Day 24 – 30th May 2009 – Broken boats, Rain and Ruins - 30th May 2009

Hello again, this one is probably going to be fairly short and sweet. We’ve been to quite a few places since our last blog entry but not a lot has really happened. Well - compared to the last entry.

So, beginning again from where we finished last time, we caught the overnight train from Goa down to Fort Cochin in Kerala. This wasn’t too exciting. We were a little worried as when we go on the train, sitting opposite us was a woman struggling with a baby girl and a hyperactive toddler. I was wishing I’d brought some Ritalin in the medical kit for a while but luckily he wore himself out and fell asleep.

Ev is turning more and more into a hippy. Since buying a nice pair of baggy MC Hammer trousers in Hampi (Which are pretty cool – Ev), she has been turning to the dark side. Soon she’ll be wearing flowers in her hair and stop wearing a bra – Arghhhh!!!!
Fort Cochin was a bit of a disappointment really. I think it was because the monsoon was staring to kick in and it was really raining. The first night was pretty interesting. We went out for a meal in town which was about a 15-20 minute walk from our guesthouse. Just as we were arriving at the restaurant it started to rain. The rain got gradually heavier and heavier, and by the time we came to leave it was raining cats, dogs, llamas, chickens, horses and elephants!!! To make matters a little worse, the power was completely out in the town so there were no street lights. Of course, we were soaked through by the time we got back to our road, where we found it to be six inches under water. So we waded home!! The next morning we put our clothes out to dry, and we went out to see all the sights (of which there weren’t really that much). But in the rain and cloud they just seemed a little dull. Highlights included the former home of the Dutch East India Trading Company, and the house in which Vasco De Gama died.....I rest my case!!

So we decided to change our plans. We’d head down south and do the boat cruise around the Keralan backwaters in Alleppey before heading back to Cochin and then flying over to Chennai on the east coast where (hopefully) it wouldn’t be raining. Our original plan was to carry on heading south, and get right to the tip of India, but with the monsoon getting worse and worse it really didn’t seem like a good idea.

We headed down to Alleppey in a taxi and haggled a 25% discount off a 22 hour boat cruise in the back waters. The boats are quite comfy house boats. Ours had two rooms, but since it was low season, they are desperate to get you on to anything.

We got onto the boat, met the captain and chef and then headed off. After about an hour and a half the captain pulled the boat over to a narrow strip of land about two metres wide that separated the canal from the paddy fields. Since there was a slight downstream current, he turned the boat around and tied the bow to a tree and the chef served up lunch in the covered living room area just behind the bow. The chef and the captain then headed back to the stern to have their lunch, which they seem to have tucked into a little early as they forgot to tie the stern to a tree as well.

Half way through our lunch the current in the canal changed direction and the stern started to edge out into the centre of the canal. I shouted back for them, but I was a little too late. By the time they had run forward and then got a knife to cut the mooring line, the boat had swung round and the prow had been almost ripped off against the edge of the canal. Ooops

I felt a little bad as we sat there eating our lunch and drinking beer as the captain, the chef, and a random stranger who seemed to appear out of nowhere spent about two hours doing a bodge repair!!

We also stopped and got some of the biggest freshwater prawns I’ve ever seen, which the chef cooked for dinner which were soooo good!!

The next day we got a taxi back up to Cochin and booked into a hotel near the airport as the flight was early the next morning and bummed around for the whole day.

We arrived in Chennai at about 10 o’clock and got a taxi straight down to a town called Mahabalipuram and checked into a nice hotel with a pool. Oh – I forgot to mention. It’s hot again. Roasting hot!!!!

Mahabalipuram has a load of 6th-8th century rock carvings and temples. We looked around them yesterday, but spent a large amount of time by the pool as it was ridiculously hot. We went out for dinner in a pretty cool restaurant called Moonrakers, and met some very friendly locals who worked there. Instead of selling us a shot of rum for 120 rupees (£1.50), he sent his mate out on a moped to the shop to buy us a whole bottle for the same amount. Unfortunately his boss caught him coming back and he got quite a bollocking!!

We also had a few drinks in a bar on the beach. Well it was on the beach until the Boxing Day tsunami, when the beach was pretty much destroyed. Now the bar is perched on a small cliff with the waves crashing at it’s base.

Yesterday we caught another taxi down to where we are now, which is a place called Pondicherry. It’s a former French colony, and all the buildings look French and all the signs are in French. They even have the crazy and absurd French mentality as we found out last night. I’ll explain.

We’d checked into a dirt cheap guest house which is an Ashram. This means, no drinking, no smoking, no “indecent” clothing, and a 10:30 curfew. So we headed out to find a bar. We stopped into a small bar under a hotel, and looked at the menu. I ordered a beer, but Ev was pleased to see Bacardi on the menu. Prices were given for singles and doubles, so she ordered a single with Pepsi. A short while later the guy who had taken our order came back and said they only had doubles!!

“What do you mean you only have doubles? It comes in a big bottle!” I asked. The guy fumbled for a minute or two before sending the landlord over two us.

“If you are having Brandy, or Whiskey you can have single. But if you order Vodka, or Rum, first drink must be double...... After that you can have single.” The landlord explained.

“.......WHAT???.....” I replied. So he repeated himself.

“.....WHY???.....” I asked.

“House rules!” was his answer.

“That is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard in my life!!” I said.

“House rules!” was his answer.

We were cultured last night and had a Pizza Hut for dinner before heading back to the guest house and breaking the rules by drinking some rum in the room.

We got up this morning and headed to the train station to book a ticket back to Chennai for tomorrow. Unfortunately, the train was fully booked, so we walked over to the bus station to find out the times. By this point we were pouring with sweat again, so headed back for a lunch time shower.

We’re now sitting in an internet cafe. We head back to Chennai tomorrow and then fly up to Calcutta the day after. We’re then going north to Darjeeling, and then heading over to Nepal.

Well – maybe that wasn’t as short and sweet as I was expecting.

Until next time,

Simon and Ev xXx