I just spent the week in Cochin. Cochin is now officially my favorite place in India! Cochin is a place with a mainland area and many little islands. The four of us chose to stay in Fort Cochin, which is a small part of an island. We met someone on the ferry that ran a new homestay and offered for us to stay there for very little money, so we agreed. The beginning of this part of the trip was a bit hectic, as the four of us learned that two of us got scabies. (A horrible mite that burrows into your body and lays eggs. You react and are so intensely itchy-by far a horrible horrible experience. Though funny now that it is over.) I got my first experience going to a doctor in another country, which was totally safe and in total with prescription and consultation cost about $5.
Laurel had to leave due to a family emergency, so her plans for Thailand and her last week in India got cancelled and she went home. We were sad to see her leave under such horrible circumstances.
The three of us were left. What made our stay in Cochin so amazing was that we finally made some friends. We met three guys that were from the area. Quickly they became our close friends and it felt like we had known them forever. It was nice to meet guys that felt like borthers, not creepy men trying to get into our pants. The first night we hung out we ended up at some posh night club, where we danced for hours to bollywood music. The local crowd could dance so well!! It was so nice to spend time with people from the area, and not just tourists.
The next day they hooked us up with a deal to spend the day at "Serahs Farm." We got picked up at our homestay and were driven through small villages. The people were so simple, living and doing only what was necessary. We stopped and got Chai at a roadside hut. We watched a few men hand stitch a fishing canoe out of jack fruit tree and coconut string. Later we made it to the Kerala backwaters, where slow flowing canals of water are connected like mazes to the ocean. The environment was picturesque with palm trees and greenery everywhere. Then we took a slow and relaxing canoe ride through some backwaters, watching chinese fishing nets move in and out of the water (see pictures). Our canoe landed at a small hut at the fish farm, we spent the afternoon chilling in the sun and eating a delicious kerala lunch.
Our new friends decided to plan a road trip to Munnar the next day. They took off from work and took us up four hours to the mountains. Munnar is a small town situated far up winding roads, where tea plantations and estates dominate the entire mountain side. We were so lucky to make friends that drove us in their car. I never would have wanted to be up in those sketchy roads in a huge bus! They took us to a friends house and we hiked around water falls and a stream. Seeing cardamom plants and coffee beans get dried. The hospitality was amazing and the tea was so tasty.
The evening was a trip and a half. We checked into a family run hotel where the six of us had the whole place to ourselves. We bought veggies and the host man was suppose to cook us dinner. When we returned from town we found him drunk. I thought it was taking a long time for dinner, but he insisted on helping us start our camp fire. I never before had seen someone put the kindling on top of the teepee like structure of larger logs. He kept adding tons of newspaper to the bottom and then it wouldn't start. Finally we took over and got it going. Then he came out with chicken on this huge long metal rod. I'm not sure what the drunk man was thinking, but the smoke was never going to cook the chicken. Sarah and I took the food and went into the house and cooked it ourselves. But by that point I was too skeptical to eat anything. We found our nice "fresh" vegetable turned into salty mush in a pan. I never knew that fresh vegetables could taste like they came out of a can. The hotel man passed out in his little room drunk as ever, and we spent the night laughing our asses off and the funny situation. Us three girls slept in a king sized bed, huddled in our own separte cacoon of blankets hoping to not spread the potential scabies that could be around.
The next day we left Munnar and went to Fort cochin. Packed up.. and got ready to leave. Soon enough, Sara learned that the airlines messed up her ticket to Thailand and it was over booked. (She then decided to stay in India until the end of Feb and she also cancelled Thailand.) I lost my Chacos.. :(
Now it is just Sarah and I left. We took an over night train from Cochin to bangalore. We said goodbye to our new friends, which was so hard to do! We also left Sara with them. At least she is in good company and has a support network there. All three of the boys and Sara hung out with us in our train car until it left.
I leave for Thailand tonight at midnight. I'll be in Thailand in the morning, and will finally see my boyfriend. It has been too long!
