A Wacky Day at the Races

The bus ride to Alleppey wasn’t so much the adventure I had expected it to be. Two busses from here in Cochin saw me there in 2 hours. And then about the cheapest and nicest breakfast I’d had in a while at the bus station in Alleppey.


The reason for such an early start was to be able to do a bit of recognisance so that I could find a good spot to watch the Nehru Cup Race on Saturday. Not only did I manage that but also I managed to have a particularly enlightening and enjoyable day. A lot of things happened which would take too much time to write about but there are a couple of things to tell.

I soon found the finishing point of the race where some large stands have been erected. I followed the race route back to the start and it was there that a guy had just parked his motorbike. I got chatting to him and found out that he was an army officer going to his home about half a km behind the starting point. He invited me to go with him and without much to do till I would have to leave and return to Cochin, I accepted. To cut a long story short his home was only a little distance from the training camp of one of the racing crews and I had some lunch with them. Not exactly small crews here; about 115 men per boat.
After that I was taken back to the starting point in a perilously small wooden canoe, a decision made in a moment of madness. Couldn’t help worrying about my cameras, no problem getting to the side. Then I watched some of the crews doing practice runs and the antics going on amongst all the other craft that were cruising up and down the backwaters. It was all pretty noisy but quite a scene and there was even a floating car promotion accompanied by a bunch of drummers.

That’s all for now. This is another shorty because I need to get to bed soon and I don’t think I’ll have many opportunities for any blogs for a few days now.
cheers derek

Paradise Found Again

waterfront of Ernakulam

Since my arrival in Cochin I have settled very quickly into a not exactly unpleasant rhythm of life here. I think every time I come here it becomes the natural place to settle back and reconstruct my battered and sapped brain. Even for all the new developments in Fort Cochin it is still the peaceful hideout that it has always been, and will be I hope for the foreseeable future. As you can imagine, my travel plans have changed a little to allow a little more time than I originally intended ; the trip to Kovolam has been well and truly cancelled and I’ll be heading towards Alleppey for the Nehru Cup boat race on Friday.

Lets get down to the mundane everyday problems. Yesterday, the batteries in my camera suddenly violently discharged causing the camera to get very hot. No harm to the camera thankfully but when I put them in the battery charger, the charger went incredibly hot and ceased to function. So today I went over the water to Ernakulam on a quest for another charger. After a few disappointing trys I did in fact find just what I wanted in rather a flashy airconditioned Nikon establishment. But for a fast charger I think the price wasn’t bad. I also got another small bargain tripod to replace the one I lost in Mysore.



The walk back to the jetty took me along the waterfront lined with boats, ice-cream parlours, shopping malls and masses of mobile phone shops, not to mention the occasional requisite beggar. The day’s excurssion went by pretty seamlessly with a stop off for dinner at the waterside restaurant I was in last night after the show at Greenix complex.

Applying Kathakali makeup

Even since I was here last, two years ago, there are many changes: new plush hotels, restaurants, business meeting complexes and the inevitable higher prices. One such development I went to last night is the Greenix Village complex. It seems to be encompassing everything including a cultural program and facilities for business functions such as conferences. Last night, and every night, there was a three hour showcase of traditional Kerala dancing, Kathakali story play (miming to drum beats) and a spectacular display of an ancient local form of martial arts (Kalarippayattu) in which swords or long spears are flashed around at incredible speeds. As you might see a band of majorettes twiddling batons between their fingers, these guys do the same thing with a five foot long spears.

There will, connections permitting, be a few movies about this State of culture but I have included a quicky about facial expressions used in Kathakali performances so that if I manage to upload the real thing you might get some idea what this well publicised art form is all about.

Kathakali facial expressions

As you can see, life gets tedious here in Cochin. Had to get myself a new wad today. Looks great but only lasts about 10 or 12 days. (10,000 Rs about 160 Euro)

Trichy And The Waiting Room + Cochin

In India, it seems the class system has never gone away. In fact it appears to be flourishing. Since my last trip here two years ago, facilities at the railway stations have reached a standard equal, if not better, than most other rail networks in the world. During my travels I have come across some exceptional upperclass waiting rooms, while the lower class ordinary ticketed people still have to put up with some pretty abismal conditions. People may think that a railway waiting room is nothing to get excited about but in India where myself and countless Indians spend a large amount of time, the waiting room is all important. In talking to a fellow tourist in Orissa, he recommended the Upperclass at Vizak station. This was pretty good, with air conditioning that after a day touring in a bus it had a great revitalizing effect. But however, here at Trichy Junction station, I think I may just have found the ultimate in waiting rooms. It is less than 6 months old with a perfect marble tiled floor, attractive matching armchairs and sofas, and what is almost unbelievable, the toilets are spotless complete with blue flushing. The shower would be an asset to any home while the centre piece of the room is a large substantial circular dining room table with a complete set of 6 chairs. The whole thing is crowned by a chandelier suspended in a shallow dome in the ceiling. I would guess that this kind of opulence would be hard to find anywhere.

That’s enough about waiting rooms, may there be many more, and now I have at last reached Fort Cochin. Crossed the sea at about 6.45 and got myself a fantastic room. Its not a room as such at all – it’s a separate bungalow in the garden of Walton’s Home Stay where I stayed 2 years ago. Won’t say anymore as I think you’ll see enough in the vid. Must find a broadband connection now. http://waltonshomestay.com/index.html

Cheers from Derek

Long Days and Short Nights

Maybe I should have thought it out a bit more carefully, but just lately my itinerary has been slightly flawed. For example, I arrived in Chennai at 4.30 in the morning. It is a difficult time to do anything, especially when you find the only decent waiting room in Chennai Central station completely chock-a-block with sleeping passengers. So there wasn’t anything else to do except get out of the station at about 7am. My mood was not the best, as you can see from the picture!

fruit in Mysore market

The days before, up in cool and pleasant Mysore should have been relaxing. This was the case for the first day when I arrived but the following day I took on an arduous 12 hour tour from 8.30 to 8.30 in the evening. It finished at the Brindavan gardens, which are below the walls of a very large dam. After the sun goes down all the waterfalls, fountains and miniature rapids are lit up. Then there is the musical fountain at 7.30, strangely dancing to Bollywood favourites. Anyway, a hard day made much more bearable by the company of Jenny, a fellow traveller from New York. Two other places were the zoo and Mysore palace which I had seen in the darkness of the previous evening. I expect you guessed right; it was a Hindu priest blessing a proud owner’s new car. If he has an accident I suppose its money back. Closer to home, or hotel, is another Mysore attraction. It is the large highly colourful market where Jenny bought some perfumed oil from a very precocious junior salesman of 12 years.

Rally in Madras

Mysore zoo

outside Mysore market

Mysore Palace

The early arrival in Madras was responsible for my being seen entering the gates of the old St George’s Fort with the early morning workers. It is in fact almost completely occupied by the Indian army who have converted most of the inhabitable historical buildings for various sections of their army. But it was easy to see that the purpose built colonial structures once were the headquarters of the East India Company which started in Madras and the British Army. In those days long ago, the British Empire was in its infancy, in the 17th century. St Mary’s Church is the oldest Anglican Church in India with some rather grotesque tomb stones from the late 17th century. They depict what I presumed to be the skeletal form of the ‘great reaper’. However, the more recent memorial plaques are dedicated to members of the British Army, and some civil servants, who died in the service of company and country. In an amble along some of the back lanes I was struck by the multitude of birds kicking up quite a racket in the trees above me. Very nice actually. On the way back to the station I came across a highly excited crowd attending an ever popular political rally. The din was deafening; I think I prefered the birds in the trees.

canon at the fort

I should have got off the train at 5.20 (2nd Aug) but slept so soundly I woke up not long before the train came to the end of its route. Trichy was by then about 90km back down the line. But everything turned out fine as I only had to wait an hour before a train arrived heading back to Trichy. By 11am I had secured a room in the Ashby hotel, which happened to be my first choice from the Lonely Planet guide book. Now its 1pm and I have had my ration of fried eggs and toast and almost my entire minuscule wardrobe is now hanging up in the courtyard drying.
cheers Derek

The Monsoon Has Struck

The monsoon has hit Mumbai at last. It’s well over a month late and started raining 4 days ago. The heat that I have been sweating through during the trip as far as Bhubaneshwar has now been replaced with a comfortably warm damp air but not a hint of the sun. The rains arrived in the east before I got there and caused cancellations of trains due to damaged bridges south west from Calcutta. None of that affected me but now this late rain in the west has meant that my train going south from Mumbai was going to be late by well over 4 hours. Consequently, because of missing connections later, I took the first available train to Bangalore where a train to Mysore starts from. The 30 day Indrail pass is invaluable in this situation because I don’t have to wait in queues to buy a ticket and no reservation has to be obtained as there is a quota for pass holders. Just jump on the train and ask the ticket inspector to find a berth for me. EEEasy.

Shopping, or is it consumerism, has caught on in all the major cities of India with the emergence of the shopping mall. I popped into one on the way to the railway station. I needed a shirt as both my tee shirts were getting to be unbearable. As you can see, some quite modern equipment has been implemented in ‘Big Bazaar’, as it is called.














Tuesday 29th July.
MysoreFeeling pretty tired and happy that the train journeys have finished for a couple of days. Since I left Vishakapatnum last Saturday morning, by bus, I have covered over 2,500 km by train. But now in the hotel Dasaprakash in Mysore. I reached here on a slow passenger train from Bangalore in about 4 hours which was enough to finish this phase of the trip. Even that was made much more bearable as I travelled that part with a Thai girl who was on the train from Mumbai, not to mention the three little cheeky faced kids sitting with us.
Had a great journey from Mumbai with six great travel companions in my part of the carriage. Three of them were business guys, two working for a British company. Then there was a kindly old lady going to visit her daughter in Bangalore and opposite her bunk was an extremely elderly gentleman who bore all the hall marks of being one of the freedom fighters who fought for independent India all those years ago. One of my Indian comrades suggested he was a rich farmer but we never found out who was right. The other was of course the Thai girl learning English here in Mysore.
Yesterday evening was a great social occasion as we chatted about everything from bombs to cooking curry. I suppose not much difference really; the latter has a somewhat slower slightly less violent reaction. I don’t feel particularly threatened by these bombings as India is a very big place and the likelihood of being caught up in such a blast is very remote. However, if they strike at the railways it could cause some hold-ups that could interfere with my tight plans. The other inconvenience could be the heavy rains in this part of India. But still, in 3 days time the situation will probably be quite different, hopefully not worse.
So, now making myself at home doing my usual chores such as washing clothes and getting all my batteries up to scratch. Mysore sits at about 2,400ft and the temperature is around a very agreeable 23/24 degrees.

After filling myself with a badly needed meal I took a stroll down to the palace about a kilometre away. I wanted to get some night shots which would have been considerably more spectacular if the thousands of electric light bulbs had been lit. Alas, it was Tuesday and display is only put on when it’s Sunday, and only for one hour. The reason for this is that a huge amount of precious energy is used. But I did spot something rather odd happening at a small temple outside the gates. If you can’t guess what is going on I’ll illuminate you with the answer in my next blog. Cheers Derek

PS 6am and in what promises to be a hot oppressive day in Chennai