I am currently overlooking the ridiculously busy Mahatma Gandhi Road in Ernakulum, in an internet cafe that could not be more stuffy if it tried! Busy preparing myself for a mammoth train journey to Goa leaving in about 2 hours - overnight, about 14 hours, and the AC coaches were full so it should be "quite humid, madam" according to the people at the train station. Should be an experience! But I have just come from a travel agents where I gave in and bought a flight from Goa to Mumbai to save myself another overnighter. Only about 40 pounds so not exactly breaking the bank!
Fort Cochin was lovely - we arrived in the early morning and watched people fish at the beach, followed by awesome breakfasts and jazz music surrounded by reassuringly wierd modern art at the Kashi Art Cafe. That evening we watched a Kathakali performance - it's a traditional Keralan art form, a mixture of theatre, singing, art, mime, religion, all sorts! Characters are made up with bright colours and fantasticly huge costumes, and tell religous stories. The one we saw was based on the Mahabarata. It involved five princes, all married to the same woman. In a bet, they lost their wife to an evil King and made to serve him. She refuses, and says she will not wash her hair again until it can be washed by the blood of the evil King. One of the brothers, the most powerful, kills the evil King in a dramatic fight and graphically pulls the entrails out and eats some, and brings the blood and washes the hair of his wife. He then feels guilty and confesses to Lord Krishna that he has killed many of the people of the evil King. Lord Krishna forgives him and says that he has fulfilled the role that God wants him to fill. I wonder what the moral of this story is! But the whole thing was actually wonderful to see, with the makeup and costumes and really expressive dancing.
Despite the heat, humidity and incessant horns and traffic of Ernakulam, I am feeling fabulously chilled out from a night spent on a houseboat slowly, peacefully trawling through the backwaters of Kerala. On many "things to do before you die" lists - I can see why. So calm, the light reflecting the banks and trees - coconut, banana and mango mostly - onto the still waters. This is my favourite picture I took in India - I am taken back to the wonderful peaceful backwater life every time I look at it. The local villages at the side of the water with people laying out old-fashioned fishing nets. Watching the sun set and the stars coming out was awesome too, and the food was delicious - coconut curries, spicy vegetables and fresh chapatis were laid out, with loads of fresh fruit, which added up to loads more than we could possibly eat! The most wonderful thing about it was about how it gave me an unparalleled chance to just slow down for fully 24 hours. When I'm travelling - in general I guess - I don't really tend to just stop and watch the world go by and it left me feeling so calm.
Fort Cochin was lovely - we arrived in the early morning and watched people fish at the beach, followed by awesome breakfasts and jazz music surrounded by reassuringly wierd modern art at the Kashi Art Cafe. That evening we watched a Kathakali performance - it's a traditional Keralan art form, a mixture of theatre, singing, art, mime, religion, all sorts! Characters are made up with bright colours and fantasticly huge costumes, and tell religous stories. The one we saw was based on the Mahabarata. It involved five princes, all married to the same woman. In a bet, they lost their wife to an evil King and made to serve him. She refuses, and says she will not wash her hair again until it can be washed by the blood of the evil King. One of the brothers, the most powerful, kills the evil King in a dramatic fight and graphically pulls the entrails out and eats some, and brings the blood and washes the hair of his wife. He then feels guilty and confesses to Lord Krishna that he has killed many of the people of the evil King. Lord Krishna forgives him and says that he has fulfilled the role that God wants him to fill. I wonder what the moral of this story is! But the whole thing was actually wonderful to see, with the makeup and costumes and really expressive dancing.
Despite the heat, humidity and incessant horns and traffic of Ernakulam, I am feeling fabulously chilled out from a night spent on a houseboat slowly, peacefully trawling through the backwaters of Kerala. On many "things to do before you die" lists - I can see why. So calm, the light reflecting the banks and trees - coconut, banana and mango mostly - onto the still waters. This is my favourite picture I took in India - I am taken back to the wonderful peaceful backwater life every time I look at it. The local villages at the side of the water with people laying out old-fashioned fishing nets. Watching the sun set and the stars coming out was awesome too, and the food was delicious - coconut curries, spicy vegetables and fresh chapatis were laid out, with loads of fresh fruit, which added up to loads more than we could possibly eat! The most wonderful thing about it was about how it gave me an unparalleled chance to just slow down for fully 24 hours. When I'm travelling - in general I guess - I don't really tend to just stop and watch the world go by and it left me feeling so calm.
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