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Published: August 11th 2005
Three Children in Kerala
When an Indian child sees a camera, they beg for you to take a picture, and these three were no exception. They live in the village in Kerala where I was staying.Well, I've made it home. It was quite a journey. I left VKV at 11 a.m. on Tuesday afternoon and arrived in Austin forty-eight hours later. I took a rickshaw to the train station. From the train stationI took a two hour train to Trivandrum. From there it got really complicated. I took a taxi to the airport in the hopes that I could check my two gigantic bags in early so I wouldn't have to haul them around Trivandrum. No such luck. So I got a really crummy hotel room for $3 to store my bags. Then I took a taxi back into the city center. The two high points of Trivandrum are the royal palace and a 5000 year old temple (yes, that's five thousand). Being non-Hindu (and not having the foresight of wearing a sari when visiting the temple, since wearing a sari seems to negate the fact that I'm not Hindu) I wasn't allowed inside the temple. But I took a tour of the palace, which was quite impressive. Every room had a carved teak ceiling. Then I killed a few more hours having dinner and driving all over Trivandrum looking for a few choice Bollywood DVDs
Traditional Keralan Architecture
A traditional Keralan house in Aranmula which could not be found. Then I went to the airport, thinking I would just bed down in the lounge and hang out until my flight. It was about eight o'clock, and I tried to go into the airport. In India you aren't allowed even into the airport building if you do not have a ticket. Well, I had an e-ticket, which was apparently a whole new concept for Trivandrum (e-tickets have not caught hold in India, so I was the only e-ticket on a flight of four hundred). Since e-tickets were a whole new ball park, they didn't actually believe I had a ticket, but I couldn't get into the Air India office to prove them otherwise. Thus the security people insisted on walking me into the airport and checking with the Air India office. Once they confirmed that I had a ticket, they informed me that I could only enter the airport three hours before my flight took off, and that my only option was to sit on the pavement outside the airport for four hours with my bags. Well, I had a bit of a breakdown in the airport manager's office, and finally they allowed me into
The Main Junction
This is the main part of town near VKV, where the tailor, fruit stand, and rickshaw stand are located. the airport. I attempted to sleep on some of those uncomfortable airport chairs. Finally I got onto my flight. From there it was a fairly smooth trip home, even if it was unbearably long. So now I've been home for about 12 hours. I'm definitely missing India, and I'm also definitely glad to be home. My bed has never felt so comfortable. I took a hot shower this morning, and I have a whole new appreciation for hot water. I was overjoyed at using the washing machine today, as opposed to a plastic bucket. On the other hand, when I put on my jeans this morning, they were so uncomfortable that I immediately took them off, and put one of my Indian outfits on. All in all, I have had an amazing adventure and I'm already looking forward to my next trip to India, whenever that may be. And in a few days I will have a new entry from Puerto Rico about my trip to Peter Island. And then I'm off to college, where I will be studying towards a South Asian Studies degree. I completely adore India, and I hope that I will go back again and again
Tharayil House
This is the house I stayed at while living in Aranmula. in the years to come. I know that I have had the adventure of a lifetime, but I hope that this isn't my only opportunity for such adventures.
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Clay
non-member comment
the particulars
I'm exploring the idea of showing up at a wedding Dec. 31 at a location somewhere between Kochi and Trivandrum. I'm sure that if I make it to either location, I'll reach my goal. Question. Any advice on getting there from Austin? Travelocity gives me the option of multiple destinations and others don't, as you probably know. However, unlike Orbitz, it doesn't indicate specifics if problems with data input arise. It doesn't give me a clue about which part was problematic. Anyway, if you get this, your wise counsel could make the difference in my attending or not. No pressure implied. Regards, Clay