2nd part of road trip - Kochin, Alleppey, Marari Beach, Kovalam

Reading the previous blog I signed off with – I was off to the morning meditation session “Powerful Ragas”.  It was powerful and loud, not what I was expecting.  The two musicians played non-stop for  one-hour, one played the sitar (looks like an elongated guitar) and the other played the tabla (two small drums).

Our final day in Kochin we went on a car ferry.  Luckily we made it to the other side of the ocean because the cars were packed so tightly we couldn’t open the car doors.  Leaving the ferry we drove through what seemed like one continuous village for a half hour to arrive at Cherai Beach.  There we witnessed a Kali puja being performed by a tribe from the Kerala Tamil Nadu border.  It was shocking to witness.  The high priestess and six women worked themselves into a state by chanting, smoking cigars and drinking brandy.  The high priestess cut the throats of two live chickens and drank their blood.  The women then took turns hitting themselves on the head with a sword till blood appeared, they were then dunked in the ocean and turmeric (I'm assuming for its medicinal properties) was applied to their injuries.  After an hour of this frenzied behaviour we left as the chanting and the dark side of the ceremony were a bit too much to bear.

The high priestess

Familiar sight throughout Kerala

Alleppey was a short drive (1.5 hours) from Kochin.  We boarded the houseboat in Alleppey at 11.30am and disembarked the next day at 9am.  It was a peaceful and relaxing afternoon cruising the backwaters.  We watched the locals swim, fish, bathe and do their laundry all in the same waters.  On board there were us, the captain, the mechanic and the cook.  We stopped at a shop along the river and bought prawns as an extra to go with dinner.  The food was fantastic.  We had a couple of vegetable dishes we hadn’t had before and the fish for lunch was cooked whole with a crunchy coating.  At night we moored along the river outside the boat owners house so the boat could hook up to the power.  Lucky because the cricket was on the TV, I know TV on a houseboat!!!!!   After dinner Jim and the crew watched the cricket while I read.  All the while in the background there was music being played on loud speakers from the local Hindu temple and bangers (firecrackers) going off.  It was another Hindu ceremony day.  There are many.   
I asked the captain how many houseboats there are in the area and he said one thousand, not sure if something got lost in translation but you could believe it looking round the mooring area.  Thank goodness we were in the low season and cruising around with only a dozen or so boats. 

Cruising into the sunset

Moored for the night

In line cruising back into harbour

From the houseboat we drove a half hour to Marari Beach.  It was a long beach with a beautiful setting of coconut trees and white sand.  Shame the ocean was not great for swimming.  The waves were large and dumped straight onto the sand making it a struggle to swim.  Jim was more adventurous than me and had a swim.  

Marari Beach home stay looking out to the ocean

We only stayed one night before heading back to Lighthouse Beach (our home away from home) one day early because there was nowhere to eat within walking distance and I had run out of books (real books) to read so we were fighting over the iPad.  Jim wanted to play games and I wanted to read the final book I had downloaded before we left Australia. 

Hari had to drive us down to the main road for food and even then it was difficult to find a restaurant where English was spoken.  We finally found a place to eat but the menu was in Malayalam, the local dialect.   I saw masala dosa on the menu which I like.  I think I have mentioned them before, it is a Southern Indian favourite; rice pancake filled with potato and Jim had chicken fry, the waiter understood us enough to order chicken.  

Look how big the masala dosa is

Our breakfast was included in the home stay.  It was a typical Kerala breakfast of steamed rice pancakes with pea curry, strong coffee and oranges, it was provided by the home stay owners.  I gave Jim my orange as he was not keen on the pea curry pancake.  I had seen it on menus and was keen to try it so for me it was a bonus but I to admit having vegetables for breakfast is a cultural thing.  I think I'll stick to pineapple pancakes.

Now,  we are back at Sea Flower with Riju and JC and enjoying the ocean and the familiar surrounds once again.  We are here till Saturday morning (April 20) when we fly to Delhi.