India- What an amazing experience so far!

I've always felt like I haven't really traveled because I hadn't been to India. I now consider myself "hardcore"
 I knew it would be a place unlike anywhere else on earth and I was right! Read on....

 We arrived at the airport in India destined for Fort Cochin, which is located in the southern state of Kerala, on Oct 26. We had a harrowing nearly 24 hrs of travel from Pangkor, Malaysia back to Kuala Lumpur then the plane trip to India. I was so happy to see this fellow waiting for us at the airport!

We still had a 1.5 hr taxi ride in the dark to our guesthouse before we could get some much needed rest. This was one of the many times on this trip I was happy to have older kids who can withstand a difficult travel day as well as we can. It would have been HELL to have small children on this leg of our journey.
 We arrived about 1:30 am to find our home stay we had booked online to be less than satisfactory. There was a fitted sheet on the bed and that was it! No top sheet or anything to cover us. As hot as it can be at night we still like a thin sheet to protect us from the effect of the wind that is generated from the ceiling fan whizzing above our heads. We were provided with just two towels for 4 people, there was garbage in the bathroom bin left by the last guest  and worst of all, I peeked under the pillow cases and saw the pillows were actually BROWN from all the years of people drooling and sweating on them. YUK!! I got out my sleep sheet for the first time on this trip and covered the pillow case with my travel towel which I also never use and tried to get some rest. Needless to say, we got the hell out of there about 5 hrs later, hopped into a tuk tuk and found the delightful Joji’s Homestay that we are in now.

Joji's Homestay- Our home away from home.

 A home stay is the Indian equivalent of a B&B. The family here is very helpful in getting us acquainted with the city and hooked us up with Biju, one of their reputable tuk tuk drivers who charges $2/hr to take all four of us anywhere we need to go and helps us find things we need like contact lens solution , essential oils and massala tea.
 We have our own entrance and sleeping quarters with a nice roof top deck and common area to hang out in. For $16/ night we each have our own room and lots of private space to hang out in.  Fort Cochin is a lovely walkable town with lots of great restaurants and interesting things to explore ….we might just stay here awhile!

We grew to love Biju (the guy on the left)  and quickly got used to having our own driver! He took a special liking to our boys too and was a great influence on them, teaching them about service, compassion and generosity.

Hollis, Biju, Sudhir  (Our tuk tuk drivers) and Bowen

Biju invited Remy and I to his home to meet his pregnant wife and one of his two boys. We felt so honored to be treated to a nice cup of tea and some Indian snacks.

One of the many cathedrals

We put many, many miles on Biju's tuk tuk

These cool Ambassadors are still in operation

Just one of the many interesting streets to explore

Sunset in Fort Cochin

Hollis turned 18 yesterday so we celebrated by booking Ayurvedic massages for the whole family….  mistake! It was an experience for sure but not one I care to repeat. While laying on a huge, hard, wooden bed carved out like a shallow bowl the masseuse slathered me with cups and cups of hot oil which then dripped into a bucket on the floor.

The wooden torture table where I received my massage

 I was totally and completely naked in this dingy room while a female stranger rubbed me down. The procedure included a nipple pinching at least three times.... honk, honk, honk, rub, rub rub then honk, honk, honk, rub, rub,rub,  slather more oil,  honk honk honk. It was very uncomfortable on so many levels.

The steam bath that followed was like something out of a medieval horror movie

very flattering

  There I sat in this hot box sweating profusely while the oil dripped from my elbows and onto my legs. For 15 agonizing minutes I cursed the whole crazy situation knowing that Hollis, Remy and Bowen were in for the same treatment. I also wondered how Hollis would ever forgive us!
The whole event ended with me being released from the melting box for the warm shower I was so looking forward to. I was unable to figure out all the nozzles and spigots on the wall that shot water in every direction other than down onto my head  so i ended up having to use the butt sprayer to try to get some of this congealing oil off my body and out of my hair. The oil was nearly impossible to wash off so i gave up, tried to dry myself with the dishrag of a towel that was provided, tied my greasy hair into a ponytail and walked home feeling grimy and completely self conscious.
It turns out Hollis and Remy had similar experiences except their masseuses insisted on washing them off themselves by sitting them down on the toilet and pouring warm water over them from a bucket. Hollis had his long locks brushed and both had their entire bodies including their naughty bits dried by these fellows who seemed to be the types who really enjoyed this visit by two handsome men. Both came home to shower again. Bowen was smart enough to bail out of the massage and just endured the steam bath treatment. Smart boy!
That night we had dinner poolside at The Old Harbor Restaurant- the most beautiful place in town. Our table was marked “reserved “ and was covered in tiny, fragrant jasmine flowers just for Hollis! We dined on exquisite, overpriced food ( kinda like we do at home) and listened to beautiful  live tabla and sitar playing by the musicians seated at the pool. The twinkling lights set the tone and we enjoyed ourselves immensely!

The fragrance from these tiny flowers was amazing!

It was a magical night by the pool

This was a BIG treat for all of us. Happy 18th Hollis!

We ended the evening with a cake a small celebration with our home stay family, Doyal, Sophia, their kids, Ricky ,Randy and Rooney. and of course, Biju our tuk tuk driver and new friend. It was really special for Hollis to celebrate with this wonderful Indian family, to receive small gifts from them and to learn a new verse to the “Happy Birthday” song!

Doyal and Soffia (our homestay owners) gave Hollis a nice bouquet of flowers. He was very touched by their gesture.

We love it here! India is fantastic so far. I am so relieved that the boys like it too  There are about a zillion interesting things to see about every second of the day. Sometimes we have to go for massala tea just so we can relieve our senses a bit but the tea places are really cool as well and when tea is only 25 cents a cup you can linger a good long while.

The best chai maker in the land!

Indian people are really, really beautiful- inside and out.

Biju has taken us to the Dhobikana ( commercial laundry)  where we watched grown men standing in water up their knees pounding the laundry against a concrete slab before setting it our to dry in a huge field out behind the building. Each man is responsible for every stage of the process including the pick up and delivery by bicycle. Now there is an awful way to make a living.

Washing the laundry the old fashioned way.

miles of clothes drying in the hot sun

The archaic iron is still heated with hot coals and weighs about as much as the woman

The Chinese fishing nets were another cool experience in Fort Cochin. These spider like contraptions can be raised or lowere by hand to gather the bounty of the sea.

Chinese fishing nets! Very spider like.

Essential oils are big here and Hollis found some he liked to use on our travels. This cool shop ships worldwide!

Hollis made several purchases here and now smells very, very good!

Biju took us for a tour of the area around Fort Cochin to see a small fishing village where we got the chance to see really rural life ( and more Chinese fishing nets!)

So many beautiful sights

Remy, your shirt matches the algae!

The fisherman's workplace

The main reason for coming to India was to experience the backwaters. We ended up doing two trips- more on the second trip later. Here are a few shots from our day trip which was spent with 4 other travelers exploring the narrow canals and relaxing to the point of near boredom. When we stopped for lunch we got to see the locals weaving chord from the scruffy bits on the outside of the coconut. A traditional Indian  fish thali was served on a palm leaf. Bowen nearly starved that day but the rest of us LOVED it.

Making chord in a matter of seconds!

Feeling lucky!

fish thali eaten with our hands

look at where we are!!!

A passing boat

Pushing the boat around by hand ALL day

This was one of our first experiences of people really living on the water which includes relying on the river for bathing and washing clothes.

All smiles!

We had the opportunity to take in some local culture and see a Kathakali performance. Kathakali involves very intricate make-up on the actors,which the audience is welcome to watch being applied,  eye movements and gestures that tell a story and live music/ commentary that all work together to create a very unique theatre experience.

These are real people- not puppets

Super cool make-up

We lounged around Fort Cochin for about a week then decided it was time for a tour of the countryside to see waterfalls, monkeys, tea plantations, spice gardens and the famous Kerala Backwaters via houseboat( overnight trip) Doyal helped us plan our adventure which would be 5 days long and would be facilitated by Anthony, our long distance  driver! I’m loving this whole “driver” thing! Remy will write that one!


~Liz