I've well and truly made it to paradise.
My departure from Mysore, back to Bangalore, consisted of a rustbuckety train journey that was only a few hours long and most enjoyable. The languid pace soon turned the buzzy atmosphere into a soporific one as some divine food god kept handing me things I wanted - water check, biscuits check, mango juice check....only thing missing was a massala chai.
On arrival I jumped in a rickshaw and Sampat met me near his place for the bus ticket exchange and a few hours of catch up. We went to drink, you guessed it, massala chai at a place called Infinitea. I couldn't help think of Choi Time and Mellie as I looked at the amazing menu that included flower teas and various other delights. Within half an hour or so, after telling my new friend that I was planning to go to Kottayam for Christmas, Sampat had phoned a friend of his called Alex who then joined us for a delicious Indian dinner and accompanied me to the bus stop. I am to spend tomorrow, can't believe it's Chrissie day tomorrow, with Alex's family who live in Kottayam and sound wonderful. Lucky me!
So the overnight bus journey could have been far worse, I had a sweet old Indian lady called Cecilly next to me. All was going well until I had a long battle with my foot rest, which I couldn't get to stay up. She looked at my warily, then slowly reached down and pulled her handbag into her lap. I tried to explain that I was just fighting with the foot rest, but her English didn't go that far and I clearly have a dodgy air about me!!
On arrival in Ernakulum (closest city to Cochin), my host Harry John of Sritara Homestay was not there to greet me as planned, unfortunately his driver had called in sick. I bumped my way to Fort Cochin in a rick and the breakfast of idli that greeted me made everything ok. Amazingly, a British girl called Sarah sat opposite me and before her cab came to whisk her away we worked out that she knows my neighbour Jodie Reed back in London as they both work in similar areas of government!! Harry was most welcoming and my/Sarah's ex room was just fine. Although a lot of people told me that Cochin was great and the people I met at Sritara and beyond seemed to think it wonderful, I can't say I took to it. I'm sure if you were to stay a few days one would undoubtedly find some gorgeous nooks and crannies, but perhaps I was just suffering from spoilt brattedness, having been hosted everywhere until that moment. Plus I could see the backwaters and coconut palms calling me in my minds eye.
I wandered into town, as I knew if I collapsed in a heap I'd never get up, and took a look at the old Chinese fishermans' nets that are ancient and bizarrely wonderful, still bringing in the local catch every day. I found the town overrun with pale, pasty tourists (natch!) and the locals hardly smiled but I pushed on into Jew Town having found an Ayurvedic centre on the way. The streets were crammed with shops filled with every variety of rice you could imagine, plus a host of chillies and very dusty antiques - it felt like I'd stepped right back in time. It was steaming hot, so I sat with a bunch of men on the side of the road and they looked at me with some suspicion.
To get some space and air, I jumped on a ferry back to Ernakulum to try and get the right power cord for my camera. I was the only whitey on board (3 rupees cost = less than half one pence) until at the last minute a skinny little Aussie dude called Matt jumped on and proceeded to tell me about how he'd bought a bike in Goa and cycled down. He'd had a wonderful trip and loved Kerala with all his blessed little heart. I helped him sort out a new watch strap and he pointed me to MG Rd, (Mahatma Ghandi Rd - they love an acronym here), where I spent a very hot and disappointing hour running around in circles.
By the time I made it back to Cochin, I was seriously ready for my treatment and then wandered as dusk beckoned to Parade Ground where a divine little man called Alimin (sp?) challenged me to a game of badmington with a very old shuttlecock. When he snapped a string on his racket, I took him off to the local shop to buy him a new set which pleased him greatly. His mother invited me in for tea and bananas and some other delicious fruit (bright pink and rather melon-y but small with a green skin). They told me about losing their house in the Tsunami and having to move to Fort Cochin. Although they were Muslim, they were making Christmas decorations and we took a few photos. Alimin saw me safely home and I flopped into bed for a monster sleep, pity the dog next door felt the need to bark all night but hey, ho on we go.
It was with some relief that I mounted the bus for Allepey, but I was sad to say goodbye to Harry and his wife who makes the best coconut-cashew-banana-raisin-cardamon pancakes. A British backpacker who lives in Istanbul and I squeezed our way into the seats by the front and I saw my first elephant as we zoomed down the highway. It was butt clenching stuff but we chatted most of the way, while the lady next to Sarah kept prodding her white skin in disbelief.
Like any journey, there are always going to be places that excite you less than others but they make the next place that much more amazing. When my rick dropped me off by a bridge with a sign to walk a path and hang a right by the lake, I knew I'd made the right decision to move on. Keraleeyam Resort sits right on the Punnamada canal and it is an Ayurvedic Treatment Centre where you can learn the treatments as well as get given them. I immediately ordered a delicious lunch of local fish curry and flopped from the massage table onto the hammock by my room, which is party of a big cottage. The path along the river/lake is covered with coconut palms where the only drawback from being right on the edge is the amount of boats that go past at an alarming rate. You soon get used to the rhythm however and it's a small price to pay.
After washing the oil and dirt off, I took off in the dusk to check out Allepey town. I almost collapsed in my room when I went back for my torch, but made a deal with myself that I wouldn't move from Keraleeyam the next day if I went for an explore that night. A rick dropped me off in the midst of a sea of people and I immediately got caught up in the flood of families and young bucks with their slick 70s hair dos and Harry high pants. This took me inside a mini Luna Park where rickety old rides were filled with squealing, happy kids and the noises coming from the various attractions was indescribably loud. On sighting a eunuch and the sign for a snake woman, I paid to stare at one of the most bizarre things ever. A 'bodyless' woman with a microphone in front of her was saying each person's name while her plastic 'snake' body wiggled. Everyone seemed to be loving it. I decided against the dog show and motorcycle extravaganza as it was too much fun just wandering about. As the only whitey I was a bit of an attraction and shared many smiles and waves with plump, happy little critters.
There is a Hindu celebration going on here as well as Christmas celebrations so the streets were utterly rammed and I just wandered around until I fancied some dinner. I had heard that the beach would be a little disappointing but the dinner was ok and there were lots of kids making happy noises on the waterfront, a bit like Portsea this time of year though probably more refined as they were dancing and singing in big groups and there was no booze to be seen, though I'm sure it was there.
After meeting various neighbours on my way back to my room last night, I encountered Don the San Franciscan at 6.30am this morning as I was making my way to my dawn canoe ride. I invited him along and we took turns to help Viji paddle as the birds awoke, the locals washed themselves and the velvetty red sun decided to come up. It was pure bliss. We had over an hour before any other boats (apart from some canoes) joined us. Plus, being eco-friendly and small, we were able to go up some narrow little canals where it felt like there was noone else in the world but us, until we passed yet another woman washing her pots or a guy cleaning his teeth. You're never far from another human being here.
After a delicious local breakfast, I took myself back to my room and tried to just drift from my book to sleep to book to sleep. However the resort and my Spanish neighbours (Carmen and David are doing the Ayurvedic course here) got concerned that I was depressed and kept knocking on my door and asking how I was and if I wanted lunch. How does one explain that you've never been so relaxed and all you want is to be left alone for a few hours? After nearly devouring the final section of Vikram Seth's incredible Two Lives, I gave in and joined for lunch. My golly gosh, I am going to need to go to an ashram soon just to monitor my food intake. Every meal seems to get better than the last!!
Anyway, that's more than enough from me. I'm off to catch the ferry to Kottayam (2 hours of divine scenery I hear) early tomorrow and I'll be there for 2 days. I'm very tempted to meet up with a lovely bunch of Brits in Varkala over new year, but I think the Sivananda ashram in Trivandrum is calling. I'll keep you closely posted. For now, the final few chapters of my book and the hammock are calling.
Have a very merry Chrissie everyone.
Coconut flavoured love to you all.
Lxxxx
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