Here I am in Fort Cochin, in the state of Kerala, at the very south west tip of India - a complete contrast to Sikkim! Kerala is tropical with lots of palm trees and coconut trees and the weather is hot and humid. It is the start of the monsoon period and I have been expecting to be holed up in my hostel room doing lots of reading and writing but so far, so good and I have been doing touristy things in the lovely sunshine.
I flew down last Friday having decided to go with the option of volunteering with the women's organisation - either working in a special needs school or working in an "ordinary school". Coming down to Kerala will also give me the opportunity to visit the Sivananda yoga ashram. A couple of weeks of yoga and meditation in beautiful surroundings may give me some nourishing, both physically and spiritually. It also gives Kerala Link the time they need to process my application.
Fort Cochin is the first touristy place I have been too and I'm glad that I'm here out of season. Though the lack of tourists does mean that I get more than my fair share of "hello, how are you, come into my lovely shop" and the funky cafes listed in the Lonely Planet guide are closed for renovation.... Fort Cochin is on the sea and so I am constantly reminded of Brighton - here is just something about the sound of the waves that is universal. Though I think the sound of the waves is the only thing that Brighton and Fort Cochin share. There is a nice walkway along a bit of the sea, either side strewn with litter and there is no way I will be getting into the water! There are these amazing ancient chinese fishing nets here - huge wooden structures which cast nets down into the sea then 4 men pull on ropes to haul the nets out of the sea and see what the catch is. They look a bit like wooden structures used to cast rocks and tubs of boiling oil on medieval castles - and use the same principles. They are kept going in part for the tourists but also in part because they really do catch fish with them which are then sold along the walkway.
I met a lovely woman (of similar age) on the plane coming to Cochin too so we spent the weekend doing touristy things together which was very nice and a very welcome relief from the busy-ness of the big city. She is in India training teachers in a new school as a volunteer so we had a lot in common. Fort Cochin is a nice mixture of Portuguese, Dutch, British and Indian and feels like a village, although across the water is the large city of Ernakalum. We spent one afternoon looking at the local palace, walking around the spice bazaar area etc and the following day we went on a tourist boat, experiencing the tranquility of the Keralan backwaters. It was very lovely and peaceful and a world away from Pune! The scenery is stunning and of course it is always so relaxing to be on a boat - especially when you don't have to steer, row, punt.... We stopped for a lovely veggie lunch where the plates were banana leaves and spoons to eat with were offered as an option. I decided to practice eating with my hands as most Indians do and have to say that the food does taste much better that way. There's this great place to eat here in the evenings - where they serve north Indian dishes so I can continue with my appreciation of N. Indian fare. The local food is great too but a lot of emphasis on fish and also coconut - not my favourite ingredients. Interestingly dahl is not common here at all but is the staple all over the rest of the country. I am also seriously getting into mango milkshakes - amazing combo of fresh mango, ice-cream and milk. I reckon that the humidity is making me sweat so it's ok to pile on the calories!
For my next volunteering placement, I have to learn some of the local language so I might start getting stuck in now as I will need all the extra help I can get! Also both my cotton shirts have now got big rips in them so I need to get a couple of new ones made up or scour the tourist shops for some cotton tops. Note to any future travellers - always check how thin your very favourite cotton shirt has got before you go off to foreign climes.
bye for now
bee
ps if anyone would like to keep me updated on either Wimbledon and / or the Archers, I would much appreciate it!
I flew down last Friday having decided to go with the option of volunteering with the women's organisation - either working in a special needs school or working in an "ordinary school". Coming down to Kerala will also give me the opportunity to visit the Sivananda yoga ashram. A couple of weeks of yoga and meditation in beautiful surroundings may give me some nourishing, both physically and spiritually. It also gives Kerala Link the time they need to process my application.
Fort Cochin is the first touristy place I have been too and I'm glad that I'm here out of season. Though the lack of tourists does mean that I get more than my fair share of "hello, how are you, come into my lovely shop" and the funky cafes listed in the Lonely Planet guide are closed for renovation.... Fort Cochin is on the sea and so I am constantly reminded of Brighton - here is just something about the sound of the waves that is universal. Though I think the sound of the waves is the only thing that Brighton and Fort Cochin share. There is a nice walkway along a bit of the sea, either side strewn with litter and there is no way I will be getting into the water! There are these amazing ancient chinese fishing nets here - huge wooden structures which cast nets down into the sea then 4 men pull on ropes to haul the nets out of the sea and see what the catch is. They look a bit like wooden structures used to cast rocks and tubs of boiling oil on medieval castles - and use the same principles. They are kept going in part for the tourists but also in part because they really do catch fish with them which are then sold along the walkway.
I met a lovely woman (of similar age) on the plane coming to Cochin too so we spent the weekend doing touristy things together which was very nice and a very welcome relief from the busy-ness of the big city. She is in India training teachers in a new school as a volunteer so we had a lot in common. Fort Cochin is a nice mixture of Portuguese, Dutch, British and Indian and feels like a village, although across the water is the large city of Ernakalum. We spent one afternoon looking at the local palace, walking around the spice bazaar area etc and the following day we went on a tourist boat, experiencing the tranquility of the Keralan backwaters. It was very lovely and peaceful and a world away from Pune! The scenery is stunning and of course it is always so relaxing to be on a boat - especially when you don't have to steer, row, punt.... We stopped for a lovely veggie lunch where the plates were banana leaves and spoons to eat with were offered as an option. I decided to practice eating with my hands as most Indians do and have to say that the food does taste much better that way. There's this great place to eat here in the evenings - where they serve north Indian dishes so I can continue with my appreciation of N. Indian fare. The local food is great too but a lot of emphasis on fish and also coconut - not my favourite ingredients. Interestingly dahl is not common here at all but is the staple all over the rest of the country. I am also seriously getting into mango milkshakes - amazing combo of fresh mango, ice-cream and milk. I reckon that the humidity is making me sweat so it's ok to pile on the calories!
For my next volunteering placement, I have to learn some of the local language so I might start getting stuck in now as I will need all the extra help I can get! Also both my cotton shirts have now got big rips in them so I need to get a couple of new ones made up or scour the tourist shops for some cotton tops. Note to any future travellers - always check how thin your very favourite cotton shirt has got before you go off to foreign climes.
bye for now
bee
ps if anyone would like to keep me updated on either Wimbledon and / or the Archers, I would much appreciate it!
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