Our January Tour of Sri Lanka and India
The last two weeks of January were spent in the company of 15 delightful fellow travellers as once again, we took in the sights, sounds, smells and palate-pleasing delicacies of India. Having ventured to this sub-continent three times in the last four years, we’ve had ample opportunity to see how everything is modernizing more quickly in this millennium than in the previous ten years. Tractors, earth-moving machinery and imported cars are more in evidence than ever before. Although this, in one way, means more efficiency and comfort for the people, it also spells increased pollution, higher unemployment and greater danger for the bovine and human pedestrians. And from the tourist’s point of view, it means the gradual disappearance of some of the charming scenes that we snap up so eagerly for our albums and the family at home.
This makes our job as tour leaders more challenging … whereas we used to visit the Cochin Pepper Exchange to delight in the raucous energy of open-outcry bidding on the exchange floor, the switch to computers has changed the scene to that of men sitting in front of computers. We can see that at home! And the charming, aromatic old-world-ness of the wood-furnace-fired cardamom drying sheds has gone, in favour of more efficient and time saving steel gas-fired driers. Of course, one has to appreciate that, for all producers, the name of the game is best finished product for least cost and effort.
However, our travelling companions assured us that there were still unforgettable highlights, lots of laughter and fascinating scenes wherever we went. Because India and Sri Lanka are so rich in spices, there were plenty of opportunities for impromptu “classes” on the ins and outs of production, quality and varieties of spices as we went along. Would you buy Sri Lankan vanilla beans, and if not, why not? And the vegetables! Have you ever seen elephant squash in the markets, or had a fresh sapota or mud-fruit with your breakfast?