Kochi, Varkala and homeward bound...

The first thing to hit us was the heat, as our plane touched down in Kerela; near on 33 degrees but an altogether welcome assault on our persons. We were so excited to once again be able to don the flip-flops and shorts! We didn't recieve any hassle from anyone at the airport and I even caught the odd 'please ma'am' and 'thank you sir'. We'd both heard a lot of good things about the south of India, Kerela in particular, and the more time we spent in the state, the more we grew to love the place. People were friendlier, (kids would approach us in the streets and genuinely be ecstatic to see us- bombarding us with a chorus of 'hello' and 'hi') and, during our entire stay we didn't witness one person urinating in the street or even spitting; such unpleasant things were unavoidable in the northern states. As persistent as those trying to sell you something were, unlike thier northern counterparts, they kept it lighthearted and understood that 'no' meant no. And, what's more, most places that we came across were much cleaner and altogether less congested. In short, it was much more pleasant and laid back.

A lot of the differences are down to culture (the main language is Malayalam but Tamil is also spoken along with English), Christianity is rife (there's a much greater concentration of churches interminged with the usual temples and Mosques) and education is of a far higher standard than elsewhere in India (Kerela recently managed near 100% literacy rates- a figure unsurpassed by any other Indian state). It was like being in a completely different country and it took no time at all for our bodies to wind down. Subsequently, allowing our minds to slowly adjust to the inevitable; it was nearly time to go home.

We stayed in Ernakulam for a couple of nights which was the less touristy side of Kochi, however this also meant less charming, with almost no 'sights' to speak of. In fact the most radical thing that we experienced in Ernakulam happened right there in our hotel room, the day after we arrived. Kelly agreed to cut off all my hair. I'd been threatening to do it for the entire trip and I think it was a combination of the heat and the realisation that with each passing day I was looking more and more like a hippy, that led me to finally take the plunge. And what a relief!

Kochi was where the Portuguese settled in the 16th Century and although accessible by land, the romantic (not to mention faster and cheaper) way to get there was by taking one of the frequent ferries which left every 20 minutes or so. The Fort that was errected there has now all but disintegrated, falling into the sea or crumbling into rubble. Nevertheless, there's an area that's still referred to as 'Fort Kochi', and this is where the main concentration of backpackers reside during their stay. And this is also where we managed to find a very reasonably priced little homestay called 'Geo Maria', once we'd realised that Ernakulam held no interest for us.

As usual, we spent some time exploring Fort Kochi's quaint little streets and alleyways on foot, browsing the various bazaars and shops. The place boasted India's oldest European church in the form of the St. Francis Basilica and with the architecture being so 'Portuguese', you could be forgiven for thinking that you were strolling around some of the backstreets within Europe. Along the banks of the Fort area is where the old 'Chinese Fishing Nets' are situated; one of the quintessential icons associated with Kerela. These ancient contraptions use a system of pulleys and weights and require at least 4 men to operate them. It was fascinating watching them being operated and then perusing the adjacent fish stalls to see what the catch of the day was. We also stumbled upon the highly reccomended and very quaint 'Teapot Cafe' along one of the central backstreets just down from Princess St, the main thoroughfare. This was a delightful little cafe that specialised in tea of all flavours and strenghts, made the old fashioned way and served in a china tea pot. It was decked out with collections of old tea pots and kettles and all sorts of other 'tea paraphinalia.' Needless to say, we frequented this place during our stay in Kochi, stopping by as often as we could for a cup of Earl Grey and a spicy samosa or a slice of aptly named 'Death by Chocolate'.

One of our days in Kochi was taken up with an 8 hour Backwaters trip, via the combination of natural and manmade local waterways. The first portion of the day was spent chugging merrily along the larger canals on a traditional houseboat, watching the local people go about thier daily lives; fishing off of their canoes and beating the life out of their clothes in an attempt to get the garments clean on the rocky banks of the channels. We sampled some fresh, spicy mussels cooked in one of the small villages and our guide gave us a condensed science lesson while showing us around at one of the stops we made, pointing out plants, shrubs and exotic fruits, while also explaining how chalk was produced from mussel shells at one of the factories that we visited. The 'floating along on the boat' portion was very pleasant (although we did feel a little bit 'cheap' for being on a boat load of snap-happy tourists), however it soon got a little bit tedious; perhaps our last ever 'tour' during our year away was destined to be a boring, contrived one. The afternoon did get a little bit better however, as we switched from the big boat to a smaller 8 man canoe which was propelled along the narrow canals by a man with a stick, standing on the sten-Venetian style. We watched some 'coir' being made (rope made from coconut hair) and caught sight of some striking Kingfishers, a water snake and a dead rat; our share of the exotic 'wildlife' which we'd been promised.

Another evening was spent at a local Kathakali performance. This is a traditional Kerelan theatrical dance performance whereby the actors use a plethora of subtle body movements, gestures and facial expressions instead of language or speech and the narrative explores the basic themes of good and evil, following the exploits of the same key 'God' characters. The entire play is a bit of an epic, lasting around 9-10 hours and takes an actor a number of years to master. Even the musicians are trained for around 4 years before they are ready to take to the stage. We opted for a bite-sized portion of the play, and sampled just one scene (around and hour in length) at a local theatre in Kochi. We arrived early so we could watch the actors applying their own make up on stage. Although the story was hard to follow at times, it was really interesting to watch these skilled performers use a mixture of hand waving, finger pointing, eye brow wiggling and eye rolling to convey various states of being. We realised that it wasn't everyone's 'cup of tea' but was very different indeed, and for us, a truly spectacular artform to behold.

After a few days in Kochi, we said our goodbyes to the friendly family at Geo-Maria's Homestay and caught a train south to the beach-side town of Varkala. It was our last few weeks in the south, and for that matter in India, so we thought we'd treat ourelves and booked in to one of the area's 'Taj Hotels.' So, as fate would have it, alongside catching up on missed journal opportunities we whiled away the hours; lazing around on the sunbeds, drinking overpriced Kingfisher lager and eating rich food, spending our last 10 days of backpacking out of 335, in 5 star luxury.

The hotel was really relaxing and the beach very nice indeed. Clinging precariously to the steep, red rocky cliffs overlooking the beach, Varkala's main tourist market had an air of 'Thai' about it, with laid back shops and stalls selling everything from ornate trinkets and T-shirts, to counterfeit CDs and spices. Restaurants too, would vie for your attention, and they were pretty hard to ignore with a platter of freshly caught fish on display every evening. We ate at the Blueberry Cafe and sampled some of the best red snapper and barracuda we'd ever tasted. We also enjoyed the 'special tea', as restaurants without an alcohol license would serve you an ice cold Kingfisher lager in a china teapot so as not to arouse suspicion in the police (whom were actually nowhere to be seen).

We also began to plan the very last leg of the journey (one day and one night in Mumbai) and our arrival home. Although we couldn't bear the thought of our travels coming to an end, we had to face facts and start thinking about England. We both spent some time brushing up old CVs and each applied for a job before we'd even got anywhere near London. We bought last minute souvenirs and gifts and packed our bags for the penultimate time. Mumbai was actually really nice, but then we were staying in a decent hotel around the Colaba area-reputed to be a very modern part of the city, with a great deal of exquisite Victorian architecture. We visited the imposing Gateway of India and took in the impressive 'Taj Mahal Palace Hotel' opposite, which was now famous for all the wrong reasons. Other than this, we took some 11th hour snaps of all the impressive buildings, and shopped, almost until we were ready to drop.

One year together was nearly at an end and these last few days and weeks had given us time to reflect. We'd met so many interesting people, family that we didn't even know we had and seen and experienced things that most of our friends and family members could only imagine. Humbled by the simple things that ordinary people hold dear to them no matter where they are in the world, it'd all afforded us great perspective on life. The world is a sublime, wonderous and fascinating place, but also cruel and unjust, and you don't really appreciate that until you've come into contact with some of these aspects in their rawest state. I'd like to think that we don't just click back into our reality at home and instead reflect on our experiences and appceciate what we have, rather than what we haven't. However, I know only too well how easy it is for life to take over. We'll just have to wait and see...

So, after nearly 12 months, 2 continents, 11 countries, 19 flights, 2 'wonders of the world', 89 hotel rooms, 2 tree houses, 4 hire vehicles, 49 boat journeys, 2 camels, 1 elephant, countless bus, train, taxi and rickshaw rides, it was time to go home. We'd experienced, deserts, snow, mountians, glaciers, lakes, rivers, oceans, beaches, cliffs, corals, cities, town, viallges, forrests, jungles and now, were preparing ourselves for the great British spring time. There are things that we would miss- too many to list, but also those that we are looking forward to. Namely sleeping in our own bed, getting clean in a nice, hot shower, not having to wear earplugs overnight, not having to douse ourselves in mosquito repellent, western food that doesn't taste like it's been cooked in India, no more in-flight meals, seeing our friends and family including the new additions, surprising my parents who had no idea we were on our way back, getting a taxi and knowing it'll take you where you ask, not getting ripped off left, right and centre, a pint (or few) in the Eel Pie, not being on the move every 3 days and living out of a bag, brushing our teeth with water that won't poison us, eating meat, and, not having to barter for every single little thing. Then, there are also those things on the horizon that aren't so appealing, like the rain, the cold, the doom and gloom of the recession and the bitter bite or reality.

What a spectacular time we'd had- the best year of our lives, without a doubt. We downed one last drink in Mumbai's airport bar, toasting our memories, before boarding the 9 hour flight back to 'sunny' Anlglaterre. Perhaps there would be another adventure around the corner? Who knows?

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