Kerela

Tonight I will be in Bangalore and sleeping in a proper bedroom for the first time in three nights.

From Goa, Nigel and I took the overnight train to Cochin, Kerela. First class didn't exist on this train, and second class AC was sold out, so third AC all the way... It wasn't so bad though, just a big car with beds lining the walls. Waiting on the platform for the train to arrive we met an older British couple who we later saw twice more throughout our Kerela trip, and two young guys both traveling alone - one offered up some Valium seeing that we were all a little bugged out, not knowing what to expect from the third class sleeper car, (so cheers* to George from England). Sleeping just across from us were two other travelers from just outside London, we decided to pair up with them and get a hotel together the next night in Cochin. The sleep that night on the train was fine, but I awoke to what seemed to be sudden chaos, but was only the morning routine on the train - loud Hindi chatter, and vendors walking up and down the coaches selling drinks and breakfast. In that deep, nasally tone that only vendors can do so well: "Chai, chai" "Coffeeeee" and "Samoosas! Samoosas!"

Cochin seemed like a nice town from what we saw of it - only having less than 24 hours we made it to the Dutch Palace and Port Cochin to see the Chinese fishing nets. We had a pretty good dinner at a Lonely Planet recommended restaurant with Fin and Jackie - our London friends - and then drinks at a rooftop bar around the corner. It overlooked a stadium that looked as though it was setting up for some big concert and just next to that was a dumpster and trash pile, that was almost as high as the stadium, where the tallest cows I've ever seen we're having their dinner. I swear they were massive - i wanted to take a picture but was afraid the flash would piss them off, and I didn't want to do that. Nigel said that they were just normal cows, that I was just seeing them up close, "city girl," but I still think they were weirdly huge.

The next morning we drove down to Alleppey where we boarded our houseboat and met our guide Biju. The backwaters of Kerela are listed as one of the "1000 sites to see before you die" and now I know why. One of the most beautiful landscapes I think I'll ever see: Rice fields that go on for acres and are a color green Crayola couldn't duplicate. Many parts of the fields are flooded, depending on the stage of harvesting, and in these the duck herders bring the ducks to feed off of the bad rice. Duck herders?? Have you ever?? It's great, they make these noises that tell the ducks where to go and when. Little villages pop up along the banks too, and for every village there is at least one, usually two, Hindu temples. These past two days happened to fall in the middle of a 10 day Hindu festival - where the religious leaders spend the day reading, explaining what they've read, and singing Hindu songs over loud speakers so everyone in the village can listen while they work in the fields, markets, etc. So as we cruised south on the backwaters the sounds of Hindi chanting followed us, echoing 360 in more densely populated areas.

All meals were served on board - some of the best curries I've ever tasted (pineapple curry, have you ever??), and little side dishes like chili mango salad and beet root, everything included some different form of coconut - even the french fries, which they called finger chips, were fried in coconut oil. And you could tell.

Floating down the backwaters we would often pass another houseboat or two - one of which was carrying that older English couple from the train platform, we waved and then realized who they were and waved harder. For the three days spent on the boat, it was like three days sitting on the back of a convertible riding in a parade: kids run to the banks and wave and shout "Nice to meet you! Nice to meet you!" Ladies doing their daily laundry in the river would stop to watch us float by.

Midway through the trip the water changed from fresh to salt, leaving the rice fields behind. We were entering the fishing villages now. Chinese fishing nets lined the banks, and our second night was spent anchored amongst them. The nets are worked all during the night, they attach a light to the top which attracts the shrimp into the net. Every 15 minutes I could hear the creaking of one of the nets and could tell if it was going up or down by the direction of the light. A successful catch was met with the sounds of flopping in a plastic bucket.

It was a good thing Biju had mentioned the tradition of the Hindu festival, because when I was woken up at 5:20am to the sounds of Hindu chanting coming from both sides of the river, up and down stream, I knew I hadn't just woken up in some weird Bollywood horror movie. Nigel goes, "ya hear that? it's like outta Deliverance." But daylight came and the chanting seemed to rest for a bit while everyone was having breakfast I guess. Then it was cruise down the river a bit more until we reached our docking point and jumped into a rick that took us to the train station, where we hopped the train that the older British couple was riding, that took us back to Cochin.

Flight tonight to Bangalore, where all the call centers are located, so you can think of me while you're sitting on hold for 20 minutes. :)