Merry Christmas from Kochi

We are about as far away as we can be from a White Christmas, which is making it far more bearable to be without family and friends. I can pretty easily pretend that Bing Crosby, Christmas turkey, and Christmas pudding don't really happen at this time of year.

Back in Alleppey (was it really only three days ago?) we went punting from 7:00 a.m. to 1:00 pm. It was lovely to explore the narrow shaded waterways that only the smallest boats can navigate. Our guide, Thara, was in his mid twenties, spoke English quite well, and both answered our questions and offered us tidbits of information. For example: There are now 850 houseboats in Alleppey (the larger canals are over-run with them) and to wash and iron the sheets of those houseboats, local families receive a whopping 5 rupees per sheet (that's 8 cents). And a rice farmer makes only 100 rupees per day ($2.50 Cad). So, the next time you think you aren't paid enough, think again! I do wonder how much Thara made for his six hours of paddling us around, since we paid at the guest house. At any rate, it felt very decadent to be sitting in the covered two person boat watching the world go by.

That changed rapidly as we left our guest house and headed for the bus station. Next stop Varkala, a 3 hour bus ride away. For the first time, we weren't getting on a bus at the origin station, so we had to battle with the rest of the folks for a spot. I managed to snag a stand up spot at the very back, which was bearable, but I wondered how I would fare after 3 hours! Mark was lucky enough to be standing beside someone who got off within 10 minutes, so he got to sit. Sitting in a hot, crowded bus with your backpack on your lap (mine was on the floor at least) wasn't a lot of fun either. After an hour, I managed to get a seat as well, and after about 1.5 hours, the bus emptied out. The last 30 minutes were not bad, but I was getting kind of tired of being on the bus. When we finally did arrive in Varkala, a glorious beach was one minute's walk from our hotel, and it was well worth the bus ride! The water was cool enough to be refreshing wtihout being cold in the least. Ahhhhh!

Not only was there surf, sand, and sun, but best of all, there were SUNDOWNERS! The first gin and tonic of our trip! It wasn't Bombay, or Sapphire, or Tanqueray, but it resembled gin and tonic enough for us. Sadly, the second round turned out to be white rum and tonic as they ran out of gin. I guess they figured that we wouldn't notice - HA! But switching to mojitos wasn't that much of a hardship!

Fresh seafood abounds in Varkala. At dinner time, you can walk the "stroll" along the clifftop path, and all the restaurants have the fresh fish of the day on display. Pick your fish, they cook it in a multitude of ways, and voila! Dinner! Mark had butter fish cooked in Keralan spices in a banana leaf and it was amazing. I had a baby tuna and felt very guilty about it. The fish was far too small to be killed, but I ate it and have to say, it was tasty grilled in a bit of butter, lemon and garlic. I promise not to eat another one though.

The next morning we donned our bathing suits for a swim in the surf. But, as luck would have it, the fishermen were hauling in their catch! It was very cool to watch - a group of 30 - 40 men were split in two groups on the beach. Each group was pulling on a bundle of lines which were connected to a net, and they were doing a type of chant. One guy would call, an the rest would reply. Very cool. Eventually the net came ashore full of fish of all types unknown to me. The only thing I recognized was the squid, oh, and the assorted plastic garbage of course. Too bad we had no camera.

The afternoon brought us ayeurvedic massages, which were pretty darn amazing. I was brought into a treatment room, and stripped off all of my clothes. My masseuse did a little prayer with some oil, and worked on my scalp and head for a while, and then I lay on a table that was covered in a plastic sheet. A lovely smelling warm oil was poured on me, and in some ways I felt like a turkey being basted in oil for Christmas dinner. Just joking of course, it was very blissfull and relaxing. The smell of the product that they used on my face was beautiful. This was a fantastic way to spend an hour and 20 bucks!

We needed a break from the bus, so we were going to take the train from Varkala to Fort Cochin, but sadly, a lot of other people seemed to have the same idea. What a good time to try a ride in an Ambassador long-haul taxi. It's a pricey option, but what the heck, it's Christmas so we thought we'd splurge. It was still noisy with the honk honk honking, but 100 times more comfortable than the bus. And now, here we are, at Christmas Eve in Kochi. Soon it's time for a sundowner (if we can find one) and dinner. Merry Christmas everyone!!