this past thursday, a group of nine of us went on a weekend trip to cochi, in the state of kerala. i learned my women in india class that kerala used to be a matrilineal state (until the missionaries came)--how cool!
the flight was around two hours long, and we had to take an hour and a half (air-conditioned) bus to cochi. once we got there, we stayed in this little homestay, with separate floors and rooms of westerners and backpackers and yoga students, along with the owners, who were always up to help us make the best of our trip. they even had a little baby named carrot. yes, carrot. carrot the baby.
once we checked in, we tried to go to this one popular restaurant called oy's, but since we were such a big group, there wasn't room for us in the small space. we chose this italian restaurant called upstairs, because well, it was upstairs some shops. upstairs had potential to be cute, but it was mega humid and we were starving and it took an hour and a half to get our food and it wasn't even that great and the portions were for children. ah well, that was our only mediocre meal.
we walked to the pier and saw the ocean in the moonlight, along with some huge cockroaches crawling up between rocks on the shore. we stayed for awhile, talked to some other foreigners about what we should do in kerala, and went back to our homestay. prem, the owner, greeted us with brochures for a backwater tour the next day. this was the one thing that all the travel books and travelers recommended for us to do, so we booked our spots for the seven hour backwater tour.
the next morning, we woke up and had breakfast at 7, were picked up at 8, and arrived for our backwater tour at 9:15. a group of about twenty of us boarded a shaded boat and just relaxed in our bamboo chairs while one man steered and paddled with a piece of bamboo, and another gave us background information. the backwaters snake through the lush green jungle-y terrain and eventually lead into the ocean. after an hour or so of meandering through, we stopped at a calcium hydroxide making hut. they collect clam shells and then wash, dry, and light them on fire. when they light on fire, they crumble to dust immediately. they even burned a batch when we were there--it was magic. there were mounds and mounds of this stuff; we learned that it is used to make fertilizer, and it made sense, since the smell was pretty strong and headache-inducing. but we made it out with some brain cells :)
our next stop on the backwaters was a coconut rope making cottage. all of the places we stopped at were family owned business, and completely secluded from the city; they only traveled by boat/canoe. the coconuts have to soak in water for at least six months in order for their fibers to be strong enough for them to twist into rope. once they dry out from their six month bath, they crack open the coconut and take out the fibers and twist with this cool machine:
our tour guide led us to the side of the house, where they had handmade crafts made from coconut and other wood, along with homemade banana chips, tapioca chips, and honey roasted peanuts.
we drifted for awhile longer and then stopped for lunch. lunch was all vegetarian and was served on a banana leaf.
with full tummies, rode on our nice shaded boat for a little longer after lunch, but then we switched to another boat. these boats were long canoes that fit about seven people on each.
we had our own personal paddler, so we just got to relax once again, until our next destination, the spice farm. here we saw:
we took a long detour in our canoes which ended up where we began. we loaded up on our bus and all fell asleep until we got dropped off back at our homestay. the girls immediately went to the pier so we could watch the 500 year old chinese fishing nets being pulled up. we even got to pull it up ourselves!
we didn't catch any fish because we were pulling too fast. they didn't know how strong we were :)
after the nets, we went shopping for a little bit, and then tried to get into oy's restaurant again. since we got there right when it opened and there were only five of us this time, we got seats! all the tables were glass mounted on bamboo, and the seats were benches made from bamboo with lots of bright pillows. there was music playing in the background, a huge picture of bob marley on the wall, and the food was tasty and cheap.
the icelandic yoga hippie who was staying in our same homestay told us of the one bar that he and his friends had found, so we all met him there afterwards. he told us that sometimes, the bar would run out of beer. no worries, we all leisurely sipped on our kingfisher beers and lounged in an air conditioned room.
the next day, the girls got up and ready before the guys, so we went on the lookout for breakfast. we stumbled upon this quaint monte carlo restaurant. i got a lemon pancake with honey and a bowl of fruit; the rest of the table loaded up on eggs, cinnamon toast, regular toast, chai, coffee. the owner was so sweet, making sure we were satisfied, and even giving us bug spray to put on since we were sitting at a jungle-y table. the boys met up with us there by coincidence, and from there, we all headed out to the beach.
we walked down to the pier and on our way we ran into a man who asked where we were from. just like pretty much everyone says when we tell them, he smiled and said "OBAMA." we all nodded in our mutual agreement that obama is really cool and then the man said, "my favorite, KENNEDY." we nodded in agreement again, but then looked at us narrowly and said, "you not born then." he's right.
we had to take a ferry to vypeen island, only a five minute ride. on top of that, we had to ride the bus for about forty five minutes, then take a five minute rickshaw ride to finally get to cherrai beach. but it was all worth it.
we swam for a few hours, got ice cream, and eventually lunch. lunch was great indian food, and by the time we got our food and finished, jordan and i were sunned out, so we read under some umbrellas while everyone else swam and sunbathed a little more. at times it was uncomfortable being in our swimsuits. i mean, there were other westerners there in their bikinis, but then you'd turn around and see a few indian men staring at you, taking your picture, or even filming you. at home i never feel like a bikini is showing too much skin, a bikini is our norm. but in india, i felt really exposed, especially when a group of indian women would walk by in their sarees or kurtas, dipping their feet in the ocean. it made for really strange extremes.
on our bus ride back to the ferry, tracy and i were dancing and listening to her ipod when an balding white haired indian sat in front of us and smiled. "you like music?" we giggled a yes and he asked "you like india?" "WE LOVE IT." he patted his hand to his chest, "you like india? i like india." it was the perfect ending to our beach day.
when we got back to our homestay, we showered the salt off our skin and got dressed for a keralan dinner. we walked to this place we had spotted by the docks, where you could get great seafood, chicken, veg meals, and amazing naan and paratha (indian breads). we ate like the locals, at 10 pm.
sunday morning, tracy and i--both cursed/blessed with the inability to sleep in--woke up at 7. we walked on the pier and watched the early morning beach swimmers, people walk their dogs, and a catholic mass. we peaked inside st. mary's cathedral, and it was filled color, a paper mache jesus, and neon lights everywhere. very very different from the cathedrals i've seen.
tracy and i grabbed breakfast an another little cafe (banana coconut pancakes!), then met up with our group at the homestay, since it was around the time that people our age usually wake up. we packed up our things, checked out of our homestay, and split up into different shopping groups. at one point, while jordan and i were walking along the pier, we met up with ben, ethan and matthew, and decided to go to this recommended restaurant called dal roti. it is owned by a man from north india and even had a glossary on the menu. right after we ordered, we got a frantic phone call from tracy.
we thought our flight was leaving at 7:40 pm, because when we glanced at our tickets, they said 17:40. while tracy was walking around with zach, they ran into some other students from ciee who were there that weekend too. they had all their stuff because they were about to catch the hour and a half bus to the airport since their flight left at 5:40 pm. oh that's weird, tracy and zach thought, since we were all on the same flight as them on the way here and we thought we were on the same flight back. tracy looked at her ticket and realized: we were all on the same 5:40 flight.
after we got off the phone with tracy, ethan went to tell the owner of the restaurant that we had to pay for our food now (which we didn't even have yet) and just leave, since we had a flight to catch. he calmed us down, "your food is already ready! it is 1:30, bus leaves at 1:55. sit, eat." we scarfed our food down--which was the most delicious food i've had in india so far--and left to meet our other travel mates. when we met up with them, we all bascially ran in the hot humidity of the day to the bus stop. we got there in time to grab some cold waters from the street vendors, and got on the bus.
we all made it on time, boarded our plane, and landed safely in hyderabad. what's a weekend trip without a little adventure?
lauren
the flight was around two hours long, and we had to take an hour and a half (air-conditioned) bus to cochi. once we got there, we stayed in this little homestay, with separate floors and rooms of westerners and backpackers and yoga students, along with the owners, who were always up to help us make the best of our trip. they even had a little baby named carrot. yes, carrot. carrot the baby.
once we checked in, we tried to go to this one popular restaurant called oy's, but since we were such a big group, there wasn't room for us in the small space. we chose this italian restaurant called upstairs, because well, it was upstairs some shops. upstairs had potential to be cute, but it was mega humid and we were starving and it took an hour and a half to get our food and it wasn't even that great and the portions were for children. ah well, that was our only mediocre meal.
we walked to the pier and saw the ocean in the moonlight, along with some huge cockroaches crawling up between rocks on the shore. we stayed for awhile, talked to some other foreigners about what we should do in kerala, and went back to our homestay. prem, the owner, greeted us with brochures for a backwater tour the next day. this was the one thing that all the travel books and travelers recommended for us to do, so we booked our spots for the seven hour backwater tour.
the next morning, we woke up and had breakfast at 7, were picked up at 8, and arrived for our backwater tour at 9:15. a group of about twenty of us boarded a shaded boat and just relaxed in our bamboo chairs while one man steered and paddled with a piece of bamboo, and another gave us background information. the backwaters snake through the lush green jungle-y terrain and eventually lead into the ocean. after an hour or so of meandering through, we stopped at a calcium hydroxide making hut. they collect clam shells and then wash, dry, and light them on fire. when they light on fire, they crumble to dust immediately. they even burned a batch when we were there--it was magic. there were mounds and mounds of this stuff; we learned that it is used to make fertilizer, and it made sense, since the smell was pretty strong and headache-inducing. but we made it out with some brain cells :)
 |
| the mounds of the finished product |
we drifted for awhile longer and then stopped for lunch. lunch was all vegetarian and was served on a banana leaf.
 |
| rice, curry, mango pickle, pappadam... |
 |
| our view from lunch; notice the window made from blue tarps |
we had our own personal paddler, so we just got to relax once again, until our next destination, the spice farm. here we saw:
 |
| peppercorns |
 |
| nutmeg |
 |
| cloves |
 |
| jackfruit |
 | ||
| the fishing net in the background |
 |
| jordan, eliana, and i pulling up the nets |
after the nets, we went shopping for a little bit, and then tried to get into oy's restaurant again. since we got there right when it opened and there were only five of us this time, we got seats! all the tables were glass mounted on bamboo, and the seats were benches made from bamboo with lots of bright pillows. there was music playing in the background, a huge picture of bob marley on the wall, and the food was tasty and cheap.
the icelandic yoga hippie who was staying in our same homestay told us of the one bar that he and his friends had found, so we all met him there afterwards. he told us that sometimes, the bar would run out of beer. no worries, we all leisurely sipped on our kingfisher beers and lounged in an air conditioned room.
the next day, the girls got up and ready before the guys, so we went on the lookout for breakfast. we stumbled upon this quaint monte carlo restaurant. i got a lemon pancake with honey and a bowl of fruit; the rest of the table loaded up on eggs, cinnamon toast, regular toast, chai, coffee. the owner was so sweet, making sure we were satisfied, and even giving us bug spray to put on since we were sitting at a jungle-y table. the boys met up with us there by coincidence, and from there, we all headed out to the beach.
we walked down to the pier and on our way we ran into a man who asked where we were from. just like pretty much everyone says when we tell them, he smiled and said "OBAMA." we all nodded in our mutual agreement that obama is really cool and then the man said, "my favorite, KENNEDY." we nodded in agreement again, but then looked at us narrowly and said, "you not born then." he's right.
we had to take a ferry to vypeen island, only a five minute ride. on top of that, we had to ride the bus for about forty five minutes, then take a five minute rickshaw ride to finally get to cherrai beach. but it was all worth it.
on our bus ride back to the ferry, tracy and i were dancing and listening to her ipod when an balding white haired indian sat in front of us and smiled. "you like music?" we giggled a yes and he asked "you like india?" "WE LOVE IT." he patted his hand to his chest, "you like india? i like india." it was the perfect ending to our beach day.
when we got back to our homestay, we showered the salt off our skin and got dressed for a keralan dinner. we walked to this place we had spotted by the docks, where you could get great seafood, chicken, veg meals, and amazing naan and paratha (indian breads). we ate like the locals, at 10 pm.
sunday morning, tracy and i--both cursed/blessed with the inability to sleep in--woke up at 7. we walked on the pier and watched the early morning beach swimmers, people walk their dogs, and a catholic mass. we peaked inside st. mary's cathedral, and it was filled color, a paper mache jesus, and neon lights everywhere. very very different from the cathedrals i've seen.
tracy and i grabbed breakfast an another little cafe (banana coconut pancakes!), then met up with our group at the homestay, since it was around the time that people our age usually wake up. we packed up our things, checked out of our homestay, and split up into different shopping groups. at one point, while jordan and i were walking along the pier, we met up with ben, ethan and matthew, and decided to go to this recommended restaurant called dal roti. it is owned by a man from north india and even had a glossary on the menu. right after we ordered, we got a frantic phone call from tracy.
we thought our flight was leaving at 7:40 pm, because when we glanced at our tickets, they said 17:40. while tracy was walking around with zach, they ran into some other students from ciee who were there that weekend too. they had all their stuff because they were about to catch the hour and a half bus to the airport since their flight left at 5:40 pm. oh that's weird, tracy and zach thought, since we were all on the same flight as them on the way here and we thought we were on the same flight back. tracy looked at her ticket and realized: we were all on the same 5:40 flight.
after we got off the phone with tracy, ethan went to tell the owner of the restaurant that we had to pay for our food now (which we didn't even have yet) and just leave, since we had a flight to catch. he calmed us down, "your food is already ready! it is 1:30, bus leaves at 1:55. sit, eat." we scarfed our food down--which was the most delicious food i've had in india so far--and left to meet our other travel mates. when we met up with them, we all bascially ran in the hot humidity of the day to the bus stop. we got there in time to grab some cold waters from the street vendors, and got on the bus.
we all made it on time, boarded our plane, and landed safely in hyderabad. what's a weekend trip without a little adventure?
lauren
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