Kumarakom continued

Jan 8th
Wife was recovered today but we took things easy to enjoy the facilities here together. And up early enough to photograph the sunrise from our room across the lagoon.

In the late afternoon, we ventured outside on the hotel bikes - this was okay while we were on the by-roads but when we reached a busier road, with buses, taxis, cars, transporting children home from school, which we turned off at the first opportunity. The sight of an (adult) woman on a bicycle seemed unusual to the locals, although I have seen women riding motor-scooters.

In the evening we enjoyed Indian musicians and classical dancers while sitting on the amphitheatre outside the restaurant after dinner. Two girl dancers with a singer, flautist and drummer for some traditional dances, followed by music, with a second type of drummer (instrument looked like a large spherical jar) replacing the singer. (See file later on family site). It was all very lively and more accessible to my ears than my previous, limited hearing of Indian music. This was southern (Karnatic?) tradition, I believe there is a distinct northern tradition (according to the young man serving us whisky and mocktails in the bar).

Liz writes
The Raddison hotel is like another world, a compound quite cut off from the rest of India. We borrowed a couple of bikes so husband and I went out for a cycle ride, to see what it was like outside. Inside was quiet, with perhaps few guests strolling round, but more often you saw security guards, especially near the lake where the houseboat arrived. And there were gardeners there in the day time, with little green hats like sunshades on their heads while they worked in the sun. The bathroom in our cottage had a bath and two showers, one in an outdoor courtyard and even if the electricity went off there was a generator so that the hotel still carried on with light, sound, or whatever electrical use was required. One night there was a presentation of European classical music (saxophone and cello?) followed by India classical dance, then by Indian classical music, but for a few moments when the electricity cut, before the generator came in, the sound did not echo round the amphitheatre (yes, there's a small amphitheatre in there too!)

As you can imagine, outside the compound, there was no evidence of electricity, running water, plumbed sewage and I realised that women riding bicycles was a rare sight too. One girl of around 15 on her way home from school hid her eyes in shock when she saw me riding along.

This was the best hotel that we stayed in whilst in India, not just because of the amenities, but also because the staff were so helpful especially when I was ill and dehydrated, well trained, not just courteous but friendly as if they were really interested in you. In the evening we mentioned to the barman that we'd been for a ride, and he enquired if I had gone too, side saddle behind my husband. He gasped in surprise when I explained that no, I had ridden a bike too, and said that in India, the girls were homely, so wouldn't ride bikes. This was the barman who created a mocktail for me and asked us to name it - we chose Maiden's Blush because of its pink colours - apple, mango, pomegranate and something else. And then the same barman went on to discuss music with us trying to find what CD to put on would best please us, and in the end, serenading us himself with classical guitar music.

Houseboat & lake

Jan 6th - Liz
We spent only one night on the houseboat, but it was a splendid experience because of the

• views
• food
• people
• sounds

The views included a splendid sunset across Lake Venbanad, with birds flying into the dusk.

The food included a delicious ginger and lime drink offered as soon as we arrived on the boat, as well as huge fresh water prawns, delicious curries, and coconut water and meat presented to us fresh from the tree, hewed in front of us. We're delighted to find that our chef, Gireesh Kumar P. C, has his own web site with some of these recipes.

From our boat we could see fisherman, children playing in the water, women washing clothes and crockery at the edge of the backwaters, their houses, queues of people waiting for the ferry.
We heard the children calling, "one pen, give me one pen", and the water lapped around the boat, lulling us to sleep.

Jan 7th - Adrian
The final leg of our houseboat trip took us across the width of the lake to a sumptuous Radisson hotel resort. Unfortunately wife's stomach took a dislike to something so we were confined to our room, which had a small balcony, a large bathroom with a bath (the first encountered in our trip) and in-built shower, as well as two other shower units, one inside and one outside in a private court-yard, which was irresistibly inviting.

Kummily to Kumarakom

January 6th (Kumilly to Kumarokan)

Before breakfast two pairs of birds stayed long enough in a near by tree to enable us to have a good look. First was the red-crested cuckoo with red stripes to its wings and a mustard yellow back. Then the blackbird which had a surprisingly clear and resonant song, and was distinguished by a tail appendage of two long stalks with a small feather at the end, 10 or 12 inches from the end of the tail proper.

The roads were full on a Sunday morning with buses and pedestrians including many long distance pilgrims, singly and in groups, with their belongings in a bundle on their heads, trekking to some religious destination. Looking out for the variety of Christian churches I espied a Bethany Bible Institute, which Douglas Fairman would have known about, I surmised.

The descent to the coastal plain from around 4000 or 5000 feet was predictably vertiginous, and the occasional group of bus passengers whose stomachs were not up to the challenge were seen by the roadside – another reason why the more basic Indian buses have no glass in the side – windows – I had thought it was just for ‘air-conditioning’. Musing on the journey, I started a list of rules for driving in India.

Kumarakom

We are here in this fabulous hotel, surrounded by water, lagoon and palms.

Our bungalow overlooks the peaceful lagoon, its sounds being squawks of birds, and no muezzin. It is extravagant luxury. For example, we have a bathroom with nine towels, as big as a double bedroom and not only a bath - the first one we've seen and one with a shower attachment, but two showers - one inside and one outside in a completely enclosed tiny courtyard with pebbles, decorative brass urns and blossoming trees into which exotic birds fly to sip the nectar. You can watch them from the bath through the large picture window.

However, it does not have the ever present bucket, jug and hose next to the loo, strange to Western eyes, but useful for washing, for shaving water (no sink plugs) and refreshing when suffering from s&d.

Post-Christmas plans

Mosquitoes!

That's what I'm now worrying about - do I need citronella or mosquito nets to supplement the malaria tablets for our two weeks in India? Will the hotel have taken measures to keep the wee beasties at bay?

Our hotel at Cochin looks a bit posh. We're there for two nights and on Thursday 3rd January we move to Munnar to stay in a standard cottage at the Tall Tree. Then into the 'wild' to see tigers at Periyar staying in a cottage. I imagine the houseboat at Alleppey will have the most mosquitoes. The final stop is at Kumarakom in a cottage at Radisson Plaza Resort & Spa for two nights before catching a plane from Cochin back to Mumbai where we stop overnight - I don't know where - we haven't heard back from the Indian friend who suggested that we stay in the NSCI club. She emailed that it might be full because of the wedding season.

We fly home Thursday 10th. And I hope we do fly, as now I've found, to add to my worrying, that there's been an email threat to blow up India airports on 12th January. Together with BA threats to strike 7th and 14th January, the trip gets a bit worrying. I hope we miss all the excitement.