Backwaters Back - Alright!

Fort Chocin (or Kochi) was a great stop and we could have easily stayed an extra day or two to just wander and soak up the Keralan culture which oozes from the backwater areas. It wasn't all bells and whistles when we arrived however as the Indian holidays were still going and the place was packed, including all the hotels. After a savage fight with the reception guy at Spencer Home we were shuffled to Oy's home stay where the last room available was up the stairs and through a trapdoor! So strange but we settled, obviously paying way too much for the high season time. Anyway, we spent three days exploring the town making the cultural stops at India's oldest church and other such Portuguese hot spots and by the time we left the kids were back in school and the hords of Indian familys were back to buisness of normal life.

We also hit up Jew Town (yes, it's actually called Jew Town) and the spice market where we got the inside scoop with our super rickshaw driver (or Ferarri driver as they like to call themselves here) who took us to all the wholesale spice producers and even a ginger factory! Kochi is one island among four, just of the mainland so there is lots of fishing, lots of man-made beaches, and lots and lots of garbage (obviously something I just can't get over). After checking out the old-school Chinese fishing nets and the tittery old boats we got somewhat lost in the town and managed to backtrack our way home by the delicious smells of all the great restaurants that are spotted around the touristy area.

People come from all over the world (and India) just to explore the Keralan backwaters, which are a series of islands, lake and canals that run along the South Keralan coast where salty sea water mixes with fresh creating beautiful estuaries that run deep into the mainland. Opting for the ultimate backwater experience we took a seven hour tour encompassing both a canoe and a traditional houseboat. The day started at 10am with one of the worst drivers I've encountered who took us to the canoe portion of the trip. We cruised the narrow canals for an hour or so and stopped at a coconut plantation where we watched felling and participated in the drinking and eating part... Kerala does mean 'land of many coconuts'. Paddling back we ducked under some trees, saw some Kingfisher birds and water snakes and were generally amazed with the diversity of the plant life. We were then shuffled further down the backwaters to where our beautiful houseboat was waiting with lunch. A tasty tasty meal later we took off on some of larger lakes and canals visiting an island super-factory. Tiny mussel type shell creatures are fished for the markets and their shells are left behind in heaps where they are burned to bits then magically turned into calcium with just water (no one could figure it out, but the whole process what really neat) then the calcium is processed to make pills, whitewash, fertilizer and a handful of other stuff.

More relaxing, chai, and a sunset later were were back in the van with the terrible driver who was blearing Backstreet Boys AND Venga Boys (where do they get this stuff??) It was hilarious! (Lifa, we would have rocked that van but my Mom didn't know the words). As Hindus will use just about anything as an excuse for a festival we had to stop on the way back and check out the happenings at the most psychotic blingged out temple I've seen yet. There was crazy music, dance, and dressed up elephants - don't worry I took a video. So great. To add to the chaos there were about a million fireworks which looked more like land mines lined perfectly even along the outskirts of the temple and all the way down the main road for about 3km! ... we wanted to stay for the explosions but our driver wanted to jet seeing as they said the show would start in half an hour which in Indian time is probably about an hour and a half. Ah well, I'm sure I'll catch another firework temple explosion another time...

The next stop is Varkala where we'll relax for Mom's last few days in India...