It was getting to be too much for me. I was ready to leave the country and had started looking for flights to anywhere else, but India. I originally planned to end my trip in Mumbai because I wanted to experience Diwali (Festival of Lights) in mid November with my friends, and I had already booked a flight out of Mumbai. I thought about flying to Australia or back to Thailand before returning to India for the week of Diwali. However, I made the decision to see southern India before leaving the country, and that made all the difference. Plus, flights were pretty expensive due to the festive season.
When I peered out the train window at Kerala, the first thing I noticed was that the homes along the tracks appeared bigger, some were ranch-style, and the second thing I noticed was that there were lots of churches. I exited the train at Ernakulam station after riding for two and a half days, and I crossed 2 bridges by taxi before arriving on the island of Ft. Cochin (also spelled Cochi, Kochi, Kochin). I arrived at ChristVille Homestay, which would be my home for 8 nights. A homestay is essentially a bed and breakfast run by a family who stays on the property too.
Backwater tour
My hosts arranged a tour for me and the company picked me up from the homestay. I traveled along the backwaters of a small village nearby on a very slow boat. We slowly drifted through tight canals that sometimes required the boat workers to push off inches from the bank as tree branches swept along the side openings. The two men steering the boat used long bamboo poles and swapped them out for longer poles when the water was deep. The local guide showed us how coconut fibers are turned into rope and he showed us a nutmeg tree. He also flagged down a small row boat with a man carrying what looked like a small gas can. It turns out that it wasn't gas, but "toddy", a prohibited fermented coconut drink that some people made in stills at home. He was a bootlegger. He was happy to sell his drink to a boat full of tourists. He asked that no one take pictures, of course. The people who bought it talked about how much it burned going down, which sounded like corn liquor to me. I passed.
We enjoyed a nice traditional lunch of vegetarian thali on a banana leaf. After lunch, we got back on the boat and drifted along thanks to the cool wind. It was so relaxing that just about everyone dozed off at some point during the ride. It was a good long lazy day on the water.
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| Captain of the boat and me |
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| Reminder of home |
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| Inside the boat |
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| Our houseboat |
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| Thali |
Kerala is known for this traditional theater that requires years of training for the actors, musicians, and singers. The stories are acted out using mime, dramatic facial expressions, and sign language to entertain the audience without talking, and they are accompanied by drummers and a singer. All of the performers are males. The actors wear very elaborate costumes and makeup, which takes an hour or more to apply. The makeup session takes place on stage before the start of the show with the audience watching in awe at the dramatic transformation. They grate natural stones and minerals mixed with coconut oil to create the bright face paint. The color of the makeup also helps tell the story. Green represents good character. Yellow represents the female. Orange represents bad character, and black represents evil/demons. An actor with multiple colors displays the multiple facets of their character. For example, the story I saw had a character with mostly green makeup and some orange showing that he was usually good, but he had some bad tendencies - mostly during war/battles.
Ayurveda
Kerala is also known for its health and wellness practice, called Ayurveda, which treats both the mind and body to heal various ailments. I decided to book an appointment for a massage and shirodhara treatment before leaving. For shirodhara, I laid my head back as warm oil dripped on my forehead. It felt so weird at first, and I told the woman treating me that it was too hot. Next thing I know, she was tapping me on the shoulder to wake up. I'd fallen asleep and was so relaxed for those few minutes.
Yoga/meditation
The thing that I loved the most about being in Ft. Kochi was that I could finally relax. The pace was slower, the people were friendlier, and I found ways to establish a routine for myself. There was a hotel nearby, called "Breathe Inn", that offered free daily medication followed by yoga (350 rupees for 1.5 hours). I took advantage of the sessions a few times during my stay. The woman who led the meditation and yoga also performed massages and other body treatments. I made an appointment for a 1-hour massage after yoga one day, and when she was finished, I asked if I could have another 30 minutes. I did not want to get up.
Running
The streets around me were so clean and uncongested that I could run without obstacles. I woke up at 5:30am a few mornings so I could run before it became too hot, and I wasn't the only one with that idea. Lots of people walked and ran along the same roads. I saw young, old, couples, singles, parents with strollers, and more out for a morning stroll. I didn't see any other women running though. I made up for my missed miles during previous weeks in India, and ran more than 12 miles while I was there.
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| My fellow early morning exercisers |
Voting
I completed my absentee ballot and mailed it while I was there in Ft. Cochin. On the same day that I mailed my ballot via speedy post (express mail), I also mailed a package to a friend via regular mail. My friend received the package a week and a half before Harris County acknowledged my ballot, which was on the last day that absentee ballots would be counted.
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I voted!
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| Bank at the church |
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| Synagogue |
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| beach |
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| Che |
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