Hi from Kerala! Uli (the ID Lecturer from Brimingham), Chad (an American nurse from Kansas) and myself hopped on the Chennai-Allepey 'Express' at around midnight on Friday. Uli had three first class sleeper tickets, though on a 'waiting list', which I was slightly suspicious about but Uli guaranteed me that that would not be a problem. I was right. My train experience in India continues to be a colourful one- all three of us could not find any free compartment and.... ended up sleeping on the floor in the corridoor outside. The newspaper I had packed and my towel came in real handy! My first experience of Indian first class travel was even worse than the one I had on the General Coach on my way to Vellore!! We eventually managed to find a free compartment when people got down at a stop at around 5 am. By then the train was already 2 hours late and we still had about 7 hours to go to Allepey, where we had arranged a room.
Among the interesting sights on the way were watching the locals perform their early morning squatting toilet duties on the side of the railtrack! In fact the whole railtrack smelt like a latrine (given that there are no septic tanks on the trains) and each time the train slowed down or stopped, ammoniacal vapours would permeate the air. The image of India criss-crossed by rail-tracks spewing these odours is one that is hard to get rid of. The lush tropical greenery of Kerala on the other side of the chain of mountains that separates it from Tamil Nadu (the Western Ghats) was a striking contrast to the more arid TamilNadu countryside and the more pleasant side of the trip.
On reaching Allepey in Kerala, we realised that we'd been duped into thinking the room would be at the hotel we would be staying at. It was instead going to be a someone's house, converted for the busy race boat weekend into a makeshift hotel! We left fuming to look for another more suitable accommodation, which was in fact not too much of a problem.
The boat race itself was a crowded affair not for the faint-hearted. We managed to get in the middle of the crowd (rowdy but surprisingly well behaved) and caught some glimpses of the 30 foot or so long boats with their tails shaped in a cobra-head, with 2 rows of twenty men frantically rowing at the pace of the rhythm-setters beating their drums. Loudspeakers bleated out live commentaries in Tamil and there was a strong Police presence which made us slightly uncomfortable.
The next morning, we took the 8 hour long ferry from Allepey to Kollam, where I am presently. The ride on the Kerala backwaters was pleasant and the Monsoon had kept tourist numbers down and a fair few locals were also holidaying during this long weekend (tomorrow is National Day). It has been raining heavily intermittently but this hasn't really affected our plans. Food is great here, with lots of excellent fish curry and tasty meals served on banana leaves. We're heading north to Cochin in a couple of hours. Will be staying in the Fort itself and lots to visit around that historical port. More about it later.
PS: Unfortunately I've forgotten the USB cable for my camera to upload my pics. Duh! I'm trying to find one or a card reader that will let me upload my pics. Will post some of them as soon as I can.
Among the interesting sights on the way were watching the locals perform their early morning squatting toilet duties on the side of the railtrack! In fact the whole railtrack smelt like a latrine (given that there are no septic tanks on the trains) and each time the train slowed down or stopped, ammoniacal vapours would permeate the air. The image of India criss-crossed by rail-tracks spewing these odours is one that is hard to get rid of. The lush tropical greenery of Kerala on the other side of the chain of mountains that separates it from Tamil Nadu (the Western Ghats) was a striking contrast to the more arid TamilNadu countryside and the more pleasant side of the trip.
On reaching Allepey in Kerala, we realised that we'd been duped into thinking the room would be at the hotel we would be staying at. It was instead going to be a someone's house, converted for the busy race boat weekend into a makeshift hotel! We left fuming to look for another more suitable accommodation, which was in fact not too much of a problem.
The boat race itself was a crowded affair not for the faint-hearted. We managed to get in the middle of the crowd (rowdy but surprisingly well behaved) and caught some glimpses of the 30 foot or so long boats with their tails shaped in a cobra-head, with 2 rows of twenty men frantically rowing at the pace of the rhythm-setters beating their drums. Loudspeakers bleated out live commentaries in Tamil and there was a strong Police presence which made us slightly uncomfortable.
The next morning, we took the 8 hour long ferry from Allepey to Kollam, where I am presently. The ride on the Kerala backwaters was pleasant and the Monsoon had kept tourist numbers down and a fair few locals were also holidaying during this long weekend (tomorrow is National Day). It has been raining heavily intermittently but this hasn't really affected our plans. Food is great here, with lots of excellent fish curry and tasty meals served on banana leaves. We're heading north to Cochin in a couple of hours. Will be staying in the Fort itself and lots to visit around that historical port. More about it later.
PS: Unfortunately I've forgotten the USB cable for my camera to upload my pics. Duh! I'm trying to find one or a card reader that will let me upload my pics. Will post some of them as soon as I can.
posted by sajir at 10:09 PM
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