Fort Cochin to Kolkata

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We awoke after our nightmare trip here and decided that we would use our time here in Fort Cochin to just kick back and not do a lot. But first we had to get our train ticket out of here for 4 days time (this was now standard practice for us!) We hopped back on the 20 minute ferry for 4p (!!!!) and made our way to the station where the manager proceeded to be a good samaritan and make up our passport numbers in his records as we hadn't brought them with us. Legend. Train ticket to Chennai. Check.
We spent the rest of the day on the busy island of Ernkaulam, just wandering around book sales and drinking coffee for mere pence. Ernkaulam is no different to any other city in India, after a while you get used to the incessant traffic honking, the noise, the dust and you just get on with your daily life.
Fort Cochin is a world away from this. everyone here slows down, sits back and lets the day take them wherever it wants to. There's no rushing around risking your life on the roads, no urgent selling to anyone who walks past their stalls, this is how it should be. But saying that if the rest of India was like this, then this place wouldn't be as good as it is, and India wouldn't hold the same fascination that is has done with me. It grabs by the arm and pulls you through it's maze of hustle and bustle, never stopping to take a breath.
This is the very end of the tourist season in Fort Cochin and thus a lot of places were closed down, shops, cafe's etc but we managed to find a couple of really cool places to eat with really good food so we didn't mind the semi-ghost town feel of the place 😊
Our hotel organised a boat trip on the backwaters of Kerala which was absolutely immense, one of the most relaxing days i've had in a long time. 7 hours on a boat chilling out chatting to the other people on there, including a family staying at our hotel who we'd met the night before and were really lovely people!
So after 4 good days in Fort Cochin we headed on an overnight train to Chennai where we hoped we could get tickets for the final of the IPL cricket. It took a while to get to where we needed to buy them but we did it! This was going to be amazing, knowing how mad the Indians are for cricket, to be at the highlight of the Indian cricket year!! But first we were getting a bus south to Pondicherry for a couple of days...

Pondicherry, or Pondy, is a small-ish town separated by a sew..sorry, a canal. One side being very much Indian, the other side however is a small slice of Paris in India!! Tree lined boulevards, cafe's serving coffee and pain aux chocolat, the police even have Kepi hats! We stayed in an Ashram, which is a centre for yoga and all things healthy, right by the sea, with one of the best views you could ever hope to wake up to!! We spent 3 nights doing plenty more chilling out here, plus i spent a day in bed dying (or with man-flu as Rhian will tell you...)
We returned to Chennai on the day of the final, checked in to our overpriced hotel, but we didn't care as we were desperate for a comfy room with aircon in the sweltering heat and humidity! We were like little kids waiting for a Miley Cyrus 'concert' an hour before the match, and as we walked to the stadium with the throngs of people in the yellow of Chennai Super Kings (they were in the final for the 2nd time, playing Royal Challengers Banagalore), we were swept up in a tidal wave of hysteria and joy. Inside the stadium was even louder! Flags waving like a million yellow butterflies, the music at decibels Concorde would have been prroud of and an atmosphere like i've never experienced in my life!!
Needless to say, the Super Kings won, amongst fireworks and confetti cannons which amplified the emotion of the crowd ten-fold! Truly an unforgettable night!!
We headed back to the hotel amongst cheering and incessant horns, which funnily enough we didn't mind this time, and crashed out. It's hard work being in a crowd that excitable!

In the morning, we headed to the station to catch our sleeper train to Calcutta.
1,700km.
27 hours.
On a train.
Whatever your image is of this, it's probably right.
Sheesh that wasn't easy.

Anyway, arrived in Kolkata the next morning with two intentions only. Get our Chinese Visa and a train ticket out of here to Darjeeling...

G&R
xx

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