Thursday, 2 April 2020

Post #217 2 April 2020

Gentlefolk,

This post describes our time in Cochin (new name Kochi), the final destination of our 3-week tour of India.

We spent two nights in Cochin, Friday 13 and Saturday 14 March 2020.  On Sunday night 15 March we flew from Cochin to Singapore.

We'll return to Cochin one day - it deserves a closer/longer look.  Lots of interesting history here, but the tourist sites were all closed because of the coronavirus.




We stayed at the Crowne Plaza Kochi.  Perhaps because there were few guests, we were all upgraded to large rooms - like mini-suites - see photo. Very comfortable.


The view from our hotel room, looking across the highway (under construction) to the Le Meridien Hotel.
Another view from the Crowne Plaza Hotel. Note the waterways.

Another view from our hotel room - a new high-rise building under construction next door.

The swimming pool at the Crowne Plaza Hotel.  There was another, larger, pool on the ground floor, but that was closed for maintenance.


Eugine took us on a walking tour of the area in part of the Old City called Fort Cochin. Unfortunately many tourist places, were closed, including Mattancherry Palace which was the focal point of Fort Cochin..  Here we are in front of St Francis Church, the oldest European-built church in India, but the gates were locked. The church was built in 1503 by Portuguese Franciscan Friars. Explorer Vasco de Gama was buried here when he died in 1524 (14 years later his son took his remains back to Portugal).
The Portuguese were defeated by the Dutch, who in turn were defeated by the British.  So there is a lot of interesting colonial history in Cochin.  Would definitely be worth another visit to have a good look here.

I was impressed by this sign proclaiming a "Plastic Free Zone" in Cochin Fort.

This cafe was "no plastic".

A beach in Fort Cochin.
The streets all proclaimed this area as "God's own country"!!!

The Post Office was located in an old Portuguese building. Three Moslem ladies standing in front of the PO (haven't seen many Moslems around Cochin).

An ornate post-box in front of the Post Office.



This is a photo of Vasco Homestay. Renovated old Portuguese buildings on this street. Looked like a nice place to stay.  Actually Vera and I found this area very attractive; reminded us of parts of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where we lived 40 years ago.

Another renovated old building, now the Rasoi Restaurant.

Menu of the Rasoi Restaurant.

I wonder what a "Non-Hotel" Hotel is????

Another view of The Tower House Non-Hotel.

A local shop.

Vera bought embroidered pants.

Anyone for henna? At least it washes off after a few days!

Cantilevered Chinese fishing nets - introduced by Chinese traders about 600 years ago. These days they are mostly a tourist attraction.

The Chinese fishing nets. These enormous contraptions need at least 4 people to operate the counter-weights. Some  of our group participated.






Eugine's fiance runs a small cafe; we waved to her as we drove past. It was a no-parking zone, so our bus couldn't stop. They plan to get married mid-year. We wish them well.

Next to Fort Cochin is Mattancherry District which includes an area called Jew Town, where the Jewish community lived.  They have all moved on now, only an elderly couple are left.
Some of the shops here had Jewish names.

The oldest Synagogue in India; the caretakers are two elderly Jews, the last remnants of what was once a thriving community.

The Synagogue - apparently much nicer/more interesting on the inside.

The Synagogue, like other churches and tourist sites, has been closed because of the coronavirus.

Some random photos around Cochin.












On Sunday morning Vera, and others, took autorickshaws to Ernakulam, the commercial district of Cochin.  I was still getting over "the trots" so stayed in the hotel.

The growing threat of the coronavirus CV-19 was front-page news.

The coronavirus Covid-19 is having a dramatic effect as foreign and domestic tourism dries up.  Hotels and restaurants are almost empty.


The matrimonial columns.

Some Indian gods (in the hotel shop)








At the Hotel, on behalf of the group Bryan thanked Eugine for his help, and wished him well.

On the bus to the Airport - our last trip.


From left: Murthi (driver), Vera, Bron, Darryl (partly obscured), Ros, Elaine, Jill, Elizabeth, Deb, me, Michelle, Bryan, Peter, and Muthu (conductor).

Saying goodbye to Eugine at the Airport.
Inside Cochin Airport - modern.

Inside the Airport.

A poster inside Cochin Airport.

From Cochin we flew to Singapore, 3 hour transit and then a flight to Sydney; we arrived at 8.30pm on Monday 16 March 2020.  We were surprised that there was no temperature checking, nor were arrivals asked where they had been.  It only took us 40 minutes to get through the airport formalities, pick up our bags, and out the door (where our son was waiting - see photo below).

About 10 days later the Govt finally tightened arrival procedures (including temperature checking, and 14 days supervised quarantine).


Our son, Andrew, met us outside the Arrivals Area of Sydney International Airport. Touching elbows, the new handshake.

We caught Murray's Bus to Canberra, and finally arrived home in Kingston at 2am on Tuesday morning.

Home sweet home!!!

The day before our return the Govt introduced mandatory self-isolation for 14 days for everyone arriving from overseas, so we didn't venture out for the next two weeks (just a daily walk around-the-block to get some exercise). Fortunately my sister Aniko lives in Canberra, and she brought us groceries as we couldn't even go shopping.

Our self-isolation finished on Tuesday 31 March. Not that our lives have changed much, as most recreational facilities have closed down, and we have to observe social distancing. Meeting in groups is prohibited.

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You know the saying "Every cloud has a silver lining", well for me our self-isolation meant that I had time to do my blog posts on our trip to India.

It's been fun going through all my photos and notes and re-living our memorable journey through this fascinating country, India.

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So many impressions. We were there 22 days, we did and saw a lot, but what did it all mean? I'm going to take a day or two to ponder, and then do a final post on India.

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That's it for now.

Best wishes, stay healthy and keep smiling.

Vera & Alex Olah
Canberra Australia
Thursday 2 April 2020




Wednesday, 1 April 2020

Post #216 1 April 2020

Gentlefolk,

This post describes our drive from Thekkady to Alleppey and our time on the houseboat on the 'backwaters'.  We spent the night of Thursday 12 March on the houseboat.

Kerala State has a population of about 35 million, and covers an area of almost 40,000 sq km. The main language is Malayalam; Eugine told us that it is quite different from Tamil.

What struck us immediately was that 80% of the signs in towns and villages were in English, very different from all the other places we visited in India.

Other things that struck us were the number of Christian (mainly Catholic) churches, and the huge billboards on the sides of the roads often advertising gold jewellry or schools / universities.

Kerala has the highest literacy rate in India, and also the longest life expectancy.

The Communist Party of Kerala was democratically elected for the first time in 1957, and has been in-and-out of power ever since. It is currently the government - new elections next year.

Another striking aspect of Kerala were the many lakes and waterways.




We drove from Tekkady (in mountains) to Alleppey (near the coast); the first part included picturesque tea plantations.  These tea plantations often had trees (silk oak??) growing in them - Eugine said they provided shade for the plants - different from Indonesia where there are no trees within tea plantations.

Women picking tea leaves. I can't remember what Eugine told us they earned per basket of leaves picked, but it wasn't much.

We stopped at this lovely Catholic church.





We passed a cattle & buffalo market. While the majority of people are Hindu, Eugine said that cows don't have quite the same sacred status as in northern India - some restaurants openly offer beef / steak. 


Further down there were rubber plantations.

We stopped at Cafe En Route. Clean facilities and good tea/coffee. We often saw familiar faces at these stops, groups or couples driving the same route as us.

We stopped at a Govt Liquor Store - Eugine recommended we stock up here for our night on the houseboat; cheaper than other shops.

Eugine helped Bryan buy some snacks.

Eugine warned us that in Kerala restaurants are often referred to as hotels, as in this sign.  Note that most signs were in English. 


In Alleppey we boarded our houseboat, The Casino.  It was one of the largest houseboats, so the four single ladies were able to have a cabin each (the four couples shared cabins, of course). The houseboat had a crew of 5, including a chef (who had worked in Dubai and Kuala Lumpur). The cabins (all with ensuites) were on the lower level. Upstairs comprised a large dining / recreation room.

Saying goodbye to Eugine. He didn't come on the houseboat, went on to Kochi (his home town), where he met us the following morning.


There was a narrow space on the top level, and another larger sitting area downstairs behind the captain.

Lunch was served once we were underway. Lake fish.

Attractive decoration by the chef.

Lining up for lunch.

We saw lots of houseboats. Apparently there are about 3,000 (of varying sizes) moored at Alleppey and more in other towns on the lakes. Cruising the 'backwaters' is a popular pastime with foreign and local tourists.

We stopped along the way to buy some fish.


Coconut palms, rice paddies.


A public ferry boat.

Advertising for the Communist Party. It was first elected to government in Kerala in 1957, and has been in and out of government since (it is currently the majority Party in the State Parliament - elections next year).

Boys playing soccer.

At about 6pm we moored next to this village. Dinner, then bed. In the morning, breakfast and back to Alleppey to get our bus. During the night four of us came down with "the trots", including myself. Delhi belly!!!  I woke at 4am, and just made the toilet.  Luckily it wasn't too far till Kochi, our final destination in India.

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The following morning we drove to Kochi (aka Cochin), the subject of my next post.

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Best wishes, stay healthy and keep smiling.

Vera & Alex Olah
Canberra Australia
Wednesday 1 April 2020.





Post #215 1 April 2020

Gentlefolk,

This post describes our stay at The Mountain Courtyard Resort, Tekkady, Kerala State on 11 March 2020.

From Madurai we took Highway #85 to Allinagaram Our conductor Muthu's home town), then Hwy #183 to Thekkady. The next day continued on #183 to Alleppey.

We've seen lots of highway construction during our time in India, but today for the first time we saw a new railway line under construction (it followed Hwy #85 for a time).  But it seemed a traditional railway, not high-speed.  India is a long, long way behind China in infrastructure (we have heard that the first high-speed train line is planned between Delhi and Varansi).

The coronavirus scare has caught up with us; yesterday the Indian Govt started closing tourist sites where crowds gather.  Fortunately we are nearing the end of our tour.


As we left Madurai behind, started to get more hilly. 

Mainly dry and becoming hilly. A new railway line followed the highway for a while.

People washing in this river.

Leaving the plain, climbing up into the mountains and entering Kerala State.

The Mountain Courtyard Resort, Thekkady (near Periyar National Park).
The last km from the highway was too steep for the bus; we got 4-wheel drive jeeps up to the hotel.

The foyer of the Mountain Courtyard Resort.



Vera with Jodhi, one of the staff of the Mountain Courtyard Resort. She was lovely.

A view of the Resort from our hotel room.  Tranquil, surrounded by forest.

I had a swim in the nice pool.

We were supposed to do a boat ride on the lake at Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary, but the Govt had stopped such tourist activities.  So instead we did a tour of Abraham's Spice Garden, which has been in operation for 56 years. Knowledgeable guide.





That evening the Resort chef conducted a cooking class for our group.
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The following morning we drove to Alleppey, the subject of my next post.

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Best wishes, stay healthy and keep smiling.

Vera & Alex Olah
Canberra, Australia
Wednesday, 1 April 2020