West side, yo!

another mini update...

sorry peeps for the not updating...we have been encountering a lack of reliable internet connections. Since Alleppey, we've traveled onto Kochi, then Ooty, then some place I can't remember the name of cause I got a bit of delhi belly (not in delhi tho) and now we're in Kannur, in Kerala near the coast again. We'll be updating everything very soon with more pics....promise.

In the meantime know that we are very well and having fun--enjoying the heat, loving the textiles and eating delish foods.

xo
a

a mini update

Dan is giving you his sweet update about Alleppey---we forgot our camera cord again so no pics but next time there will be a post of just pics. We're in Fort Cochin now, after spending a couple of days in Alleppey where we did a sweet backwater tour and got to hang with a fam that live in a little village along the backwaters. I really enjoyed that. I actually really liked Alleppey a lot, it was still busy and such but had a nice vibe. OH and I got a sweet silk sari--beautiful and handmade, it's really stunning. It's an early bday gift to me from Dan :)

Tomorrow we're doing another backwater tour from here to check out more stuff. So pics of that to come afterward.

xo

Da Boatman's Tired (aka Danual Labour)

We finally dragged our sorry selves off of the beach and made it to Alleppey to do a houseboat tour of the maze of canals and backwaters off the coast. In the end we decided to take a canoe tour, since the houseboats are too big for all but the main water thoroughfares.




We met our guide, Saji, at the hotel and took the public ferry with him back to his house, where is wife was making us brekkie (puffy rice pancakes with mild green potato curry and boiled eggs in a spicy, oniony, red sauce...DELICIOUS!). We did a little tour of their house, which was under construction with the addition of a couple of extra rooms. They expected to be finished in about a year, since they build bit by bit whenever there's a little extra cash for supplies and labour. The kitchen was the most amazing part. It was off the main house. Dirt floor with a thathed lean-to roof. No fridge, no gas stove, no small appliances (it's possible to cook without a SlapChop???), just a cooking fire and a couple of pots. We had looked for a place with a kitchen in Varkala, but our idea of a kitchen don't mesh up well with the Indian versions. In the end we just wanted a fridge and a kettle but even that seems unfathomable.
The tour was really relaxing...just being paddled around the village while we lounged on (new!) cushions under a canopy.

Life in the backwaters is very simple, but it seems like a really friendly and close-knit community. After an hour and a half of touring we made a little chai stop and Saji sent us to look at the rice paddies (an elaborate ruse to get us out of the boat so he could relax for 15 minutes). After all, the guy who booked the tour for us promised that we 'could look at the calm village air'...so we did. Along the way, a goat started to eat Ana's pants. I think she quite enjoyed it, and thus did a traditional goat honouring dance.



Back in the boat, we set off paddling again. Soon after, Saji told me that 'the boatman's tired' and put me to work with a child sized paddle. We passed several other boat tours, and I seemed to be the only white guy paddling. No issue; it gave me something to do as well as an appreciation for how much work these guys do paddling our lazy arses around. On the way back home we ran into Saji's 6 year old daughter, Angelina, on her 3km solo walk back home from pre-school. She jumped in our boat and we were off again...



All together a pretty good day. The backwater tour was fine. Relaxing bordering on boring, but it was da boatman and his family that really made the trip. Upon return to his home, we had a delicious lunch with 6 different curries (again...the dirt kitchen...amazing) and got a taste of bollywood as Angelina kept us entertained with her sweet dance moves.

wheeee....happy bday Dan!

It's Dan's bday! Yay! What are we doing for it? We had a lovely breaky of tea and baked goods, we went for a walk (a very hot walk) along the beach and now we're going to go back to our room, relax until later this aft when we'll do some more beachy times. Then a nice dinner, somewhere. Pretty low key but that's how we do it.

Happy Birthday Daniel...xoxo

a

PS I think he looks like a super hero in this pic....like there should be a cape flowing behind him ;) There's some man chest there for all the ladies in the audience...tee hee.

I got nothing...

sorry peeps who have been visiting our bloggy blog...we haven't posted in a while because basically we are doing a whole lot of nothing. We are still in Varkala, reading, taking walks, eating and beaching...seriously amazing.

We will be moving on to Alleppey come Tuesday for some backwater tours and such and then we have a whole schedule of traveling goodness so I know there will be some new pics and posts to come.

Did I mention how much reading we're doing? I think we've both gone through about 10 books each since being on our adventure. Some of the favs--Cat's Eye, The Lacuna, and Handmaid's Tale (Atwood rocks my socks as does Kingsolver).

In the meantime we are off to have tea...again.
xo

Varkala Beach

Although Kovalam Beach was quite lovely, we've moved on. There was just a bit too much being hassled by every store owner, fruit stand proprietor, drum seller, restaurateur, blanket distributor, pot dealer, chai wallah, sand bed setter-upper, rickshaw driver, and guest house manager. Apologies to the many of I've left out, as I'm out of adjectives for people trying to extract as much money from the tourists as they can before the beaches clear when the monsoons come. I don't blame them, but the only way to get around is by the beach promenade, and there's no way to avoid it, as the hawker line the boardwalk. Varkala was supposed to be a little less resorty and a little more backpackery. It is...sort of.

There are three main beaches in Varkala. The main beach is a strip of beautiful white sand surrounded by tower cliffs covered with green and red plants (and the inescapable trash).


This is where we stayed the first night, as dusk was rapidly approaching, since the 58km bus ride took a little over 2 1/2 hours, and we didn't want to walk the cliffs in the dark. It was a nice homestay, but I feel a little strange ringing the doorbell and walking through the family room/kid's bedroom everytime we want to get to our room upstairs.

We spent the next day checking out just about every spot along the cliffs for a good place to stay for a while. We walked our past the furthest beach, Odaylam (sp?), which was almost deserted of tourists, although there were plenty of fishermen drying out their nets.



It's soooo nice our past where the tourist trail ends. The amenities are a little more scarce, but the odd beach depanneur can still be found once in a while to re-stock water supplies.



With no luck for self-catering apartments in this end (we started looking for a place where we could make tea and toast), we ended up taking a place (no kitchen) at the rocky headland of the middle beach, Black Beach; aptly named for it's completely black sands. We've just moved in this morning, but I like it already. Just the sounds of the birds and the crashing waves. This is the view from the front of our room...



Now I just need to find a hammock and convince them to let me put it up, and I'm set for the next two weeks.