve, this family wanted Lenore to join their holiday photo.

Nature Reserves

There are 50 tiger reserves in India. We have now visited 3, and although we are yet to sight one of these shy animals, we are assured that the number of tigers is increasing. Certainly the existence of these Reserves is creating income for rural Indians. Mudumalai in Tamil Nardu was the second reserve we visited on 6th November.

Our first sightings of young elephants was in Bandipur Reserve 80 km from Mysore.

 

 

 

 

We were just too late to see a group of 5 cross the road in the Mudumalai Reserve. This mother and child were making a hasty retreat into the bush and towards water.

We also saw a number of spotted deer and monkeys in both Reserves.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the second Reserve we saw a number of wild boar, and bison who kept to the thick undergrowth (their natural food) and thereby defied photos in spite of their large size.

 

 

 

And yes, the monkeys make no attempt to hide.

 

Mysore to Ooty: Signs

The first tiger reserve we drove through is in the state of Karnataka. Iimmediately upon leaving it you pass through a border crossing into Tamil Nadu and a new tiger reserve. I hope that the tigers, elephants, monkeys, deer et al keep track of which state they are in.

Although there has been little "Maoist" activity since 2008, a couple of activists/ terrorists/ Maoists were arrested in 2015 leading to new fears of political and civil unrest.

1. The poster of photographs was on the Tamil Nadu border, and police were performing a brief visual inspection of vehicle passengers.


2. Trucks routinely invite you to honk!  most people oblige!

The Ooty Botanical Gardens is certainly worth a visit, dating back to 1896 with many buildings and features from that era. Some signs have been added more recently.

The road up to Ooty, "the Queen of hill stations", includes 36 sign posted "Hair Pin Bends" and many other corners that I cannot appreciate how they avoided categorisation.



The rules of the road did not change; use all parts of the road if you think it is available and use the car horn often, very often.

The Ooty Botanical Garden includes a number of Australian species including this Queenslander, the Bunya.





And for homesick Queenslanders, suitable accommodation is available.

Swaffham, Norfolk

Swaffham is an historic market town with a catchy slogan, "Traditional values, modern outlook." The entrance to St Peter and Paul church is directly opposite the Market Square with its Butter Cross; a small but ornate canopy with the Roman Goddess of agriculture on top (!/?). I assume that it replaced a more traditional market structure in the late 18th century.

We started our exploration at the museum in the 'Main Street' opposite a couple of pubs, the Methodist Church** with the Conservative Club a little further up the road.
Really everything is in the right place for an "historic market town". The museum has a collection of local history and artifacts; Roman, Saxon, Medieval, and later. Rooms are devoted to the role of the local RAF Base in the Falkland War and to adopted son Howard Carter who discovered Tutankahmun tomb.** There is an ornate tea pot decorated for the Methodist church on display.
St Peter and Paul is set in a large grave yard traversed by a public footpath, and across the road is a "Young Man's Home - Church Reading Room and Library" (white building).
We returned to the museum on Saturday (market day ) morning to meet up with Emma Ward, the archivist. I posed to her our dilemma of not being able to locate a record for William Dickerson NELSON's migration to Australia. Her initial comment was trite but also incisive! "There are always missing records!" She added that many Swaffham records from the mid 1800s were missing; they had been transferred to Norwich for 'safe keeping ' and then burnt in a fire. I had just re learnt a lesson I had forgotten ; you can not force there to be a record.
In regard to William's move to Sheffield she said that the introduction of enclosure laws had lead to many people who were displaced from the former common land being shipped off to the new industrial towns like Sheffield.
{Reference Wikipedia: "Between 1604 and 1914, over 5,200 individual Enclosure Acts were put into place, enclosing 6.8 million acres. "}

We then returned to the church passing the Red Lion Inn which dates back to coaching days and was once owned by members of the Dickerson family.          

On Saturday mornings they sell morning teas in the church, which in addition to raising some money is clearly a community meeting opportunity. It also gives a very lived in feel to the church, and brought back memories of 'Ladies Guilds' morning teas!
Again everyone we spoke with was most welcoming, and we were soon in possession of the folder of church inscriptions, and introduced to a lady who had just returned from Australia; "she goes every year you know!" Another gentleman upon learning that we were Australians, commented "Of course we know all about Australia from Neighbors!"

In my mind I could hear a British sit-com star saying, "TV has a great deal to answer for!"

There are a number of Nelson and Dickerson Inscriptions recorded in the church records, which is most helpful as the headstones in the yard are greatly degraded.

Acting upon information provided by 'cousin June' we drove into the suburbs to visit Tumbler Hill where June and a couple of generations of the NELSON's lived. It is a scenic area with a duck point opposite where the street name (photo) is located.
Just beyond the top of the street is a wind generator not too far from where a windmill once stood.