Diwali Trip to Kerala!

Note: No photos will be accompanying this posting! I'll have to try and post at school. The email we have at home is too slow....

Hi everyone!
Just returned from a 5 day holiday (Friday thru till the next Tuesday) that we had off for Diwali and Eid here in India. For those of you who don’t know, Diwali (or Deepawali) is a festival that is akin to New Years in the west. It is a ‘fresh start’ and celebrates good triumphing over evil. Everyone worships the goddess Lakshmi (sometimes Laxmi) and does a whole bunch of poojas (ceremonies) and stuff to bring them good luck. They also set off a lot of fire crackers (which make me jump!) Which are mostly ‘all sound, no show’ types of firecrackers (grrreeeeaaat to try and fall asleep to!!) Anyway, we left Friday, cause we couldn’t get a flight late enough Thursday night. Cheryl came too. We flew Air Deccan (the autorickshaw of the air!!) to Trivandrum and then had a half-blind, slow driving taxi driver take us to Varkala.
Now Varkala is perhaps one of the most amazing, special places in India. Some of you may remember my shots from our trip last year- the amazing red cliff with the beach at the bottom, the cliff lined with seafood restaurants, little shops etc. Yep- it’s awesome. So- we stayed at the same place as last March- this kitschy little place called the Kerala Bamboo House, which is basically a little village of bamboo huts decorated with Indian paper stars, crazy Kashmiri furniture and gaudy Indian fabrics. We love it there. At first we were worried going to Kerala because there have been a few isolated outbreaks of a dengue-like disease called chikungunya. But luckily the isolated places were in Allapuzha and other places in the backwaters...not where we were going. We were also careful and used bug goop and the mosquito netting. However, as we found out- the little biters that carry this disease aren’t even night biters, they are day biters...so if fate had it that we were gonna get bitten- so be it! Anyway.....so the first night we had the BEST meal- marlin tikka which is basically chunks of marlin on a skewer done in the tandoor oven with pieces of tomato, green pepper (capsicum) and onion. YUM! You eat it with Indian breads like chappathis. And this place had the best mojitos too- heaven! John continues to get the better end of the deal by choosing Kingfisher beer everywhere...it always arrives at least 20 minutes earlier!
The next day was a great beach day- sunny and hot. The funny thing was- the big wide beach that we swam at in March was almost totally gone! I guess the tide moves in and out every moon cycle (28 days,) so for 14 days there is a big, wide sandy beach and for 14 days-ish there is a tiny part with huuuge waves crashing up around you. So- we tanned on that teensy patch of dry sand for a bit- then met up with Cheryl to go to the Black Beach. Now, on the black beach the sand is black (go figure!) from the granite that randomly starts up along that coast sometimes. I liked the way my purple metallic toenail polish showed up against the black grains :) So- when we were sufficiently blasted (as Johnny likes to say) we went back and changed for ‘lupper’ (lunch and supper!!) where we again had some delicious fish- pollichathu (the Keralan speciality of masala fish done in a banana leaf over coals) and some fish sizzler (like a fajita plate) and curries galore!
That night we had our nightly rainstorm/lightning storm which was cool to watch. It rained all that night and all the next day, which we didn’t mind as we just shopped and got massages!! Now my massage was awesome- the best I’ve had in India. John was whisked away on a 100cc Honda motorcycle to have a 'standard' Ayurvedic massage at their other site. I had a ‘foot massage’ which isn’t where they massage your feet, but is where they use their feet to massage (and sometime sort of step!) on you. But you get excellent pressure which is what I liked, because I often find Indian massages too light and fluffy and not deep into the tissue and muscles. So- that place was a good find on John’s part. As for shopping, I was pretty restrained. I got one purple striped skirt which is like the teal one I have because I love my teal one so much...and I got a toe ring and a Ganesha wall hanging. John did more shopping than me, believe it or not! He got the COOLEST moveable elephant ring, four gauzy cotton longsleeve shirts perfect for the beach, and four lungis (sort of the Indian version of a sarong, but men wear them.) He got two in the Kerala style, and one in the special Kerala green (kind of a beautiful deep kelly green) and two others. Oh- and I got two little gifts for some people, but I can’t tell you till you get them!!
The next night we tried barracuda and tuna tikka which were equally as good. Barracuda tastes a little gamier than the tuna, but is similar. The third day we had some sun as we were heading off to Kovalam (another beach town south of Triv airport this time ...) By the time we got to Kovalam, it was full-on sunny- so we quickly chose a hotel and got to the sunning. Kovalam is very different from Varkala. It is not on a cliff to start- and it is definitely more of a local beach place than a retired hippie trippie hangout like Varkala is. It is also hilly in a kind of SanFran/Quebec City kind of way. John and I went immediately to a little beach near our hotel, where there were maybe 10 people. Lots of big waves again, but not as much undertow as Varkala....still, you have to be careful. Then, we proceeded back to our hotel to go out for ‘lupper’ again, only to find rows of tiny ants crawling all along the floor in our room and in a straight diagonal across our bed and into the clothes I had laid out. So, we freaked out, packed up and asked to be switched. We were going to leave that guest house entirely but the guy’s boss had already taken our passport numbers and the worker was afraid that the boss would think he did something wrong/had pocketed the money etc. So- he showed us another room that we checked thoroughly for ants (we ended up having a few anyway) but we decided to stay. Cheryl and Michelle Cuadra (who was in visiting from Saudi Arabia!) found an even cooler place for the same price, so me and Johnny were jealous, but oh well. We know where to go next time! Our place was called the Mini House. It was in the Rough Guide to India but not in the Lonely Planet. Cuadra ad Cheryl's place was Varmas. Go figure.
Anyway- it was great to see Cuadra. She is her same hilarious self...but she is sad not being in India with us. Her life in Saudi sounds verrrry controlled to the point of being scary and Stepford-y....but she does make the big bucks and she does have a Cinnabon right down the street! John and I ate that night at a place along the main, local-y beach called Café de la Mer. I had a shrimp sizzler and John had more pollichathu. As the guide book said, food is more expensive in Kovalam....thanks to the German and British tourists with big bucks. We walked along and then went to the hotel for bed. We thought the sound of crashing waves at our window would be soothing, but it was just pretty darn LOUD! Luckily I can sleep through anything, but John had a pretty restless sleep. But, hey- you are on the friggin’ Arabian Sea, so who can complain, really! The next day we had brekkies at a great place called Fusion...great because it served all kinds of coffee- from Bodum pressed coffee to espresso and cappuccino. Yum. Then, we hit the beach one last time. It was one of those hazy days where the sun isn’t really out per say, but you know you’re getting sun nonetheless. I chose not to wear any sunscreen and paid the price on my forearms and back later. My redness has now faded to a deep golden brown though. Jealous anyone?! I heard it’s grey and cloudy in Canada. Okay, not rubbing it in...at least you guys didn’t have ants in your pants!! Heh. All four of us went to the airport at around the same time to share cab fare- and it turned out that my flight was delayed an hour, so we all left at basically the same time. We played speed scrabble (Bubba and Mom and AP- I HAVE to teach you this game!) and ate at the airport restaurant and then boarded our planes. We were on Jet Airways coming back- and it was so much nicer and just happened to be 1000 rupees less than the Deccan flights! We got fresh cool towels and the whole shebang...so we arrived in B’lore fresh and ready to get home to...well, wash our stinky clothes that were wet and sweaty and slightly fishy smelling.
Too many details? Too bad! In India we learn to share all the gross details :) It is now Wednesday night and I am again, up too late. But I had yoga, so that always takes 3 hours out of my night at least- with all the travel time. Two more days to go until the next weekend and then we don’t even have a full week the next week!! We have school Monday/Tuesday, then a state holiday Wed, then school Thursday/Friday. Hard life, eh?! Then come the real work weeks.....5 full days. I don’t know if I can handle it! Just kidding :) Hope this little (big!) email was entertaining. I’ll post some pics on my blog which I haven’t updated in forever, and then send you all the link. Hope all is well with all of you. Peace.
Jessie