Greetings from Alleppey, Citrus Spa Resort: we are really spoiling ourselves for 3 days =air conditioning,swimming pool and just finished a complimentary foot massage. I was relaxing but Bill was beside me going "ouch, ouch, OUCH!" which only made the Thai girls laugh. Quick recap on our week, Varikett Heritage in Trivandrum was run by 74 year old Colonel Roy who was full of stories, riddles and was so charming we felt like family. He walked with us for hot oil massage, held our hand as we risked our lives crossing the street of scooters and tuk-tuks, drove Bill across town to get a SIM card for phone, introduced us to eye clinic for free eye exam and prescription glasses at 25% of cost at home. We went to an open market with fresh fish, veggies and live goats waiting in line for chance to be someone's dinner. Roy even took me to a clothing store to buy baggy pants and light tops. Our cottons are too hot for this climate so now I feel like I'm wearing my pj's...too cool eh! Our next stop was Gumnut home stay in Varkala. It was near the beach and is a Hindu culture centre. Every morning on a section of beach, priests sat on sand with people who came with ashes of a deceased family member. When someone dies, the body is cremated by fire, (in your backyard is ok place), ashes are put in an urn, buried under a Jack Tree (everyone has one of those, no?) and after a year you dig up the urn and take it to the priest who performs a ceremony and then you release ashes into the ocean. It seemed a calm, gentle way of saying goodbye.
A quick hour taxi to Kollam where we had lunch at a hotel with set menu. We sat in a small room with 4 tables. 12 men and 2 Canuks. Waiters came in with tin plates with 2 cups of veggies then unceremoniously plunked a big scoop of rice from a bucket on our plate. Then brought 6 more small cups of sauces. As locals eat with their right hand, I tried it but didn't quite get the knack of hand mixing veggies, rice and sauce and squeezing it into small balls to plop into my mouth, most went into my lap and as there are no serviettes it wasn't pretty. The waiter than kindly, or out of sympathy, asked us if we wanted a spoon. After lunch you line up at a sink by the door and wash up, no towels but for 20 rupees each what do you expect.....converted that's about 35 cents Canadian. Best deal ever! Food here is beyond delicious and cheap. Large bottled water is 30 cents, 650ml of bottled beer $2 in a seaside bar, breakfast over looking Arabian Sea of toast and jam, bananas, pineapple , coffee for 2 was $4, no taxes, no tips. All great but too expensive :)
Yesterday, Sunday, was an 8 hour ride on barge through backwaters. Lots of children on the shores smiling, waving and throwing kisses while standing in front of shacks nestled in Palm trees. Women were twisting fibres by hand from coconuts to make rope, washing clothes by hand in river water and scrubbing charcoal from cooking pots with sand on rivers edge. They call this area Vienna of South India, but that's stretching it. Men also do washing, work in rice paddies and fish by casting huge nets into the water only to be rewarded with a few small fry. We met a couple our age who were also travelling by backpack on budget from New Zealand. They travel for a year, go home for a year and off again. Their mantra "it's not what you have but what you do" so they sold their home, downsized to a cottage and put furniture into storage. Good news of this story is we now have a place to stay if we go to NZ
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