Wow, Mysore is a big change for us. having just been in the smallish town of Madurai, with its focus seemingly entirely on the temple, and then in two very rural homestay situations, to be in such a lovely functional city as Mysore is really fun. Mysore was the capital of a very successful princely state. The Rajas here ruled for hundreds and hundreds of years, broken briefly by about 30 years of moslem rule in the 1600s or something, and they had a lot of wealth. They every year for 400 years have had a procession which used to be for the Raja and to entertain his people he imported very special treats, like camels, and apparently spared little expense. so it's quite famous and remains so today although the Raja became only a governor in 1947. People come from ll over south India. To Party! yes it's a quasi religious festivl but mainly it's fun. we just finished seeing the parade, I cannot describe how many rhythms, costumes, drums, dance troups, floats, horse troops, elephants make up the mix. It's great and it's all in front of this incredibly fairy tale palace which is in a huge walled compound with many other palaces and temples. it's grand.
outside the palace area, the city spreads out in spokes and gardens, a design dating to the brief period of islamic rule, it's amazingly easy to walk and explore. and the climate's not bad either. in the mornings we have gone out to interesting sites nearby by auto riksha, the country side is pretty.
The women are lovely of course. The children are enchanting. the men are ok. I've noticed by and large they are very nice but there are just a few of them who do seem to leer a little bit when they don't think you are watching and sometimes also sort of paw their crotch area while leaning close to you. I don't know if it's that's common I've read in India it can be hard to travel alon e if you are female. enough of that.
we found some really good food here! we loved the vegetarian food in Tamil Nadu and we've had excellent food at the homestays, and we had AWFUL food for 2 tmeals here at a place called Park Place. don't go there. but then we found the Dynasty. we just let the waiters select for us. Incredible. a fish with a cashew spicy thick sauce, a chicken dish with lots of lime or lemon; that was lunch; evenings they have a chinese style cook and he made some flat Malaysian noodles with veggies, awesome, and a spicy fish again. Marinated. Both meals were the quality of Ajanta in Berkeley.
Tonight we hope to go to a hotel, the Orchid/Metropole, in the palace the Raja built for his British guests a century or more ago. We have found some nice silk here. Craig went to the local branch of FabIndia and got a really beautiful turquoise/blue striped cottn shirt, excellent quality with a sheen. really nice.
Every day I have been wearing the Salwar Kameez outfits I bought in Madurai and I feel much better - less like I stand out - especially when I see the European tourists in their shorts. So ugly!
we didn't mention the Gold Card. An expense of the Madurai festival is that to avoid crowds you are best off buying a quite expensive 3 day ticket called the gold card. For the evening music festivals, this literally gets you in to the very front section over a red carpet and onto some soft red couches! the feeling of luxury sitting on these couches and gazing up at the palace while watching musicians who seem close enough to touch was superb.
However odd it seems to be buying such luxury, the alternative of wrestling with Indian crowds is worth avoiding.
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Mama Seetha
Our 2 night stay in Wayanad, at Enteveedu, a lovely homestay run by Seetha and her husband who is a local landowner/grower of coffee, betel nut, ginger, pepper and formerly rubber and vanilla, was truly idyllic. Craig started to describe how terrifying (and fun) our bus ride up the coast to this mountainy area was, with a busdriver who maniacally passed everyone on our road and stopped only milliseconds in each of the many small towns we came through, to discharge and take on local passengers. (This reminds me a lot of theHarry Potter "Night Bus") At the end of the ride we were in one of the main towns in Wayanad which is an area settled for many thousands of years but isolated due to having hill tribes keep control of it. now they are in the minority and it's a lovely rolling countryside full of small farm holdings, small country homes, and small towns, with lots of variety - granite domes that we'd call half dome and they call elephant rock, areas of preserved forests with wild elephants, working elephants, deer, bison and apparently tigers, rice paddies, rubber plantations, ginger fields and palm groves. there are elements of history that you wouldn't believe -- 'caves' which are really giant rock formations you can climb up into and through, which have ancient carvings from 5000 bc, and old Jain temples which are mystical, based on the 'square in the square', were an alternative to hinduism that was anti-caste, and have beautiful carvings. Somehow they made me think of masonic temples. and there is a history here of muslim sultans battling hindu rajas. and then probably english planters but they are long gone.
during our stay here, we had a great time because of both Seetha, and her guests. She is a lovely tall lady with great presence and she made this homestay because about 5 years ago, the coffee and other crop markets completely tanked, her children were grown and she thought she could start the tourism business but only if she catered to families with kids. so the broad paved areas which surround her lovely house, which is way out in the country, these areas that were used to dry coffee and pepper, got little gardens and an outdoor firepit and have tricycles and kids toys. and some of her current visitors were 3 young professional couples traveling up from bangelore and chennai with kids. they were SO friendly. Seetha's house has about six places to just sit and chill out, hanging swings, hammocks and coffee areas. you drink cofee they grow or tea that grows nearby and eat delicious food. In the mornings she finds you a driver if you need one, to drive you an hour over to one of the two nearby wilderness preserves, where you go on jeep trips to see animals (though it's the wet season now and the wild elephants were not choosing to show themselves). there are lots of waterfalls to hike to, wet islands to hike on, caves to climb up to. we had fun.
unfortunately we got an achy breaky stomach flu, really nasty fatigue and achiness, (which looking back on things we probably got from our nighttime visit 2 nights before to the country toddy shop which was a little dicey on the cleanness of the glassware and goods) and so we spent one afternoon down for the count. but our room was a great one. most of her rooms are normal ones but two are rooms with normal walls but the ceiling just bamboo, with enough openness to the outside world that all night long you could hear the lovely sounds of the woods, crickets and so forth, and hear birds in the morning.
Seetha took such great care of us when we were sick with tender concern, we rechristened her in our minds, 'mamacita' which is the tender term mexicans use for their moms (and for lovely little girls too).
The morning we left, her husband took us on this WONDERFUL walk showing us all the things they grow, and his brother still works with rubber so we helped press out some rubber sheets, and then in the woods we happened on an elephant hauling logs out to the one lane country road they live on, and we followed here into the woods to see her mahouts guide her in her work. Fabulous! and then, he showed us a truly lovely Jain temple in near ruins, very cool (we had seen a lovely still working one the day before but this one, with its tumbledown status, was extremely captivating), and took us to the local hindu temple which is a Ganesh temple and the priest gave us all a little blessing, before we went on to see his coffee plantations.
He told us that in the jackfruit season, actually their very own wild elephant makes a beeline to their property and at times, people have come back from not seeing wild elephants in the preserve and 3 have been active at the house.
then Friday morning, recovered, we went off to Mysore, were driven by the really nice driver she hired for us, Shidu, gently down through the forest preserve (again no more wild elephants, but there are really beautiful trees - HUGE clumps of bamboos, I mean really huge, like giant oaks or something, tall and feathery, and other trees, and monkeys) and then through some type of grain fields where the grain is spread on the highway for us drivers to help grind it to flour, then an open area still green but with a pattern of fields and windbreaks and cactus dividing fields and wide wide open valleys that made me think of the main Mexico plateau, and then into an area with sugar cane fields and very temperate plants and trees and then to Mysore.
during our stay here, we had a great time because of both Seetha, and her guests. She is a lovely tall lady with great presence and she made this homestay because about 5 years ago, the coffee and other crop markets completely tanked, her children were grown and she thought she could start the tourism business but only if she catered to families with kids. so the broad paved areas which surround her lovely house, which is way out in the country, these areas that were used to dry coffee and pepper, got little gardens and an outdoor firepit and have tricycles and kids toys. and some of her current visitors were 3 young professional couples traveling up from bangelore and chennai with kids. they were SO friendly. Seetha's house has about six places to just sit and chill out, hanging swings, hammocks and coffee areas. you drink cofee they grow or tea that grows nearby and eat delicious food. In the mornings she finds you a driver if you need one, to drive you an hour over to one of the two nearby wilderness preserves, where you go on jeep trips to see animals (though it's the wet season now and the wild elephants were not choosing to show themselves). there are lots of waterfalls to hike to, wet islands to hike on, caves to climb up to. we had fun.
unfortunately we got an achy breaky stomach flu, really nasty fatigue and achiness, (which looking back on things we probably got from our nighttime visit 2 nights before to the country toddy shop which was a little dicey on the cleanness of the glassware and goods) and so we spent one afternoon down for the count. but our room was a great one. most of her rooms are normal ones but two are rooms with normal walls but the ceiling just bamboo, with enough openness to the outside world that all night long you could hear the lovely sounds of the woods, crickets and so forth, and hear birds in the morning.
Seetha took such great care of us when we were sick with tender concern, we rechristened her in our minds, 'mamacita' which is the tender term mexicans use for their moms (and for lovely little girls too).
The morning we left, her husband took us on this WONDERFUL walk showing us all the things they grow, and his brother still works with rubber so we helped press out some rubber sheets, and then in the woods we happened on an elephant hauling logs out to the one lane country road they live on, and we followed here into the woods to see her mahouts guide her in her work. Fabulous! and then, he showed us a truly lovely Jain temple in near ruins, very cool (we had seen a lovely still working one the day before but this one, with its tumbledown status, was extremely captivating), and took us to the local hindu temple which is a Ganesh temple and the priest gave us all a little blessing, before we went on to see his coffee plantations.
He told us that in the jackfruit season, actually their very own wild elephant makes a beeline to their property and at times, people have come back from not seeing wild elephants in the preserve and 3 have been active at the house.
then Friday morning, recovered, we went off to Mysore, were driven by the really nice driver she hired for us, Shidu, gently down through the forest preserve (again no more wild elephants, but there are really beautiful trees - HUGE clumps of bamboos, I mean really huge, like giant oaks or something, tall and feathery, and other trees, and monkeys) and then through some type of grain fields where the grain is spread on the highway for us drivers to help grind it to flour, then an open area still green but with a pattern of fields and windbreaks and cactus dividing fields and wide wide open valleys that made me think of the main Mexico plateau, and then into an area with sugar cane fields and very temperate plants and trees and then to Mysore.
Toddy shop in Allepey
today is Sunday and we are in Mysore. but, last Tuesday night, one of our final treats at Green Palms Homestay was that Maria's husband Phillip, who is a very interesting guy born on the island but with additional connections to Nigeria, Germany, the states and England where he now lives half the year, took Craig and me over to the toddy shop in the evening.
to get there you walk 1/4 mile around the island past the usual front yards of houses on the left, and river on the right. then you pass a ferry dock or two and then turn left where the log spans the little irrigation ditch and there is a nondescript cabin there and on the left side, there is like a breezeway, a covered roof area that is divided into 3 or 4 little cubicles with walls that start knee high and end above your forehead. Why? well of course so wives can't tell if husbands are drinking the toddy. Toddy is harvested from the coconut palm, but from the stems way up high where the nuts grow and not the nuts themselves. somehow in the process of collecting it, it self ferments into a cloudy white fizzy liquid with a slightly licoricey sour taste. not very appetizing at first sip! grows on you though. over a 12 hour period it clarifies and gets a little better but then turns quickly to undrinkable vinegar. to heighten your appetite for the toddy, you are served food if you wish: we know a TV program showed they served a spicy beef there, instead we got river mussel meat in a spicy little sauce. it was fun.
we really loved Green Palms homes, the island was a treat and Maria/Phillip's home had very comfortable very modern rooms with silent fans and/or a/c and a modern kitchen and lovely expansive living rooms with built in cabinetry. the mother who we took cooking classes from, Anna or Anu, is very shy and still cooks the guests food in a small boxy dark slightly grimy kitchen when she need not. she is a sweetheart, I forget to mention that after we returned from the Allepey town, she helped show us how to make my favorite indian bread, parathas, also spelled porotas. you make a slightly risen dough and then you keep rolling it on itself with lots of oil or ghee or coconut oil, something, so it's in flaky layers like a croissant. then it's grilled in a flat pan. delicious!
the next morning we got on somewhat of an express train, one with cloudy windows, air conditioning and only about 5 stops between two quite distant cities, Allepey and Calicut (we skipped cochin, no time). Calicut also spelled Kozikhode, way different! more muslimi influence, and has hills quite nearby, the buildings are still mostly one or two story with steeply slanted tile roofs and some porches, but are more likley to have slightly moorish design elements. the shops in these towns have lots and lots of hanging dresses on display for the teens and younger girls who don't yet need to wear saris or salwar kameez or 'gowns'. lots of ruffles, lots of glitz, very pretty. also we see more and more women in chadors. and lots of strict separation of ladies, and men, for example on the bus... craig and I hopped on a local bus up to our next destination, Wyanad, finding it at the bus station was QUITE hard due to the script all being in Malayalam, and found empty seats together ina mysteriously empty row with one woman in the window seat - and, it was the LADIES row! so we sat surrounded by ladies, the men all safely behind us.
to get there you walk 1/4 mile around the island past the usual front yards of houses on the left, and river on the right. then you pass a ferry dock or two and then turn left where the log spans the little irrigation ditch and there is a nondescript cabin there and on the left side, there is like a breezeway, a covered roof area that is divided into 3 or 4 little cubicles with walls that start knee high and end above your forehead. Why? well of course so wives can't tell if husbands are drinking the toddy. Toddy is harvested from the coconut palm, but from the stems way up high where the nuts grow and not the nuts themselves. somehow in the process of collecting it, it self ferments into a cloudy white fizzy liquid with a slightly licoricey sour taste. not very appetizing at first sip! grows on you though. over a 12 hour period it clarifies and gets a little better but then turns quickly to undrinkable vinegar. to heighten your appetite for the toddy, you are served food if you wish: we know a TV program showed they served a spicy beef there, instead we got river mussel meat in a spicy little sauce. it was fun.
we really loved Green Palms homes, the island was a treat and Maria/Phillip's home had very comfortable very modern rooms with silent fans and/or a/c and a modern kitchen and lovely expansive living rooms with built in cabinetry. the mother who we took cooking classes from, Anna or Anu, is very shy and still cooks the guests food in a small boxy dark slightly grimy kitchen when she need not. she is a sweetheart, I forget to mention that after we returned from the Allepey town, she helped show us how to make my favorite indian bread, parathas, also spelled porotas. you make a slightly risen dough and then you keep rolling it on itself with lots of oil or ghee or coconut oil, something, so it's in flaky layers like a croissant. then it's grilled in a flat pan. delicious!
the next morning we got on somewhat of an express train, one with cloudy windows, air conditioning and only about 5 stops between two quite distant cities, Allepey and Calicut (we skipped cochin, no time). Calicut also spelled Kozikhode, way different! more muslimi influence, and has hills quite nearby, the buildings are still mostly one or two story with steeply slanted tile roofs and some porches, but are more likley to have slightly moorish design elements. the shops in these towns have lots and lots of hanging dresses on display for the teens and younger girls who don't yet need to wear saris or salwar kameez or 'gowns'. lots of ruffles, lots of glitz, very pretty. also we see more and more women in chadors. and lots of strict separation of ladies, and men, for example on the bus... craig and I hopped on a local bus up to our next destination, Wyanad, finding it at the bus station was QUITE hard due to the script all being in Malayalam, and found empty seats together ina mysteriously empty row with one woman in the window seat - and, it was the LADIES row! so we sat surrounded by ladies, the men all safely behind us.
Head Wobbles, Nice Nuts and a Flashing Jesus
One of the slightly disconcerting things about India, at least when you first get here, is the Indian Head Wobble. This is the unique head movement here; a sideways motion of the head that usually means 'yes', but can also mean 'no', 'maybe', and 'I have no idea'. At first I thought a great majority of Indians had Tourette's Syndrome. But then I realized that it was an affirmation, much like our nod. I'm slowly getting used to it and have found that it almost always means yes or for some Indians is just something they constantly do while you are talking to them.
We are now in the city of Mysore for the big Dusara festival. We haven't been to a computer in several days because we have just been too busy and are having way to much fun. We spent two lovely days in the green forests of Wayanad, staying at a coffee plantation run by a lovely older couple, Seetha and Raju. The plantation, Entee Veedu, has been in Raju's family for years and a few years ago they decided to make a homestay out of it. Getting there was a real trip. A nice 5 hour train ride from Allephy to Callicut on a first class express train. Never worry about going hungry on an Indian train, as there is a constant stream of food wallahs going up and down the train, yelling "coofffeeeee!!!!", "maaaasssaaaallllaaaa!", "cuutttlleeeetssss", "chhhaaiiiii". From one wallah we bought a package of cashews with the unbelievable brand name of "Nice Nuts".
From Callicut it was an crazy, fast, wild bus ride up the side of a 7,000 foot cliff with hairpin turns, drivers passing whenever they wanted to, horns blowing, and Amy and I crowded in to three seats with another lady that was hardly big enough for two. As we were heading out on this dangerous and crazy ride I was please do see, right above the first row of seats, a flashing Jesus, red and green lights blinking away. It looked like something you would see on any Mexican bus, but here in India it was a little strange.
It's really nice to have a respit from the crazy, hot, fast, loud, wild India. And that is what these middle two stops have been , both in Kerela. Wayanad was so beautiful Our homestay looked out on a plantation of ginger, coffee, beetlenut trees, and more. The highlight of the two days there was when Raju, the owner, took us on a two hour walk. He took us through his plantation, showing us his different crops. Then up on the main road we came upon an amazing site. A couple of wallahs were driving an elephant, who was pulling some large tree trunks down a muddy path to the road. It was really great seeing how the wallahs drove the elephant, one on his back, the other with a big stick who would touch the elephant and give her directions. Just down the road from this was a 1300 year old Jain temple, still standing, with beautiful carvings all over it. Just incredible.
It was here at Entee Veedu that Amy and I finally caught the Indian crud. We were bound to get it at least once, and I'm glad it happened in such a nice spot where we could just lie in bed and read. Withing 24 hours we were well again and arrived in Mysore on Friday.
The busy town of Mysore is most famous for its Majaraja Palace plus the annual Dasara festival. This is a huge thing here and is at the end of Navaratri, which started 9 days ago. People come from all over South India to see musical events and a big procession. We bought a special ticket, the Gold Card, that would let is in to these events and give us some pretty good seats.
Mysore is much bigger then any other city we've been in in India and now we are seeing the true crowded, wild, crazy, fast India we've all heard about. Just walking across the street you take your life in your hands, as no driver really gives a shit about pedestrians. But after awhile you just kind of figure out how to cross streets (mostly you just follow locals across) and it really isn't all that bad, except during this weekend Mysore's population has practically doubled due to Dasara. Friday and Satruday night we went to some concerts at the Majaraja Palace. Friday there was some lovely old Moghul type music, very old, very melodic and beautiful. An older man sang with a backup of a couple of drums and some kind of keyboard instrument. The drummers also did a lot on their own and they were really something. The next performer were Veena players. The Veena looks like a guitar, is played with a steel, but sounds like a sitar and has that rather strange Indian beat and tone that is hard to get used to for the western ear. At least my western ear.
The highlight was today, the big procession from the palace. They built huge grandstands that must have sat 50,000 people, but probably more like 100,000. The procession was really an Indian version of the Rose Bowl Parade, with floats, marching bands lots of strange percussion groups, and best of all...ELEPHANTS!!!! The elephants were all painted up and had there gorgeous saddles and head jewelry on.
We are now in the city of Mysore for the big Dusara festival. We haven't been to a computer in several days because we have just been too busy and are having way to much fun. We spent two lovely days in the green forests of Wayanad, staying at a coffee plantation run by a lovely older couple, Seetha and Raju. The plantation, Entee Veedu, has been in Raju's family for years and a few years ago they decided to make a homestay out of it. Getting there was a real trip. A nice 5 hour train ride from Allephy to Callicut on a first class express train. Never worry about going hungry on an Indian train, as there is a constant stream of food wallahs going up and down the train, yelling "coofffeeeee!!!!", "maaaasssaaaallllaaaa!", "cuutttlleeeetssss", "chhhaaiiiii". From one wallah we bought a package of cashews with the unbelievable brand name of "Nice Nuts".
From Callicut it was an crazy, fast, wild bus ride up the side of a 7,000 foot cliff with hairpin turns, drivers passing whenever they wanted to, horns blowing, and Amy and I crowded in to three seats with another lady that was hardly big enough for two. As we were heading out on this dangerous and crazy ride I was please do see, right above the first row of seats, a flashing Jesus, red and green lights blinking away. It looked like something you would see on any Mexican bus, but here in India it was a little strange.
It's really nice to have a respit from the crazy, hot, fast, loud, wild India. And that is what these middle two stops have been , both in Kerela. Wayanad was so beautiful Our homestay looked out on a plantation of ginger, coffee, beetlenut trees, and more. The highlight of the two days there was when Raju, the owner, took us on a two hour walk. He took us through his plantation, showing us his different crops. Then up on the main road we came upon an amazing site. A couple of wallahs were driving an elephant, who was pulling some large tree trunks down a muddy path to the road. It was really great seeing how the wallahs drove the elephant, one on his back, the other with a big stick who would touch the elephant and give her directions. Just down the road from this was a 1300 year old Jain temple, still standing, with beautiful carvings all over it. Just incredible.
It was here at Entee Veedu that Amy and I finally caught the Indian crud. We were bound to get it at least once, and I'm glad it happened in such a nice spot where we could just lie in bed and read. Withing 24 hours we were well again and arrived in Mysore on Friday.
The busy town of Mysore is most famous for its Majaraja Palace plus the annual Dasara festival. This is a huge thing here and is at the end of Navaratri, which started 9 days ago. People come from all over South India to see musical events and a big procession. We bought a special ticket, the Gold Card, that would let is in to these events and give us some pretty good seats.
Mysore is much bigger then any other city we've been in in India and now we are seeing the true crowded, wild, crazy, fast India we've all heard about. Just walking across the street you take your life in your hands, as no driver really gives a shit about pedestrians. But after awhile you just kind of figure out how to cross streets (mostly you just follow locals across) and it really isn't all that bad, except during this weekend Mysore's population has practically doubled due to Dasara. Friday and Satruday night we went to some concerts at the Majaraja Palace. Friday there was some lovely old Moghul type music, very old, very melodic and beautiful. An older man sang with a backup of a couple of drums and some kind of keyboard instrument. The drummers also did a lot on their own and they were really something. The next performer were Veena players. The Veena looks like a guitar, is played with a steel, but sounds like a sitar and has that rather strange Indian beat and tone that is hard to get used to for the western ear. At least my western ear.
The highlight was today, the big procession from the palace. They built huge grandstands that must have sat 50,000 people, but probably more like 100,000. The procession was really an Indian version of the Rose Bowl Parade, with floats, marching bands lots of strange percussion groups, and best of all...ELEPHANTS!!!! The elephants were all painted up and had there gorgeous saddles and head jewelry on.
Mysore is much different then what we have seen in the far south. For one thing, there are many more muslims here and a lot of the women in black burquas with only a little slit for the eyes. I've noticed that most of them, along with most other folks here, tend to stare at Amy and me a lot. There aren't a lot of Europeans here, so we kind of stick out. In fact, in all of South India we've seen very few Europeans.
The streets here in Mysore are a kick to walk in, especially when you get off the beaten path and walk down some back streets. Amy and I went off the main road and went down a market street (again the only white folk in site). People would stare and mostly smile at us. Kids would look at us with there large, black eyes and when I'd smile at them they would all smile in return. Cows are everywhere, of course, mostly eating garbage on the streets. It's always a strange, but very Indian, site to see cows walking down the main boulevard. Of course cars go out of their way to miss them, as opposed to practically running over any human being they come across. One of the streets we walked down was the metal ware street and every shop had large copper pots, pans, plates, etc. One shop had some workers outside banging away at some beautiful large copper pots.
In an Indian city like Mysore, there is no such thing as silence. I can't figure out why everyone here isn't deaf. The constant honking of horns, music turned up to maximum volume, people yelling at each other, sometimes because they're mad and sometimes just to say hi. The calling of prayer 4 or 5 times a day. And I thought Mexico was loud. India is Mexico on steroids.
India is crazy, wild, hot, crowded, fast, colorful, noisy, smelly (good and bad smells...combinations of incense, flowers, exaust, piss and shit), historic...all in all great, wonderful, exotic. After a week I'd say we are getting used to it and are really, really liking it. India sure isn't for everyone, especially doing it independantly like Amy and I are doing it. But it really has a lot of what I like to call "Toto" moments, as in "Toto, we're not in Kansas anymore".
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Kerala Backwaters
Wow. we are staying in a superb situation, a wonderful homestay on an island in the kerala backwaters, with no cars and fabulous people taking us all over this little place while they meet and greet all their friends who live here.
The thing 'to do' when you go to Kerala is to take a houseboat, right? Oh, so, wrong. We see these monstrosities chugging by every evening and every morning, with bored looking Indian and european travelers, and we see them moored next to our island, unable to get off, and we see them taking long distance photos of the wonderful sights we are seeing: laughing children, moms scrubbing dishes and clothes by the water, school kids coming home in their handsome graceful uniforms, the postman riding his bike through the puddles, the goats munching under the laundry. This is a great place. The island we are on is huge, it's 37 km around, takes about half an hour to walk across in the most direct option, probably hours to walk it lengthwise, and it's a maze.. it is penetrated by small canals, big canals and in the center, a lake. it's freshwater and the land is protected from the river by a low cement wall, and during high water it splashes up on to the dirt pathway that rings the island. all along the edge of this island are houses, churches and toddy shops, one deep, and immediately behind them, after each households useful coconut palms, pepper vines, chocolate trees, mangos, jackfruit etc etc, are acres and acres of beautiful open rice fields, huge fields with ripening grain right now. There are cats and birds, no dogs, there are NO cars. the largest path, 3 could walk abreast. Our hosts, Thomas and his sister Maria and brother and their spouses, are a large extended family who have been running this for about 15 to 20 years, and their goal is to share their lovely island in a way that creates jobs and harmony. and it's really fun.
We arrived by train to Allepey and took their advice, of coming up by tuk-tuk half an hour into the countryside. our cab driver wasn't quite sure where to go so we saw a lot of muddy driveways and churches (it'd been raining for 2 weeks straight but now sunny) and then found the right place, a riverbank with a waiting canoe containing about 6 people in saris. And a tranquil bearded guy who looks like a Jesuit priest or a saint who turned out to be, Thomas! he actually let us blither a bit with each other about how do we get the canoe to come after us, then introduced himself. he is so sweet and calm.
it's an interesting family. the family are originally syrian christians, who have been here for well over 1000 years, but a few are now catholic, one close family friend is born again and the matriarch's brother we learned is an episcopal priest who has retired from Boston to Pennsylvania! go figure.
most of the island including this family are christian rice farmers, there are many hindu familes also. most people live pretty simply, they get up in the morning for example and brush their teeth next to the river and bathe there. but everyone also has a clean drinking water supply that they are actually using, in pipes by the river, and people seem pretty comfortable. most people have enough money to send their kids to the many private schools, and the most poor have a government school and one of our guides, Binu, was explaining about the kerala welfare system which offers discounted food and free health care to the poorest. Everyone is a little reserved initially but pretty cheerful about our being there and when we go out on guided walks with Binu, one of the men there, a painter, and also with Thomas, we change from feeling like tourists, to honored paying guests who are welcome to be there. it's a really nice nice service that Thomas and his family have created, where the locals benefit from our curiosity and we get to see a lot. we went 4 km today, along canals, along the river, and later came home in the many public ferries, long roofed boats, very comfortable and fun. we've also been ferried home by canoe from one of our evening walks, by Thomas in the front, another guy steering in the back, and both of them singing to us these neat call and response folk songs that the women used to sing in the fields to make the work of rice farming less boring.
Oh yeah and Binu. Binu is single, incredibly handsome, and recently converted to the Church of God so now he has a dilemma, at age 37, of how to find a wife educated enough for his taste and able to be enthusiastic about his future if he goes for the ministry. He's full of surprises. He showed us how to make a kazoo out of a leaf, how to blow bubbles with the sap from a stem, how to make a necklace with a star on it from a single twig, how tomake a little purple flower stick to your shirt like a decoration.
The name of this place is Greenpalms, also called Thomas's homestay and it's in the township of Chennamkary which you get to by the ferry up from allepey, which takes an hour and a quarter to go just a few miles by zigging and zagging across the river, dodging those enormous hideous turtle like houseboats which are like suburbia gone wild... it's so totally something we'd recommend. today we got a great cooking lesson also from Thomas's mom, whose name we dont know we just think of her as tutu. to see her cooking with turmeric, coconut, her own garam masala spice blend, coconut oil galore, in woks and also on a wood burning stove, so much fun! we learned a lot about why the food we eat, tastes so very, very good.
The thing 'to do' when you go to Kerala is to take a houseboat, right? Oh, so, wrong. We see these monstrosities chugging by every evening and every morning, with bored looking Indian and european travelers, and we see them moored next to our island, unable to get off, and we see them taking long distance photos of the wonderful sights we are seeing: laughing children, moms scrubbing dishes and clothes by the water, school kids coming home in their handsome graceful uniforms, the postman riding his bike through the puddles, the goats munching under the laundry. This is a great place. The island we are on is huge, it's 37 km around, takes about half an hour to walk across in the most direct option, probably hours to walk it lengthwise, and it's a maze.. it is penetrated by small canals, big canals and in the center, a lake. it's freshwater and the land is protected from the river by a low cement wall, and during high water it splashes up on to the dirt pathway that rings the island. all along the edge of this island are houses, churches and toddy shops, one deep, and immediately behind them, after each households useful coconut palms, pepper vines, chocolate trees, mangos, jackfruit etc etc, are acres and acres of beautiful open rice fields, huge fields with ripening grain right now. There are cats and birds, no dogs, there are NO cars. the largest path, 3 could walk abreast. Our hosts, Thomas and his sister Maria and brother and their spouses, are a large extended family who have been running this for about 15 to 20 years, and their goal is to share their lovely island in a way that creates jobs and harmony. and it's really fun.
We arrived by train to Allepey and took their advice, of coming up by tuk-tuk half an hour into the countryside. our cab driver wasn't quite sure where to go so we saw a lot of muddy driveways and churches (it'd been raining for 2 weeks straight but now sunny) and then found the right place, a riverbank with a waiting canoe containing about 6 people in saris. And a tranquil bearded guy who looks like a Jesuit priest or a saint who turned out to be, Thomas! he actually let us blither a bit with each other about how do we get the canoe to come after us, then introduced himself. he is so sweet and calm.
it's an interesting family. the family are originally syrian christians, who have been here for well over 1000 years, but a few are now catholic, one close family friend is born again and the matriarch's brother we learned is an episcopal priest who has retired from Boston to Pennsylvania! go figure.
most of the island including this family are christian rice farmers, there are many hindu familes also. most people live pretty simply, they get up in the morning for example and brush their teeth next to the river and bathe there. but everyone also has a clean drinking water supply that they are actually using, in pipes by the river, and people seem pretty comfortable. most people have enough money to send their kids to the many private schools, and the most poor have a government school and one of our guides, Binu, was explaining about the kerala welfare system which offers discounted food and free health care to the poorest. Everyone is a little reserved initially but pretty cheerful about our being there and when we go out on guided walks with Binu, one of the men there, a painter, and also with Thomas, we change from feeling like tourists, to honored paying guests who are welcome to be there. it's a really nice nice service that Thomas and his family have created, where the locals benefit from our curiosity and we get to see a lot. we went 4 km today, along canals, along the river, and later came home in the many public ferries, long roofed boats, very comfortable and fun. we've also been ferried home by canoe from one of our evening walks, by Thomas in the front, another guy steering in the back, and both of them singing to us these neat call and response folk songs that the women used to sing in the fields to make the work of rice farming less boring.
Oh yeah and Binu. Binu is single, incredibly handsome, and recently converted to the Church of God so now he has a dilemma, at age 37, of how to find a wife educated enough for his taste and able to be enthusiastic about his future if he goes for the ministry. He's full of surprises. He showed us how to make a kazoo out of a leaf, how to blow bubbles with the sap from a stem, how to make a necklace with a star on it from a single twig, how tomake a little purple flower stick to your shirt like a decoration.
The name of this place is Greenpalms, also called Thomas's homestay and it's in the township of Chennamkary which you get to by the ferry up from allepey, which takes an hour and a quarter to go just a few miles by zigging and zagging across the river, dodging those enormous hideous turtle like houseboats which are like suburbia gone wild... it's so totally something we'd recommend. today we got a great cooking lesson also from Thomas's mom, whose name we dont know we just think of her as tutu. to see her cooking with turmeric, coconut, her own garam masala spice blend, coconut oil galore, in woks and also on a wood burning stove, so much fun! we learned a lot about why the food we eat, tastes so very, very good.
Backwaters of Kerela
But other then that, it is very nice here. The owner of our guesthouse takes people on walks through the village and the rice paddies. Thomas is his name and looks remarkably like Father Damien. He is a very gentle soul and is a Syrian Christian, which is an orthodox church. Everyone knows him, of course, so walking in the villages we always stop and the children want their picture taken so they can see it in the camera. Thomas told us about the history of the island and the way the farmers grow the rice. The paddies are actually below water level and they have a big system of irrigation with canals. Half way through our walk we got on a canoe and Thomas and the boatman sang duets of old Kerelan folk songs. Gliding through the water and looking up at the stars and moon (the sun had set at the beginning of our walk) was quite magical.
This morning we went on another walk with Binu. He took us a little further around the island and again, every one knew him and all the kids wanted their picture taken. Binu knew a lot about the local flora and fauna and he pointed out all sorts of trees, plants and animals. We had breakfast in a small home and of course ate with our hands, as you are supposed to do here.
We also had a cooking lesson from Thomas' mom and she taught us how to cook different curries and spicy fried fish. This we then had for lunch today, along with stir fried cabbage, potato curry and about 5 other dishes. They serve you well here!
The midnight train
So, on Sunday night, after a final meal at the Hotel Park Plaza's rooftop restaurant, of Chettinad mutton and chicken, we checked out and went to the train station. A little word before that, about the Park Plaza and other hotels. It's a nice place. we paid about $75 total a night including a dinner, and 3 breakfasts, for a very comfy room with AC overlooking (well, blocks and blocks away) the temple complex, as well as the local communist party office (that's actually a good thing, in India) and a rooftop under construction where the work crew actually slept, in blankets, every night under our gaze. It had those nice things that are so helpful... a sewing kit, a little collection of paper clips, every convenience you need including a nailfile, qtips, and of course, hair oil. I've learned that many Indian men seem to have a preoccupation with avoiding dandruff, thus there are lots and lots of ayurvedic potions on sale to prevent that. anyway, first time I've thought about hair oil since the Victorian era.
Anyway. The train. it was so fun. We spent lots of time worrying, trying to figure out where our car would be, whether we'd get the bedding I'd just requested from the Station bedding supervisor who wouldn't let me pay for it, said pay some name I couldn't figure out, so I could not figure out if we'd get sheets, or not. Why we needed sheets: Most Indian air conditioned sleeper cars have sheets, but this was an unusual class, First Class non Air conditioned. these are old cars, each window is perfectly open with 3 horizontal bars just like the general second class, but you can seal it with a metal grill. each room has 4 very roomy bunks. We shared with a retired MD and his wife, he's from the capital of Kerala and she's from Madurai, and we communicated kinda sorta barely because obviously she doesn't use her english a lot. but we got joined briefly before we got rolling by a fascinating egomaniac, a guy who is apparently a well known movie or tv star from Kerala. "Everyone knows me, I have such a lucky life."
anyway luckily he soon left and we slept quietly ovrnighton our rocking little train and when we awoke, our fellow passetners left at their station and wehad 3 more really fun beautiful hours rolling through the delightful palm filled Kerala countryside. lots of tiny towns, we stopped at every one. Lots of variety now, instead of just women in saris and salwar kameez there were muslim women in headscarfs, christian women in 'nighties', these very victorian mumu dresses. which being soft and flowing are definitely what I'd ilke to wear when it's hot! we loved our train ride in our historical little car.
Anyway. The train. it was so fun. We spent lots of time worrying, trying to figure out where our car would be, whether we'd get the bedding I'd just requested from the Station bedding supervisor who wouldn't let me pay for it, said pay some name I couldn't figure out, so I could not figure out if we'd get sheets, or not. Why we needed sheets: Most Indian air conditioned sleeper cars have sheets, but this was an unusual class, First Class non Air conditioned. these are old cars, each window is perfectly open with 3 horizontal bars just like the general second class, but you can seal it with a metal grill. each room has 4 very roomy bunks. We shared with a retired MD and his wife, he's from the capital of Kerala and she's from Madurai, and we communicated kinda sorta barely because obviously she doesn't use her english a lot. but we got joined briefly before we got rolling by a fascinating egomaniac, a guy who is apparently a well known movie or tv star from Kerala. "Everyone knows me, I have such a lucky life."
anyway luckily he soon left and we slept quietly ovrnighton our rocking little train and when we awoke, our fellow passetners left at their station and wehad 3 more really fun beautiful hours rolling through the delightful palm filled Kerala countryside. lots of tiny towns, we stopped at every one. Lots of variety now, instead of just women in saris and salwar kameez there were muslim women in headscarfs, christian women in 'nighties', these very victorian mumu dresses. which being soft and flowing are definitely what I'd ilke to wear when it's hot! we loved our train ride in our historical little car.
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