The bus from Munnar to Fort Kochi was much shorter than our previous bus trip…
Super fast? Not really
Coffee beans drying on the side of the road
…but I can’t say it was less eventful:
Thanks Lex for taking this video and cracking me up.
When arriving in Fort Kochi, we didn’t have a place to stay. I randomly picked somewhere that sounded nice from my guidebook while in the tuk tuk from the bus station. It’s safe to say that I chose well. Secret Garden was absolutely beautiful!
We had no problem relaxing there for hours. In fact, we moved so little I asked Joseph, the lovely hotel manager, if we were the laziest guests ever. He said no, but I’m not so sure about that.
Later, while strolling through town, we stumbled upon a cricket match
I loved the enormous trees everywhere in Fort Kochi
We met up with these boys…
…who immediately befriended Lex
Painted living tree sculpture by the water
Chinese fishing nets
One of our best meals in Kerala – fish with Kerala spices cooked in banana leaf, veg. curry, and fried okra
The next morning, I attended a yoga class here under the mango tree at Secret Garden
At breakfast we observed this guy pruning trees
Early that afternoon, unfortunately, it was time to say goodbye to Lex. We had had a fantastic few weeks together. I’m so grateful that he changed his plans and traveled with me. We’ve spoken about seeing each other again as soon as possible. He left for Canada, and the next day I would return to Thailand…but I still had a bit of time to explore.
Feeling a bit sad with Lex not there, I was pleased that this was the first person I met
Gorgeous sunset in Fort Kochi
with or without a filter
at any angle
Enjoying some aromatherapy at an organic spice shop
Secret Garden felt a little empty without Lex
For my last morning in India, after yoga and breakfast, I cycled over to the another town called Mattancherry. There wasn’t much time to explore, or I’d miss my train. Plus, I wanted to do some last minute shopping, as well as receive an ayurvedic shirodhara treatment. I raced around and snapped these pictures while drenched in sweat.
Mattancherry was dripping in color. What a fun place to have a camera!
With my hair soaked in oil from the shirodhara treatment, I boarded the train bound for Trivandrum. On trains in India there are sections for women only, which remedies the constant staring of men. I didn’t see one of these sections, but sat with a family instead. No hassles at all.
Bye for now India. Thanks for providing me with vibrant memories. I’m sure our paths will cross again someday in the not too distant future. Now it’s time to get back to Thailand just in time for Songkran!
After our day-long hike through the tea plantations, we took the next day to relax over tea and take in the town.
An election was taking place, so political party signs and posters of people running for office were everywhere.
Nature taking over
Our hotel was way up in the hills. It boasted lovely views, though the tuk tuk rides there were a bit dodgy. All part of the fun…
Up at a view point
Back at our hotel
That night, we watched Sri Lanka defeat India in the cricket final tournament.
Late next morning, we walked into our little hilltop village. Dogs and goats eating garbage
Having tea with the locals
We took a tuk tuk into town. For the first part of our ride, there were 14 people in it. I don’t even know how the driver drove.
Market in Munnar
Indian style eye chart at the optometrists in town
Nothing unusual about seeing a cow in India
In this little city there was a mosque, a Hindu temple…
…and a Christian church
Being a lazy cloudy/rainy day, we spent most of the time here…
…drinking masala chai. This was the best I had in India.
On the streets men were preparing the night food stalls. Lex and I watched them making parothas for a while. Parothas are a buttery India bread. It’s kind of like a flat croissant with plenty of ghee.
I think these were noodles, but I’m not entirely sure…
We met our helpful tour guide, Jegen, who had traveled 6 hours to and 6 hours back from work that day. We invited him to dinner and asked him to pick his favorite night food stall. Masala Dosa
Several different friends recommended heading up to the hills of Munnar to escape the heat and take in the tea plantation views. From our houseboat, Lex and I were taken immediately to the bus station for a sweaty, crowded, and almost 5-hour ride, then 3 more hours on a second bus, to finally reach Munnar.
Our first bus to Munnar. It was not the most comfortable, but certainly not the worst bus I’ve ever been on either.
When we got to our hotel, the sun had set, though we still had this view.
The next day we hiked through the tea plantations…
…with our trusty guide Samuel
Here are some of the views…
Glad to see compost being made
Something interesting that we learned from Samuel – black tea, green tea, and white tea all come from the top part of the same tree. The black tea leaves are the most mature, biggest, and cheapest, then the green in the middle, and the white tea leaves are the youngest and most expensive. The flavors are different, and apparently much more delicate in a white tea.
We didn’t see any elephants, but saw their footprints and poop
This is old Munnar. It’s hard to see, but there is a Christian church, a Hindu temple, and a mosque all at the same altitude. Religious diversity and acceptance at its best.
We found a porcupine quill
Someone lives in the second house
Ouch!
lunch
Our favorite part of the day was happening upon this family.
There was some kind of event going on…
…and they kindly invited us to stay for lunch, but we had already eaten. I don’t think the meat (goat?) would have gone down without a fight.
We thoroughly enjoyed our time in the town of Alleppey, though the reason we visited there in the first place was to cruise through the backwaters on a houseboat. Leaving our posh resort, we boarded this rice barge:
Our captain
View from our boat – plenty of rice barges and palm trees
Backwaters life
Lunch prepared by Chef. This was just for two of us.
We’re on a boat…
…and there’s a goat!
Seeing this from a distance, we weren’t sure just what it was…
I don’t know if duck herding is an actual thing, but these guys sure made it look legit. I have never seen that many ducks in one place before. Literally thousands of ducks!
I had read about toddy, which is a fermented palm tree sap alcohol. I wanted to try it, but knew it was probably not something Indian women did. Lex and I ventured off the boat to a ‘toddy shop’. They are all over the place in Kerala. It had a real speak easy vibe from prohibition years. In retrospect, I’m not 100% sure these shops are legal. Toddy is an acquired taste, and Lex and I together couldn’t even finish this glass.
We also stopped for a coconut.
They are harder to cut than one might think.
As the sun was getting ready to set, our houseboat parked for the night. We were told that a nice spot to watch sunset was to walk up ahead.
We didn’t find much of a view for sunset, but instead had some engaging interactions with locals.
These girls were absolutely adorable
For the record, Lex was pointing to me when he said, “Her English not so good.”
What a cutie!
Our evening consisted of smile-filled conversation and a battle of flying insects attracted to lights on the rice barge. When we retreated to our room, we watched a cockroach scurry across our pillows. Luckily, we were able sleep in the other room.
I arose to our boat starting and chef having prepared another huge meal for us.
Kayaking on one knee
A little morning chanting…
The backwaters in Kerala, where life slows to the pace the water flows.
After a while in Varkala, Lex and I were ready to move on. One charming thing about India is the prevalence of train travel. We arrived at the station early enough to grab a bite here before traveling north to Alleppey.
It’s nice to know that almost everywhere in India, vegetarian food is close at hand.
This family was also awaiting the train
On the train headed to Alleppey…I think…
Ummm… we may have gotten on the wrong train. It was only temporarily wrong and we were able to switch at a station up the track. The wrong train didn’t stop us laughing.
We did not exactly rough it with our accommodation Alleppey. We stayed at the Punnamada Resort
There were even flowers on the bed
We stayed on the edge of the backwaters, a picturesque spot for sunrise
One of the hundreds of houseboats
We watched two women fully clothed in saris jump into the water. At first I thought they were bathing, but soon it was obvious they were fishing for something. We observed as the women kept ducking under the water and coming up with something in their hands.
After a leisurely morning, we borrowed bicycles from the hotel and rode into town.
Though there were many place to buy spices in Alleppey, this guy was just terrific at his job.
Nutmace
Star anise
Nutmace, star anise, and Alleppey cinnamon
After loading up on spices, Lex wanted to get a Dhoti, which is Indian sarong for men. It ended up being a much longer shopping spree for me attempting to buy a Salwar Kameez.
Just an idea of how extremely crowded the store was
When the shop keeper knew I wanted a Salwar Kameez, he introduced me to Mini. She was rather mini, and a tremendous help. She made the whole experience enjoyable.
Salwar Kameez #1
Salwar Kameez #2
Salwar Kameez #3
Mini told us this was the new style of Salwar Kameez. Sure enough, I did see plenty of Indian women wearing these who looked stunning. It made me look like a human bell. No.
Now I think that #3 looks the best. I bought #1, which needs to be tailored. Maybe I should take it to Climax Tailors and have some work done there.
Thankfully, Lex did end up getting a dhoti…
Nearing sunset, we cycled home from the traffic to quiet small lanes. Once in the out of the city and in towns, many people would shout hello, smile, and wave. Sometimes I felt like a celebrity.
Hindu temple in Alleppey amongst the chaos
Back at Punnamada
Post cycling in the heat, the pre-dinner swim felt fantastic.
My arm was feeling better. In the morning it was finally time for a yoga class. Ahhh.
The reason we came to Alleppey, was to be out on the backwaters. Time to go on a houseboat.
Adventures in and around Varkala People had told me that Varkala is a pretty chilled out place, especially for India. They were correct. It’s an excellent place to enjoy life and just take it all in.
It helped moving to somewhere with a balcony, pool, and a sea view. It also didn’t hurt finding $100 bill. We gave it all away.
Lex and I having our standard 3-hour coffee and laughs at Cafe del Mar.
Watching the sunset daily from somewhere on the cliff top
Having dinner with Eyal, Lex, and Anna at Abba
Looking down the beach at loads of people. This wasn’t the kind of beach to wear a bikini. Tourists do, but locals stay on the beach and swim fully clothed. Even while I was wearing a dress on the beach, a man made a lewd comment and gesture toward me.
Going for walks along the cliffs and down to the beach
After days spent lazing in Varkala, it was time to take a little trip out of town. Lex and I rented a motorbike and headed north in search of some more remote beaches and local Indian flavor.
Crossing over the palm tree bridge to the beach in Edava
Locals were continually both fascinated and confused by Lex. They would say, “You look like Indian people,” and then probably think, but you don’t talk or dress like it.
We ended up getting a little bit lost… …but these boys were ready to give us directions. (My favorite part is hearing the brakes when the second set of boys pull up on their bike.)
After trying to give us verbal directions, the boys got on their bike gesturing for us to follow them to the nearest food stall.
Lex having a masala chai at a local tea shop
Quite accidentally, we ended up in Kollam, which had an India-meets-Coney-Island feel to it.
Roasting peanuts on Kollam beach – delicious
Other food stalls we were a bit too afraid to try
We bought a kite to give away to the first kid who wanted one
Lex getting his fortune told by a bird
Here is the bird fortune teller in action. I shudder to think how he was trained.
After Lex, I got my fortune told.
I got Ganesh!
Although my picture was different, the written fortune was the same. We figured he probably just had one version in English. “Don’t worry – be courage” the lesser known hit by Bobby McFerrin
Perhaps unsurprisingly, this place was called Mahatma Gandhi Park. It gives the sense of the Coney Island amusements, though clearly in India
One of the funniest things at the park was a haunted house, which seemed to have been both designed and operated by a group of 10-year old boys. They were enthusiastic to lure us into their dark, cavernous, house of fright. It was very cute and provided a lot more laughs than screams. OK, the one skeleton that popped up did scare me a bit.
Cute kids everywhere
After a fun day out, it was time to head back to Varkala, but, to continue with the theme of the day, we didn’t really know how to get there. At the gas station when asking directions, people pointed in two completely different directions, which wasn’t very reassuring. We decided on what looked like the more direct route. After at least 15 minutes of waiting at the railroad crossing this happened… We ended up on a highway in rush-hour traffic and then it started getting dark. When stopping for directions, we were told a variety of ways, if people even understood us. One man corrected us on our pronunciation, “Oh, you mean Warkala! In English it’s Warkala. In Malayalam it’s Warkala.” Oh, I see. Now that we can pronounce it, how do we get there? After endless wrong turns, small village roads, near misses with buses, and hitting potholes in the dark, we arrived back in Varkala several hours later without even a scratch. Thank you iPhone, Waze, and Lex for being a tech savvy driver.
Back in the peace of Varkala
More coffee and laughs at Cafe del Mar. I am unsuccessfully trying not to crack up at Lex’s pose.
For the final day in Varkala, it was time to shop and have clothes made by the tailors
Burying and being buried in sand while fully clothed
This tailor, Anthony, finished sewing our silk items by candlelight…with a smile
It all started back in college. For a period of time I was a textiles major. One of my teachers showed us slides and fabrics from a trip she’d just taken to India. Seeing the intricate swirly patterns and vibrant colors of silks and cottons, I fell in love and wanted to go there too. Not long afterwards, I discovered yoga and Ayurveda, which added fuel to my fire. Then seeing pictures of gorgeous landscapes, and learning that vegetarian food would be available everywhere, I knew I had to go.
Back in 2000, while traveling through SE Asia and Nepal, I was supposed to visit friends in Dharamsala and the Andaman Islands, but due to my mother getting cancer, I returned home to be with her. Now, for the 2 1/2 years I’ve been back in Thailand, I have also planned on going, but at the last minute decided to visit somewhere else. Even this trip almost didn’t happen, because I’d heard the Chiang Mai Indian consulate makes it rather difficult to get a visa, so I thought I might just stay in Thailand. Then I found out about a visa service that charges more and takes longer, but gets you a visa. I applied, booked my tickets, and collected my visa just hours before my flight. Finally, after 20 years of waiting, I made it to India.
One thing I’d heard from most every woman I know that has been to India, is that it is not the easiest to travel there. You will be stared at a LOT, and possibly groped. Though I’ve traveled in over 30 countries independently, I thought India might be a good place to travel with a man, preferably an Indian man. Since I didn’t have one of those available, I chose to travel to one of the ‘easier’ places in India – Kerala. My first stop, the beach town of Varkala.
In the cab on the way from the airport to my home stay, this was a sudden traffic obstacle.
The kind driver pulled over for me to snap this shot. I love the elephant!
After checking in, and having a shower, I was famished. My first meal in India was a parotha and curry. A parotha is almost like a flattened out Indian version of a croissant – very buttery, (or maybe I should say, ghee-y?) With the coconut milk curry, this proved to be too rich to finish.
After lunch I headed down to the beach.
Looking at the cliff on Varkala beach. In this picture it isn’t obvious, but there was a huge amount of garbage on the cliffs and more was continually thrown down from the top.
View of Varkala beach from the cliff
Although it was pretty on the cliffs, there were tons of shops selling almost the same things in each one. It was a good place to shop, but walking along the cliff I was constantly solicited with, “Hello madam. Where you from? Just have a look, looking is free.”
I was exhausted from travel and in no mood for shopping, but besides all the shops, there were also tons of Ayurveda (traditional Indian medicine) centers. My arm really hurt and a massage sounded good. There are many types of Ayurvedic massages, but most include quite a bit of oil. My massage was supposed to be energizing and deep. It was, but with the rapid strokes, it wasn’t exactly relaxing. I left feeling better, if a bit oily.
The first of many gorgeous sunsets from a cliff top restaurant.
Upon waking in the middle of the night, this was the view from the balcony. I figured, along with seeing the elephant upon arrival, it must be auspicious.
Morning out the window – sweeping the dirt.
As I was eating breakfast, the Casa Eva Luna Home Stay owner – Esther, who was from Spain, though had been in India long enough to have Indian in mannerisms and speech – told me there was a puja (Hindu religious ceremony) at the temple. She called it a Pongali festival, though I’m not entirely sure what it was. The festival went on for several days. Esther invited me to go with her to the temple and had a tuk tuk coming to pick us up a few minutes later. I do not know much about Hinduism, and will not pretend to. However, I do know that there are many gods, goddesses, and religious rituals – pujas – which are usually colorful, involve food, and are sometimes extremely loud.
The following photos are what I saw and interpreted to be happening. To all Hindus, sorry in advance if my interpretations are incorrect, or in any way offensive.
Arrival at the temple
Hundreds of women preparing rice and masala spices for the puja.
Esther and her neighbor. I was grateful for her invitation to the puja festival.
Lots-o-rice
Truly a living goddess
A colorful Hindu temple
A woman whispering a prayer to this statue of what looks like a sacred cow.
Huge scales
This tree was supposedly for fertility and abundance. I made a donation and was played a ‘snake song’.
At the base of the fertility tree. Is this Laxshmi?
A little bit scary symbols of fertility
Leaving the temple
Endless beauty
I know it’s a bit difficult to see such frumpiness after the loveliness, but I had Esther take this picture to show my arm. See how bent the left arm is? That was as straight as it would go…and it hurt a lot.
My initial plans for Varkala were to be on the beach, go to yoga classes, hopefully surf, and learn some more about Ayurveda. Well, with my arm like this, and in being in a lot of pain, neither surfing, nor yoga seemed likely options. Feeling energized by the puja, yet disappointed about not being able to move my arm properly, I went to a cafe overlooking the sea and to ordered a lemon soda. The heat was intense, so I ordered a second while gazing out at the puja on the beach and rethinking my plans of what I’d do in India.
Beach puja
Upon arrival at the cafe, I couldn’t help but notice someone sitting at a table nearby. There was an energy about him and knew I had to meet him. It wasn’t like he was a guru or anything, but more like some kind of connection. It’s hard to not sound too new agey, but I was drawn to his presence. He was sitting with two other people. My arm was increasingly painful, and that gave me an idea. I walked over to their table and asked if they knew of any good Ayurveda doctors in town.
One man happened to be a body worker, and started asking me a bunch of questions. They asked me to join them for a masala chai, and we all ended up talking for over an hour. Eyal, the body worker, offered to give me a treatment. He was traveling in India with his new wife, Anna. During the course of that first hour, for a variety of reasons, the man who I was drawn to, Lex, decided to miss his train and stay in Varkala an extra day.
After having a wonderful 24 hours together, Lex postponed his flight back to Canada and changed his ticket to leave India until 2 weeks later to spend the remainder of his time with me! I was ecstatic!
Maybe something happened at that puja. Maybe there was a reason that I hadn’t made it to India until now. Maybe my arm hurting was a sign from the universe to change my plans. All I can say is whatever it was, it made me very happy.
With my hair soaked in oil from the shirodhara treatment, I boarded the train bound for Trivandrum. On trains in India there are sections for women only, which remedies the constant staring of men. I didn’t see one of these sections, but sat with a family instead. No hassles at all.
Land of Infinite Possibilities 