Advertisement
Published: October 25th 2011
Edit Blog Post
Brittaney left this morning. I feel so fortunate to have met her. We were perfect travelling buddies. Both of us easy going and of like mind. We had tons of stuff to talk about. So here’s what’s been going on since the last time I reported.
We left Varkala on the train and it was really easy. I had heard that train travel was complicated, but we had no problem. The train was not packed, so we were able to find a seat. We went to a town called Kollam, from which we were taking the Backwater tour. The canoe was a local dugout and our guide poled us down the narrow canals, through the backwaters, past fish and prawn hatcheries and the local homesteads. I got some cool pix, which I’ve uploaded to Kodak gallery. The tour lasted a good four hours and was awesome. So after that I had to get my ATM situation figured out, so we had to find an internet café that had Skype capabilities, which wasn’t all that easy there, being that it’s not a tourist town. Finally I was able to get through to BofA and they told me that they had no idea
why my card wasn’t working. So I went to the nearest ATM and lo and behold, it worked! Yeah!!!! But later I tried it again somewhere else and it didn’t work again, so it’s an Indian mystery.
Then we went to this place that the tour guide had recommended for us to stay. It was a tiny little guesthouse, right on the water, for $12. At first it looked a little dodgy, it was pretty ramshackle, but it had a nice yard overlooking the water, with a nice patio to sit on. It turned out to be a great little place. I slept really well there and awoke early and enjoyed the waterfront setting. Ram, our personal attendant climbed up a coconut tree and got us a couple for b’fast. From there we headed back to the train station and then on to Cochin, 4 hours north. That ride also went really well. We had great seats and the other passengers were all curious about the two western women in their compartment. One young girl would wave at me from her compartment and smile sweetly. After about 3 hours of this, she finally got up her nerve and came over
to ask me where I was from. We had a nice little chat and she let me take her picture. What a sweety!
So once in Cochin, we headed for a guesthouse that had been recommended in the Lonely Planet guide, called The Princess Inn, in the heart of the historical section called Fort Cochin. It’s a pretty funky (as in cool) place, with lots of restaurants, shops and internet cafes. It’s a historic site with lots of the buildings dating back to the portugese who settled here in the 1500. They have a town square with trees that are 300 years old, which are huge and create a canopy that looks like lace.
So I woke up early the next day and roamed around the neighborhood, watching it come to life. Most of the breakfast places don’t open until 8:30am, but I found one hotel that had a rooftop restaurant that made me breakfast. It wasn’t all that great, but it was entertaining because the guy working there sang a Dutch song for me, which he had learned. It was really cute, but none of my camera devices were working for me at that moment, so I wasn’t able to get that on video.
In my travels around the neighborhood I met a rickshaw driver who offered tours around Fort Cochin for $1, so we took him up on that. The catch is that he gets a commission when he brings people to certain stores along the way. So we made the obligatory rounds through them and I almost bought a carpet for $500. It was really beautiful and a steal at that price. However I managed to extricate myself from that situation. The tour of Fort Cochin was really cool, though. But after being hassled over and over by rickshaw drivers and store keepers to spend my money with them, I’m pretty much ready to get out of here. I got a ticket on the night train to Goa, 13 hrs north of here, which leaves tonight at 10:30pm. I’m going to make the cabbie take me all the way to my train compartment, because I don’t want to have to deal with that on my own. It’ll cost a little extra, but well worth the price. So now I’m just hanging out at the internet café, catching up on my internet stuff, like uploading pix and checking my messages (which there haven’t been any, sic.) The place is filled with other India travelers. I’ve met lots of Germans and surprisingly, there are quite a few Americans around, too. There are also lots of young beautiful women, so guys, if you’re lonely, get over here.
Alright, that’s all for now. I wouldn’t mind getting a little feedback if you’re in the mood.
Here are my pix so far. The quality sucks on some of them, but you get the idea.
ttp://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/sharing/shareRedirectSwitchBoard.jsp?token=340071743213%3A113845315
Advertisement
Tot: 0.073s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 9; qc: 46; dbt: 0.0405s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Christopher L. Trahan
non-member comment
Feedback
Ruby: I commented before and wasn't sure you had received it. Also, I am not sure if everyone can read my comments. I am new to the travel blog. How funny is that? You are comfortably navigating the country of India and I can't even handle the travel blog. I am sure I speak for others when I say that it is pleasure living vicariously through you. I look forward to each blog. I enjoying as much detail as you can provide. I think it is an awesome journey for you. Of course I am not the type to make such a journey but I always knew you were the type. How cool is it to experience the local culture, the people, the sites, the smells, the customs? I promise you that most of the people I encounter in my daily life think East Texas is a foreign country. Not exactly broadened horizons down here. As for myself, my travel experiences are mostly limited to the Hilton experience. I wonder what the Hilton in Chicago is like? I wonder if the Hilton near Radio City has eggs benedict? : ) I wonder if the Altanta Hilton gives you shampoo and mouthwash.? No pay per view is like trying to live without fire : ). Also, I love the pictures on Kodak. Please keep them coming and give as much detail as your time allows. Thank you for letting me live this through you. Chris