Saris and Elephants

In November, my Mum came over to visit for two weeks so we went off to explore Kerala and then spent 3 days in Auragabad, allowing us to experience a variety of different climates, scenery, food, history and people. We left Mumbai and headed down to Cochin where we spent the afternoon taking in all the sights of the city, from the old Jewish Synagogue to the surprisingly beautiful Chinese fishing nets at the harbour. After 7 months in the city it was so refreshing to breathe fresh air and be surrounded by green trees!

Cochin itself is an unusual city comprised of two distinct areas, that of the old town and the new. The new town is a fairly nondescript city with the usual shops, a few low-key hotels and not much else. The old town however is more picturesque with the architecture acting as a constant reminder of the early Portuguese influence. The rapidly depleting Jewish community still maintains a beautiful synagogue, originally built in 1568 and decorated with hand painted Chinese tiles, each one different from the next. After taking in the sights, wandering around the stone paved streets and buying spices and other local souvenirs, we took a relaxing stroll through the fish market and along water’s edge. Here we found a small restaurant nestled under a thatched roof, serving fish and seafood fresh from the sea and cooked to perfection in the simple Tandoor oven.

On our second day we drove out to an old elephant training camp where I had to be reminded that although the hotel allows pets, bringing a couple of elephants back with me might not be appreciated!

After Cochin we drove the 5 hours up into the hills to Munnar. The journey was beautiful, we passed waterfalls, rubber plantations, more goats and cows than I could count and cooled down with a paddle in a stream on the edge of the road. Once in Munnar, we stayed at the Blackberry Hills resort, a cosy cluster of cottages with balconies facing out over the surrounding tea plantations – bliss!

We dragged ourselves away from the view to go watch the traditional Kathakali dance and have an Ayurvedic massage. The massage was an experience in itself, in a small concrete building on the edge on a hill, stripped naked, covered in a herbal smelling oil and lain on a plastic bed in a freezing room! Although I have to say the massage was excellent and very relaxing, once I got used to the surroundings and ignored the power cut and few minutes of chaos somewhere in the middle.

On our second day we went to the Tea Museum where we learnt about the history of the area, as well as the difference between white tea and black tea, and leaf tea and powdered tea (I never knew there were so many types of tea).We also visited the school and vocational centre set up for some of the employees’ children who have mental or physical disabilities. Here we bought some strawberry jam and some paper handicrafts made by the local people.

Another 5 hour drive brought us to the town of Alappuzha where we boarded a houseboat to explore the Keralan backwaters. We spent the rest of the day calmly floating amongst coconut trees, kingfishers, herons, cormorants and the many smaller boats of people going about their daily business. While on board we had the opportunity to sample some of the local food, including some fresh fish from the lakes and, of course, the ubiquitous coconut! In the evening we moored the boat on a deserted section of the backwaters with only the sounds of the fish splashing in the water and birds nesting in the rice paddies. After a peaceful night rocked to sleep but the gentle waves we awoke early to watch the sun rise over the coconut trees before the backwaters fizzled into life with boat loads of people heading to work in the paddy fields.

Our last port of call in Kerala was Kovalam where we stayed at the Leela Kempinski hotel. We managed to fit in a bit of sightseeing in Trivandrum, and then went back to the arduous task of serious poolside relaxation!

After a couple of days back in Mumbai we headed up to Auragabad. Here I was able to indulge the archaeology student in me and visit Daulatabad fort and Ellora caves, both of which were amazing. The fort was built in the 14th century and is an impressive piece of skilled workmanship with a clever moat and tunnel all designed to confuse and defeat any approaching enemy. After walking around the dark tunnels with the bats squeaking in my ears, and seeing the cleverly designed tricks and traps, including a slide directly into the moat of hungry reptiles, I can see why they call it an ‘unconquerable fort’. When our guide put out the light for a few minutes to demonstrate how dark the tunnel is I have to admit I was holding on embarrassingly tight to my boyfriend next to me!

With aching legs after all the climbing at the fort, we headed on to Ellora where I was amazed again by the beauty and detail of the carvings, and by the sheer manpower it must have taken to carve them out of the solid rock.

On our way back to the hotel we stopped at the Panchakki watermill, a site much revered by the locals as an ingenious invention using the nearby river to grind grain to feed the village as well as pilgrims to the adjoining tomb of a Sufi saint. However, as a tourist site, there is nothing of note to see; a couple of large ponds and a small millstone in one corner is all that remains of the working mill.

Another popular site in Aurangabad is Bibi Ka Maqbara, a 17^th century monument nicknamed ‘the poor man’s Taj Mahal’ due to its similarity in appearance, although much smaller in size.

After our long, tiring day walking around in the dust and the heat we were glad to arrive back to the Taj Residency hotel, a somewhat dated, palace-style hotel set in beautiful grounds with the added novelty of a swing seat on the balcony of every room.

These two weeks spent in three distinctly different regions of India have wet my appetite and left me planning my next Indian adventure.