KERALA: Cochin, Taddekad, Munnar and Allopey

Tuesday 17th March

It seems strange to be sitting at our computer in our air conditioned cabin on an air conditioned ship after the extreme heat of Chennai, Cochin (Kochi), Thaddekad or Allopey. We were in India for 6 days and 5 nights but because we did different things in three utterly different places it feels as though we have had a much longer stay.


We sailed into Chennai at 8am on the 11th March. As soon as the ship was cleared we took a taxi to the Airport (about a 45 minute drive) through the hot, crowded and colourful streets of the city. Mentally I easily transferred into the atmosphere of the country and felt the old excitement and smelled the heady scents of this incredible country. Hot and spicy!

Security at the airport didn't feel too stringent and the place itself. although pretty warm, was open and clean and not too crowded. Liz, Audrey and I were separated behind a screen to be body searched in the most peremptory fashion by two rather dour women. One senses a real emphasis on possible terrorism in India (somehow it never feels quite as paranoid as the United States!) but the officials take their jobs seriously and they are thorough.

Our little 24-30 seater propellar plane (? DC3) took off promptly and we arrived in Kochi about an hour and a half later. There we were met by the representative of Pioneer Personalised Holiday, Philip. I had to confess to him a slight problem (heavens I'm writing in the Indian idiom!) which was that George had forgotten to bring the promised payment in US dollars for our trip. I felt dreadful! I had been corresponding for months with Neelesh who manages (if not owns) the agency and this had been our arrangement. (When George confided his memory lapse to me in Chennai airport I was close to throttling him!) However Philip did that wonderful shaking/nodding of the head which is so uniquely Indian, smiled and said 'No worry you can pay later'. He hearded us outside to our waiting air con. car and driver, Alex. The heat shimmered around us as we loaded our baggage into the car and I was soon pouring with perspiration from my hair to my shoulders. After a few minutes of welcome coolness in the car I felt alot better. Liz, Audrey and I sat in the wide and comfortable three seater back seat and George beside the driver in front. We comfortably kept this seating all through our trip: it was an extremely comfotable car/van.

We all spent much of the two hour drive to Thaddekad with our eyes closed. No we weren't tired we just could not watch motor cyclists and cars with an obvious death wish swerve in front of us and pedestrians who literally took their lives in their hands stepping off the dusty road sides into the oncoming traffic....once again I would not want to be working in the ER department of any Indian hospital.

Thaddekad is a beautiful bird sanctuary. It is spread along a wide river and our accomodation on the banks of that river were permanent tents under huge shady thatched roofs and with balconies overlooking the water. There was a fan and bedside lights in each tent but the generator was not on until 6.30 pm so it was hot! We were greeted with frothy fresh pineapple juice in the open, thatched dining room and here at least we could feel a breeze coming off the river. There were fishing nets in the river, it was lined by a large variety of trees and birdsong could be heard. We sat and cooled down and watched the river with birds skimming along it and in the trees above us. It was simply beautiful.

From our first meal that evening in the Sanctuary we ate Indian food all the time and I, for one, loved it. Audrey was not too keen but the rest of us gorged ourselves. We were served and looked after by three stewards. One of the highlights of our stay in South India was the tea! It was out of this world, strong, dark brown and flavourful. It is made in a saucepan with tea being added to boiling water and simmered for a few minutes before the milk is added, brought almost to the boil, poured through a strainer and served in lovely white, gold rimmed china cups. I have to tell you that the tea from this part of the world (Kerala) is the best I have ever tasted.

We slept under a fan that night but there were places under the tent where bugs and mosquitoes might have come in. I only once heard a mossie and promptly fell asleep again and didn't get bitten as far as I could tell. there were millions of tiny 'sugar' ants (I call them) and I watched fascinated as they bore the corpse of a flying bug along the floor between our bathroom and bedroom tents. It takes hundred of them to accomplish this and they all look so organised....like a regiment of troops receiving orders from someone, somewhere.

The following morning George went for a three hour "bird walk" starting at 6 am, and added some 40 'lifers' (birds he has never seen before) to his growing list. After an Indian breakfast (rice pancakes. spiced onion gravy, toast, jam and more gorgeous tea) we set off in the car for Munnar in the centre of the hill side tea plantations. The road there was as terrifying as the others, but add the sheer drop on one side as we approached the 'high country'. If at all possible neither approaching vehicle will ever give way to the other: there were times I thought that one side of our van was certainly going to be surgically amputated, but Alex never let it happen. Our drive took about four and a half hours, climbing all the time, beautifully out of the heavy humid heat.

We arrived in Munnar and our beautiful plantation bungalow, "Kannieamalaya", at tea time...how appropriate and refreshing that was! The bungalow is over 100 years old and belonged to the British planatation owner until the '70's. It has three huge en suite bedrooms, a large sitting room, a dining room, sitting room and front sun room. At the back is a large two room kitchen Another family from the ship had taken my advice and used Neelesh at Pioneer and were in the front room overlooking the rose garden and lawn, Liz and Audrey had the room behind them and ours was opposite theirs. We had the distinct disadvantage of being the only ones with no water pressure or hot water in our bathroom! But as George said none of the others would have put up with it so it was just as well it was us. I think we are now able to adapt to absolutely anything! We suffered it for two nights and then moved into the front bedroom when Cathy, Dan and Zack Sprau left.

There were walking trails winding throughout the plantation and we were surrounded by high hills and rocky peaks. The tea plants were a glowing bright green, covering the hills and there were a variety of huge thickly leafed trees including, as wind breaks, tall groves of Eucalyptus trees. All over Munnar were Jacaranda trees which I haven't seen for years. It reminded me that we were at the same height as Nairobi (5000 ft) and many of the flowers too were reminescent of the highlands of Kenya. The bungalow itself was so like similar ones in Kenya with gracefully curved windows and a red corrugated iron roof....on which it is wonderful to hear tropical rain...big fireplaces, fairly heavy dark furniture and both tiled and original wooden floors.
We were served by Lowidas and his wife Stella and as a helper a little grey haired mustachiod man called, I think, Pampahn. Lowidas was chief cook and bottle washer but Stella helped with everything. Again our food was very Indian and very good....but we did have toast, jam and, once, porridge for breakfast and at most meals and always at 4 o'clock, delicious, strong black tea with hot milk....and what did the British do for India?!

We all spent time walking on the trails, some further than others. I got up very early in the morning, wrapped up well because it was cold, and went for a short walk near the bungalow overlooking the fields and fields of tea bushes. We had wonderful sunny weather and all of us completely fell in love with the place. There were hundreds of birds of all shapes and colours and their early morning chorus was incredible; there were monkeys in the trees of a rich dark brown colour, swinging through the branches above us and calling each other rather like baboons. The flowers were a delight: roses, nasturtiums, beauganvillia, hibiscus, morning glory, frangipani, lilies, marigolds and some I couldn't identify but were familiar....and in amongst the dark green of the trees the breathtaking mauve jacaranda. It was a sort of paradise.

In the town of Munnar which was a ten minute drive away were small open shops, much traffic, many people and a great atmosphere, noise and energy. We all did some shopping there on our first morning. I had a lovely peacock blue cotton 'top' of a salwar kameez made to my measurements in two hours at the local 'ladies tailor'! It was hard to find, in the middle of the town, behind some shops, up a steep stone stircase. It consisted of a small rectangular room with three woman working and (t'was ever thus) a man sitting at a desk overseeing, ordering about and setting prices. Both Liz and Audrey bought some Indian tops whilst Alex patiently waited and guided us around. George was back at the bungalow walking the trails and looking at the birds.

We spent our last full day there driving around the area, seeing dams and reservoirs, market places, bridges and churches. We saw a very English looking church in Munnar and went up to have a closer look. The minister's voice was roaring out over a loudspeaker and he spoke in impassioned tones starting gently and rising to a huge crescendo....very dramatic. His sermon was obviously meant to reach all house bound parishioners and every one else going about their Sunday business in Munnar! This tiny 'Jewel in the Crown' English church, although still Anglican, had adapted to its environment and was very Indian indeed.

At the end of that sight seeing day we drove 'home' to our bungalow and all agreed that we could very easily adapt ourselves to this privileged life style. It was wonderful to catch sight of the bungalow's red roof as we approached and it did indeed feel like 'coming home'. I could understand why these were the very people who stayed on after Indian Independence. (read Paul Scott's "Staying On") What life style offered in the UK could possibly compare?

The following morning I again went walking just after sunrise feeling great sadness that we had to leave. As I re-entered the bungalow beautiful Stella came to greet me. She smiled, walked up to me and put out her arms out to give me a huge hug, resting her head on my shoulder. It was such a special moment. I had tried to address much of my attention to her, always using her name, but although she had smiled radiantly in response she spoke no English. I had asked about her family on one occasion but her answer with gestures was so complicated I really didn't know if she had any children or not. I later discovered from Lowidas, while she stood and nodded next to him, that she had no children, he had one child (from a first marriage) who was with his mother and at school nearby. Stella was his second wife and was I would guess in her late thirties. I think in retrospect that she was grateful for the acknowledgment of herself as an important person in this male dominated household. For me it was an overwhelmingly moving incident and I felt a precious acknowledgement of myself as another woman who had entered and shared her world for a few short days. Don't know if all this makes sense ....but I know what I mean!

More later ...this much to keep you going Sally!



Later:

Thge drive down to Allopey, to spend our last night in India on a houseboat, was long....five hours along the same terrifying road. This time seemed easier on all of us: we had finally come to accept the dangers of driving in India and Alex was an exceptionally good and confident driver. I hated to descend again to the heat and humidity of Kochi, especially after experiencing the lovely climate in the hills. We drove through Kochi itself and on for another hour or so until we reached the backwaters and the dozens of houseboats "parked" at the quay side waitinng to sail.


The living quarters on the houseboat were roomy and beautifully designed and we had two bedrooms with en suite bathrooms. Upstairs under a shaded roof of coir fibre most beautifully woven was the dining room where we could sit and watch as we sailed along the canals. We saw fishing boats and villages, school houses, temples and churches and the busy life of the back water communities. We were served again some wonderful tea. Later as darkness fell we stopped and anchored against a bank and were served our evening meal. We sat and ate our delicious freshly caught prawn dinner. The prawns (shrimp) were huge and we had them with rice and a vegetable curry followed by fruit and tea. The dining room table and chairs were of a heavy dark wood and there were pink orchids decorating a dresser, We had been given necklaces of sweet and very strong smelling jasmine which we wore round our necks.

We decided to try sitting in the comfortable upholstered arm chairs downstairs behind the wheel of the boat which was being driven by one of the crew members. This was wonderful until we had to turn on a light and although mosquito nets had been rolled down all round the outside of the ship millions of green flying ants swarmed towards the light which had been turned on and shortly afterwards there were so many with nowhere to go so they chose our hair and clothes and we beat a hasty retreat to our cabins. (The next morning when I watched the crew sweeping that part of the deck their bodies lay an inch deep on the wooden floor!) Some managed to penetrate the bedrooms and bathroom but that was bearable as they weren't in the same numbers. Not everyone's cup of tea this invasion and certainly not poor Audrey's! She was truly distressed.

By this time the air conditioning had been turned on so in addition to the fans we were able to enjoy a comfortable night. At 5 am promptly the whole lot went off and there was a deafening silence! Oh no! I thought, no movement of air but after about 15 minutes the fans and lights came on again....but no more air conditioning.

I dressed and went upstairs to watch the sun rise and life on the banks begin. There was a small store and a family living on the opposite bank and I was able to surreptitiously watch them preparing for their day. First of all a young woman in a re and gold, short sleeved kameez sewpt the floor near the shop and house. An older women brought out pots and pans and began washing them in the canal and polishing them with a white rag. A young man came out wearing a dhoti which he carefully unravelled as he splashed himself with water. the younger woman went over to her father or father in law who was sitting in the entrance of the house reading a paper, then entered and fetched her baby who started to cry hungrily. A little boy of about four came out and played happily by himself watched closely by his grandparents. His newly washed father then appeared in a clean white shirt and walked down to the "bus stop" where the ferry/bus picked him up a few minutes later. Fisherman started to float by in dug out canoes talking to each other aross the water. I thought what a busy, organised community it was and yet they had so lttle, just what was necessary to survive. Audrey and George joined me and we were brought tea. It was still cool with the breeze off the water and the sun low in the sky.

After a breakfast of scrambled eggs Indian style on toast, butter, toast and jam and bananas and orange pieces we had to pack to be ready to leave the boat back at the wharf at 9 am. During the sail back we realised that the temperature was rising as was the humidity and it was to remain abnormally hot for the remainder of the day.

Alex picked us up in our lovely air conditioned car and took us into Kochi to meet Neelesh at last who with me had arranged the itinerary of our trip. I felt I knew him well as hundreds of emails had passed between us! He was a delightful and very thorough and efficient man who had about twenty agents working under his supervision. He had gathered together all the necessary papers for us to go through immigration so that process was completed in the shortest possible time. We returned to the ship with all our baggage, had a quick wash up and then returned to Alex and the car which we had for the remainder of the day. George's first task was to collect the money he had forgotten and to return and pay Neelesh! Needless to say we thanked him profusely for organising such a wonderful holiday for us all.

Alex drove us all round the old city which would have been alot more enjoyable if it hadn't been so terribly hot. Kochi is much more attractive and much less frenetic than Chennai. We had lunch in a very nice restaurant sitting on a cool patio with a fan blowing right on us: paid a very quick visit to a lovely market: did a little more sight seeing and then to Alex's extreme disappointment, decided that it was time to return to the cool of the ship.

Saying good bye to India was hard for me because I don't expect to see it again...the land of my birth. I do love it: its colour, energy, friendliness and beauty. I am aware of the dirt and the awful poverty but we saw little of it on this visit. I feel very at home with the people...a comfort born out of early childhood familiarity I think. We sailed out of Kochi at 8 pm last night and I watched from the 7th deck as the tugs pulled us out of the immediate port and left us to make our own way out to sea and on to Mauritius.

Farewell India!