Incredible India!

(So says the travel advertisements I've seen on television while in Korea...)

Going on day number seven here in the south of India; Kerala to be exact. Varkala, to be even more precise. I arrived to Kochi airport the evening of January 10th (a birthday shout-out to my little brother) and, to my slight surprise, things have been easy ever since. Almost too easy...

Upon arriving to Malaysia, I was sick, and completely exhausted from the previous week's running around. My first few days there, I felt a bit apprehensive about taking on India. I wasn't sure that I felt ready to face what I had heard time and time again to be all but complete chaos. Thankfully, after some solid nights of sleep and a few days to get myself back into travel mode, by the time the 10th of January arrived I felt more than ready.

I have loads of little rambling thoughts to share... Many of which I've jotted down in my notebooks and will more or less copy into text here... Some likely will spring to mind as I write those... So, expect a scattered and disorganized little synopsis here of my first week in India...

My first steps on Indian soil, I should say, weren't easy in fact. Immigration rejected me because I didn't have the name of a specific motel. They sent me away and told me to write "any" motel name down. The man was less than friendly... So, I did what he said and chose the name of a place in Fort Cochin called "Princess Motel." I was feeling a bit facetious... I ended up the second time around at the counter next to his, and apparently these guys knew what was going on because, though much friendlier and in a joking manner, they gave me a hard time but eventually let me through. By the time I got to the baggage claim, it was finished and I found my poor little pack toppled over on it's side as though somebody had just pushed it off the belt. At least I found it... And in one piece...?

Lesson learned: Always write the name of a motel on your arrival card; I should have known better, as I confronted the same problem in Japan last summer.

Enter the Indian head wobble and the anything but helpfulness of airport employees. Kochi airport, despite being international, was not nearly as large and bustling as I had expected. Silly me with my expectations. The tourist info counter was abandoned, and I asked three different employees where I could find a bus to Fort Kochi (or, Fort Cochin), about 1.5 hours away. I got nothing but the head wobble and very vague responses. Finally, using my brain (it happens from time to time), I figured the guy directing traffic outside with the whistle MUST know. So, I followed the sound of the whistle and sure enough, he pointed me in the right direction. Naturally, he told me nothing of use. But a good ol' fashioned point was good enough and I was soon on my way.

Fort Kochi's a nice little town on the sea. Historically a fishing town, and still very much so. They've got these ancient-style Chinese fishing nets set up along the coast, that, as described by Lonely Planet, look like huge "spiders" as they are made of a handful of long wooden poles and it takes about four or five men to manually operate. Terrible description, I know. Google it.

There's a little area of Fort Kochi that's obviously geared toward tourists; but, it's not hard to escape this with a ten minute walk to the other areas of town, which include a primarily Catholic area, Hindu area and Muslim area. Walking around these parts made me feel much more like I was in India, as I was the only non-Indian looking person most of the time.

It's funny, I've felt just as safe--of not safer--here in Kerala as I have in most other places where I've traveled alone. I don't know if it's the actual places I've visited thus far, or my ever-growing experience traveling abroad solo. Either way, it's nice. I've wandered streets for hours and taken all public transport (though, there's always been at least one other foreigner on the bus with me)... Most of the time it's just me and hundreds and hundreds of Indians, and I've felt incredibly comfortable each time. There you have it, mom and dad. You can sleep a bit more peacefully tonight :)

I consider Fort Cochi my confidence-building city. It gave me just the confidence boost I needed to face the rest of my trip. But, as always, there comes a time for change and Alleppey was it.

Alleppey's on the tourist track, just like Fort Kochi, but here in India this doesn't bother me so much as it might in other places, because regardless, I'm still surrounded by Indians! I probably only saw about 30 tourists during my three-day stay in Alleppey--and no shortage of Indian tourists, either.

I consider Alleppey my lucky city. I arrived after a few hours on a hot bus, tired and hungry. The last thing I wanted to do was go on that annoying hunt for accommodation; it can wear on a person. Luckily, only moments after stepping off the bus, I was approached by a young man who presented an offer for a room with a home stay. Home stays seem to have been the thing in Kochi and Alleppey, rather than hostels or guest houses. He offered a good price, so I figured I might as well go check it out. Turns out it was a good thing to have trusted my instinct on this one...

This family's house was about a ten minute walk from the bus station, away from the noises of the city, nice and quiet, and surrounded by banana, coconut, mango and papaya trees, sitting along one of the backwater canals that Alleppey is so famous for. (People come to this town solely for the purpose of enjoying boat rides of all sorts around the backwaters--anything from early morning canoe trips and week-long house boat trips). My three-day Indian family was a husband and wife, likely in their 60s, and their 30 year old daughter. I knew I was "home" the moment I stepped foot in their home... A big room to myself, the woman of the house eager to feed me her food, and referred to by her husband as "the best cook in Alleppey." And WOW. Was the food amazing. My first meal was some kind of chapatti (general term for breads over here) made from rice, not unlike some of the little rice cakes found in Korea. Four of these to dip into a coconut and spice chutney and I am a happy woman. Oh, and of course, the chai. The rest of the afternoon was devoted to wandering the city, though, like most cities that don't offer some historical sights or anything famous like that, I felt I had enough after a few hours. I headed back "home" after that to enjoy my evening meal of fish curry, vegetable curry, pickled mango, rice and some crispy, airy, puffed-up bread of sorts.

The next day, rather than splurging on an over-priced tourist trap of a boat cruise in the backwaters, I heeded the advice of my guidebook at took a local ferry 2.5 hours to they town of Kottayam. I had been told by a lovely German woman on that ride that there was nothing to see, so I more or less turned around and came back to Alleppey on the next ferry. Perhaps not quite as peaceful or scenic as an expensive tour might have been, this ferry ride cost me a whopping 20 rupees, or around US$0.36. Definitely worth my time.

I felt quite at ease with my temporary Indian family... Kind, friendly and curious they were. Always wanting to please. I spent a short while both evenings watching a little television with them, the first night some singing contest show (I supposed like American Idol), and the second evening some Indian film. When I ate, the mother and daughter would check up on me and watch me, almost to a point of discomfort on my end, but I think they just wanted to see that I was enjoying my food. My first meal there, I got the nod of approval for what I can only assume was eating with my right hand in a proper manner.

The Indian head wobble became ever more apparent in this house, however... Each family member spoke limited English, so when there was some issue with communication my only response from the mother or daughter was the head wobble and an almost apologetic look in the eyes. Funny. So far, I've interpreted the head wobble as possible meaning: I don't know, I don't understand, yes, no, maybe, or, a nonverbal way of saying I approve, thank you, or I understand. That's a lot of possibilities...

Time for a break in writing. My stomach's growling for some curry and I've been on a computer too long for one day... Hopefully I'll get around to rounding out the tales of my first week tomorrow!