Tour of Kerala!

Hello!

Did you miss me?
(You better have!) :)

Well, I have been touring Kerala with my family (minus Jonathan, plus Cristy), and showing them around Nedumkandam. Here’s what we did (I hope I can keep it short; I’m sure you’re all terribly bored of my long posts) ;)

Wednesday, 18. October

After lunch, we grabbed our backpacks and headed off on our 5.5 hour bus ride to the airport of Kochi (a city on the coast of India). Mathew (our neighbour) accompanied us up to Kattappana (which is a city 1 hour from Nedumkandam, and in which there is a large bus station). There, he put us on our next bus, which took us up to Peruembavoor, which is 15 km from the airport. He was extremely worried about us and told the bus driver, conductor and mechanic to take good care of us and to help us get transportation from Peruembavoor to the airport. However, that didn’t quite work out. After our very long (and bumpy) journey, the bus conductor simply told us when to get off, and then we were in the middle of a city, it was dark and raining, and there was no car for hire in sight. Fortunately, Cristy had the brilliant idea of asking an auto (tuk-tuk) driver for help, who said he’d take us.
We then sat in the airport for another 45 min until my mom, dad and sister arrived.
It was really exciting to see them again! And I was also excited about being able to go on a holiday with them again (e.g. staying in hotels with hot water!!!, etc.).
It took us another 40 min (at least) to get to the hotel, which was in Fort Kochi (the old part of Kochi, which is situated on an island), so we got to bed extremely late, but very happy.

Thursday, 19. October

After a good breakfast (Pratheeba is an excellent cook, so my standards have risen drastically…), we sent Sebastian, the driver, up to Nedumkandam with 4 bags full of stuff for me (I felt quite guilty, my family having to carry so many things to India just for me).
We spent the day exploring the old part of Kochi, called Fort Kochi: we visited a Dutch palace, the oldest synagogue in India, and the church that Vasco da Gama was originally buried in. Of course, we couldn’t do this in peace: at every turn, there was someone who wanted us to visit their shop, buy their postcards, etc. It felt strange being treated like a tourist even though I live here (then again, it also felt strange when I thought about how ‘at home’ I feel here). In the evening, I enjoyed Italian food (the first time in 2 months! I loved every bite!), before going to bed.

Friday, 20. October

After an early morning swim with Cristy in the hotel’s pool (we have no way of swimming in Nedumkandam, so she forced me to join her), we packed our bags and left for a place called Allapuzha (the ‘zh’ is pronounced as an ‘r’), where we would get on a house boat and tour the backwaters of Kerala. However, we made what was to be a short stop (and ended up being a long one!) at a large shop to buy some fancy saris. Because prices are 10 times as high as in Nedumkandam, we limited ourselves to one only. Fortunately, the quality of the saris there is also much better, so at least it was an ‘ok’ investment. I got a navy blue sari with a matt orange border and blouse, and my mom (who wasn’t planning on buying one at first) got a very elegant black sari with a red border and blouse. Cristy also got a sari, which is red and orange / yellow. They’re all really beautiful and very special (and will only be worn on very special occasions)! I was so happy!
We spent the rest of the day on the house boat, marveling at the beauty of Kerala’s backwaters. It really is a must if you ever travel to Kerala! Words can’t begin to describe it, and photos don’t really reflect the natural beauty and the peaceful atmosphere, either.

Saturday, 21. October

We spent the day relaxing on the house boat (enjoying the yummy Indian food, too!). In the afternoon, my dad had to leave to drive down to Thiruvananthapuram (English: Trivandrum), the capital of Kerala which is located almost at the bottom tip of India. He had to catch a flight late in the evening, because he had to travel to Kazakhstan on business. We were all really sad to see him go, but at least he joined us again on Wednesday!
In the evening, an old man took Cristy, Tamar and me in his little traditional boat and paddled around with us for a while. The evening light made everything look even more beautiful, and it was a very pleasant ‘paddle’ (apart from the mosquitoes).
As soon as it started getting dark, the mosquitoes would come out to attack us. Not very pleasant! I still have scars from their bites.

Sunday, 22. October

In the morning, we left the houseboat and drove for about 4 hours to Periyar, which is a nature reserve known for its wild elephants. The area around the Periyar lake (a man-made lake formed behind a dam in the early 1900’s) is protected, and the only way you can move in most parts of the nature reserve is by boat. They do have some nature hikes, but most people simply go on one of the boat rides through the day.
We stayed in a hotel that was in the nature reserve, and that could only be reached by boat. It’s a small former hunting lodge, and it’s really beautiful, because you’re out in nature so much.
Later in the afternoon, we went on a boat ride and saw lots of animals. Later, we enjoyed delicious Indian food for dinner, before we went to bed.

Monday, 23. October

We went on several boat rides on Monday, and we saw practically every type of animal there was to see:

-Elephants!
-Sambar deer
-Wild boars
-Indian gaur (also incorrectly called ‘bisons’ here in India)
-Black monkey (forgot their real name)
-1 Otter
-2 sloth bears! (that was really special, even though they were far away)

Unfortunately, we didn’t see any tigers or panthers, but then they’re rarely seen, and the elephants and especially the sloth bears were a big treat!
The rest of the time we were in the lodge, enjoying the food, reading, playing cards, or simply relaxing.

Tuesday, 24. October

After one last boat ride early in the morning, we left the nature reserve and had a tour of some spice gardens. That was really interesting! Our guide showed us almost every imaginable spice, and explained how it is processed, etc.
After that, we drove for almost 2 hours (although it was supposed to take us only 1 hour – our driver took his time) to Nedumkandam, where we spent the rest of the day. We unpacked the 4 suitcases full of stuff (it was Christmas in October for me, and it was so fun!) and then spent the evening with our neighbours.

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That was the end of my Kerala tour! My dad flew to Kochi Wednesday morning and arrived here in Nedumkandam around noon. I spent the next couple of hours showing them around Nedumkandam and the school, before Tamar and my dad had to leave at 5pm to drive to the airport to catch their flight to Singapore.
My mom stayed until Sunday, and then left Sunday evening. Naturally, nearly everyone in Nedumkandam now knows that I cried when my mom left! Oh well, I can’t help it if I’m popular (although I could do without all the limelight!)!

Now, life around here is back to normal (as normal as it ever gets). Unfortunately I’m sick, so teaching and doing school-related work really isn’t what I feel like doing. In addition, the students have their mid-term exams from now until the end of next week, so that gives me additional work: writing the exams, setting them during my free periods, correcting them…

Oh well! That’s me: always busy.

Hope this post wasn’t too boring! I also hope you’ll put comments! :)
I’ll try to write again soon!

With love from India,
me