Living on the Edge

Saturday, October 22, 2016
Kerala, India
Well, we didn't make it to the Dubai Mall, owing to a number of Arabian miscommunications aka stuff-ups so ended up in a new mall, way on the other side of town from the terminal, verging scarily into Abu Dhabi territory i.e. a long way from the ship.

It was a truly lovely mall but because of further miscommunications from the shuttle driver, we ended up spending most of our time there waiting for the shuttle back -- then panicking when it didn't turn up -- then ganging up with a dozen or so fellow passengers to try and force the mall people to organise a shuttle to get us back before the ship left without us .
 
All in all, a very fraught and time-consuming experience with just a toothbrush and a few more white hairs to show for it.
 
Our day in Cochin also ended with a mad dash to the ship but at least we were on a ship's tour and with a lot of other people so we weren't so concerned about being stranded, passport-less, in a foreign country.
 
The nonchalance of the constant, near-hysterical humorous patter of the tour guide too had a strangely calming effect, so being 20 minutes late didn't cause as much angst as the surly Arabian experience.
 
From friends who'd been there before, we knew Kerala was a very beautiful part of India and we weren't disappointed.
 
The process of getting an Indian visa had been hugely expensive and infuriating, so much so that, if given the chance, we would have refused to go ashore on principle.
 
But we're glad we bit the bullet, booked a tour and went on what was maybe the most memorable -- and expensive when you include the visa costs -- of any trip we've ever done.
 
The only place that comes close to this experience would be Sri Lanka where we'd been in the '80s .
 
Advice to eat the local grub over dodgy Western food reminded us of that time in Sri Lanka where 11 year old Andy insisted on ordering hamburgers and suchlike -- that always turned out to be awful -- so Dad ended up having to swap his tasty curries for Andy's Sri Lankan version of Western junk food.
 
Fishermen out early on the beach was the first sight to greet us as we entered Indian waters. Already this had a totally different atmosphere to anything we'd experienced in a long time.

 After finally making it through the near endless Indian bureaucracy and escaping the ship, we went by bus, through endless houses, churches, temples, schools and shops lining the road, where life seems mainly to be lived.

A couple of hours later we were dropped off at Alleppey, a narrow lagoon where boats took us along some of the many canals and lakes in the backwaters of Kerala to Kumarakom.
 
Again, the population lives on the edge, this time of waterways rather than roads, in neat houses with the canal as their front yard -- as well as their laundry, bath and kitchen sink -- with rice paddies behind .
 
The lunch stop at the Punnamada Resort brought another unexpectedly good experience. 

We'd been expecting a dull, air conditioned room full of boring white table cloths and plastic chairs. 
 
Instead, we pulled up beside a garden edging the waterway, round tables with white cloths scattered with red rose petals under the trees, and traditional-style hotel buildings behind. 

Drummers and ladies with watermelon juice greeted us, followed by a delicious curry buffet.
Our impressions of Kerala were of a lush, damp land teeming with plants, people -- and a few animals -- vibrant with the colours of foliage, flowers and gorgeous saris -- and happiness.
 
Everyone we saw, on the whole, seemed happy but also employed in some way -- bashing their washing on special-purpose stones on the water's edge, fishing or cleaning fish, playing ball games, fixing things, shopping, sweeping.
 
Men, women, girls and boys all seemed to mix in together, wearing impeccably clean clothes -- despite the earthen paths, mud and the ever-present garbage .
 
For a province with such a high level of education and for people with such an eye for beauty, the trash-ridden state of the roads and waterways is a total mystery.
 
We loved Kerala -- though they really do need to get a grip on their garbage! AND their crazy, punishing, self-defeating bureaucracy. Not many of our fellow passengers would willingly stomach this expensive visa nonsense a second time.
 
But do that, and it'd come close to a kind of madcap, vibrant tropical perfection. 
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Comments

Harvey STOCKWELL
2016-10-26

Did you get the visa in advance or on arrival?

2025-02-13

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