Ok, I found paradise...

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And it wasn't Kovalam! While I was sad to leave there, it was more due to the people I had met, both travelers and locals, rather than the beach and town itself. The place is seriously too touristy, and I was very glad to be done with that! Yesterday we hopped on a boat in Kollam and went on a very nice eight hour Kerala backwater tour, which ended in Allepey where we caught a taxi to Cochin for the night, and then flew here, to paradise, earlier this morning (and yes, we got up at 4:30am to watch the Super Bowl, which was... an odd game). For this leg of our journey we've also adopted a Scottish traveler by the name of Henry, who we met in Kovalam, and at least for the time being he's keeping company with us in paradise.

So the backwater tour.... yes, the backwater tour. This was a different one than I had gone on the last time I was in India, which made it nice, but you still see pretty much all the same things, just on different canals and such. And what an idea that is: it all looks the same. I bring this up because the backwater tour is kind of a two-sided coin: on one side you get to see a side of Kerala you won't see any other way, and some of the pictures you can take are well worth the trip. Then while on the boat there are lots of locals, many of them children, who wave as you pass by. But after eight hours of the same thing it kind of gets to you in a bad way, which is the other side of that coin. These people see a boat come through their back yard every day, with a whole new group of "tourists" (many would prefer to be called travelers), and they go through the same waving routine every day, and the same kids come to the bank screaming for you to throw them pens. At first its cute, but when you didn't know to bring any pens, well, what can you do? But after two or three hours you begin to realize that this "tour" is more depressing as it goes on. You see more and more faces that don't smile at you, and just look like they are sick and tired of seeing the same boat, full of the same faceless "tourists", that are only in their back yard to take pictures of them and move on. I mean you really begin to feel like you are at the zoo, except instead of animals you are looking at people who are looking right back, annoyed that their daily lives amuse you, before your boat moves on down the canal. And can you blame them? I mean these tours certainly provide a view of Kerala you won't get any other way, but at the same time you can't help getting off the boat feeling like an ignorant tourist, who doesn't want to talk to any local people (because you really can't on the boat), versus a traveler who wants to immerse themselves in a culture and really get to know some of the people. The last thing I want to be is a "tourist", and this tour kind of forced me into being one for eight hours. Its amazing how your perspective can change over nine years, the last time I did this.

After we departed the boat we caught a taxi up to Cochin, and I think we found the safest, most law abiding driver in India... and the slowest and most cautious at the same time. While that sounds like a good thing while driving in India, it was really kind of aggravating and scary! I don't say this because I have some need for speed, but our taxi must have stuck out like a sore thumb wherever we were, simply because the guy didn't drive like he was from India. People got backed up behind us (mind you passing via the oncoming traffic lane is a regular and expected occurance in traffic here), and our driver not only stayed in the middle of his lane, versus moving over to make room for passing from behind, but he even slowed down many a time when a car was coming his direction in the other lane... which I think was the most aggravating for me (I mean he would slow down almost to a stop!). Any other taxi would have got us to Cochin a half hour earlier, and a really good driver probably would have delivered 45 minutes earlier! He was that bad. I mean safe. And the scary portion is that the traffic in India seems totally chaotic, but its an organized chaos: people honk for certain reasons, like passing, or get over on the shoulder if, in the oncoming traffic lane, there are two cars, one passing the other. At first it seems psychotic, but they all understand the "rules", and they all drive like "psychos", so they all know what to expect from each other in this chaotic mess... unless you actually drive "normal", or like you might in the US. Then you are somewhat unpredictable, as odd as it sounds. But when all is said and done, we got to our hotel, and we were safe, but just a little late for what we had expected.

Then there was the Super Bowl this morning. What a surprise! The Pats sucked! Or should I say Brady sucked! Talk about dropping a bad egg on the worst possible game. I wouldn't normally root for the Patriots, but I simply can't bring myself to root for the Giants and Baby Manning (and especially not Jeremy Shockey, even though he wasn't playing). I've despised the Patriots all season, ever since the "spygate" thing at the beginning of the season, but even after all of that I had to pull for the Pats a little. And they just stunk it up. I think the best words I can sum it up with are "wow". Ok, thats only one word, but you know what I mean.

So right after the game was over we headed for the airport to fly up to Paradise. And what is this paradise? If you don't know yet, or haven't figured it out, its Goa. Once an oasis of all-night parties (there are still a few), this is the beach I was hoping Kovalam still was, at least in certain ways. Yes, its full of travelers and "tourists", but its nothing like Kovalam in that respect. Its a much younger crowd of travelers, with fewer old and rich tourist, and our beach, Palolem, is simply beautiful! What makes Goa even better? Knowing that there are five beaches, and we're on one of the busier beaches, with two other beaches being the tropical getaways we see on the commercials, with palm trees, the beach, the ocean, and no one else, or close to no one else. If there is a place in India to relax, the quieter beaches of Goa are that "paradise" you would be looking for. Oh yeah, and its cheap! After my two month itinerary is finished I am seriously considering coming back here for some honest relaxation. But I've only been here but a few hours, so more updates I'm sure will be needed. Still, this is quite the nice change from Kovalam, and I only hope Goa never follows the path that Kovalam has cut.

Alright, that is all for now. I apologize for not getting any pictures up yet, but I think I'll have a bit of free time tomorrow when the sun is at its hottest. Oh yeah, you'll love the pictures of my jelly fish sting on my chest!

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Comments

[Mom]

I too was rooting for the Pats...your dad the Giants...not that I knew anything about anything. I just wanted the to be undefeated champs. Goa sounds nice...we will have to come one day...find a house for us to buy? Jelly fish sting!! When, where, how, what kind? Watch your bags under the Retrograde especially in Goa on the beach...you know. Love, Mom

[Aaron]

Hey Pete! Been a while since i've checked this thing, and it's good to hear you're doing so well! I'm jealous, white sand beaches etc. I could use a little paradise too... Oh well, sometime. Yea, the game was definitely odd, I found myself alternately pulling for the pats then the g-men. Kinda boring up til the fourth quarter tho... well are you coming back in march or april now? when you do come back we've got a couch for you to crash on, we moved up to 94th and stone, about 10 blocks from Greenlake, nice place... But anyhow, gotta go and eat lunch, looking forward to more posts!