It has been a remarkably memorable day in Thekkady. My freshest memory is of Kathakali, which means "story-play". I walked out at the end of the performance thoroughly disturbed and accepting that nightmares would be spicing up my sleep tonight. The story showcased a woman trying to make a man kiss her. He persistently refused, and then she reappeared at the back of the hall as a screaming demon (making two children in the audience cry). I could not get my head around it until I found out that this was just a small chapter of a bigger story. Relief! I don't think my explanation here has done justice to how horrified I was feeling when I was watching the show. Yes, apparently I am a narrow-minded racist! That being said, the other show of the evening, Kalaripayattu ("the mother of all martial arts"), was very impressive and entertaining. Religion, swords, fire and petrol - powerful combination.
The morning started off with more spectacular landscapes on the way out of Munnar. We were in the clouds! I literally could not stop taking photos for the first forty minutes of the drive, mesmerised by the fifty shades of green. Oooooo...
Thekkady is known for its spice and coffee plantations. I had an interesting tour around Evergreen Spices and Ayurvedic Garden. They seemed to have remedies for everything! The tour included medicinal chillies for lowering cholesterol, a seriously spiky fruit for curing snake poison, and also "Here is a treehouse, climb it".
I debated for some time whether it was acceptable to visit Elephant Junction, where elephants are kept in captivity. I went along to check it out, and the elephants seemed solid and nicely looked after. This was good because the elephant shower was an unbelievable experience! Having an elephant launch a trunk-load of water at you while you sit on its back is something special! Strange that when a human spits water at me it's not so fun.
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