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Varkala sucked us in for a day or so more than we had planned; it was by far the most relaxing place of our trip thus far. And, humorously, the food service industry proved it. The meals there took so long we got into the habit of going to the grocery store before dinner so we could eat while we waited the 2 and half hours for our meals! But, we did make it out and headed up to Allepey for our trip on the backwaters of Kerala. It took two trains, the second we literally had to run and jump on as it was leaving the station. I thought having to run and jump a train was fun, but Ben and Darren just made fun of me for enjoying it. That is a common theme of the past week though, them ripping on me. Suddenly I've become 4'5" and my rants have become ridiculous. The first isn't true (I'm 5'9"), and the second, I have to admit, is a bit true (my friend Mel nicknamed me Napoleonic Fit and today I argued with them for over and hour about the differences between bagels and bread, how they are different, and
what is okay to put on each). I don't mind them ripping me though, they need the numbers to keep up. Napoleon beat Europe, Maverick beat Iceman, Rocky beat Apollo Creead, Clubber Lane, and Drago; I can handle it.
We made it to Allepey and spent the rest of the afternoon looking for a houseboat to take us on the trip the next day. After a bunch of negotiations around the town, the guy at the front desk of our hotel called his brother and set up a great boat for us at the right price. Given that it is down season, we were able to get a fantastic, relatively new boat for fairly cheap. The three of us and two of our friends from Varkala (one was the conspiracy theorist mentioned last blog) set out on the boat with our guides the next day for a two day tour.
The backwaters are a series of canals and lakes separated by small strips of land (tens of feet wide and maybe a mile long) inhabited by individuals completely relying on the waterways for survival and extremely isolated from much of the world (by western standards). It is incredibly relaxing floating
along, enjoying the laid back pace of life, and glimpsing what it would be like to live in this far away part of the planet. It is definitely a place I would like to go back to someday and spend a week or so using the small public water buses, staying in local villages and small hotels, and canoing down the tiny waterways. However, we needed to get on the road northward as we are (were...) trying to make it to Mumbai for a cricket match on the 16.
We hopped a short train to make it to our long haul train to Goa, a 16 hour trip putting us into Colva at about 4 a.m. I got sick that morning, the first case of Dehli Belly between the three of us, so I was not in the best of moods for the trip. Lawless and Darren took pleasure in this, schadenfreude, but it wasn't that bad of a case. It is kind of like a badge of honor, like a rite of passage, as you travel through India. And, I know they are going to get it in a few weeks, so revenge will be sweet.
For
those who aren't familiar with India, Goa is India's Florida. It is a state of nothing but huge beaches; it is also famous as it was a part of Portugal until the mid 1960's, and, in backpacker circles, for it's huge rave parties during high season (in fact, there is a type of electronic music named after it, Goa Trance). Now, a lot of the beaches are almost ghost towns. There are only a few tourists sprinkled about and most of the hotels are completely abandoned. It is quite the strange feeling. We started out in Colva and decided to move up to Panji. This is the new capital of Goa and feels almost like a small mediterranean city (besides the obvious fact that it is occupied by Indians). There are lots of small winding streets with old pastel colored stucco buildings. It is almost relatively clean, which is a few steps above most cities we have seen here, and is really a pleasant place to walk around, which is a huge step up from most places we have been. We also checked out Old Goa, which used to be the capital and has some amazing old cathedrals. They were
absolutely enormous, and you can see how this city used to rival Lisbon in its day. However, for whatever reason, the Indians have started to paint over the beautiful colored, detailed frescos of old with loads of plain white and pink paint! It is horrible, and autrocity. But, somehow, appropriate.
We also headed far south to Pollalem. It is a fantastic beach and we are staying in a little hut on the beach. I've been asked several times by my college roommate Zach about what the places we stay in are like. Most of them are nice, clean, and efficient for what we need. This is the first time I'm staying in a place that if I saw someone living in back home, I would consider them homeless. However, it is also my favorite place so far. The beach is literally just outside my door and the cloth-thin walls let the breeze in off the ocean all night to keep me cool. The shops are closing their doors, taking off their roofs, and preparing for the coming monsoons. The beach is nice, but I've really come to the decision that beaches are beaches wherever you are. Some are nicer
than others, but for the most part... Then again, in the past year I have visited Hawaii, the Yucatan, Thailand, and southern India, so maybe I'm just spoiled as I'm not all that impressed by the beaches here in comparison to those in Kauai. Check out Ben and I's trip this past summer:
The Kalalau Trail.
We had wanted to make it to Gokarna, just south of Goa. We had heard a lot about it being a fantastically low key spot to hang out, even more relaxing than Varkala. However the trains wouldn't stop there, and figuring that it is low season, we doubted much would even be open if it is smaller than Varkala. After looking at our itinerary, we realized that we would just be traveling too fast to go at the pace we enjoy. So, we shifted things about and are now going to spend a week or so here before we head up to
Hampi (the ruins of an Empire from the 15 century), then on to the
Ellora and
Ajanta caves (huge caves with amazing paintings and carvings dating the second century), and finally Mumbai for a cricket match on the 21. Odd, I know, but
none of us have ever seen a cricket match, so we figured we may as well give it a try and see why the Indians love it so much.
In closing, I wanted to explain one of the pictures on the side. There is one of Ben holding a full beer bottle upside down into a glass of water. This is how you make Kingfischer, the beer of India, taste normal. The beer here comes with glycerol in it, to act as a preservative. You can drink it straight up, but it tastes really off. So, to make it taste like a beer should, you have to put your finger over the top, turn it upside down and submerge it in a glass of water. Take your finger off and wait five to ten minutes for the glycerol to leak out. Then, cover it back up, pull it out, and voila. Your beer tastes like it should. Amazing, huh? Just another one of the quirks you deal with while traveling in India.
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Ryan (Alias: Bro NOT Bumming around India)
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Enjoy the Wonderful world of cricket...
You skipped stopping at Gokarna. Wow, I thought you were going to hit every beach on continental Southeast Asia..... I wouldn't worry to much about being late to the cricket match. The wonderful thing about cricket is that matches can last for day's. That should get you plenty of time to get the glycerol out of your beers. Have fun.