i left mumbi about a week ago and took a train to ernakalum in kerala. it is a lot wealthier than the parts of delhi that i saw, and almost no trash what a relief. also no dogs or cows or goats either. i had taken a 3 AC train class for the first time. what a difference. no 20 hawkers an hour going through the train. in fact maybe only 1-2 people an hour going through the compartment to the restroom. no 15 people in 8 seats. in fact in my compartment meant for 8 there were only 3 of us. i paid the extra money for the lower 1st class train because i had a pretty bad cold and wanted to treat myself but did not know how much better it would be. i hate air conditioning, but the peace was worth it. the two gentlemen in my compartment shared their concerns about global warming, which were that the summers were lots hotter making them unbearable and less water from the monsoons were hurting agriculture.
on the train, my eyes were watering, my nose streaming fluids and my head was aching so i did not see much. however there were several river deltas where i saw what looked like chinopas. millions of tea plants. they must go out on boats to harvest the tea. another delta about 5 km away had the same configuration of land in the river mouth but there was no tea growing there. also the profusion of plants was much more jungle like about twice the profusion of plants as on the east coast of india.
i left ernakalum quickly, city as it is. i got on a bus going up to thekkadi where there is a wild tiger preserve and the hill country with lots of agroforestry. it seemed like 150 km before i was out of the city. there were small areas of agroforestry in between the suburbs of the city. right about 150 km my heart quickened. all of a sudden there were trees with many levels and variations of plants. coconut trees, teak trees, silver oak trees, banana trees, cardamon, nutmeg, hibiscus, tea plants etc. i thought coconuts only grew on the coast, but they grow all the way almost to the highest points. the last 1000 feet it is apparently too cold for them. these magnificent food forests on the hills felt like home to me. there is no terracing just planting in the hills, except for tea. tea seems to be planted on about 2 foot wide terraces so that each row of plants has their own level.
on most of the bus ride we went along a steadily rising valley. the side we were on was all planted with food forest with houses, again fairly wealthy compared with other rural parts of india. (nice wood shutters, fancy roof tiles, some lovely sloping upward roofs i associate with thailand, etc. still the same either concrete or concrete covered brick structures) for 100 km on the opposite side of the valley was forest with very tall hills and steep rock faces. then all of a sudden there were food forests on both sides. there had been a large hydroelectric project including a dam. and it was after this backed up water that the other side was developed. there also were houses over there so a road must go over there at that point. do not know if the sun angle changed, the soil changed, the steepness of the lope changed, or it was the water and the road that allowed the food forests to grow on the other side of the valley. quite a site.
the bus was interesting, freight on the top including vegetables, mainly a full bus with folks getting on and off at all kinds of little village areas. then after school a lot of students came on for standing room only and rode 20-25 km to go home this made the total on bus with a 50 capacity of about 80 people. here i am holding on to everything i can hold onto, making my plans for when the bus finally goes off the road (jumping out the window) and i look over to see to the right and left of me, the indian ladies sleeping, hmmm. . . i kept thinking i could figure out a way to stabilize myself, but still have not figured it out, maybe trying to figure it out is the problem. maybe i should sit near the back of the bus, where i cannot see what is happening and close my eyes and see if i can fall asleep.