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Published: March 3rd 2008
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Kochi
Kim showing off her new "rock!" Hello everybody I hope that you are all well, thanks again for all your wonderful congratulation emails, we have really enjoyed reading them. Since arriving in Sydney a week ago, we have had a great time hanging out with Dee & Dave in Coogee, Sydney. It has been a very welcome change to the chaos of India and there has already been many highlights including an aussie barbie, a homecooked roast dinner, crunchy nut cornflakes and cheddar cheese! Before we begin on our Australian adventure we will just write a short update on how we spent our last few weeks in India.
We caught a sleeper from Goa to Kerala and we knew we were back in India proper when we were woken the next morning by a vendor shouting "chaaiiii, chaaiii!" It was a 15 hour journey but the time passed quickly as we talked about weddings and cricket to a couple of Indians we met who lived in Newcastle of all places.
Our first destination was a place called Kochi. Its a really nice, waterside city and had a very relaxed feel. We hung out here for 3 days watching men operate the chinese fishing nets on
Kochi
Chinese fishing nets the shore, and wandering through the colonial era streets of Fort Cochin and Jew Town. Kerala is famous for its gold, so it was the perfect place to have a little shop around for an engagement ring - for some reason Kim wasn't keen on the casio as a long term fixture. Along the MG road there were lots of posh shops selling gold rings many of which were too lary for Kim. We soon came across the perfect ring - the shop even chucked in a free carton of mango juice and an attractive granny purse, at which point we knew it was posh because you don't get anything in India for free.
In Kochi we also experienced a traditional Keralan play called Kathakali and whilst we were glad we went, we were both pleased when it finally ended as it lasted a long time and was pretty random. We really enjoyed our time in Kochi and it was extra special having bought Kim's engagment ring here, although we will also remember it for the numerous mossies and the almost unbearable humidity, we (and all other westerners) had a constant sweaty shine on our faces.
Our next
Alleppey
Kim after Andrew had poured water over her to cool her down in the hot temp destination was Alleppey, a short trip from Kochi, where we planned to rent a houseboat to see the Keralan backwaters. Alleppey was a bit of a shock to the system after being in such chilled places for the previous couple of weeks. The town was noisy and dirty and didn't have much to recommend it. Again the mossies were a problem here and to try and avoid getting bitten Kim commited a crime against fashion by wearing socks with sandals (interesting she waited until we were engaged to pull out this stylish look!)!
The next day we began our houseboat trip around the backwaters. When we first sat down in the boat it felt uncomfortably decadent (we were like Lord & Lady Muck!)! We were surprised we had such a lovely boat (for such a cheap price) all to ourselves, with the service of 3 crew numbers, an en-suite bathroom and a lounge/dining area. We sat around and relaxed for the day taking in the beautiful scenery and village life of the backwaters. It was a real highlight of our time in India. The crew really spoiled us with the food, which was brilliant, and they didn't hold back
Alleppey
Kim avoiding mossie bites - she looks too cool! on portions so the boat was probably sitting a bit deeper in the water by the end of the trip!
In the evening we were treated to a stunning sunset - it was the perfect way to start our engagement. The next morning we were taken back to shore and we hung out at our homestay for the rest of the day.
We decided to go to Kollam which is another backwater town, further down the coast from Alleppey. This was probably an error as there was even less to do here than in Alleppey - we planned to do another backwater trip but this was called off because of a state-wide strike. We filled the time by visiting a nice beach town called Varkala, but the beach here did not compare to Palolem in Goa.
Our final destination was Bangalore, a 15 hour train ride from Kollam. The city is famous for the I.T industry and its wealth is evident from the many shopping centres, western restaurants and bars. We stayed in this area, and it probably reflected what you see on the news at home about new Indian wealth and economic growth. However, on the
Alleppey Backwaters
Andrew playing 'lord of ther manor' as he feels very decadent on our houseboat other side of town, was the thriving market area which was more like the India we'd experienced previously. Here there was lots of obvious poverty, beggars, traffic chaos and cows walking down multi-lane highways. The city had probably the worst traffic congestion and pollution of any we'd visited so far, (Andrew had to get out his inhaler it was so bad!) it used to be known as a garden city but now its more like walking around spaghetti junction.
Despite the affluence of Bangalore, beggars are ever-present. We bought some Ice Creams and were eating them on the street when some street children grabbed the ice cream out of Kim's hand! She dropped it on the pavement and they quickly scooped it up with their hands and then tried the same trick on Andrew. One little boy was jumping up trying to grab Andrew's ice cream, so in order to avoid him getting it Andrew had to walk down the street with the ice cream raised like he was holding the olympic torch! The lad was trying every trick in the book - hugging, pleading, he turned the waterworks on, then off and then on again. In the end,
Alleppey Backwaters
Young girl washing by the waters edge we decided not to give him the ice cream as we didn't want to give the impression that this sort of behaviour was acceptable. If they had just approached us, its likely we would have given it to them anyway. We do have sympathy with these children and can't begin to imagine what they're life is like, so hopefully you won't think too badly of us.
This is a recurring dilemma you have whilst travelling through India. Who do you give to and how much do you give? Over the 10 weeks we gave money randomly to people who looked like they genuinely needed it - but we're not sure this is the right approach?
After all our moaning about rickshaw drivers, its apt that in our last Indian city we met the kindest rickshaw-wallah of them all! After agreeing a fare, he bought us a cone of monkey nuts to enjoy - so you should take our general dislike of rickshaw drivers with a pinch of salt!
So here we are, having arrived in Australia. We're loving the change of scenery, the anonymity, the blue sky, the clean streets (and clean toilets - but not just
Alleppey Backwaters
Locals crossing from one side to the other trying to fight through the lilypads in Dee & Daves flat!). In the last week we have visited the harbour bridge, the opera house, bondi beach and watsons bay. Andrew's had his first surfing lesson (he was rubbish) and thrown his first shrimp on the barby! We're off to Melbourne today and then we're going to head down the Great Ocean Road. We will fill you in on the details in our next blog.
Take Care, lots of love
Andrew & Kim
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Mark
non-member comment
a rock!
yay! a ring! it's official! :)