We enjoyed our time in Varkala however it was now the time to sadly leave the beaches and cooling ocean behind and head inland to the small town of Kumily where the Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary is located, home to wild elephants and tigers.

A 2.5hr busy train ride departing Varkala at 7am to Kottayam was quickly followed by a speedy 3hr bus journey to Kumily, which should normally have taken 4hrs but the bus driver had obviously been to bus racing school. Our home-stay of choice was Claus Garden at 1400rs/per night, run by Claus of German descent and his Indian wife, who both welcomed us on arrival to their lovely house. Large open rooms with wooden fittings, solar hot water, wi-fi, communal area, kitchen that we could use, breakfast if you wanted it and a lovely roof top terrace with the occasional black monkey.

We both loved the setting for our next two days and quickly increased our time here by another night. A cheap lunch was served up at the Annapurna vegetarian restaurant located on the main road running through Kumily. We booked onto a “Nature Walk” tour in the wildlife sanctuary at the Ecotourism office costing 800rs for up to 4 people. Once the afternoon heat and sun had receded somewhat we headed for the Miracle Mile road which leads surprisingly to Miracle Point! The views from the top are worth the hike which can be steep in places and we walked back towards the town passing little family homes, children waving and dogs barking angrily at us.

Breakfast consisted of pancakes, fruits, really tasty homemade jam, tea and coffee all for 180rs each. We had a relaxed morning exploring the garden of Claus Garden and working on editing photos and writing for the blog. Before we knew it we were at Chrissies for a lunch of Italian pasta variety. The food was good, especially a great cardamon shake, but the dining environment was a little lackluster.

If you are in a mountain region like this one then you really should visit a spice/tea plantation. A short rickshaw ride (50rs) to Abraham’s Spice Garden, which is noted in the Lonely Planet and featured in Micheal Palin’s Around the World in 80 gardens, was also highly recommended by Claus. We toured the lush garden with Mr Abraham himself for 1 hour which included tasting herbs, leaves, bananas and fresh papaya straight from the tree. The tour was very good costing 100rs each and we would highly recommend it, over the more commercial plantations in the area. We jumped on a local bus back to Kumily and the home-stay for more blogging, reading, napping, yoga and a body circuit  – not all at once and not all for both of us! Evening meal was eaten at Sree Krishna, a South Indian Thali filled us to the brim.

Up early and in a rickshaw for 6.15am, we would have to wait for breakfast until we returned from our guided “Nature Walk” in the Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary where we would hope to see some lush natural landscapes and wild elephants. The tour began 20 minutes after the 7am scheduled time slot and our guide was of the mute variety. No introduction, just some form filling waiving our rights away, he mumbled inaudibly whist we followed him through grasses and forest. We came within 20m of an elephants bum sticking out of some bushes and we retreated to observe from afar. We know and understand that elephants are very dangerous, not really the harmless gentle type, but we spent most of the 3 hours heading in the opposite direction from any of the elephants that we spotted, even at 100m+ away!

With temperatures rising and frustration setting in after passing the same few trees several times we arrived back at the beginning and said goodbye to our friendly if not very informative guide. Back at Claus Garden breakfast was a grand affair which included home-made brown bread, north Indian soft cheese from a can (think mozzarella), tomatoes, home-made jam and peanut sauce, fruits, tea and coffee, all of which were quite spectacular.

During the afternoon we explored more of Kumily on foot and then spent the afternoon and evening relaxing in the home-stay. The following morning was our departure day from Kumily to journey onwards towards Munnar, a 4-5hr journey on a private local bus leaving at 9.45am.

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f2.0, 18mm f4, 90mm Tele-Elmarit f2.8 processed in Lightroom 3)

The bus met us outside the hostel in Tunxi at 7am and we found a couple of seats at the back of the smallish bus. Sitting at the back on these things is never a good idea when you’re in the more rural areas; not a lot of space and its a bumpy ride! It was a local bus with most people making their way to work. It took us about an hour to reach Tangkou which is the closest village with transport links directly to the start of the paths of Huangshan Mountains. You will always find your way around by pointing to a map or just looking for where most people are heading! Here there is a bus station with coaches upon coaches lined up ready to take you to either the west or the eastern paths to the summit. It’s a little like a theme park, it doesn’t really seem reflect any other mountaineering experience we’ve had before, except for the alpine ski resort feel. Anyway you choose which way you want to go and then get the bus to that entrance point.

The bus costs around 15 yuan per person and most people tend to head to the eastern steps or they get the cable car! We had read in the Lonely Planet and on some other travel blogs about the best routes and views etc also so we had an idea of what to expect. Once you arrive at the entrance point to the mountain there are of course more entrance fees to get in. With it being off season we paid around about 100yuan to access the routes which start with steps, leading to more steps and so on. We started pretty early at 8.30am and passed the local marathon club who seem to team up together for big adventures, yodelling into the cliff tops…we sped past them early on so as not to get too caught up in their crazy ways. It is perhaps the one mountain that everyone in China wants to climb. The scenery is beautiful there is no doubt about it, but it’s annoying for us that they have built a path all the way from start to finish. Why can’t there be any nice trails to hike up, something like Snowdon or Mt Blanc would offer way better options for hiking without trying to make it all into one bit tourist trap. We’re just glad we went off season as witnessing the video footage on our way up showed thousands of people in the summer season making their way up and down the mountain. Some of the paths are also pretty narrow and close to the edge so it wouldn’t be pleasant at all to be there amongst the masses.

It took us around 3 hours to reach the first station which is where the cable car goes to, from here there are many paths that lead towards other higher points on the mountain, one place that had outstanding views but with a ridiculous name was Beginning to Believe Peak, on the sign on the way up was something like ‘seeing is believing, you’ll only believe it when you reach the heaven peak’…or something just as cheesy! Other peaks were climbed and at times we were the only ones there, very refreshing in the circumstances. We found our way to Bright Summit Peak where everyone crowds to when the sunsets and rises, there were already lots of people there waiting in anticipation. From here we walked to find our accommodation for the night. This was situated behind one of the hotels past the Bright Summit Peak.

We went for the cheap option on accommodation front, but it really was pretty poor and perhaps paying the extra 20 yuan for the night in one of the better budget hotels would have been a more pleasant experience (we paid 100yuan for a dorm). Dave and I were split up into single sex dorms and they were in a cold, damp basement. Further down the hallway were old, mouldy looking mattresses that didn’t fill us with any confidence! The good thing was we got there before anyone else so we managed to enjoy clean, hot showers before setting out to enjoy the sunset.

We found a spot away from the busy areas for the sunset along with a few others and took in the views. Putting all of the steps behind us and hotels on the top of the peaks, we managed to find a peaceful spot with a stunning landscape and sunset to fit. It was really peaceful.

The food isn’t good on the mountain too so be prepared to take snacks and fruit with you. We did have some vegetarian food which just about did the job and then we went back to our room to play cards. Later on we were both bombarded by the other guests staying in the rooms. We then had to separate for our first night in two months!! Lost we were!! ha ha!

It didn’t matter too much having damp rooms as we didn’t stay in them for very long as we were up at 5.30am the next morning for the sunrise. This doesn’t occur until around 6.30-7am but we got a good spot and again it was nice and quiet. The photos speak for themselves. Straight after we made our way down on the western steps. This route is tough and a lot steeper than the eastern steps, less people choose this route and as we left so early it was a long time before we passed anyone. This was great as the views once again across the mountains were breathtaking. One problem with all the steps is that it’s not very good for your knees and calves, too much concrete! We were passed on walking sticks from some kind walkers the previous day so we said we would find some people to pass ours onto too on our way down.

It took longer than we anticipated to reach the bottom, we both found people to pass our walking sticks onto and we had a little cheer at the bottom before waiting for the bus to take us back to the bus station.

Two buses later and we were back in Tunxi ready for some good food and rest before our hardsleepers booked for that evening.

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f2.0 & Olympus PEN, 17mm f2.8 & 100mm f2.8, processed in Lightroom 3)