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Saturday 9^th Nov.

    As we had arranged we decided to leave Kovalam Grove

Tourist Centre and go to the utmost lip of Southern India.  We packed

and the “Army” of Cleaners arrived Give girls Two fellows.   So we

took the route back to Trivandrum and found our way to the right

road N H 47 to Cape Comorin, there were plenty of People everywhere

and we had difficulty in getting through the crowded Villiages.

It was a good road and we arrived at our destination at 1.50

We enquired at the Information Centre and we were told to go to

the nearby Hotel, Kerala Hours.   The Manager allowed us

to Park in the grounds.   Soon after our arrival the Military

Police arrived.  The Personality that was at Kovalam Grove

was due to attend this Place.  We stayed inside the Van in

the hope of getting a look at him but he did not arrive until 5.50

There was a short Ceremony on the steps of the Hotel. Garlens &

Flowers etc and after a short while he disappeared inside. We went

for a stroll along the beach and when we returned to the Van the

Personality went off in his Car.  The Military Police remained but

their show was a very poor one.   Milage 11919

 

Sunday 10^th Nov

     After the important details of the Hotel were finished I went

to ask the Manager’s permission to stay Parked for another

night.  It was agreed, we walked along the Front through

the Village and to the Harbour.  There are a couple of

 

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Temples here. Hawkers were trying to sell Sea Shells, Necklasses

made of small shells Roast nuts and Coconuts these were the main

items for Sale. Weather was very Hot and the Sun was strong.

There was activity again at the Hotel as the VIPs returned

one came to us and asked about our travels, he had seen us

at Kovalam Grove and he told us that they were due at

Madurai tomorrow. As that was to be our next stop we told

him we would see him there. We took a stroll in the evening

and met French couple they were on holiday but not by Motor

Caravan they were going by Bus and Air.

 

Monday 11^th Nov.

Comorin Cove is quite a nice place, but to me, it did not come

up to the Standard of Kovalam Grove. Here we found too

many Beggers and Too many Hawkers. Kerala House is not an

ideal Hotel to recommend, Coaches that stop in the grounds pick

up Indian Tourists and they are very noisy. The Beggars

and the Hawkers that are allowed in the grounds lower the

standard of the Place, the Hawkers arrived as early as 6.30AM

Cows Goats Pigs were roaming at will in the grounds and

this also was detrimental to the place.  We left for Madurai

around 8.30. It was slow going at first but then after

we had done 50 miles the road was excellent in fact, it was

the best road we had travelled on during the whole of our time

in India. There was very little Traffic and it was free from

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Bullocks, there are Goats but they were in Herds and being

attended to.  We saw just a few Donkeys they appear to be

rare in India.   We kept up quite a good speed and

reached Madurai by 1.30 having done 152 miles. We

are now 300 miles from Madras and we shall be there on

Thursday.  In Madurai we found the Travellers Lodge

and Booked in for a night   Milage now 12071

 

Tuesday 5^th Nov

     After we had left the Dining Room of the Savoy Hotel (this

is a Hotel which I would not recommend because the Service was so

poor). We were spoken to by a fellow Guest who was a Sikh he is

employed by Ricket & Colmans and I had reason to believe that he was

the chief Representative for the whole of Southern India, he had a

Chaufer driven Car, he was at first, very interested in the Motor

Caravan and when we told him of what we had in mind to do, he

gave us a good route to follow where we could see things of interest

so we decided on this, left the Hotel and went towards Coimbatore

we first had to come down through the mountains which was 7500ft

descent, this proved a slow drive because of the many twists and

Turns and U Turns, the narrow bridges and at times single

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line traffic needed extreme caution, driving at this descent I

put the Ban into second gear and thus let the engine do the work

of holding it, but it was a good ashplate [asphalt] road. There are 14

hairpin bends in this descent. The scenery was marvelous and

we saw Monkeys climbing. The descent was completed in about

just under Two hours and then once again we were on the Flat road

and headed for Coimbatore and then on towards Paighat¹, which we

reached after asking several times for the road to Trichur² we did

eventually find it, we were directed by a Policeman but it proved

wrong and we found ourselves driving through one of the busiest market

places in India, and to get back on to the right road we had to

go back and follow the one way streets which would allow us

to keep turning Right until we found ourselves back to the

Policeman who had mis directed us. We got on towards Trichur

This road proved to be as bad as any we had driven on in India

in fact it was difficult to get into Third gear because of the rough

surface. It was almost noon when we had started and by now

darkness would soon arrive and we wanted to get off the road for

the night, we came to a Bungalow which laid back in its own

grounds, so we went in to ask if we could Park for the night. It

was difficult for both sides because neither could understand each

other but finally we managed to explain by showing them

the Motor Caravan.  They, at last, understood and consented so

we drove in. The mother had an inspection of the Van and gave

 

1 now Palakkad

2 now Thrissur

 

 Page 36b

orders to one of the daughters who within minutes came out

with Two cups of Hot Milk, more orders were given and we

were given a Fish supper. This was embarrassing for us as we

had only needed to get into the grounds for a night stop, we were

asked to sleep inside, but declined.  The eldest of the daughters

could speak a little English and this was an advantage as she

could translate it to her Mother. There were eight children.

After we had been there about an hour the Master arrived and after

his wife had explained he came to us and spoke to us in English

every offer of help was given but we finally slept in the Van

The milage read at 11651

Wednesday 6^th Nov.

   We were up by 6.30 had a cup of Tea and Biscuits and then prepared

to pack the Van ready to be off, thus being as little trouble as possible to

our “Hosts” but they were up ad about and we were told that we

were 17 miles from Trichur we were asked to have breakfast but we

declined, then 2 cups of hot milk were brought to us and “Father”

explained that they were disappointed that we had not slept in their

House, but as we wanted to be the least of trouble he accepted, the

conversation changed to Cars and he asked the question that almost

everyone had asked before How much did you pay for the Van?

Up to this point we had regarded this question as inquisitive but

he explained to us about the cost of Cars in India, he owned

a 1961 Morris Oxford and he had paid 15000 Rupees for it

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that is equivalent to around £800 but the car was in good condition

despite being 13 years of age.  The Car produced in India is

the Ambassador and the price of that new is almost £2000. It is

highly likely that a car of 13 years of age would find a buyer in the

English Garages today but he was interested in the pieces of

the new Cars on sale in England and I offered to send literature

to him on my return.  It is the Import Duty for Cars into India

that causes the high prices.  As we have brought our in as Tourist

we have a Carnet on it which will prevent us selling it whilst we

are here, before we went on our way we were again offered

Breakfast or anything we wanted on route Milk Bread etc.

I have the address and will write to them at a later date. As we

had expected we got back on to the bad roads and this went on

for miles, in fact the roads were so bad on this National Highway

that we altered one course and diverted to the State Highway, this

is a secondary road but it would eventually bring us to the place

on our list TRIVANDRUM, at first there was little or no improvement

in the condition of the roads but after about 80 miles it was better

but still there were the Pot holes and diversions through very

rough ground.  One stretch of road was being made and

we noticed that only Women were employed, they collect Stones

put them into the baskets and carry these baskets on their heads

they also use Red earth.  We saw no Men.  As we passed

through the Village we saw Elephants at work they were

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pulling Tree Trunks along the road by means of a rope fixed

in their mouths.  We saw no signs of any Monkeys today, but the

Towns Village and every place were crowded with people.

There is no gap between the Villiages you always see people

where ever you may be.  We managed to reach TRIVANDRUM

and went along the road to KOVALAM a distance of 16 Km and

this place was where we were making for because of the ITDC

(India Tourist Development Cooperation) we found it quite

easily and Elsie booked in the Two nights.  We had done 204

miles today and the Milage reading is now 11855.   It is of

interest to any traveller, if like us, you have a few days wait

at Madras for the next sailing to take a Tour from Madras

and visit the following places on your circular route:-

Bangalore, Ootacamund, Coimbatore, Paighat, Trichur,

Cochin, Trivandrum, Kovalam, Cape Comorin, Magercoil,

Madurai, Thansavar, Kumbakonam, Pondicherry then on to

Madras.   the Temples of Madurai, Thansavar and

Kumbakonam are interesting, and the Town of Pondicherry

a French Town founded by Mathais Ashram. At Madras

you have The ITDC Shore Cttages where you and stay

Thursday 7^th Nov.

We find this cottage quite ideal, with the beach only a few

yards away, the Palm Trees at the foot of the Sun Lounge.

We watch the Fisherman in their boats Punting along and

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riding the waves, they return with baskets of Fish, it appeared

to us that they Auction it as they bring it out of the Boat.  We lazied

about on the beach than had a swim. It was just a lazy day for us

This ITDC & its bungalows is a place that you could recommend to

any tourist, we shall stay until Saturday, Good Parking with Guards

keeping watch. Facilities include 2 Rooms and Sun Lounge Bathroom

Toilet, Electric Kettle, Hot Water Electric light Twin Beds

Air Conditioners Radio Refrigerator Good Wardrobe Writing desk

It is a complete Bungalow, Fly doors to Sun Lounge etc.

We went to Dinner by were not satisfied tonight.

 

Friday 8^th Nov

   It was a day of complete rest we just remained in the

Bungalow. Weather was glorious so we just sat in the Sun

Lounge and watched the Fishermen and Boats sailing

Parties arrive and leave within 30 minutes of each other.

The natives in this area are much darker skinned than

those of other parts of India. Women go to the rocks and

get basket fulls of Mussells which the Fishermen get from

diving they fill their Boats and pull into the rocks where

the womenfolk wait.   The cleaner girl was surprised

with the Water Purifier and took a glassful of water to

the Manager who then asked for the makers name and

address.   The water which they claim to be drinking

water is Brown in colour but the Purifier cleans it.

 

Sunday 3^rd Nov

            The Air Lines Hotel suited us for a free nights parking and we

got away from there by 8 and took the road to Mysore, this road

was good and again we were able to keep up a decent speed all

Page 34b

the time, we were doing abut 40 MPH.   Along this road

there were no Cattle problems but we saw quite a few Monkeys

some were even crossing the road in the High Street. We

reached Mysore quite easily and then went on towards Ottocamand¹

where we intended to spend a few days in the hills. Ottocamand

was 100 miles further along, except for a short stretch of road

that was under repair we had quite a comfortable run. We

also had Two diversions but no trouble, as we travelled

we picked up with the New Zealanders they had left Bangalore

about half an hour before us, they had stopped for a bit of

lunch, but they did not stop long and were away within

five minutes of our arrival.   We took a poor view of this action, but

after we had had a cup of Tea we went on.  We managed to stop

and take photos of a Colony of Monkeys it was quite a large Colony

as we went along further we saw more colonies of them. We

took the road that led through the Wild Life Park. It was quite

interesting and it was the first time in India we had seen plenty

of Park vegetation we reached the Elephant Nest where herds

could be seen across the fields.  The children have rides on

these Elephants across the Wild Life Parks, we continued and

found ourselves going up into the hills, it was a much better

road than we had experienced in going through the Passes of

Turkey, Afghanistan and Pakistan, this was quite a long

climb and it went on for miles, at one time we could see

 

1                    Ottocamand – Ooty also known as Ootacamund.

 

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over the tops of the nearby Mountains and the view was really

marvelous. Almost at the Summit there was a Village and

we passed the gates of a Tea Factory. All down the Mountainside

was a vast Tea Plantation.   There was a Coach party of

Women evidently out on an afternoon tour.   We started the

descent & on the left of us were loads of Timber, Tree Trunks

sawn into four foot lengths, stripped of all bark and wired up

in bundles ready for Transport.   There were many women

carrying loads of grass and branches on their heads. This really

was quite a common sight.  We stopped on the Bridge to admire

the Waterfalls which we presume was generating the Power for

Electricity, reaching Otto we found the Savoy Hotel where

we “booked” in for Two days. We had travelled 189 miles

today, and this with yesterday travels has taken us almost

right across the Southern part of India, the one outstanding

feature of these parts in the hills is that it is really Chilly, in

fact the coldest we have experienced during the whole of the time

we have been in any part of India   The Milage now is 11538

 

Monday 4^th Nov

    Last night was very cold and because of this it took quite a while to

get any sleep, these Hills are 7500 ft up and that accounts for the

coolness of the place. People walk about well wrapped up. We had

breakfast but the Service was poor, it was the same at Lunch.

We walked down to the Village which is known as Chaing Cross

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and visited the Tourist Information Office but the staff were not

very interested and we received little help.  Elsie bought a map of the

South of India.  We then walked along to the Bank and changed £40

India has been very expensive. Although we have travelled many miles

it must be reckoned as the most expensive Country one can travel in.

On making our way back to the Hotel we passed a Demonstration that

was taking place at the Collectors Office, quite a crowd of people were

chanting, but it appeared to be getting out of hand, as we noticed that

near by shops were closing as the Police gathered and were ready to

move in. It was no concern to us so we got on towards the Hotel before

any violence started. We were back here by noon.