Saddling up in Kerala

One of our aims of this trip is to spend as much time as we can on saddles. For Sofia and Iris, this means horses and for Liam and I this means bikes. As we’ve headed south into the beautiful and lush state of Kerala, we’ve had opportunity for both of these, mixed in with a bit of Indian theme park action.

From Bangalore we headed south to the palaces of Mysore, before heading into Kerala to a horse ranch close to Thrissur and then heading to the traveller hub of Fort Kochi and inland again to Kuttikanam for the mountain biking.

We’ve been finding that for these short hops (one to five hours) into sometimes quite remote towns that intercity Uber or taxi rides is the most practical way of getting around for the family and we love being able to absorb the life in the towns and countryside as we pass by, although with some of the driving there are times where it is probably better to have the eyes shut!

We went on an impromptu $1 tuk tuk tour of Mysore. Our driver was the best yet…

We won’t be picking up our prescription here!

While there is trash everywhere in India and waste management remains a massive issue, a lot of drinks are in reusable glass bottles and a surprising amount of plastics is recycled. In fact 90% of PET plastic recycling rate is one of the highest in the world. This is mostly due to people sifting through trash to pick out the plastics rather than environmental awareness, which probably isn’t the most dignified way of achieving this.

Our actual tuk tuk tour guide took us to a few interesting spots around the old town like this bakery

Making ‘Beedi’ cigarettes

And incense making followed by a sales pitch with overpriced oils, and a textiles shop visit, which of course was the real cost of the tour.

We visited the very good Mysore zoo where we got our first and probably only glimpse of the endangered tiger for this trip. Numbers had been declining for decades due to poaching and habitat loss. Encouragingly, the numbers in the wild has increased for the first time between 2010 and 2016 by 700 to 3,900 due to conservation efforts.

However there was competition to be the zoo’s star attraction on this day

We visited the colourful Devaraja market

On one of my early morning cycle explorations I visited some of the streets around the market where produce was stored in bulk

We visited the beautiful Mysore palace. My alternative history for the palace’s wedding chamber backfired when I rolled off the plot to the ‘Red Wedding’. Sofia later googled it and discovered it was a plot to ‘Game of Thrones’ which she then proceeded to watch on Instagram, one of the most horrific scenes of the entire series. Good healthy viewing for an 11 year old!!

The palace was covered in lights, which looked impressive for the hour a week that it lights up…

The kids were well colour co-ordinated with the local cows that had been painted for a festival several days earlier

We headed south into Kerala for a home stay at the Stallions Valley stables. For Sofia, half the fun was caring for the horses…

Unfortunately Sofia got quite a bad fever while we were there so wasn’t able to ride as much as she would have liked. However, Liam loved his first proper experience on a horse and the riverside treks.

Our host Babu took us out in his Jeep for an off-roading adventure

It was refreshing to be able to swim in a non-polluted lake, with tributaries from the nearby national parks and forest reserves

We visited one of the many local rubber plantations at one of Babu’s friend’s place, where latex was harvested from the trees…

It takes about 10 trees to make just one of these sheets of rubber per day

Sofia experimented with the various types of chillies growing at the plantation

Enjoying an early morning trek around the ranch

Sofia’s illness was helped by various concoctions of Ayurvedic home remedies

The highlight of my stay was playing football in the evening with Liam and these lads, several of whom were planning on studying in NZ. My teammates from the Bestie Boys will find it difficult to believe that I managed to score the winning goal from 10 metres out into the top left hand corner. Certainly the pinnacle of my football career!

We headed further south into Kochi where we checked out an Indian style theme park at Wonderla.

…Liam hurt his sternum first up on the rollercoaster and Iris was out of action with a pulled muscle after the 4X4 ride. Sofia and I managed to knock off most of the thrill rides, which was a bit of an exercise of willpower as I discovered that my equilibrium and constitution for motion isn’t quite what it once was…

This was much more my pace the next day at the Fort Kochi waterfront!

…which is famed for its giant chinese fishing nets

We participated in Maria’s excellent cooking classes, which turned out to be a little too theoretical for the kids and I, but valuable and enjoyable for Iris.

We headed back inland to beautiful Kuttikanam, which with its hilly tea plantation covered landscape is ideal for a different kind of saddle sport. We spent the first day with a family ride close to where we were staying at the Misty Mountain plantation. Mike and his crew from Mountain Bike Kerala were brilliant hosts.

Liam trying some pepper growing at the plantation

I was sceptical about fitting two bikes and riders into one tuk tuk as I headed out for a big tour the next day.

…but there we have it

The day was a mix of scenic, flowing, and technical riding through tea and cardamon plantations, weaving in and out of villages.

…waiting for our tuk tuk for our return trip after a stunning ride

Meanwhile, the kids were trying to catch some dinner back at the plantation resort

We spent the evenings playing cricket and soccer with Mike and Deepak

…which combined with theme park rides, horse riding, 4X4 rides, off-road tuk tuk rides and mountain biking took its toll on my back.

Then next day Liam and I set off with the crew for another stunning ride. It was probably the longest and most difficult ride that Liam has been on and it was a ‘proud dad’ time as he gave it heaps and absolutely loved it!

Pankaj was a superb guide!

After a brilliant few days, we moved further inland to Kumily where at the request of Sofia, we’ve splashed out on some swish accommodation for her twelfth birthday!

Our big twelve year old…

As a birthday treat we spent the afternoon making chocolates with Maggie

Who surprised us with a birthday cake…

…to go with the one we’d already ordered to surprise Sofia at dinner where the whole restaurant joined in to sing her happy birthday.