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Published: October 27th 2008
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On the way to Kerala: It was the first time I saw cockroaches that close - on my upper bed in the train… but there was no way out: 14 hours overnight train and a full train - I had to sleep there. Luckily I didn’t see them anymore.
Currently it rains a lot in Kochi - it's because of the second monsoon of the year, called North-East-Monsoon. Origionally it should only rain at nighttime - but because of the climate change it also rains in daytime.
I had a very relaxing time there and was a little bit ill so I slept a lot - and - attention - bought 6 books - it's not me, isn't it? I read a lot in this very nice village (Fort Cochin) and felt a little bit back to former Europe (100 years ago) - feeling kind of at home is such a nice feeling, I've never been sitting 2 times in 4 days in a Basilica - it felt so European! And it was so cool and less humid in there!
Some other impressions/ thoughts:
I loooooooove the Indian kitchen - lots of colors and spices,
Kochi/ Kerala, South-West India
In a garden cafe I had breakfast - I love greeeeeeeen very natural products - but a lot of oil and sugar. It seems people need it here because of the climate. It's so interesting how they use the spices - lots of them are for a better digestion, every ingredient seems to be used for a certain reason. I talked to some girls from Latin America about the Ayurveda classes they joined - a very interesting science about body, soul and food!
I cannot get used to the way Indians show that they actually agree: they move their head from one side to the other (it means YES, I agree, it's ok etc.) - for me that movement means the oppisite: 'I'm not sure/ it's not ok' ... confusing!
You’re getting so relaxed and flexible traveling here - there’s no point to rush or to fix plans… you would become crazy and plans exist to change them - or they become changed caused by certain circumstances.
30.000 Israelis a year visit India - so it’s no surprise that you can find Hybro letter stickers on some keyboards in cybercafés; sometimes you start messenger and it writes from the left to the right side 😊 In some villages
Kochi/ Kerala, South-West India
Simolina (Gries) with mustard seeds and curry leaves and chilly - accompanied by smashed potato. Great breakfast! signs are written in Hybro language, usually there’s Israeli food on the menu cards (in the traveller hot spots) etc.
It’s such a colorful country: food, spices, clothes…
It’s not allowed to kiss in public - but at the same time it's very common to touch between the same sexes (especially men often walk hand in hand or arm in arm on the street).
Time management… time doesn’t seem to exist! So you’ve to find your own time management to get the trains etc.
Back to Europe I’m so allergic to pineapple - here I can have lots of pineapple every day and nothing happens - wow!
I’m surprised about myself… one reason to come especially to India was to get to know other ways of thinking and living. I wanted to know if I feel like changing my way of living etc. afer coming back - let’s say a big an important test for myself! But the opposite happened: I became confirmed in the way I’m living and thinking! All the meditation and spiritual things didn’t attract me that much - it was interesting to talk to people about it and to think about
it - but not to include it into my lifestyle! But you can be sure that I’ll include Indian kitchen into my lifestyle 😊
Everything is so dirty here (staying in budget hostels, budget train classes etc.) ... but with some hints it's no problem, for example I always put my sleeping bag and some blankets or my Indian scarf on the mattresses, the beds in the trains etc.
It seems Indians don’t realize it so much when it stinks - for example in the trains… as long as the trains don’t move it’s stinking so much in the (cheap) sleeper class although the toilet doors are closed. As soon as the trains move on it’s ok (perhaps it's also because when the train stopps at a train station - there it always stinks toooo much) - then there comes a lot of wind inside of the train. So: you should always have a scarf next to you mouth just in case the train stops - that happens a lot!
But for the amount of people and hours of the journeys it's still incredible clean - one reason could be that Indians don't use toilet paper and the toilets
Kochi/ Kerala, South-West India
remembering the old colonial times are usually wholes in the ground.
Another reason that lots of poor people are staying/ sleeping near or at the train station is not only the bathroom but also clean drinking water for free on the platforms - and as I already wrote the toilets of trains that remain in the station over night - so you can imagine that it’s not recommendable to breath through the nose at train stations…
Sometimes I feel uncomfortable about the way people are talking to me (especially salesmen) - they often don’t say things in a kind way; for example the hint to join a boat trip… instead of that they say 'after you (have to) make a boat trip' - but it’s just because they cannot build sentences very well. It’s a shame for them because I automatically say NO if people are talking to me like that - I’m sure sometimes it’s just a hint for free.
There’s always a solution! Indians are artist in finding solutions - often they’re chaotically but in the end it usually works out!
I percieve Indian people as very warm persons; they always try to help you! If you’re for example
on the platform in the train station, looking for your train or seat number not only the person you ask tries to help you - suddenly there’re 10 people around you, discussion with each other about your question. They usually don’t think 'it’s not my problem- I don’t want to listen to it - I'm not responsible' - they see it as their own job to help you to find a solution.
The way the train reservation system is working is very strange. First I wondered how it would work out that all the people (also those on the waiting lists for their own seat/ bed) can go inside the coaches of the sleeper class; I expected a huge chaos. But then it was clear: as soon as a bed is reserved only for one station, this bed is automatically not given to any other person during the rest of the whole journey of the train. That’s organized chaos - one reason why there’s always lots of space for (at least for me) unexpected solutions and surprises. I would take a lot of time to understand Indian systems!
45% of Indian families are sleeping in one room -
you see those small houses all over India.
There’s still very less consciousness for the huge rubbish problem they actually have - people just through anything out of the window, on the streets etc. - in some cities there’s organization that are about to change that (Fort Cochin, Udaipur etc.).
One can really see and feel how motivated and willing to grow up India actually is! Everybody opens his business, sells things - and they definitely know how networks are working! Indians help not only tourists but also between each other; I didn’t see a lot of jealous people (seeing the rich people the poor definitely have a reason to be jealous) and almost no criminality. Lots of time I saw people sharing their food with poor people (lebra ill people in the train, the poor on the street etc.). It doesn’t’ seem to be a problem that the rich and poor are living next to each other or in the same building (when they’re building houses in areas where used to be slums; then the poor that lived there more than a certain amount of years get rooms on the bottom of the expensive apartment buildings).
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Nice Location!!!
Kerala is one of my favorite locations in India. It's a paradise in teh south west India... Nice Info.. ----------------------------------------------------------- A Complete Indian Resource Guide: http://www.EZCelebrate.com