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Published: February 18th 2011
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I can't believe that I am sitting here once again penning the inevitable passage of time. I know I shouldn't be surprised that time passes, but it surprises me every day.
I arrived in Alleppey and found a room which was spacious, immaculately clean, private bathroom with a sitdown toilet, no bugs, friendly staff, and 9$ a night. A good start to my time here. On my way to my room I was overtaken by a man dressed in basic laborer clothes who asked excitedly "what books are you reading!?" in some wild mishmash of Australian/Indian/British accents. I would shortly thereafter learn he was a local linguist named Adeep, who hangs out around the hostel hoping to talk with foreigners. We would spend most of the next few days together. He began learning English in his late teens and over the next twenty years it became an obsession. He was interested in colloquialisms which are so abundant in English. I shared a few of my favorites that he hadn't heard before, such as "it was like watching a train wreck" and "the shit hit the fan." He also had a good laugh over the American tendency to "call shotgun" to
decide who sits up front in a car. He marveled at my ability to speak hillbilly, the only accent I do well.
We also spent some time in the company of Bo, a retired Danish school teacher. He was a very normal stout looking Danish man whose retirement was "traveling until I die," as he put it. As far as I could tell he was doing a good job of shortening the trip. During the time that we were together he drank Kingfisher after Kingfisher and discreetly polished off several bottles of Rum. He also smoked and chewed tobacco constantly and had claimed to have smoked Marijuana for over 40 years. For all that, his mind appeared to be shockingly clear. As far as I could tell he had read every major piece of English literature since Chaucer, and is the only person I've ever met, including my college Literature teachers, who had read all the major works of Marcel Proust. All that really means is that he has a long attention span and has had a lot of free time, but it was funny listening to very clear and well thought out ideas coming from a man who
was shoveling toxins into his body as fast as possible.
Adeep and I spent a few days wandering through the paths that line the tropical backwaters around Alleppey. The backwaters are a system of 650km of canals that connect the farms and communities. They have built dikes or walls to keep the water out as the fields are lower than the water level. It has made for some of the most peaceful, picturesque walking of the journey. We passed under coconut trees and ambled over small stone bridges. The houses were surrounded by lush vegetation and I could see and hear the movement of village life. Adeep stopped me with a smile and told me that the people were calling from house to house in Malaya "there is a white man, don't miss the white man along the path." When I turned around the path was lined with women and children peaking through the bushes.
In the evenings I go to the beach and watch the sunset and do some solitary walking. Last night I decided to walk south through a region I hadn't explored. I spent an hour walking lost in thought, alone as the sun set
over a perfect ocean. I came upon a man in a squat position staring intensely toward the horizon with a look of what I took to be either fear or focus. As I passed I realized he was defecating in the sand not ten yards from where the water breaks and right near where I was walking. A man up ahead was coming out of a trail and was setting up to do the same thing. I emerged from my daydream and looked around and saw piles everywhere, most half covered or recently dug up by the dogs or birds. It was one of those unfortunate moments where in the mind you are having a poetic evening walking along a beautiful beach with a stunning sunset, feeling the water lap at your ankles and cool breeze alone in an abandoned tropical paradise. In reality all you're doing is walking barefoot through a toilet. After uttering a few expletives and giving the men a disgusted look I put my sandals back on and began the trek back to my hotel.
16 weeks down, 8 more to go.
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Kenny
non-member comment
"It was one of those unfortunate moments where in the mind you are having a poetic evening walking along a beautiful beach with a stunning sunset, feeling the water lap at your ankles and cool breeze alone in an abandoned tropical paradise. In reality all you're doing is walking barefoot through a toilet. After uttering a few expletives and giving the men a disgusted look I put my sandals back on and began the trek back to my hotel." hahaha. Loved this line.