Southern India - 10 February 2012 (1)

Out of Tamil Nadu

Vegetables, Usilambatti Market

Vegetables, Usilambatti Market

It was an early start, so I was up at 0530.  We left promptly at 0730 for a long ride to Thekkady.  I sat at the back of the bus and was bounced around quite a bit, which made it difficult to write my journal.  But I didn’t get travel sick like some people in the group, so I was able to read and even write when the roads were smoother and there were fewer corners.  The back seat was higher than the others, so Steve was happy to sit there too, because he got good views for his photos.

Garlic for Sale, Usilambatti Market

Bananas, Usilambatti Market

As we drove through Madurai, everyone commented on the rubbish.  It seemed like the government’s effort to get India tidy hadn’t reached here yet.  Communal areas and rivers seemed the worst affected.

Family, Usilambatti

Brothers, Usilambatti

We passed lots of schoolchildren, waiting for the school bus.  They happily waved at us.

Then we were back in the countryside, with very productive-looking fields, the occasional lake with lots of birds, and cows with painted horns.  We were approaching the Western Ghats, but for now there were just rocky outcrops and a gentle climb which still managed to slow the bus.

Brick Making 1 - Dig Some Wet Red Mud

Brick Making 2 - Pour into Metal Grid

We had a 20 minute stop to look round the market in Usilambatti.  As well as flowers, there were lots of fresh vegetables for sale: mini aubergines, cauliflowers, onions, garlic, cucumbers, tomatoes, potatoes, manioc, plantains and sugar cane.

Brick Making 3 - Pack Mud and Smooth

Brick Making 4 - Raise Frame

Brick Making 5 - Stamp with Maker's Mark

Brick Making 6 - Leave to Dry then Stack

Our next stop was to see bricks being made.  This was a very manual operation, but quite fascinating.  The rich red earth was dampened to the right consistency and then scooped into a wheelbarrow with an inverted spade-like implement.  This was then wheeled to a man who was operating a metal grid.  The clay was tipped into the grid and further water added as it was smoothed and pressed down.  When ready, the grid was raised, leaving two rows of six bricks each.  The grid was moved on and the next two rows were made.  A lady moved along the rows of completed bricks and pressed an implement in the wet clay to leave diamond shaped imprints.  She marked the bricks two by two and could only reach three bricks on each side.  Lukose told us that the bricks were left to dry in the sun for a few days and then stacked and dried in a kiln, made from bricks which they had made earlier.  We watched as some men stacked completed bricks onto a lorry.

Brick Making 7 - Bake in Kiln/Load Truck

Poor Mangy Dog Outside Bakery

Next we had a coffee stop at the Maruthi Bakery in Theni.  Lukose took our orders to speed things up.  I was so glad that I ordered the white coffee, which was very nice.  The black tea looked terrible – really thick and strong – and got nul points from the people who had it.  Lukose tried to make it drinkable by diluting it with more water, but that never works.  The samosas and coffee – and the toilets – all scored dix or douze points.  Outside, I saw a dog, with full teats, who suffered so badly from mange that she kept chewing the hair on her back because it was itching so much.

Working in Rice Paddy

Such Green & Fertile Land!

The next stop was beside a rice paddy where women were working.  Egrets foraged on a nearby wet patch and in the irrigation ditches.  Across the road were a kapok tree, coconut palms and a stall selling planters in nice pastel colours.  They would have looked great in my garden, but were not practical to transport.  Unwanted parts of banana plants lay discarded beside the road.

Colourful Planters for the Garden

Soon after that stop, the scenery really began to change as we hit the Western Ghats.  From agricultural land, we moved to woodland and the road wound round and round to take us up into the mountains.  Macaque monkeys sat beside the road.

As we climbed, a blue lorry kept tooting his horn, trying to get past.  He made his move as a bus and another lorry came down the other way.  He tried again and managed to pass us, but he soon got stuck behind another bus and we caught him up.

We reached the border town of Kumily and Guruprasad had to get out to pay duty on the bus.  We had left Tamil Nadu and were now in Kerala.