Yindia!!!!!!!!! Day 3 - We Two, Our One!!!!

I think it drizzled the whole nite... I really didnt think i would be shivering in India... At first we thought of going up to Ootty which is very close to Coimbatore... but decided not to since we just came back from Cameron Highlands and we didn't really bring any warm clothing with us either.... maybe another time :)

Jeyanthy's husband suggested Athirapally Waterfalls. It is located in the Thrissur disrict in the state of Kerala. It would take about 4 hours to get to the there. So the plan was to drive to Palakkad, book ourselves into a hotel and then drive to Athirapally after lunch.

So it was set... after a nice hearty breakfast of tosai and chunney... we packed and im mean packed ourselves into the Captiva... There was 7 of us plus luggage... a long and claustrophobic journey... which took us through Kerala's wet and green landscape... i tell you it rained and drizzled on and off.... we did stop to rest and have something to drink.. i filled up on a strong hot cup of black coffee...

Remember i told you about those captions you will see behind commercial vehicles ... well as we continued our journey I noticed a caption behind a lorry that read 'We Two, Our One' ... im like what???.... what did it mean???... i wished i could asked the lorry driver what it meant.... I just did a google search and it asked 'Did i mean: We Two Are One'.... nope thats not what i was looking for.... so readers ..please... if you know what it means ...leave a comment will yer'....

(Theres suppose to be a train in the shot but i clicked to fast and there was nothing but trees in the next few shots)

(I stopped counting how many churches and shrines we passed along the way)

I was glad to reach Kallely's Park Inn... in Palakkad .... i was actually more glad to be out of the car... its no fun seeing so many interesting things pass you by in the car and not be able to take a closer look... ... well we didnt really have that much time to rest either... We checked-in and decided to eat at the hotel... Thats when we find out that the hotel is understaffed because of it being Onam.

Onam is the biggest festival in the state of Kerala, South India. It falls during the Malayalee month of Chingam (August-September) and marks the homecoming of the legendary King, Mahabali. Onam is celebrated for ten days and is linked to many elements of Kerala's culture and tradition..... (thank you wikipedia)... i guess we picked a bad time to come to Kerala...

The drive to the waterfalls reminded me so much of Malaysia... the lush jungle and landscape was just like a drive through a malay kampung (village) .....heck even the rain fooled me......... the roads were good.... .... We were home!!!.... then an 'Auto Rickshaw' passes us by.... honking away like life depended on it... and then we wizzed by a giant sized sculpture of the 'Pieta' ...... nope.. defirnately not Malaysia...

(everything but the kitchen sink)

Anyway the drive there was pleasant .... right until we reached Athirapally... it was total pandemonium .....first we were greeted by ... hundreds maybe thousands of cars..... then ...... good god!!!!....the people.... hundreds of thousands of Keralites enjoying the Onum Holidays....... and maybe a few thousand other tourist...

The rain made it even worst... Rose and I went ahead with an umbrella as Kumar went to park the car.... I had to pay 10 rupees at the gate to take my camera in.... and we walked up a rocky path and then as the path led down ... it got really muddy.... with hundreds making their way to and fro... .... some trying to shelter from the rain with umbrellas and also funny plastic hats they bought from the string of stalls outside the entrance...

Decided to walk down a path that lead to the base of the falls.... i really wondered why we did that... The force of the falls was so strong that all we could see was mist of water spray ... then the rain got heavier so we went back up to the top.... where we met up with the others .... got closer to the edge of the falls. Athirapally was truly a powerful and magnificently beautiful waterfall... it was too bad that it was just too crowded and the weather just didnt let up....

We made our way back to the entrance and as we waited for Kumar to get the car, we had a look around at the stalls... and then took refuge under the coconut drink seller's shed ...because ... yup you guessed it.... It started raining heavily again...


(the fresh coconut drink stall we took shelter in)

Kumar took some time to get back with the car.... im sure he had to park really far away... well once we eventually got going... they all actually stopped further down the road to let me take a few shots of the falls .... it was really magnificent lah... wow ....just wow...


(can you see the people on the left side of the falls?)

Ofcos we also stopped at the giant sculpture of 'Pieta'... Mary Mother of Sorrow...watch over us...



actually its amazing lah... we passed so many holy shrines, churches and places of worship .... every few hundred meter or so you will see one of the other...


(yet another church ..... check out the roof design...cool)

The other thing i noticed was the unique roof structure of a number of buildings... i wonder if it was unique to this part of Kerala...

We were absolutely tired when we got back to the hotel.... a few winks of sleep and a hot shower later... we went out for dinner... Took a walk from the hotel to find a place to eat but it was long before the women were in saree and jewelry shops .... kekekeke Anyway... it looked like mostly all shops were closed ... so we decided to go back to the hotel for dinner...

On the way back father-in-law and i got a little curious with a long line of men at the side of one shop... the front looked closed... but the side of the shop had a rows of men lining... It was a 'wine shop'.... liquor shops in india where called wine shop... but they didnt have a single bottle of wine... they had everthing else though... You know what... As chaotic as India seems ... It was strange seeing these men line up so patiently .... ... We Malaysians cant even line to get into the bus properly also...


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We Two, Our One......