Kerala: Kannur

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The small seaside town of Kannur, in the north of Kerala, was a bus and a long train journey from Allepey. The 6 hour journey cost only 20 rupees (30 pence). A staggeringly low fare considering a short bus ride into town would cost 5x that amount in England. A ticket however, doesn't guarantee you a seat and as the train pulled in we had to jostle with hordes of people to secure a place. Much the same as a train from Paddington station on a Friday night really but a lot hotter.

We hadn't envisaged having any problems finding a room in Kannur town. But an hour after our train arrived at 11pm we were still trudging around the dark, dog infested streets trying to find a hotel that wasn't full.

After finding literally the last room in town we woke the next day eager to get out of the rather dirty bedsit. It had served its purpose but was probably the last room in town for a reason. We headed out, towards the beach, via tuk-tuk. Kannur was like no other beach town we had seen before. There were no high rise hotels along the beachfront or even beach shacks by the sea. It was more lowkey with palm trees obtaining the prime beachfront location. We found it hard to believe that every hotel was full as the long beaches were deserted and we seemed to be the only tourists in sight.

After more hotel rejection we were sent in the direction of 'Suchee's homestay'. With our tuk tuk driver non the wiser we headed in the rough direction of the homestay before the irrepresible Suchee herself, looking as regal as is possible on a scooter, came riding along. "I'm Suchee", she said as she peered into our tuk tuk, "follow me".

We were presented with a white washed, two storey building set down a palm fringed lane off the beach road. The bedrooms were ensuite with balconies and the house came complete with a cooker and fridge. We were sold but only after a little negotiation over price. It can be difficult bartering when high paying foreigners have visited before just on holiday. I explained that we were on a long trip and, despite Suchee's protestations that we were from a rich country, a fair deal was struck.

Suchee was an animated character and keen to hear about our travels. She also took pleasure in giving us the lowdown on Kannur: where to go and what to do, including a warning about going to the beach in the evening as people do "bad things". New to the area, visions of all night parties and orgies crossed my mind until she later explained that these "bad things" were actually lunghi wearing men going to the toilet in the heather. It was a funny picture for her to paint for us, especially as we never did see any of these "bad things".

Having a house to ourselves was refreshing and, with the option to cook, we felt independent. We could actually live here instead of being tourists. We hadn't cooked since we left home and were excited by the idea.

With no restaurants in sight our meals consisted of what vegetables we could get from the local grocers. The Keralan language of Malayalam, which is as hard to pronounce as it is to converse in, made ordering things tricky but we pointed and picked and created some great meals with rice as our staple.

As the days progressed so did our cooking with rice and vegetables augmented by fresh mackerel from the town market. It was a place where we could truly relax from what can be a tiring India. We were the subject of no real attention in our village, apart from when we tried to buy vegetables, and our only worries were what to cook as we came from the beach after sunset.

Sunset was when the locals came to the beach without the reddened skin of the days hot sun, unlike their western neighbours. We had impromptu games of football with the shin-kicking amateurs before enjoying the multi-coloured sky with some music and cold kingfishers, of course.

We soon began to realise why the beach was so deserted during the day. With temperatures around 38 degrees even swimming in the sea did little to cool you down. We were the only people crazy enough to brave the heat and despite the perspiring conditions we managed to play cricket and football much to the local children's delight.

It was third time lucky when it came to buying cricket bats. The previous two we had bought both crumbled before barely an over was played. Maybe paying little over a pound had something to do with it but the third, replacement bat stayed strong and provided some sweaty fun.

As well as beautiful beaches the other little secret that Kannur possessed was that of the Theyyam, a spiritual dance performed, each day at dusk, by a highly decorated deity. I had read about it and pictured a meeting in a wood with powerful spiritual dancing aided by drums that would shock me. In reality it was a fat man in a dress, dancing in a very hot, crowded temple where men have to stand on one side and women on the other. There was no crazy dancing or spiritual highs but the devoted crowd seemed to believe that it brought luck. It was all a bit strange, especially when two dogs walked on to be fed by the deity. Was it part of the act or not? So, a little disappointing and a case of over hype by guidebooks I thought. The drums were good though!

On our last day Suchee brought a home-cooked Keralan meal of fish curry, rice, dhal and papad all served on a banana leaf which she seemed to enjoy serving as much as we did eating it. It was though, a very kind goodbye gesture. Kannur and 'Suchee's' was the type of place you could stay for weeks. We seriously considered spending Christmas there but Gokarna and Om Beach awaited us. It was a great place to stumble across before the golden beaches and cultural attractions draw the high rise hotels into town.

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Photos

This spider was found under Durks' pillow.
How did it get there?

Comments

[Josho]

missed one
just keeping up the record