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Published: January 24th 2006
Moving On
They may stare at us constantly but we're staring too.Phew!!! We did it. Survived ten and a half weeks in India and came out with no Delhi Belly and relatively unscathed. The travelling scars are quickly fading and we have huge smiles on our faces after arriving back in Thailand and getting Thai curries again. We've been dreaming about them for the last month or so.
From Rajasthan, we started the long - very long - journey right down the whole of the West Coast to Kanniyakamuri on India's Southern tip. Definitely an adventure. We used planes, we used many trains, we had a hilarious (insane at the time) bus trip, we used boats, a few rickshaws and taxis. But we made it - from the North to the tip and back to Madras.
We left our guesthouse in Jodphur at the crack of dawn and headed to the railway station to catch our train from there to Ahmedabad. We arrived at the station to discover that the train was an hour late so had to wait for a while. We were a source of amusement and wonder to the Indians as we were the only Westerners on the platform. When the train arrived, we stealthily crept on
Benaulim Beach, Goa
Crosses and tiny churches abound in Goa. A reminder that a subsantial part of the population is Christian. and sunk into our seats. Peace and quiet and away from the many watchful eyes.
Ahmedabad was a crazy place and yet again, a busy city. Full of life. We only had an overnight stop which was perfect as Mike didn't like the dirt and grime all that much. We did find a very cool outdoor restaurant though called "The Greenhouse". We sat, ate good tidbits and then retreated to our sauna of a room, to get a wee bit of shut eye if at all possible.
We rose early the next morning for the next leg of the North to South journey. This time by plane. We had a flight from Ahmedabad to Mumbai (Bombay) and one from there to Goa. We flew Air Deccan, who proved excellent and very cheap for us budget travellers. Both flights departed and arrived early and with, for a change, no travel hassles. We had five hours to kill in Mumbai's airport so we read, ate and my favourite pastime - people watched. We were glad that we didn't need to leave the airport. As we flew into Mumbai we came in over the slum area. Apparently Asia’s biggest. Miles and
Making Friends
Charlotte had lots of dogs to talk to. miles of cramped, tiny houses. So close together that you couldn't see the pathways between them. After the floods Mumbai had a month before, the colour was an even murkier shade than it probably usually is. The airport was dry and clean and pretty quiet.
We landed in heaven. Goa was filled with the fresh smells of nature. Rainfall brought out the lush green colour of the land and the sweet aroma of flowers and plants. The pace of life was at an amble rather than a honking roar. Such bliss to our ears, which were now so used to the eternal racket that occurs just about everywhere in India.
We jumped in a taxi for our first stop - Benaulim. An hour or so south along the coast. We stayed in Anthy's, a guesthouse right on the beach. As much of India consists of either dry states - or fairly dry states, we had to have a welcome beer. Goa's regulations on alcohol are fairly lax and it was a perfect way to end the day. Sitting on the restaurant veranda, the sand metres from our feet, beer in hand and the sunset glistening on the waves
Moove it
The many beach cows mean you have to be careful where you step. just ahead.
We stayed for a few days. Getting a little too much sun when it came out and then enjoying the monsoon clouds on the veranda for the main part. We read, drank and ate - allowing the chaos and constant travel of the North to seep from our limbs. Perfect.
Next destination - Palolem. Palolem is a gorgeous crescent beach resort right in the South of Goa near the border with the state of Karnataka. We took a taxi on the hour drive there. As it was Sunday, we had lots of sights to take in. Goa has a large population of Catholics. The Malabar Coast which is the coastline running down Western India has attracted seafarers for many years. Arabs, Dutch, British, Chinese and Portuguese. Churches can be seen all over and of course it's Sunday - church day. The low key ambience could easily be seen. Women wearing Western summer dresses rather than the authentic Indian outfits. Families standing and sitting in groups, chatting to friends. No honking, so different.
We loved Palolem and took the chance to stay in one spot for a while. We read, we took walks along the beach
In the Pouring Drivin' Rain
This was the view five minutes before the clouds opened up on Palolem beach. to neighbouring coves where little villages sat in the monsoon clouds. We ambled to a favourite spot on the beach where the receding tide left a gift of delight. Many, small yet perfect shells of gorgeous colours - black, coral, red, pink, brown, purple, taupe. All luminescent and shimmering. We sunbathed. We ate sumptuous seafood - lots of fish tikka. We even found a restaurant which served the most authentic lasagne. The best Italian food I've had for a long time.
Even the seven days of monsoon rain didn't ruin Palolem. We just made friends with the many dogs who live on the beach. They have such friendly natures and just love to walk you along the beach. That is, until they reach the edge of their territory and then the next dog takes over and walks you along to the edge of their territory. Then the next takes over. Cows also take strolls on the beach, quite often with the many dogs chasing them along - biting at their tails and yelping excitedly.
There were also a few humans to chat with. We met a group of Irish lads who provided great drunken mumblings over many a
Dinner
Pick out a fish and the many little stalls along the waterfront in Fort Cochin will cook it up for you. sodden afternoon/evening session. We chatted to people from the UK, from Spain, girls from Glasgow (yeah!!), London, Slovenia, France, Italy, even Canada.
On one of our last nights we had evening entertainment in the form of a Ganesh Festival. The local people brought down statues of the Hindu deity to the beach which they set on fire and then carried into the sea. There were fireworks going off everywhere - all this in the rain, which being the monsoon time of year had to fall.
After ten days we felt ready to move on. We left on a Friday/Saturday train. Scheduled to get to our station at 1 am early Saturday morning. The travel agency we booked through assured us that we were booked on the late Friday - early Saturday train and all was well. Hah, we should have known better. We boarded the carriage which was heaving with snores, to find that our supposed berths were taken. We therefore needed a wee chat with the Conductor. The wee chat resulted into a huge brawl. Him screaming it was last night's train we were booked on and it wasn't his fault. Us saying that we had specifically
Jewish Cemetary
Headstones from some of the first Jewish settlers to live in Fort Cochin. Found near the synagogue. Asia's oldest. asked for this train and being foreign we had to rely on the good nature and judgement of Indians. Him still screaming that it wasn't his fault. He left us for around two hours while he collected paperwork to prove we weren't booked on this train (which was established but he had to keep proving that it wasn't his fault). He demanded money for a fine or said that he'd throw us off. Of course, the fine was astronomical - three times as much as the tickets themselves cost. After much debating and shouting, Mike asked for his name and employee number so that he could take up the matter with officials. The Conductor immediately said that he was washing his hands of us and to follow him. He led us to two berths and didn't talk to us for the rest of the journey.
It turned out that he was trying to scam us and we sat for the next sixteen hours waiting to be thrown off, which never happened. However, we both felt like convicts and it was a horrible feeling sitting there knowing that although we'd made a mistake, we didn't need to be treated like
Kerala Backwaters
Life on the backwaters hasn't changed for hundreds of years. Only the signposts. that. We could hear the whispers of other employees with our fellow Indian travellers. Could feel the eyes watching us. We just wanted to get off. I especially did when I saw a body of a man who had committed suicide. Not a nice sight, lying on the tracks with his head a few feet away. It's such a sad thing when someone feels the only way out is to do such a thing.
Bliss arrived when we clambered off the train, late in the day, in Kochi a town in Kerala. Rain had battered the town constantly for the last ten hours but started to clear. Kochi was great. We stayed in the modern part of town and caught little ferries to Fort Cochin, the old city. We spent an afternoon wandering around the streets, looking at the famous fishing nets and strolling around the Jewish Quarter. The Jewish Quarter has only four Jewish families left now and lots of Kashmiri's trying to lure you into their shops.
From Kochi we caught a bus to Allepey - famous as a starting or finishing point for backwater boat trips. This is an essential in Kerala - the backwaters
Thali
Lunch during the eight hour boat journey to Allepey. No spoons or forks. Just fingers. are beautiful and part of everyday life for many. We got on a fairly okay bus in Kochi only to get chucked off along with all the other passengers about an hour into our journey. We left the comfort of our nice seats and got pushed onto the most cramped bus that I've ever been on in my whole life. There was absolutely no way to get our rucksacks off and even if we could there was nowhere to put them. We had to hang on for dear life, standing on one foot with arms, elbows, knees and legs poking into every part of us. At stops people would squash their way down to get off and quite often the only way was to get off yourself and hope the bus didn't pull away without you. It was a horrendous journey, definitely one of mind over matter. We arrived in Allepey 45 minutes later and felt as though our shoulders had been ripped out and stitched back in. Ouch. At the time it was horrible but when we got off we thought, cool - a memory for sure. We were just sad that we didn't get a photo but there
Fishing Nets
Chinese fishing nets are the most efficient way to catch the river fish. was no way you could pull a camera out as there was not a spare inch anywhere on the bus.
We overnighted in Allepey and stayed in a beautiful house which had split wooden doors and wooden shutters - all made of dark wood. The next morning we caught a ferry which takes tourists on an eight hour journey to Kollam further down the coast. As it's not the main season the boat was pretty empty and we had lots of space. We were so lucky with the weather that the sun shone for most of the day. The sights were great, palm trees, wildlife and local people. We stopped for a traditional Keralan thali for lunch so our bellies were full and happy.
We heard a few sad stories though. The first one is that the Tsunami hit the coast and killed a lot of locals. The second is that they are widening the river so many will lose their homes. Kerala is carrying out a huge tourism awareness campaign and trying to promote their state to many countries. As backwater trips are such an integral part of life in Kerala they are widening the river so
Varkala, Kerala
This beach is only visible during the monsoon season. that more boats can sail. Sad in some ways.
However, I can understand why the local government is pushing foreign awareness. Kerala is a beautiful state and for me, one of the best areas in India. Very lush and green like Goa. The waterways are great and the pace of life is laid back.
We arrived in Kollam when the afternoon rain hit. Such perfect timing. The hotel we stayed in was once a grand place but not anymore. Our room was small and grubby and the food was mediocre and didn't fill our bellies up. The service was awful so we were happy to leave early the next morning.
A half hour train journey took us to Varkala. The village of Varkala sits on red cliffs. They have built a tourist strip which has a small winding path right along the top of the cliff. Restaurants, guesthouses and shops all sit along the path. We got a great room. A huge space with two veranda's and huge windows with wooden shutters. It was amazingly cheap also. So guess what!!! Varkala became another great place to chill for a while.
So many restaurants kept us busy
Long walks
Walking along Varkala's cliffs took up hours and felt great after the pollution of other Indian towns. for days trying them all out. There was a great wee place run by a small family that made yummy South Indian snacks such as iddli's and masala dosai's so breakfast was taken care of.
The weather was amazing. Twelve days of constant sunshine. There was a small beach just five minutes walk down the cliff from our guesthouse. Black sand and lots of lovely sun made lots of time for reading and catching rays.
This was life for twelve days. We had to move on though as time was coming to an end before our flight back to Thailand. We gave ourselves six days to head from Varkala to India's tip before heading North to Madras with a pit stop in Madurai - a famous temple town.
We took a train to Kanniyakamuri. The tip. We arrived at 5:30 pm and dropped our bags before heading out. The area at the tip was swarming with Indians. So many of them. It's a main pilgrimage as it’s the site where three ocean's meet. We watched the sun set while smiling at the delight of the Indian's playing in the water and enjoying being with family and friends.
Great Shot
Charlotte's eye for photography keeps getting better The next day was an early train from here to Madurai. Madurai has the huge Meenakshi Temple. The large gopuras can be seen rising above the surrounding buildings. Temple life here is constant. As one of the biggest temple complexes in India, visitor numbers are high. As at the Taj Mahal we were a novelty. Many Indians who come from small villages and don't see many Westerners took great delight in having their pictures taken with us. You have to laugh - it's usually us taking the photos so it's funny when the tables are turned.
Madurai itself didn't have many other sights. It's a very old market town and the market certainly seems that way. Very busy and very smelly and mucky. One thing we did enjoy was watching the locals at rest. They enjoy hanging around juice bars which are located all around the temple. Also tea and coffee drinking is popular and groups of men chat over a cuppa. This is a normal practice all over the world, not so unusual really. However, they stand at the counter and have their wee tipple rather than sitting down inside a shop. A fun sight and the
Old School
Instead of cranes and machines this is how things still get built in many places restaurants we ate at did great tea and coffee. We sat in huge canteens and ate thali's and dosai's. We have got very used to eating with our fingers. I'm not too sure that I like having curry under my finger nails though - not the best look for a girl...
Our last train journey got us back to the starting point of our trip - Madras. We had eight hours sitting in pleb class. Very cheap but no room. It was fun though, sitting with all the Indian families. We arrived in Madras in time to change and head out to the main street. Our destination was a bookshop called "Giggles". Giggles is well known for having a huge selection and also for posting books worldwide. This can only be called 'Heaven' for a certain boy named Mike. I think we must have spent three hours in a shop which was one of the narrowest shops I've ever seen. Piles and piles and piles of books line the walls. The pathway down the middle was so narrow that you could only stand one foot in front of the other with your body bent in the same way as
Idli's
Yummy South Indian breakfast. Fermented and steamed rice and lentil cakes. the towering pile of books beside you. The shop is run by a lady who has owned it for twenty years. She has a huge knowledge of books and we chatted for hours about - well, about everything really. Her assistant gallantly pulled books out from the huge piles and on a few occasions a book tower swayed perilously before crashing to the floor. We had so much fun and Mike came away being the proud owner of a pile of new books at a fraction of the cost he would have paid in Canada. The books are now winding their way to his Mum and Dad's farm in Nova Scotia.
After our final night’s sleep we woke up to our last day. Our flight was at midnight and we thought the day would drag. It flew by though. We found a great shopping mall which had lots of shops to while away the time. A few books were acquired - well, we didn't need any so why not!!! A few souvenirs and gifts. Our last Indian meal - "Subway, Eat Fresh". So yummy though when you've been living on curry for ten and a half weeks. Then it
Sun setting on Varkala
This was the view from our room. Not too bad. was a rickshaw to the airport. Operation India - Mission Accomplished.
We left with many memories. A country of much stimulation to the senses. Too much poverty and grime but so much colour. Temples and forts which are stunning. Scenery which is simply gorgeous. Travelling here was a definite character builder. I hope to make it back one day but not quite yet. I need to let my life return to normal first.
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Ronald & Miranda
non-member comment
whow
Whow, you've seem te got a great time over there. Every time whe read a report of your yourney (which we do a lot) we're jealous. Although some experiences are not that well they make us want to experience them. Hope you're well and that you have a great further yourney.