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Published: January 10th 2006
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Kathakali
Kathakali dancer in Fort Cochin Today is my last day in Kerala and I am sad to be leaving this beautiful area in India. I decided to start my discovery of India here as I had heard that it was beautiful, peaceful and would be an easy introduction to traveling through India. I think this is all true.
I flew into Delhi just before Christmas and was glad to get out of the mayhem the next morning. My hotel in Delhi was OK but although there was hot water there was no power after midnight. Welcome to India!
I flew to Cochin with Kingfisher airlines - very modern and efficient despite the thick fog at Delhi that delayed all the planes taking off till mid morning.
Fort Cochin is fairly quiet for a Indian town and there are palm trees all around. A good place to get a gentle introduction to living in and getting around India. I found an Indian 'home stay' where the family are lovely, Anna Cottage owned by Mr Paul. I got 'home' the on Christmas Eve and was greeted with mulled wine and Christmas cake. The mother-in-law doesn't speak any English but smiles and wobbles her head in the
fishing nets
Fishing nets at Fort Cochin Indian way at anything I say and she cooked me a wonderful Christmas morning breakfast of spiced coconut chicken and idli (a rice flour pancake) followed by red banana. I spent quite a lot of time on the sea front watching the fishing nets and drinking fresh fruit juice. In the evening I went each evening to the Kathakali Centre to watch the colourful dance drama or listen to Indian classical music. Kathakali means 'story play' and combines dance with sung narrative to retell Hindu stories and myths. The dancers are in stunning costumes and make-up and they use symbolic gestures to tell the story, often with subtle humour.
From Fort Cochin I took a bus to Aleppey from where I explored the backwaters by boat with some friends I made there. We hired a boat for a morning and chugged through the canals watching the life of the people living by and on the water. Small boats transport heavy loads, women, dressed in immaculate saris, wash pots and clothes on the banks and children swim and ask for 'one pen' as the boat goes by. In the evening we visited the local temple to watch part of the
boats
Well-laden boats on the backwaters of Kerala dance festival. Aleppey was alive with people and street vendors for the festival. I then took the tourist boat to Kollam. This makes its way slowly through the backwaters and is a great way to chill out for a while as it sails through coconut lined channels.
For New Year I stayed overlooking a lovely beach at Varkala. Varkala is not yet over developed but has a long row of guesthouses, hotels and restaurants on the cliff top which look set to expand. The sea is lovely for swimming when calm although there is a strong rip tide that pulls you toward the rocks. When the swell gets up there are larger waves and it is fun to get tumbled around and play in the waves. I celebrated the new year with new friends on the cliffs overlooking the beach and to the sound of music, waves breaking below and fireworks exploding above.
On New Year's Day I set off with a new friend, Shahrokh, to explore the mountains inland. We hired a driver, Sanil, to take us in an old ambassador car, to Kumily and then Munnar. As we left the hot coast we first travelled through
varkala
Enjoying the beach at Varkala coconut and banana groves but the land soon started to rise and we left the busy towns behind. The lower hills were covered with rubber plantations which gave way to tea and spices. Sanil took us to a fabulous home-stay, Jungle Palace, in Kumily overlooking the Periyar wildlife reserve and we could watch sambur deer and wild pigs come right down in front of the house in the evening. It is lovely treking country in the park amongst the teak trees. We were lucky to see a small herd of Indian elephants and it was strange for me to think that I had been watching similar animals on a different continent only three weeks before. Unfortunately this was a time of an annual pilgrimage and 23 million people over 6 weeks were visiting a shrine in the forest so the wildlife was keeping well hidden.
The drive from Kumily to Munnar is spectacular. High mountains, tall forests, cardomom groves and shear drops to the valley below. These give way again to vast areas of tea plantations. Munnar itself was sadly disappointing, dirty and smelly; but we found a clean guesthouse, with very hard beds, out of town, and overlooking
Tea plantations
Tea plantations on the way to Munnar the mountains.
Accommodation in India is very different to other places that I have been. Often you are supplied only with a bed and it is good to have your own sleep sheet. Sometimes sheets are provided but often they are old although clean. The showers are usually cold, and if there are hot taps the water may still be cold. The mountains, or Western Ghats, were a cooling break from the hot humid conditions on the coast but I was glad that the guest house supplied hot water in a bucket to bathe in. But mostly the rooms are clean and the people are welcoming.
Driving in India is also an experience! The horn plays a major role with a whole language for indicating your intention. A short beep means, "I am going to pass you and there is room but I thought I would let you know". A couple of longer blasts means, "Move out of the way as I am coming through." A long continuous note usually means, "I am passing with no room to spare and there is a large bus coming the other way so move or you will be forced off the
Traffic
Traffic chaos road."
From the cool quiet mountains, Shahrokh and I returned to Fort Cochin and the heat and humidity of the coast. Our ways now part. Shahrokh is going back to Varkala for a few more days by the sea before retuning to Iran, and I am now waiting to catch a train tonight that will drop me in Jaipur in Rajesthan in two days time. I have loved Kerala and would love to return again.
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