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rather than move about too much, we decided to visit For Cochin on a day trip from here. the city of Kochi is spaced out over several penninsulas and the main land Ernakulam is not much to write home (or in a blog) about, but one of the areas, Fort Cochin, is really nice. it also has a section called Jew Town home to a really old synagogue. it is quite amazing as apparantly there are only around 30 jews in Kerala and only a couple of thousand i beleive in the whole of india.
the area is full of antique shops. this is not normally my thing but the stuff in there was amazing, ancient pillars and huge wooden doors, iron elephants and gods etc. i will go back when i have won the lottery.
we hired bicycles as it's one of the few places in india quiet enough traffic wise to feel safe! although the suspension and brakes were not up to much.
we also saw 700 year old chinese fishing nets. a very heath robinson wooden contraption, huge nets are lowered into the water balanced by weights and then pulled up again by five or six men. we had a go! (photos to follow soon!). but there was only a few tiny fish, maybe some prawns.
we have decided against renting a houseboat, which is most people do from Allepey, to cruise the backwaters. the boats look amazing, and are the height of luxury, but they are very expensive and actually you are sort of prisoner on the boat for 24 hours. they cannot navigate the smaller backwaters and you just see village life from a distance. so instead we took a rickshaw recommended by the hotel and drove and walked around the villages in the backwaters. if there is a heaven then this is closest i have seen to it. there is more water then land,. tiny lanes and hosues build on bits of land, some have gardens under a couple of feet of water. people also build house on tiny islands only accessible by boat. the houses are beautiful, in blues, green, pinks, purple, even saw a bright orange house! there is something about the style that is reminiscent of art deco.
kids run out calling "hello! how are youuuu!", women washing clothes and rice in the waters..... people seem very happy here. some interesting facts.... Kerala is the most educated, and most wealthy Indian state. it has a democratically elected communist government. alcohol is served in dodgy looking govt approved shops - many restaurants do not have a licence to sell alcohol but will provide it wrapped in newspaper and poured into mugs!
the language here is Malayalam and although most people speak english many do not speak hindi.
we tried some "toddy" at lunch today, it is an alcoholic drink made from fermented coconut juice. but we are still not sure one exactly how it is made, it is not the coconut milk i think but some juice drained from the unripe green fruits. it is drained and left over night to ferment. i didn't know something could ferment so quickly. it is always made and served fresh, so it is best drunk in the morning as by afternoon it has gone off too much! it's about 25% percent alcohol and many people of sang the merits of how nice it is with breakfast!!!
other than that we are mainly drinking kingfisher (not for breakfast!). another general interesting fact. everywhere in india you get kingifisher beer. however, those who regularly done out in indian restaurants at home will also be fans of cobra beer - no-one has heard of it here!
anyway. moving on from beer.
tomorrow we are getting a ferry from allepey to kottayam, just for the sake of it really, to get a bit more boat action. and then a bus from kottayam to kumily.
i am not looking forward to this journey. on the way from madikeri to managlore a man was sick on the bus, and i was reminded of my own tendency to travel sickness......
the journey to kumily is four hours and is entriely up winding, bending up the mountain roads.... i am going to take a travel sickness pill for this i think. wish me luck ;-p
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Vicky
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Hi Karen, Cannot believe you went through all of that hassle to get a hug! Sounds like a nightmare. Nutter! Glad you liked Cochin - it was one of my favourite places in India. Take care of yourself. Love, Vicky