Ashram and Alleppey

(Lesley) Well, John has blogged and I don't really have much to add, except my opinions, of course.

I enjoyed the last week; the Ashram was a neat experience. We met people there who make an effort to return for a month or two every year. I can see how people would enjoy that. The Ashram had a very communal lifestyle, which I enjoyed, especially as it allowed for a lot of individual time, meditation personal pursuits as well, even after your seva (selfless sevice, or perhaps, selfless engagement in voluntary services, something like that. It will be on the website).

Not having met Amma, and not being into gurus in general ....I'm not sure I wouldn't have felt like a bit of a poser staying for a long time. Fact is, I wasn't dissappointed that she wasn't there. I was, in fact, quite ok to witness the Ashram as a place, sans the personality, for a first visit. Upon leaving, I thought it would be neat to return one day when the guru herself is around. Apparently it is bustling when she is there.

Alappuzha/ Alleppey, our next stop, was also quite nice. The ferry there through the backwaters was enjoyable. Of course here, in Allapuzha, the big thing to do is rent a house boat and do a backwater tour. These trips are decadent, not cheap and very popular. John and I decided that without a small group of interesting people, we wouldn't enjoy being pampered cruising along in a floating hotel with a cook, a driver and an assistant. We actually figured we would be a bit bored. We don't do the pamper thing very well. For me it would feel wasteful, extravagant, silly and in too big a contrast to the lifestyle of the locals. So, we stayed in Alappuzha/Alleppey. We walked about, found some good restaurants, went to the beach, and we enjoyed reading our books and relaxing at the Lemon Dew Heritage Home instead. I would like to do a houseboat trip one year but with a small group. I will work on convincing some friends to come along in a few years time.

A backwater scene not the houseboat.

More backwater scenes on the main artery between Kochin and Alleppey.

We left Alleppey around noon today and took a bus to Ernakulam then a ferry to Fort Cochin. The bus ride was loud and dusty, but there was lots to see. Ernakulam is quite a big city. We have often arrived at new places by trains, from which you don't see much of the city. On the bus, arriving just as school ends, we saw the city and its busy streets. It gave us a real sense of the place. The ferry over to Fort Cochin was simple; easy to find and cheap too. There are a lot of Europeans here in Fort Cochin. We are hearing a lot of French. It is touristy, we wouldn't need to eat Indian food if we didn't want to. However it is not touristy like Varkala or Kovalum: the beach resorts. It seems many of the tourists here are older or the young ones are hippies who want to see things and 'be' in India and eat Indian foods, and experience India. They aren't here just to tan on the beach.

I have to say India travels well. Buses are easy and trains are even nicer. English, gets you what you need and even allows for basic conversations with most folks. Food is everywhere and pretty tasty too. At home, I always pack a lunch on an outing to save money. Here, well, I can afford to buy as I go. We got cold mango juice and mneral water along with nuts, peanut brittle, two apples and some vegetable and lentil patties, all within arms reach of the bus window. And that was just what we bought. There were other splendors within arms reach (deep fried bananas or chillies, banana bread balls (well, that's what I call them. I'm not sure what the Indian name for them is, but boy o boy are they good.

Toilets are the one hard thing for travellers in India. They are few and far between and rarely clean when available. After a year travelling in Asia in budget hostels 22 years ago, I never developed particularly high standards for cleanliness while travelling. In many places in India, the cleaning of toilets and bathrooms amounts to spraying the bathroom with water or tossing a bucket of water over the whole bathroom. One bucket full over a dirty toilet does not do much to clean off months or years worth of grime. We have stayed in a few hotels where this thinking is accepted. However, we have also stayed in some pretty clean and lovely places too. Tonight we have lucked into a clean one.

(John) The Fort Cochin/Mattencherry area has proved endlessley fascinating. It has a concentrated area of tourist hotels that include budget and swanky accomodation. There are many restaurants that cater to Europeans but you only have to step slightly outside of the tourist zone to find local restaurants that serve traditional fare that is good, cheap and without any of the frills. This morning we had breakfast in a Muslim restaurant then past a church and a Hindu Temple then into Mattencherry which has a Jewish quarter with a synagogue that we visited. There was also a museum in what is known as the Dutch Palace for 10 rupees for all four of us. We spent an hour there reading all about the history of Kochin and Kerala and viewing countless artifacts. It was cool inside, the floor standing fans were super powered so we may have lingered longer than necessary. We stopped on our way back to the hotel to sample some Indian sweets. Further along we passed a kitchen where men were making the treats we had just eaten. They were happy to let us take their picture. Eventually we were lost enough and hot enough to decide that it was time to jump in the next autorickshaw for home.

Making sweets. Mmmm.