Kickin it in Kerala

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Well, the 2 week group yoga tour came to an end in Chenni on the 9th. It really was a remarkable whirlwind experience. There were 9 participants, a guide and yoga teacher. The group dynamics were easy and it seemed the common thread of yoga kept us connected and grounded even when the craziness of India was happening. We traveled a lot, saw a lot of beautiful cultural sites, stretched our selves yoga with the fun and enlightened guidance of our yoga teacher, Christin Sell. There were definitely some shocking and exhausting times.... the chaos, poverty and garbage of the biggest cities... the abrupt 3:30a end to a train ride that got us only half way to our destination, Varanasi and the resulting 9 hr local bus ride necessary to complete the trip.... the deep devotional presence in the holy city of Varanasi... the familiar comfort of the airport as we made our way to Chenni... comfortable van ride to the spa resort... even more comfortable luxury of the spa!... chanting in mountain caves... shopping/bartering with vendors... croissants and coffee in Pondicherry... and then the heartfelt good byes to new and old friends as they returned to their regular lives and Emily and I continued on our India journey.

As amazingly cohesive as the group dynamic was I felt renewed and revitalized to be embarking on a new, more independent journey. Packing my bag in Chenni felt like leaving 'home'. I was filled with excitement at the prospect of another over night train ride (no, really!) and the challenge of finding our own way.

Emily and I boarded a 2AC car (2 bunks per side instead of 3 and air conditioning... relative luxury!) at just before 4pm on the 9th. The train was not so shocking this time as I had an idea what to expect. We shared our compartment with 2 Belgian women and 1 Indian man, who were all very kind... a little instant/temporary family on the train. Knowing that we would arrive at our stop in Kochi at ~3:30 am we settled in, visited, read and slept to the rocking chatter of the train. My greatest fear was getting off at the wrong stop in the middle of the night. No such fate for us as the conductor and friendly fellow travelers confirmed our stop and at 4 am we were walking along the Kochi Station platform in search of our driver. Wary of other eager/'friendly' faces that beckon foreign travelers into awaiting cabs (or ??), I was happy to see our names on a sign held by a young, well dressed local, Biju. This part of the trip is a organized, private tour, meaning that all our hotels are booked and we are to have a hired car for sight-seeing and transportation from one city to the next. We were quite surprised to hear from Biju that he would be our driver for the entire time, at our disposal whenever we need him! (thanks Sunit!)

Checking in at our hotel, we were happy to crash for a few more hours before meeting up with Biju for our afternoon touring about. The hotel is a 'midrange' according to Lonely Planet and is clean, quite with a decent breakfast buffet (of both indian and western food... thank goodness, one can only do indian 3x a day for so long 😊 It took us a few times of explaining to Biju that we were not interested in seeing every temple/church/tourist site in the area... he actually seemed a little disappointed to not be able to do his job to the fullest. We assured him we spent the last 2 weeks sightseeing and had reached our NAT point (not another temple!) and really, really just wanted to relax.

He drove us to Fort Cochin which is an old Portuguese fort (altho the fort part was destroyed) at the meeting point of the Kochi backwater and the Arabian Sea. Now a small fishing and tourist village, we thoroughly enjoyed wandering the quiet streets, shops, spice market and ahhh, cold coffee a a funky art gallery/cafe. Who says you can't take home with you? 😊

Our evening consisted of watching some tv and room service... and to bed early. Today we plan to head to the beach for a little more R&R and likely dinner with a local shop keeper we met yesterday. Tomorrow finds us back on the road heading south to Karunagappilly. (I'm still working on the pronunciation!)

As far away as I am, I think of home often... family, friends... comforts, routines. I miss you all and while you're not here your in my heart, traveling along side me.

namaste
jen

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Photos

Emily and I
in our first 'solo' tuktuk ride on the way to the Chenni train station... let the new journey begin!!

Chinese fishing nets at Fort Cochin
on the ferry ride back to Kochi... everyone knows how to swim right?!?

Comments

[Jay R]

Great photos..
Have fun you two, glad to read that your having so much fun. I look forward to hearing more about the train travel. Jay