Trains, 'ticks' and Backwaters

Welcome back to The Jen and Terry Show! What can I say...the reviews of my blog entry were so glowing (all two of them) that I've been requested to take centre stage once more and update you on another exciting few days here in Kerala, Southern India. I'm touched by the kindness, so here goes take two, lol.

The title of this entry is an adaptation of the classic film, 'Planes, Trains and Automobiles' and suggests that we experienced quite a few transport types in the last few days...this is correct. The title also suggests something to do with ticks...this will require some clarification...but both parts of the title are interlinked!

6am, Wednesday 19th March hits us hard! Hardly any sleep the previous night due to a very strange sounding, loud-ass bird in the tree outside our room was combined with the fact that it is very muggy here in Kochi. There was also the unfortunate fact that the fan in our room only works on full steam and so is like gale force wind! These both resulted in a stroppy, early-rising Jen in particular! We were on the way to our intended destination for the day, the Backwaters in Alipeye. I've provided a breakdown of our journey below to whet your appetite about what to expect if you want to do things on the cheap......

Journey type/length Cost per person

Outward
A. 15minute walk from 'homestay' to ferry
2. 20minute ferry ride across to the mainland - 2.5 rupees
trois. 2km walk towards main train station
D. 1km 'rickshaw' drive - 5 rupees
funf. 2 hour (57km) train journey South - 12 rupees
6. 15minute bus ride to boat jetty - 5 rupees
Siete. 4 hour boat ride in Backwaters - 175 rupees

Return
8. 1.5 hour bus ride back to Fort Kochin - 34 rupees

Overall from the day we did a walk, ferry, walk, rickshaw, train, bus, boat and then bus!!

So, no time for breakfast, Jen, myself and Isabelle started the walk for the ferry (item A above) , whilst its still dark. Luckily for us the sun was rising beautifully in the sky over the river which proved to be a very nice journey. The morning 3km walk to the train proved too much at 7am so we negotiated a rickshaw driver to take us the last km. The trains here in India are mental! For most journeys you have to 'reserve' your tickets days in advance which is a crazy process of filling in 2 forms specifying everything from your age and occupation to the class of journey you'd like. This time it was only a 57km journey so we could just buy a ticket on the day.

A 10 rupee investment later and Isabelle and I were now caffeine'd up with a good cup of coffee and ready for the day. The train took ages! For 57kms it took almost 2 hours which is a nightmare!!

NEWS FLASH!!! **There are 'ticks' as well as leeches in the forest**

Disgusting I know but JEN HAD A TICK IN BETWEEN HER TWO TOES!!! Yep, and for some reason I still love her, lol. It was gross, but she noticed a small black bit of seemingly skin in between her toes. So she pulled and it hurt, then she pulled it some more and it detached....and it was a little, rank tick that must have attached itself during the trek in the forest we think. PICCY TO COME.....

We were now at Alipeye (or however you spell it). A short bus ride to the jetty and we managed to meet up with a random Greek guy called Illyous who is riding his motorbike around India. So far hes travelled through Iran, Pakistan, Nepal and Turkey...the guy has some really cool stories! I'd love to see Nepal (note to self: travel round Nepal one day). Great that we found another guy as it made the boat journey cheaper for us. We negotiated the guy down to 4 hours for 175 rupees per person...great price!

So the scene was set, we'd be exploring the massive interlinking streams, rivers and lakes called the Backwaters. They are all over the South Western parts of India but are particularly nice here in Alipeye. Small villages, locals bathing in the waters, washing clothes and lots of houseboats everywhere, usually makes for a crowded experience. But this is out of season so we were lucky and didn't see too many tourists. The boat ride started really well and allowed us to see a really green, wet part of India. In some parts the vegetation actually looked a bit like the UK with a tropical twist.

We had some great Paratha for breakfast (at a cost of 10 rupees each) and we were back on the boat, all really enjoying the scenery for the next hour or so. A quick stop off to a local man who makes beer from coconuts...which was royally rank and then....the heavens opened up....and didn't stop. In fact, this has been characteristic of our time here in the more southerly parts of India as it is nearing monsoon...but actually still the summer...so who knows! All in all the Backwaters were cool and we saved some money by doing it the local way! We braved another crazy ass bus ride back to where we were staying, which took much less time and probably shaved a few years off our time here on earth due to the heart palpitations from doing 100kms an hour in a 30 zone, overtaking trucks, cars, bikes and goats....

Back in Fort Kochi we had a bit of time to kill but were all quite knackered so we decided to go for some early dinner (and pay a bit more at a tourist restaurant) and then...wait for it...top the evening off with a 2hour viewing session of American Idol....YEAH BABY! Actually it was a bit of a let down due to the quality of song choice, but that was neither here nor there.

The total cost of the day for four hours of river cruising per person was 233 rupees each, which is roughly 3 pounds each!! This is in contrast to the 450 rupees just for 3 hours of river boating per person so as you can see we made the right decision to travel for 4 hours at 6am to get to our destination. We were tipped off that the Backwaters more South were much better than those around where we're staying, Kochi...and of course it was much more interesting to meet the locals on the bus etc.

Today arrived and we had no plans to do anything. The original plan was to go and visit a local amusement park but it turned out that the rubbish weather was not a good sign and so it was time to call it a day on the activities and have a chill out one before the craziness of Mumbai tomorrow. A bit of a Thali lunch, a short bus ride to a local festival where some elephants were and that was the day finished.....lame compared to some other days. Quite odd but whilst we were at the festival a guy came up to us and told us he had 3 elephants in his front garden....yep, he did!

India does not fail to shock, surprise and amaze me every day!

As aforementioned, tomorrow we fly to Mumbai where we're told its going to be slightly crazy. Then we start our arranged trip around Rajhestan with Intrepid Travels. We suspect that they'll attempt to take us to all the tourist restaurants etc where we'll be expected to pay crazy prices like a pound for a curry.....I dont think so sunshine! Everyone who wants to find some good, cheap local food....follow me!

See you in the North.....