Cheeky Possum, Cheeky Monkey

I’ve done a bit of traveling recently, so the next two posts may sound a little "what I did on my summer vacation".
The first trip was with Asha Begum, her 10 year old daughter Yasmin (cheeky possum of the title), and Angela, an Australian social worker who came to volunteer with BREDS. Angela really took a beating, as I did when I first arrived. India tests the coping skills of even the most experienced travelers.

We decided to head for the hills, starting out of Vizag very early in the morning. After about 2 hours in traffic, the congestion and shops of the city faded into cane and paddy fields. Soon the road started rising through many curves, to where the air was clean and cool. There were green slopes around, and a drizzle in the air. The ladies walking along the road here wrap their sarees a little differently. We saw two boys carrying a big bag of custard apples. We bought them for Ramarao’s wife for 10 rupees (25 cents).

We were among the first to arrive at the Bora caves. It was overwhelming to think that they found human remains here dating back 50,000 years. The caves were very dark, the air heavy, the ground wet and slippy from dripping water. The lighting was minimal to begin with, and when the current cut out, it was totally dark. Thank goodness for my little LED. There was a small stone lingam at the top of a rickety staircase and I climbed up to offer a prayer for a friend.

As we left the cave, Asha started snacking on some chips. She should have known better -- there was a sign that said “No eatables”. All of a sudden a monkey shot out of nowhere, landed on her saree skirt, grabbed her bag of chips and scampered up a nearby tree. Here’s a photo of her munching Asha’s chips. The speed of the monkey was incredible, but even moreso because she was carrying a baby on her belly the whole time!

When we got back to the parking lot, there was a big traffic jam. Some folks were warding off the chill with nips of whiskey (10am), and the monkey troops were out in full force. We bought some souvenirs – wild honey collected by the Adivasi folks, some shade-grown, organic coffee, and a bamboo hand-fan to use in the heat back in Patapatnum. We visited the tribal museum (see the killer rat trap foto), a large waterfall (more like a rapid than an actual fall), and the gate of the botanical garden (we were too cold and tired to go in, but that gate was really great!) The best part was that we got to visit Asha’s sister, Shahera, who’s been living up in Araku for the past 3 years.
Next, Hyderabad...