From Coast to Hill Station, Kerala State: January 19

O! Sad day, when we had to leave our little haven at Sona Homestay and make tracks (or in this case, take a rickshaw) to the bus station in Alleppey. We headed for the KSRTC bus station to take a government bus to Munnar, a 5-hour ride scheduled to depart at 2pm. It was pretty hot at this time of the day, in the high 80s and fairly humid, but we waited in the shade with plenty of other travellers, while a miriad of buses pulled in and out of the station. At about 1:50 our empty bus arrived and parked, and at 1:58 we were off! Who says everything is tardy in India? We scrambled onto the rickety-looking bus, stowed our baggage in a space near the driver, and secured seats in about the third row. The bus had more-or-less the appearance of a school bus without glass in the windows. Good air ventilation! On one side of the aisle, the

bench seats were for two, and on our side, for three. It is a tight fit, especially for comparatively large-built people like us. We noted that the seats ahead of us were occupied only by women, except for one European couple who occupied a 2-seat bench and were oblivious to the fact that they were in the women’s seating. Off we went into

the hot, blue yonder. As we traveled the winding, narrow “highway” (NH 49), darting in and out of traffic, passing hurriedly, and honking along the way, people on the bus would pull the bell-cord to indicate that they wanted off, or others along the roadside would hail the bus, and clamber on, barely getting into the doorway before the bus accelerated on its way.

The first two hours of the journey, it was crowded and hot along the way. As people got on and off the bus, sometimes there were quite a few people standing in the aisle, although they usually travelled only between villages so did not have to stand for too long. Dean noticed that their bus fare was often less than 10 rupees, or only several cents. I was seated beside the window and Dean in the “middle” of the 3-seater, and sometimes a man would sit beside him, other times the seat would be left empty

even when several women remained standing. Eventually we came to realize that we, too, were sitting in the women’s-only seating, and it is impossible for an Indian woman to sit next to an unknown man. Unwittingly we were preventing these standing women from sitting by having Dean “exposed” to the vacant seat! He and I switched places, and immediately a woman sat beside me. It was hot being squished together but I was so glad that we finally figured out our error.

The roadway was narrow and sinuous, and wended its way through towns and villages, forests and lush agricultural land. We passed bright green rice paddies studded with egrets, jungle forest with marvelous, thick vines encircling the trunks of many trees, and wonderful banana groves with their huge broad leaves fluttering. As we began to rise into the foothills of the Western Ghats, we began to see rubber tree plantations with small protective plastic frills over the hatched spiral latex-collecting notches, pineapple fields with their blue-green spikey leaves, eucalyptus forests and spice plantations. In the late afternoon sun, the intensity of color of the lush flora was lovely. With increasing elevation, it became

cooler and fresher, and the bus became less crowded until we had the 3-person bus seat to ourselves. Fresh wind coming in the windows, the fading light, and the ever-changing scenery made the trip very enjoyable.

Bus stop at Kothamangalam

Roughly every 30-60 minutes, the bus pulled into a bus depot of a more major town, stopped for 5 minutes to take on new passengers and allow those on board to visit “the loo” or buy snack foods. Light was falling and it became more difficult to see the detail of the countryside. Once it was fully dark, we rounded one corner and from the side of one hillside loomed the full moon, low, bright and large on the undulating horizon. From then on the landscape was illuminated only by moonlight. From the bus we could see the rolling hills, deep valleys below us, and the whole area dotted with individual or collections of lights from peoples’ homes. At one point there was suddenly the strong smell of delicious curry, and I wondered whether we were smelling this from peoples’ homes as they prepared dinner. This didn’t seem very likely, and soon we rounded a corner and saw a big sign saying “Eastern Spice Company”, so we knew it was an ambrosial aroma associated with an important local industry.

Eventually as we neared our destination of Munnar, at an elevation of more than 5000 feet, we began to realize that the agricultural landscape was manicured and orderly and that we were traveling in tea plantation country. It was wonderful that, even by moonlight, we could see the lineations of tea plants that render the hillsides upholstered as though in velour or corduroy, even on quite steep slopes. Suddenly the lights along the road became more dense and we were in Munnar, and quite abruptly we found ourselves standing on yet another busy Indian town road at 8pm with little idea of what would happen next. It had been a long, jolting, but fascinating bus ride, and suddenly we were at our intended destination. Did I mention that our bus fare for this entire journey was 102 rupees each, or about $2.25?

We needn’t have worried, for we were immediately spotted by a rickshaw driver who approached and asked whether we needed him to give us a ride. When we told him the name of our accommodation, the Club Mahindra Lake View Resort, he said rather appologetically that it would be 300 rupees because it was 21 kilometres. We had been told by the resort to expect to pay 500 so were very content with his price. He stopped by a little shop where we bought 2 beers (we felt we deserved this after our long ride) and set off into the dark. Again, in this hilly country, the roads are very winding, and not particluarly smooth, so the ride was bumpy and cool, the temperature having dipped to about 55 degrees. BUT. As we drove mostly uphill along this little road, the country was once again illuminated by the full moon, now higher overhead, and the hillsides and valleys as far as we could see were paved with tea bushes.

Magnificent. After a dazzling half hour we arrived, and what a place it is. Way up on one of the highest local ridges, the buildings of the resort were alight and welcoming. We clambered out of the rickshaw and checked in, and soon were in a small transport van winding even further uphill to our studio suite which overlooks the entire tea-carpeted valley below. Even in the moonlight it was spectacular, and the next morning, as the sun was rising out our windows, the landsape progressed from black silhouettes to bright green. A large lake, created by a power dam, is in the distance below, and all around are the corrugated, manicured expanses of tea, and in the distance, row upon row of ever-distant ridges and hills. It is spectacular.


I guess we’ll just have to stay here for the next two weeks. Oh, well.

[Club Mahindra Lake Resort is accommodation that we arranged through our time share ownership, using the International timeshare “trading” company, RCI]

Jan 12 to 18: Alleppey, Kerala State

We have just finished a 5-night stay in Alleppey, Allepy, or Alappuzha depending on who you ask.  We left Mumbai and travel 30+ hours by train in AC 2 tier class to Ernakulam, in Kerala State. Ernakulam is the main train station for Fort Cochin (Kochi) and points south. This class of train car has air conditioning, a big plus compared with having the windows open and the dusty air blowing in.  The 2 facing seats we had were nice during the day and converted to bunk beds at night. The provided bed roll (2 sheets, wool blanket, and pillow) were clean and adequate. The only downside was that the bed was several inches short for Dean to sleep in comfortably.  We learned that the best viewing location from which to see life along the railway tracks was at an open door between cars, because the windows beside our seats were very dirty, both inside and out.  We both have learned the technique of taking pictures with one hand while the other is gripping the hand rail to avoid falling off the hurtling train.

  

Water Buffalo

The best part of the over night stay in Ernakulam was dinner at Frye’s Family Resturant where we both had fish that was very tasty and had been cooked in a banana leaf.  (The fish dinner cost less than our 2 beers at the hotel!)  The next morning while waiting in Ernakulum for our train to Alleppey we were treated to the official launching of a new train service. There was much official fanfare, a speech by the Minister of Transportation, and a raspy but enthusiastic brass band. The  brightly painted new train drew out of the station with adornments of tinsel fluttering in the wind.

Sona Homestay

After a additional 1 ½  hour train ride, we reached Alleppey and taxied to our accommodations at Sona Homestay.  We were greated by Joseph on our veranda.  Joseph is a retired Calcutta business manager who returned to Kerala State (where he had grown up) in about 1996, bought a heritage house and started the homestay.  Joseph is joined by his son, Sona, and their wives, Anya and Preethi, in running the homestay.  Both Joseph and Sona are very informative on any issue from what to do each day while in Alleppey to Indian family, history, culture, religion or politics.  We had several interesting discussions daily while we sat in the dappled sunshine on our verandah. They were most welcoming, and are themselves involved with, and intrigued by, to the comings and goings of their foreign visitors. Also on the verandah, we were served delicious black coffee and wonderful banana-filled rice-flour pancakes or masala omlettes each morning. Sona claimed that we were the first ever visitors to request a second pot of coffee in the morning.

Alleppey is reminiscent of other Indian towns of similar size, but the signage is less likely to include English, and the local language, Malayalam, is written in a more rounded script than is Hindi and Marati around Mumbai.  The local beaches and backwaters are spectacular.  Through Joseph, we hired James who took us for a 9 hour backwaters boat tour.  James was also very informative about local history and life, and piloted us through lakes and large and small canals in his boat.  We stopped and walked through several small villages.  Over the past hundred years or so, large areas of the shallow lake have been diked and drained to make rice fields inside, and canals outside, the dikes.  The lake and canal water level is the same, and the rice fields are several feet lower.  James said the lowest points are about 15 feet below sea level. 

 
 
  
 
 

There are many natural islands that have from 1 to 500 houses on them and as well, many houses have also been built along the dikes.  There is electricity, water and cable TV to most.  The children go by boat to school and most areas are only reachable by boat.  When we passed along through the canals, daily life unfolded before us: people and goods being ferried to and fro, clothes and eating utensils being washed at the side of the canal, kids being washed and swimming, and adults washing.  Each house has an area along the dike with several steps down into the canal water level to access the water more easily.

 

James and Alison

Very large houseboats, state ferries, goods transfer boats, fishing boats, fishing corries, small one- or several- person canoes, and swimming kids all share the waterway.

Ellie and Harry

We stopped for lunch at a small restaurant and had tiger prawns and small fish with many delicious sauces to put on the rice.  All very tasty.  Another stop was to see the rice field irrigation system (open the pipe valve and it floods; water also is actively pumped out of the rice fields as they are below water level) and to have coconut milk and some raw coconut flesh from a freshly opened coconut.  For afternoon tea we stopped at a small one room resturant that still used the original wood stove and copper hot water heater from many years ago.  After we returned to Alleppey we had several beers, good food and much fun with Ellie and Harry, a young couple from London who had arrived to stay at Sona homestay, and were in the room next to ours.

The following day we spent a leisurely morning hanging around the homestay and then went to Marati Beach, about 10 km north of town. It was a massive, long white sand beach with palm trees planted along the top of the beach to provide much wanted shade. A steady wind made the otherwise hot and humid afternoon bearable. The ocean was very warm: as another guest at our homestay described it, “barely even refreshing”. On our way there, from the rickshaw, we noticed open sheds with large wooden looms and spools, but noone was working them on that Sunday. The next day, thanks to Sona’s arranging, we went with our rickshaw driver, Naufal, to see how the coarse woven rugs and floor mats are made from coconut husk fiber (coir).  We saw the whole process. First the short fibers are twisted into cord, then the cord is dyed in huge vats over bed of coals. Then, up 10 or 12 cords are arranged together onto a very large spool, the fibre source for the large foot powered looms to make rolls of  floor matting varing from about 2 to 6 feet in width.

If you or someone you know are ever looking for a very nice homestay in Alleppey consider the Sona homestay www.sonahome.com   It was the best stay we have had sofar on the trip.

Jan 11 Update

Well…..we are not in Kansas anymore …..Thank God! (Apologies to anyone from Kansas.)


Watching a video on ted.com titled ‘East vs. West -- the myths that mystify’ by Devdutt Pattanaik, got me thinking about what I’m experiencing here in India. The difference between thinking of the one vs of the many; the fundamental difference in defining basic things such as your world, ambition vs spirituality.

The latest encounter was our trying to use a travel agent to book a visit to several caves about 5 hours outside of Mumbai this week. After visiting the agent and explaining what we wanted to do we haven’t heard back except when we call and then we are assured we will get the needed bookings that afternoon or tomorrow…..We have given up on that plan and book an alternative by ourselves. We needed an India credit card to book things ourselves, so thankfully Twyla has one so we reimbursed her and all is well. It is hard culturally for Indians to say no or tell us what we want to do will not work, therefore, the misunderstanding between me and the travel agent.

Through this I have become more familiar with the Indian train system and various airlines than I wanted to. Greg found a great explanation of the train booking system: http://www.indiamike.com/india-articles/indian-railways-rac-and-indian-railways-waitlists The system is set up for you to pre-book any possible train you might need 90 days in advance then cancel any unneeded ones 2 days ahead of the use date at almost no charge. This system is to ‘mazimize the train system useage’ according to the article, but actually it maximizes the use of the booking system. Therefore, when the uninformed, me, go online to book a train seat 3 or 4 weeks ahead of the date, I am usually 50+ on the waitlist and look for alternative transport that doesn’t involve trains. I have to learn to let go of the ‘I want this booking now’. To help me I now have my Ganesh in my pocket (supplied by Twyla in our India survival kit) to get over or around obstacles.

Thursday I had a train experience while traveling to the travel agent that was 2 train stops away. I mistakenly thought there was only 1 Central Railroad line so got on the wrong train. It was soon apparent that I had gone too far so I got off and looked at Twyla’s Mumbai atlas and made my way to the connection station and retraced on the proper line to the Dadar station. YEA! On the return I made it to the correct line…but got on a ‘super express’ that whistled through my stop and it went through 4 more stations until I could again retrace to the Bandra station close to where Twyla and Greg live…Overall I got a grand experience for 9 rupees, about 20 cents US. A good help in this experience were many experienced Indian train riders who always helped me to the correct side of the car for exiting and directed me to the proper train when I didn’t know.

While in the Dadar area I actually booked several plane flights and helped teach a new agent in the process. In all I think it took about 5 or 6 people to help in the process. Since I was the only client and there were about 20 agents working at the time, it was fun even though not quick. All were smiling.

I had to go to another agent several store fronts away to book a bus trip because the first one only did air travel. This time it was hard to book for tomorrow because everyone books for today! I didn’t even worry about the return in 4 days….I have my Ganesh….

Yesterday, Sunday, I booked the return bus trip with no problem and great ease. I asked how to do this at the desk of the hotel where we were staying and they sent me to the bus depo with one of their employees who walked be through the process in Pune. You even see the bus to check if it is ok with your expectations! (Probably a little help from Ganesh.)

Other questions from the video mentioned above about the differing world view:

• View 1: Why worry about an achievement or promotion when thousands have done it before?

• View 2: Why waste your life seeking spiritual things when you don’t have food for today?

The answer to why we are here probably encompases both views and more….