A Journey to Well Known Places

Last weekend I spent a few days on the beach with a couple I met from Iceland. It was so good to get out of Kochi for a few days. I have been in the same town and hotel for about a month now. I am bored and lonely; so the opportunity for a change of scenery and a little social interaction was nice. The beach was not as nice as many that I got to experience in Thailand and Indonesia; but it was a beach with sand, water, and bikini clad Westerners. It was interesting to see the stark difference in clothing of the Westerners and the Indians. Many of the white people wore speedos and string bikinis whereas the Indian men often wore their pants and the women were covered in saris’ from head to toe. The beach was pretty segregated too. The Indians stayed in their little area and the Westerners occupied the other end. There were tons of touristy shops with expensive (for India) trinkets and services. I was going to take a yoga class in the morning from one of the many teachers on the cliff that overlooked the beach, but in the end I decided I wanted to sleep in instead. The area was really pretty though. Most of the restaurants faced the beach so you could watch the sun set over the water as you waited for your food. I really liked the Icelanders. I was a little surprised to learn that there are only 300,000 people in the whole country. I bought a ticket on the more expensive express train on my way back and was hassled by one of the railway employees. I kept trying to lay down and sleep and kept waking me up and asking for my ticket. At one point he told me my stop was almost here and I should get up; which I did and went to stand by the door. Well, my stop was still a half hour away. He just wanted to get me away from his boss so he could ask me for money. I just looked at him and went to sit back down. Then the little weasel came back and stood in front of me with his hand out saying “money.” I showed him my ticket. He said no, “Tips.” “For what?” I replied. “You have provided no service.” “Tips” he said again more emphatically with his hand out looking around for his boss. “TIPS” I said loudly when I say his concern. “Shhh. Yes, tips” he said with a grin. Fine. I took out a 2 rupee coin and handed it to him. He cursed me and walked away. Whatever.

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