Day 21

At the morning I planned to be out of bed early to get to the town and eat some proper breakfast, before the tour. But because chatting with certain someone I didn't really sleep much and went to the bus stand maybe not with a hurry, but I still didn't have time for breakfast.

At the bus stand they pointed me to the bus that taken us for the tour. Group of Malayali guys entered with me and we started to chat. When I learned that they are from Kerala I joked that they want to reenact "Manjummel Boys". Soon after group of Tamil guys entered, they were slightly bigger group than Malayalis. Speaking about whole tour in not chronological order, I could say that both of them were interested in hanging with me and doing photos together, but they kept separate, even though there was no language barrier (Malayalis were speaking Tamil). I felt like Archie that has to choose between Betty and Veronica, trying at first to engage with both of them, but I guess eventually I have been snatched by Malayalis. I wondered who under that metaphor would be Betty and who Veronica. In the end I decided that Malayali group was Veronica, being more outspoken and forceful with calling me to hang with them, while Tamils were more restrained. I always thought that I would choose Betty, but apparently I was proven wrong in the action.

Beginning of the tour covered what I already saw, but visibility under today's weather was better so I finally could see what viewpoints actually have to offer. Next we crossed into the forest area that I wasn't allowed to enter yesterday. Most of points of interest had separate entry fee, I was already aware about that so I wasn't bothered. But it came out that I have to pay exactly ten times more for every entry as a foreigner. It wasn't entirely new thing, I already saw it in few places before, but the price rate difference was plainly way bigger here than anywhere before. And I think what is worth pointing out that I'm not speaking here about street sellers that their wide range vary according to their judgment. It was fixed rate clearly written down, run by government institution. It wasn't that big price, even in accumulation, but it left bitter taste in my mouth. One of Malayali guys was very protective of me and he was upset that I need to pay so much additionally. He even asked me to make some experiment - to ask at the stalls about prices, but it came out that price rates there were same for me.

Worth noting location among viewpoints was "Pillar Rock" viewpoint, with very scenic landscape and namesake huge mountain rocks. Another thing was "Pine Forest" which is actually very common type of forest in Poland, so when I entered it I already felt weird sensation of familiarity, not only through sight, but also through smell. It was intensive smell of familiar forest. But macaque monkeys running around provided element of defamiliarisation to otherwise very known sensory feeling of polish forests.

However, the biggest highlight of the tour were "Guna caves", known by that name since old Tamil movie Guna with Kamal Haasan that was shot here. Previously it was known as "Devil's Kitchen". More recently though, it's movie "Manjummel Boys" from just 2024 that brought fresh batches of tourists to it, me included. The place provides one of the best viewpoints, but also there's characteristic tangle of roots running around the whole place where people mostly were doing photos. The caves themselves can be peaked at through bars, but not entered, as it's too dangerous, which aforementioned movie is all about.

After the tour the Malayalis kept me close and we went to eat something and to the lake area afterwards. They were overexcited and wanted to try various things so we went for boat ride, we borrowed two seater bikes to go along the lake (and they were tired easily, no much experience with bikes) and they also opted for shooting with air-gun. After going around the stalls, talking with people and going for dinner, they went for the bus as they moved to the next hill station. It was fun to hang around with them for longer, because otherwise I wouldn't try all that. The protective guy was very observant and he kept asking "Why the girls look at you like that? Why did she smile at you?" These are actually quite good questions, but I thought it's quite funny to hear them from the guy who also gave me a lot of attention, curiosity and wanted to hang out with me as long as possible.

I returned to the room satisfied and ready to move to the next location. Experience of mountainous region was overall very different from what I expected and from what I know through lifetime experience of hiking in Polish-Czech-Slovak mountains. I felt that there's still a lot of variety to explore, but it has to be left for another trip to India, because I planned to return to the coast. To Kanyakumari, the southernmost point of subcontinent.

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