Not So Nice

It was a seven hour ride from Ooty to Kozhikode (Calicut) and it cost me less than $2 US. No, don't congratulate me on my frugality. It certainly was not a bargain. It was dusty, dirty, noisy, and bone-jarringly bumpy at times. There was some nice scenery at times, but I don't think that quite made up for the negative aspects of the ride.

Calicut was certainly not much to write home about. The guide book mentions that it is an OK city. but I would even question that rating. The few "sights" were not really interesting compared to anything else in India, and the beach ...

Well let me tell you about the beach. The main beach area is a typical Indian beach, generally dirty. There is some "development" there in the form of carnival rides and such, but overall it is not very appealing. But perhaps my impression of the area has been colored by the rest of the beach.

I thought it would be nice to take a walk up the beach and get away from the developed area. As I started walking up the beach, I could not believe how much crap there was on the beach, and I don't mean trash. Human feces was practically rolling in the surf. Apparently the whole long stretch of beach is nothing more than a toilet. People drop their loads, wash them selves in the surf, and walk away. It was actually pretty disgusting, and I have seen some bad things in my travels around the world. Come on, even cats will bury their shit.

Now some of you may be saying, give them a break, it is the ocean after all. If they were taking a dump in the ocean, I wouldn't have as much of a problem with it. But it was on the beach. Piles between the water's edge and high tide, and logs rolling in the waves.

Makes you think twice about wanting to swim at the beaches in India, doesn't it? But don't worry too much. I didn't seen anything quite like this at any of the other beaches I visited in India. So my advice to you is to avoid Calicut if you can, and if you can't, just get in and out as quick as possible.

There are only three photos from Calicut in this set and they don't even show the city. One is a list of all the possible discounts available for train tickets, the next is a political poster for one of the parties in Kerala (In the north they seem to prefer Che over the communist trinity.) and the third is of the guy who fixed my sandals.

The other photos are of the Wayanad area back up in the hill country a bit. Supposedly there is wildlife in the park area there, but I only saw some monkeys, deer, and the side of an elephant. And the elephant wasn't even actually within the park. (It was just his side because he was off in the distance in the forest and I couldn't quite see his head for the trees.)

Have a look at the photos if you want.