27 Jan 2025
This tour requires some driving time. The highlight for me was the silk pod market. It is a fascinating place and learning how the pods are sold was very interesting. From there we visited a toy factory. That was somewhat interesting and may have been made better if more in the history or significance of the place was shared. The toy store we stopped at had a lot of variety. We also went to a recreation of historic times and villages where artifacts and relics were housed. This was okay and was made a little confounding by having a grounds person, perhaps docent follow us through. He was speaking over the guide and was hard to understand. The place was still under some construction but it was not obtrusive. There was some signage in English that provided historical perspective and that could have been enhanced. Our lunch stop was excellent. We ate with our hand off a banana leaf in traditional fashion. Final stop was the 400+ year old banyan tree. Some historical background on the tree would have been more interesting than pointing out the obvious way in which the tree grows and expands. More about the tree origins in India would have been of interest. My guide Vignesh spoke excellent English, communicated well regarding pickup details and was very accommodating. I am not sure I would call this a folk art tour, but some of the sites were of interest to me.