By the miracle of jet propulsion I arrived in Fort Cochin on Friday, October 9. It’s located in the freely elected communist state of Kerala. Deep in the south of India. I caught an overnight train on the 8th from Jasilamar to Jaipur and immediately went to the local airport via rickshaw. I originally did not want to fly while in India but it would have taken about 4 days to reach Kerala by train and bus from Jasilmar and my time in India is running out. India is a big country and things don’t always move all that fast. From Jaipur I flew to Cochi with one stop in Mumbai. I was supposed to switch planes in Mumbai but lucked out when my plane from Jaipur just happend to be switched to the Cochi plane at the last minute. It was a lucky break because I would have had to go through security again while changing planes with a good chance of missing my connection.
The tropical Indian state of Kerala is quite a change from the north. It’s considerably cleaner although many people still don’t see any reason to use a trash can. Kerala is a freely elected communist state and has done a fine job of building some infrastructure. The roads are relatively good and it has an extensive reliable bus system. People are more relaxed and the pace less hectic than the north. Kerala is also more educated with a literacy rate over 90%. Communism seems to work here as Kerala is apparently better off than any other Indian state. Another interesting thing about Kerala is that it’s largely Christian. After seeing nothing but Hindu, Muslim and Buddhist influence for the last month it’s quite a contrast to see lots of churches. I have not seen a single church until arriving here. Yesterday I even saw nuns riding the bus. Instead of vehicles decorated with Hindu gods I’m seeing buses with Jesus in big letters across the top of the front wind shield. People are nicer here and so far seem a bit more genuine. Although I’m still getting hassled to buy things it’s not near as bad as the north.
After a rest day in Fort Cochin on Saturday I got up early to catch a bus to Munnar. On the way up to Munnar I noticed passing an occasional red flag with hammer and sickle. It seemed kind of odd for me as it brought up memories of the cold war with Russia and I've never associated communism with India.
Munnar is known for spices and tea. The town of Munnar is nothing special but the surrounding area with large tea plantations at an altitude between 5,000 and 8,000 feet is really beautiful. The temperature is cool yet tropical. The area mountainous, lush and green with banana trees. The air is clean and thick with oxygen but the towns still manage to be dusty and dirty. I checked into a spotlessly clean and well maintained guest house for 550 rupees ($11 USD). It also has hot water which has been something of a rarity in India.
After checking into the guest house I set out to get lunch. I chose a local place that was listed in the guide book. When I arrived it looked ok. I ordered food and as I waited I had one of those moments where everything seemed so foreign. Even though I’ve been in India for a month it still seems strange to see people eating like cave men with their right hand. Slopping up and mixing rice with the fingers and inserting the mixture into mouth. This is a the traditional way of eating here. Most all of the rest of the world uses some kind of utensil and I quite fancy chop sticks in Asia but in India I cannot get use to the eating with hands unless I have a chapati (whole wheat tortilla) or something like that. Can I have a spoon please? When my vegetarian cauliflower dish arrived I thought there had been some miscommunication because I was sure it was some kind of meat dish. I picked and poked at it but what I thought was meat did not look quite like meat. I signaled the waiter to come over and asked him what I had ordered and if it was vegetarian. He said it was indeed cauliflower and potatoes. The cauliflower was actually brown like meat. It smelled strange but ok. I know that southern Indian food is a lot different so I decided to give it a taste test. I took one bite and was convinced if I were to take another bite I’d be doomed. The dish was bad. Well,at least I think it was bad? I signaled the waiter again and told him I did not know if it was me or what but I could not eat the food I was served. He was very nice about it and only charged me for two chapatis which I could eat. It’s the only meal I’ve turned down while in India. I left the restaurant not knowing where to go next. That’s when I met a really nice rickshaw driver.
The rickshaw driver took me to a good place for lunch and offered to take me on a tour, for a very reasonable price, afterwards. For 300 rupees ($6 USD) he assured I would have a good afternoon. He asked for 100 up front so he could buy petrol while I was having lunch. He seemed trustworthy so I gave him 100 rupees and after lunch he was sitting outside waiting. He then proceeded to take me on a very scenic ride amidst the mountains stopping at a few view points to look at the tea plantations. After awhile we arrived at a spice garden.
Ok, when you read all of those stories about explorers who sailed in search of spice 500 years ago Kerala was where many of them wound up. I’m not always one to get too excited about botanical gardens etc. but the spice garden proved to be pretty awesome thanks to my nose. When I arrived I paid 100 rupees for a guide. It was well worth it. For an hour he took me around and showed me plant after plant pulling off leaves, chopping off roots, and picking fruits. All for me to taste, touch, and smell. It was the smells that blew me away. Everything was so fragrant, so pungent. There were the usual spices of basil, allspice, etc. but some of the exotic ayervedic spices damn near knocked my socks off. It was totally intoxicating. The guide laughed at my enthusiasm. After the spice garden my driver showed me some other sites as the clouds moved in and the temperature dropped. Clouds draped the mountains. Being very happy with the rickshaw driver I made arrangements to hire him the next day.
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