Incredible India - a second visit

This visit to India was significantly easier, less chaotic, less scary, and less overwhelming than my first visit in Fall, 2010.  Familiarity breeds comfort. Or perhaps it about learning the system and being better able to read the cues.

None of these photos show sufficiently the dripping hot and humid air of the south of India.

Only a few of these photos show the beaming, smiling camera-ready Indians who peek and stare at the Americans while the Americans peek and take photos of the Indians.

The girls in this school class group took our photos, took photos with us, and then posed for this lovely group shot. 

Kochi is the largest port city of the state of Kerala.  Kerala has a high level of literacy among the Hindus, Catholics, Muslims and Jews who live in this historical center of spices, fishing, and good will.

This is her photo face and smile!

Louise, Linda and I made our way in Ft. Kochi to Bastian Home Stay which is roughly equivalent to a bed and breakfast.  Like B&Bs in the US, these Home Stay lodgings range from a room in someone’s home to modest guest houses. We enjoyed working a.c. and a gale-force fan in a clean plain room with 3 cot beds and 1 table. 

Our shower was some combination of a hand-held shower nozzle and a bucket……..

Bastian Home Stay:four 2nd floor rooms located around a central open-air  dining couryard.

Louise, Linda, and hostess Jenny--- and a large fish in the tank too. 

Walk along this footpath alley, turn right then left then right again to find Bastian Home Stay.

Bastian Home Stay must be doing well as the owners are building another two-story unit across the alley.
The construction, in the heat, takes the fullness of time.

Fort Kochi has Government Emporium stores, Kashmere merchant shops, local shops and plenty of street vendors to sell whatever, and more whatever to “the Americans from the ship.”  And so, we did shop, browse, and shop some more.

Old Ft. Kochi for the most part has the red tile roofs of Portugese influence. Another Portugese legacy is Roman Catholicism, found in  large communities of Indians in Kerala and other port and costal regions.

For Sale:  Tiles or Tee Shirts

Much hotter than it looks, we shopped here and dined at the Crafters Cafe upstairs at the turquoise  balcony.

View from the cafe down to one portion of the shopping streets of Jew Town,

For Sale:  vessels of metal or plastic

Auto Rickshaw drivers ‘adopted’ specific groups and were their attentive drivers for as many days as we were in port.  Our driver was Saleem who showed us the city laundry, Catholic churches, the Jewish Synagogue, The Dutch Museum, and the first annual India Biennial (which exhibited outstanding contemporary art from India and southeast Asia in 5 warehouse and colonial building venues).

Different fashions for the young girl set. 

The slightest indication of interest prompted this Kashmere merchant's sales clerk to spred out dozens of cloths and bedspreads.

You Buy:  large shrimp!  Here Rickshaw driver  Saleem holds one up to tantalize  ......

Of course we ate many delicious meals of curry and other Indian foods.  And happily, with sufficient precautions, none of us suffered the dreaded T.D.  Most Indians in the south of India eat their meals with fingers rather than forks.  Thali is generally served on a banana leaf and includes rice and several sauces and condiments. 

This is right at the beginning of the Thali meal - it gets much messier as  many more  courses are  brought around by the waiters. Later my hands were too sticky to use my camera

We spent a fascinating evening at a Kathakali performance, a traditional stylized dance which emphasizes facial expressions and very red eyes (from seeds put into the eyes for 10 minutes before the performances).  Kathakali originated in the 17^th century when itinerate troupes danced 6-7 hours through the night at the villages they visited. 

One hour before the performance the actors come onto the stage to begin applying their makeup.

One actor completes the complicated makeup for the demon bad guy character.

Check out the "whites" of their eyes.

All actors are male - even that 'beauty' on the right. In this performance we saw  rape,  murder, and perhaps sodomy acted by the cast of only 3 actors.  Additionally there is a narrator who chants and sings and two drummers. It's all very exciting.

After two pleasant, hot days in Ft. Kochi, Louise and I had a driver take us 5 hours to the mountain region of Munnar where India’s high range teas have been grown and processed since 1877.

Along the way we stopped for coffee at a roadside cafe to watch the elephants parade down to the river for bathing.  

A cup of strong, rich, sweet coffee ..

and along comes the parade of 'rescue' elephants from the nearby Elephant Camp (who knew?)....

who lumbered into the river, as they do twice daily ....

Nothing but enjoyment here.

.  In the mountains it was considerably cooler; we enjoyed spectacular views, a masterful massage, and delicious food from the Blackberry Hills resort where we ‘chilled’ for a few days.  Each morning and evening we heard the chanting of Sikh prayers and the Punjabi music and drums,  along with the noisy tree birds. Our rather-swanky resort was spare and elegant – only lacking hot water ....except in the evenings and early mornings.

This is the view from Blackberry Hills restaurant just down the stairs from  the rooms. 

Tea plant cling to the slopes and steep hills of the mountain.  Tea production began here after 1877 under the British and has shifted somewhat to employee-ownership Indian companies today.

Along the drive we had many opportunities to see and sometimes to barely avoid the brightly painted transport trucks – apparently each region has signature painting patterns and styles.

Very cheerful.

Please note:  just a few feet in front of our rickshaw the signs on the trucks say "Sound Horn - Keep Distance"