My time in the state of Kerela was a whirlwind trip and despite the horrendously muggy weather I was surprised to realize that I really enjoyed my stay in Fort Cochin. As this was the part of my journey where I would be travelling alone I was a little apprehensive, but that fear was ill founded and everyone I met was very helpful. My trip started out in the typical Indian fashion; my train from Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu to Fort Cochin, Kerela had been cancelled which forced Padma and Mani to find me another means of transport, luckily we found a bus that was leaving an hour and a half later and they made sure that no less than 5 different people knew who I was, where I was going, when I was leaving Cochin (as well as when I would be flying back to Delhi then the US!), and where I was to get off when I arrived in Kerela.
On the bus I sat next to a very nice girl named Pavi who helped me call my taxi driver to inform him when I would arrive. Her stop was two before mine and one of the original 5 people we spoke to before boarding was still on and she made sure that I knew exactly where I was getting off and for which taxi to look for. Unfortunately I don't think that foreigners are treated as nicely in the US as they are in India. I was so grateful that during my stay people have really taken the time to make sure I was OK. One evening when I was walking back from the market I got a little turned around and couldn't find my home stay. I stopped in a shop to ask directions and a very nice gentleman tried to tell me where it was. It was not far but since they don't have a grid street system it sounded very confusing. He must have seen the look on my face because he offered to walk me back and I'm glad he did because I would have missed the side street. I was so grateful for his help and I hope he got back to his shop quickly because just a few minutes later there was a downpour. I stayed at a wonderful home stay called the Mother Tree Inn, it was a tiny place, maybe 6 bedrooms with the top floor as a chill space with 2 tables, a small kitchenette, and a computer. Since the place is so small the two brothers that run the Mother Tree (as well as another larger home stay called Good Karma) were always around and eager to make sure I had everything I needed and that I was having a good time. We spent a very nice evening sitting on the top floor chatting and we ended up ordering dinner to eat upstairs, which beats eating alone any day.
Despite the short time I had in Cochin and the activities I had planned I found Kerela to be a very laid back and relaxing place. My first day in Cochin I signed up for a backwaters tour. I encourage you to look up the backwaters of Kerela to get a more detailed explanation of what they are since they're unique to the state of Kerela , but basically they are waterways-a series of interconnected lagoons, small rivers, and lakes. Like Tamil Nadu the landscape is dotted with coconut trees, jasmine shrubs and we were shown black pepper plants, nutmeg and jackfruit trees. The local economy depends on these backwaters as a source of food, transportation and meeting other daily needs such as bathing, washing clothes etc. The guide said we would be observing traditional village life but I question its authenticity since the backwaters are a very popular tourist destination, and its close proximity to the major roads. Despite that it was an interesting look into another way of life. All parts of the coconut tree are manifested in the construction of the boat, from the frame, to the thatched roof and sides (made out of woven strips of leaves) to the mats and rope woven from the coconut coir,(hairy part on the outside of the shell) that binds the whole thing together, nothing from the coconut tree is wasted. We had 2 men in button up shirts and dhotis who had poles maybe 10 ft long and in slow, fluid, motions would dip the pole in the the water down to the bottom and slowly push the boat along the canal way walking a distance of maybe 3 ft before lifting the pole out of the water, walking back to the front side before repeating the motion again. and this is how we moved along the water at a very relaxing rate. We stopped off at one village to see how coconut coir was made into rope. It is a multi person process: one girl operates the spinning wheel (larger than the one mom has at home), as two ladies stand in front of the wheel and feed and twist the coconut coir to make it into rope, the women walk backwards spinning the fibers until they reach the opposite side where they attach the rope to another wheel and with the help of an instrument they bind two pieces of rope into one. Since I have the good fortune of seeing mom spin wool I was able to appreciate how difficult it must be to spin such a coarse material and if it were possible I would bring home one of those spinning wheels so mom could try her hand at rope making! We boarded the boat and made our way over to another house where we had lunch that was made by a local family for these types of tours. Our food was served in the traditional South Indian way: on bananas leaves. Curries, pickles, dal, and a tomato salad was ladled onto our leaves followed by rice topped with sambhar (spicy soup). We used our hands to mix the curries and with the rice and sambhar, many people say that eating off of a banana leaf gives the food a unique flavor and I agree. We boarded the boat for the last time and headed back to the bus. I didn't have too much down time since I had scheduled time for an elephant ride the next day and the taxi would be there at 6:15 to pick me up. The ride that morning took about 1.5 hours and we were the first to arrive. I walked down to the river bank and heard a noise and when I turned around there was an elephant rambling towards me! This one was as big as I was and I later found out was the baby of the group at 4 years old. Slowly the others came down-there were 4 females total, a 4yr old, a 9 yr old, a 16 yr old, and a 36 yr old matron. The trainers lead them down to the water and using a series o commands got the elephants to lie down in the river on their sides. The trainers then used coconut shells to scoop water onto the elephants and scrubbed them down. I had a few minutes alone with the elephants before the other tourists came and it was quite surreal. After their bath we enjoyed petting and playing with the young ones before the trainers took them back up to the enclosure. We got in our respective taxis and went to the "zoo" which I use because there are animals, and their are cages but that place was no zoo, the enclosures were way too small and the larger one were overcrowded, it was a sad sight to see I honestly hope the elephants are treated better. I was able to ride Sunita the oldest elephant of the herd, riding an elephant is like riding a horse...just much slower. I sat right on her back with my legs behind her ears. She was good natured and HUGE I really enjoyed the ride. Afterwards we went to a house for a breakfast of appams, avial, and fruit. I then took a well deserved nap after my 2 hour ride back to Cochin. In the afternoon I stumbled upon a bookstore run by a nice British gentleman (wearing the traditional button up shirt and long dhoti I don't blame him, its too humid to wear anything else!) where I purchased a few cookbooks; one with traditional dishes from Kerela and another general Indian cookbook. After that I headed back and bumped into the brothers and we had a great time comparing recipes and chatting. Then it was to bed because my flight to Delhi was early and I didn't realize that the ride out to the airport would be an hour and a half. Kerela is definitely on my list of places to return to, but next time I come it will be in the cool season!!
On the bus I sat next to a very nice girl named Pavi who helped me call my taxi driver to inform him when I would arrive. Her stop was two before mine and one of the original 5 people we spoke to before boarding was still on and she made sure that I knew exactly where I was getting off and for which taxi to look for. Unfortunately I don't think that foreigners are treated as nicely in the US as they are in India. I was so grateful that during my stay people have really taken the time to make sure I was OK. One evening when I was walking back from the market I got a little turned around and couldn't find my home stay. I stopped in a shop to ask directions and a very nice gentleman tried to tell me where it was. It was not far but since they don't have a grid street system it sounded very confusing. He must have seen the look on my face because he offered to walk me back and I'm glad he did because I would have missed the side street. I was so grateful for his help and I hope he got back to his shop quickly because just a few minutes later there was a downpour. I stayed at a wonderful home stay called the Mother Tree Inn, it was a tiny place, maybe 6 bedrooms with the top floor as a chill space with 2 tables, a small kitchenette, and a computer. Since the place is so small the two brothers that run the Mother Tree (as well as another larger home stay called Good Karma) were always around and eager to make sure I had everything I needed and that I was having a good time. We spent a very nice evening sitting on the top floor chatting and we ended up ordering dinner to eat upstairs, which beats eating alone any day.
Despite the short time I had in Cochin and the activities I had planned I found Kerela to be a very laid back and relaxing place. My first day in Cochin I signed up for a backwaters tour. I encourage you to look up the backwaters of Kerela to get a more detailed explanation of what they are since they're unique to the state of Kerela , but basically they are waterways-a series of interconnected lagoons, small rivers, and lakes. Like Tamil Nadu the landscape is dotted with coconut trees, jasmine shrubs and we were shown black pepper plants, nutmeg and jackfruit trees. The local economy depends on these backwaters as a source of food, transportation and meeting other daily needs such as bathing, washing clothes etc. The guide said we would be observing traditional village life but I question its authenticity since the backwaters are a very popular tourist destination, and its close proximity to the major roads. Despite that it was an interesting look into another way of life. All parts of the coconut tree are manifested in the construction of the boat, from the frame, to the thatched roof and sides (made out of woven strips of leaves) to the mats and rope woven from the coconut coir,(hairy part on the outside of the shell) that binds the whole thing together, nothing from the coconut tree is wasted. We had 2 men in button up shirts and dhotis who had poles maybe 10 ft long and in slow, fluid, motions would dip the pole in the the water down to the bottom and slowly push the boat along the canal way walking a distance of maybe 3 ft before lifting the pole out of the water, walking back to the front side before repeating the motion again. and this is how we moved along the water at a very relaxing rate. We stopped off at one village to see how coconut coir was made into rope. It is a multi person process: one girl operates the spinning wheel (larger than the one mom has at home), as two ladies stand in front of the wheel and feed and twist the coconut coir to make it into rope, the women walk backwards spinning the fibers until they reach the opposite side where they attach the rope to another wheel and with the help of an instrument they bind two pieces of rope into one. Since I have the good fortune of seeing mom spin wool I was able to appreciate how difficult it must be to spin such a coarse material and if it were possible I would bring home one of those spinning wheels so mom could try her hand at rope making! We boarded the boat and made our way over to another house where we had lunch that was made by a local family for these types of tours. Our food was served in the traditional South Indian way: on bananas leaves. Curries, pickles, dal, and a tomato salad was ladled onto our leaves followed by rice topped with sambhar (spicy soup). We used our hands to mix the curries and with the rice and sambhar, many people say that eating off of a banana leaf gives the food a unique flavor and I agree. We boarded the boat for the last time and headed back to the bus. I didn't have too much down time since I had scheduled time for an elephant ride the next day and the taxi would be there at 6:15 to pick me up. The ride that morning took about 1.5 hours and we were the first to arrive. I walked down to the river bank and heard a noise and when I turned around there was an elephant rambling towards me! This one was as big as I was and I later found out was the baby of the group at 4 years old. Slowly the others came down-there were 4 females total, a 4yr old, a 9 yr old, a 16 yr old, and a 36 yr old matron. The trainers lead them down to the water and using a series o commands got the elephants to lie down in the river on their sides. The trainers then used coconut shells to scoop water onto the elephants and scrubbed them down. I had a few minutes alone with the elephants before the other tourists came and it was quite surreal. After their bath we enjoyed petting and playing with the young ones before the trainers took them back up to the enclosure. We got in our respective taxis and went to the "zoo" which I use because there are animals, and their are cages but that place was no zoo, the enclosures were way too small and the larger one were overcrowded, it was a sad sight to see I honestly hope the elephants are treated better. I was able to ride Sunita the oldest elephant of the herd, riding an elephant is like riding a horse...just much slower. I sat right on her back with my legs behind her ears. She was good natured and HUGE I really enjoyed the ride. Afterwards we went to a house for a breakfast of appams, avial, and fruit. I then took a well deserved nap after my 2 hour ride back to Cochin. In the afternoon I stumbled upon a bookstore run by a nice British gentleman (wearing the traditional button up shirt and long dhoti I don't blame him, its too humid to wear anything else!) where I purchased a few cookbooks; one with traditional dishes from Kerela and another general Indian cookbook. After that I headed back and bumped into the brothers and we had a great time comparing recipes and chatting. Then it was to bed because my flight to Delhi was early and I didn't realize that the ride out to the airport would be an hour and a half. Kerela is definitely on my list of places to return to, but next time I come it will be in the cool season!!
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