Blogs from Kochi, Kerala, India, Asia
May 18th 2012
Disappointed, dejected, and disillusioned with my 4 drunk nights in Ooty and one drunken night in Allepy, I decided that what I needed was a vacation from this my hectic vacation. So, while my 24 hungover batch-mates flew, drove, or rode back to their respective lives, I stayed on in Kerala. In Cochin, a very kind friend of my mother’s (and now an excellent friend of mine) hosted me for another three nights. During that time, I visited Fort Kochi (by road and sea), which is a simply-must-do for so many reasons…one being its sudden Goa effect. There are quite a few homestays in this area (so no need to pester me for my friend’s address). One of which is a lovely Portuguese building which is supposedly where Vasco Da Gama himself lived in (I believe ... read more
April 27th 2012
I split off from my company and am back on the road alone now! I booked a flight back up to delhi (expensive but 6 hours of travelling verses 78...) but wanted to see Kochi first. Unfortunately I didnt factor just how long it would take to get to Kochi from Kumily! So I didnt arrive till 5pm! Still I got to have a nice evening walking round looking at the various sights and also went to a Kathakali performance. This was an interesting experience. Kathakali acting involves very mime-like facial gestures and the actors are very good really. But they don't talk and instead communicate the 'dialogue' with the most long-winded form of sign language ever!! Basically, what could have been conversed in 3-4 mins (with emotion and time to spare) took half an hour ... read more
April 25th 2012
Nautica reached Cochin, India early this morning. I was up at dawn as usual to take my hour walk around the exercise deck. I really believe that the most memorable moments from this voyage may be experiencing the beauty of the sun coming up over exotic new lands. This morning was no exception. There had been rain during the night so the air was very humid, but there was a slight breeze and calmer seas. The sun coming up over the Indian sub-continent was just awesome. A rainbow appeared out of a dark cloud mass to the west. I took that as a good omen for the day. Nautica is now in the port of Cochin, Indian. Bill is off to a overnight visit to the Taj Mahal at Agra. I couldn’t justify the cost of ... read more
April 7th 2012
7 avril 2012, Fort-Cochin & Allepey Bien le bonjour à vous chers lecteurs, ne vous inquiétez pas, je ne vous ai pas oublié! J’étais seulement très occupée lors de nos deux dernières visites, qui encore une fois étaient bien différentes de ce nous avons vu jusqu’ici. Et ce, pour seulement quelques heures d’autobus local, dans un paysage vraiment exotique. Le Kerala est une région que j’apprécie pour sa diversité et la gentillesse de ses gens, mais surtout pour sa luxuriante nature. La vie en vert! Nous avons passé 4 jours à Fort-Cochin, une ville portuaire où se côtoient les influences anglaises, portugaises et chinoises. Les bâtiments patrimoniaux blanchis à la chaux et les toitures Terracotta donnent un petit air européen à l’ensemble, alors que les filets de pêches qui jalonnent la plage vous ramènent en campagne ... read more
Days 43 and 44 - preparing for the Rickshaw Run
Published: April 7th 2012Asia » India » Kerala » Kochi
April 7th 2012
We spent April 6 and 7 in Cochin getting to know our Rickshaw; learning to ride the beast; hunting down spae parts,tools and supplies; and meeting some of the other teams crazy enough to be a part of this In addition to all of that prep, we participated in our Rickshaw's first photo-op. The Incredible India campaign was filming in Cochin and were keen to get the parade of pimped out rickshaws driven through the city. Cant wait to see what this video looks like! We start our Run around 10:00 AM tomorrow morning (April 8), and hope to keep all appraised of our progress through this blog and the following website: http://rickshawrun12s.theadventurists.com/index.php?mode=teamwebsites&name=the-shardles&page=route... read more
March 19th 2012
March20 Hey everybody!! Although very humid, being in Fort Cochin felt a big relief. South India is slightly less crazy! The driving is still pretty exciting, the electrical cables still hang low in the street, the assumption that you need a tuk tuk is still pretty persistent & the cockeral that wakes you up here in the morning, I can only assume is getting paid on the hour, almost every hour. We decided to wander after our lie in, first stop, food! We had a taster, we know this village has good food & we want more! Kashi Art Cafe! Amazing! Homemade bread, a sign saying they’re water is good to drink & their fruit is washed in good water too! Iced tea & iced coffee hit the spot & my tuna sandwich & Jonny’s chicken ... read more
March 17th 2012
Our guide keeps telling that the biggest problem in India isn’t political and it isn’t poverty: it is illiteracy. 40% of their population—that’s half a billion people are illiterate. It is why he tells us not to give money to street children—it only encourages them to stay out of school. Government schools are free, but the goal of many is to send their kids to private schools. The private schools conduct all their classes in English. By the way, that has not been a problem anywhere—most people speak English here. An educational visit to India isn’t complete without learning about the caste system. It is complicated. The easy explanation is that there are four levels: Brahman, warriors, tradesmen, servants. The reality is that there are more than 3,000 castes: a w... read more
March 16th 2012
Kochi (Cochin), India Friday 16 March 2012. Kochi is a thriving, palm-fringed port city, with one of the world's finest natural harbours. It is located in the state of Kerala on the Malabar coast in southern India. Kochi is a cluster of islands and peninsulas, lagoons and canals. We had arranged to take a tour with our tablemates, Dave and Irene and six others to the Kerala Backwaters. After a reasonably painless clearance by the Kochi immigration officials we disembarked the ship and waited (and waited) for our tour. We asked a port official where the bus was likely to be waiting and he said that it would not be on the quay without a permit. He kindly offered to go and look for "Best Shore Tours" in his car. We were about to give up ... read more
February 26th 2012
Vrijdag 24/02/2012 – naar Allepey en de Backwaters Vandaag verkennen we weer nieuwe horizonten. We klimmen eerst hoger de bergen in, langs felgroene theeplantages. Naarmate we weer zakken doorkruisen we rubberplantages en later ananaskwekerijen. Later, in de vlakte, de rijstvelden. Alappuzha (Allepey) is zowat de gateway voor een trip door de backwaters, een ingewikkeld netwerk van kanaaltjes en meertjes (op zeeniveau), omgeven door lagergelegen rijstpaddies. Dit is immers een van de rijstschuren van India. We gaan aan boord van een woonboot, gebouwd naar het model van de vroegere rijstboten, en vertrekken op verkenning van deze Keralase 'polders'. Lekker niets doen en genieten van het landschap en het dagelijks leven langs de kanalen. Onze schipper (ik ben zijn naam even kwijt) zorgt dat we veilig rondvaren, en Thsampy... read more
February 22nd 2012
Alright! I'll be doing this in english, as it takes more effort to do it in danish as I kind of stopped doing anything in danish... We'll try it! (ignore spelling and grammar mistakes if you happen to be from an englishspeaking country, please) Got my ticket booked to go up north. So now I've got a few things to look forward to: - A 33 hour trainride across India. - To ride a camel (hell yah, woo!) - To be a little bit cold perhaps, as the north is.. Well, north. - More than a week to pass time in the south. I intend to track down one of the five tigers in India and look at it. Today I arrived in Kochi, a town that consist of islands and a little bit of mainland ... read more
