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Published: December 18th 2009
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After a long sweaty day on the slowest train in the world we finally arrived in Kochi and got a Jesus blessed rickshaw to Fort Cochin to a nice little homestay called Hannahs Haven. We checked in and dumped our bags and scrubbed up and sent a lot of washing off to be laundered!
Out to dinner we found a little restaurant where everyone was drinking tea from tea pots - what NO BEER! are you mad! But because of the licensing laws - all of which seem very complicated - beer is served in tea pots out of the watchful eye of police... So an expensive tea but a refreshing cold thirst quencher after such a long time on a train.
The following day we dedicated our time to looking around the cultural part of Fort Cochin. One of the major hubs from which the VOC (Dutch East india Company) So interestingly there were many buildings with a similar history and architecture to those of my home town Cape Town. It was nice to see it all fit together in my mind!
Fort Cochin seems to be used to having a flurry of high flying travellers who
have cash to burn. So when we roll in on a budget there was a lot of long faces! Both Dom and I noticed a lot of hassle in a rather aggressive kind of way and we didn't care much for it.
Dom went to a cooking class where she made 6 lovely but flavoursome dishes and I went for a massage.
We decided to get out of Cochin and booked a few days touring with a nice man called Stanley Wilson of Wilsons tours. He runs eco tours with minimal impact on the environment. He has some houses up in the mountains in Munnar - the prime tea growing area and then onto a houseboat!
We were collected fresh and fruity at 6:30am to go up to see some elephants being washed in a river. They were festival elephants and belonged to a Sanctuary - but like everyone they get sweaty and needed washing in the mornings. There were 4 in total - one old lady at 39ys and 3 little ones - cheeky little ones! We got a chance to wash them ourselves with coconut husks and touch their trunks and just generally bond with them.
A few of the smaller ones were having non of the lying down and being washed business and were very playful indeed taking off and blowing water all over themselves and trumpetting loudly - it was quite magical to see such huge beasts at play!
Back in the car to a spice farm - where we saw all sorts of yummy spices and herbs in their natural surrounds being prepared. The most intriguing was the preparation of rubber from Rubber plants - YES I know they are not herbs!
Last stop for the day was up to the top of the hills in Munnar and up to our homestay. It was a private house with the most splendid view of the mountains and tea fields. Considerably cooler than the last few days and no humidity! ROCK ON!
Another long day in the car - the AMBASSADOR - and down to the coast where we stayed in a farm house. A rather curious old man seemed to fancy looking through the blinds whilst Dom was getting dressed - when i found him I told him to hit the road in no uncertain terms. It wasn't until the next
morning when I saw his wife that I realised why he was so curious of purt breasts.... dirty bugger!
The houseboat was a punt only with Solar panels for electricity and a totally wonderful way to kick back and watch some wildlife and the villages of Kerela go by. A big recommendation would be to book Wilson's Tours as there are only 2 boats on his backwaters! A wonderful 24hours!
From there we made our way down to Amrita Puri Ashram - the hugging mother - a real live saint! She is a wonderful woman who has such a huge following. More details here! http://www.amritapuri.org/
At first glance with all her devotees dressed in white it appeared like some sort of cult - but with a little time and some interesting conversations the work she and her followers do is magical. Amma's Dream
"Everyone in the world should be able to sleep without fear, at least for one night. Everyone should be able to eat to his fill, at least for one day. There should be at least one day when hospitals see no one admitted due to violence. By doing selfless service for at least one
day, everyone should help the poor and needy. It is Amma's prayer that at least this small dream be realised." -Mata Amritanandamayi Devi
The thing she is most famous for is her hugs - where you get a chance to connect with this special soul.
She does public "darshan" sessions where she hugs people solidly for 12-18 hours - as many as 3000 people in a day. It was a very special experience.
So after feeling the love for a few days we said goodbye to each other and Dom travelled home and I made my way to Varkala. Its a wonderful beachtown on the cliff edge with some killer waves, squeeky sand and more Bob marley music than you can shake a stick at!
I'm chilling here for a few days on my own and then heading to Yoga Ashram for Xmas and New Years! A different festive season!
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