So, we boarded the plain back to Delhi with much trepidation. I have to include that we nearly missed our plane (miscommunication) but fortunately our plane was running two hours late! On our plane ride we were travelling all along the Himalayas on the way back for approx 40 minutes! Absolutely breathtaking.
When we arrived in Delhi, it was so much better than our other experiences. This time, I booked into "Master Guest House" as run by Ushi and her husband Avnish... we had to lay our extra dosh, but I wanted a sweeter memory of Delhi than the ones we had to date. Davey and I were also wiser and not so wet behind the ears and were ready to bite! So this time when I got our prepaid taxi, we walked directly out and could see where our prepaid taxi voucher was meant to go! The black and yellow beat up old taxi's that wouldn't take us to half the tour companies in Delhi! Oh joy!! We arrived at the guesthouse and felt like a comforter was wrapped around us! Ushi and her husband made us feel right at home, and even though it was late, we got yummy toasted sandwiches and tea in absolutely beautiful teasets on the rooftop. The bedroom and bathroom were exquisite and had a wonderful night's rest. The next day our plane to Kerala left in the afternoon, so we asked Avnish what we could experience of Delhi in the short amount of time we had. So he organised a driver for us and we went to Humayan's tomb, which is what the Taj Mahal is based on. So glad we did! It was like a consolation prize for not getting to see the great Taj, the building was incredibly beautiful and the surrounding gardens well mantained.
We then headed down to Kerala via Mumbai and said our final farewells to Delhi, not feeling as bitter against it as we had before. As soon as we arrived inside the terminal I said to Davey that I swore I could smell MacDonalds... Davey thought not, but sure enough after going through the usual vigorous security measures I spotted Maccas!! So, we got our Maccas fix and I felt tempted to ask for a quarter pounder of beef! But behaved myself and stole a couple of tomato sauce packets instead :p no, didn't steal them, they gave it to us with our meals (Davey asked me to correct that... killjoy). The flight was delayed due to air traffic (very common here) and when we arrived in Mumbai we had to cxircle around above as there were six flights before ours that needed to land! There was a huge difference after landing in Mumbai... most of the passengers (who are indian of course) disembarked and then a whole new crowd came on board! I was so excited!!! First I must explain why. My father is a Fiji-Indian. Many Indians were taken from India to the Fiji Islands to work in the sugar cane fields... I'd have to say maybe 150 years ago? I'll have to get correct info from my dad. Many indians from Kerala went, and that is the ancestry of my father. So when this new crowd came on the plane it was like looking at all of my dad's brothers and cousins and aunties and so forth! The resemblance was striking! The people are also much darker than the people of the north, and I felt so comfortable among them... I started doing a happy dance on the inside.
We then were greeted at the airport by our pickup who took us to Walton's Homestay in Fort Cochi. The driver was much more communicative and helpful than all the other drivers we met up with in the past and also expressed interest in us as people as well! That was a lovely encounter and have had so many more of them since being here in Kerala. .. the happy dance continued. We had the most expensive dinner we've eaten since being here in India (roughly $25.00 AUD) but it was an amazing restaurant and the food top notch, espceially the Kerala fish masala! The food in Kerala is some of the best in India (happy dancing person starting to get tired on the inside)... the next morning we took an early morning walk along the cantilever fishing nets famous to the area along the beachfront and by that time my happy dance preson and dropped in exhaustion (the feet still continue to tap, though). This has been one of the places that has made me so happy and so at ease! It's spectacular here and so clean and presentable. There is alot of history here with the Dutch and Portuguese settling here and building incredible buildings that are still well preserved even now.
We took a rickshaw tour of the places of intrest including the spice market and a few shops before having another seafood lunch and talking with mum and dad on Skype. Got some amazing photos of the fishing nets in in afternoon glow of the setting sun which I will post soon.
The next day we caught a ferry to the4 mainland that cost a total of... wait for it... 5 rupees for Davey and me! (roughly 13 cents). The ferry ride was fantastic, as well as being our cheapest trip in India. We caught the local bus to Munnar which was a classic! We were bumped around and jolted all over the place at the back of the bus... looked very scary at times as we were headed towards the higher lands and had glimpses of the cliffs under us. Munnar is famous for it's tea, and have to say that it was incredible! Our first view of it was like looking at perfectly manicured fields of beautiful green bushes with incredible boulders magnificently set amongst it.
We decided to stay a few days to relax and enjoy the cooler weather, enjoyed some great street food and met our rickshaw driver who would be with us for the following days, Ganesh. He took us around the sites such as spice plantations, strawberry fields, the local eateries and Top View, which was amazing (yet again!). We had a bakery around the corner from us where I had the best walnut tart! Man, I can still taste it.
After Munnar we went to Kottayam for our connecting bus to Kurakom where we boarded our houseboat (kettuvallum) for 3 days... the Lonely Planet recommends it as being in the top ten things to do before you die... understandably so! The backwaters were very laid back, relaxing and beautiful. The houseboat was gorgeous! Really was a house on water... we had a cook and two others who took great care of us. The food was the best that we have had in India yet... plenty of seafood and prawns the size of lobsters... duck curry and many varieties of vegetable curry. Just brilliant! If Davey and I spent any more time on the boat we would have had to have waddled off, the amounts of food that were served to us were amazing. It was great just to read on the boat and look at life on the Keralan water ways... people literally live their lives on the river. They fish, clean, wash, socialise and swim in the river.
After we said a very teary goodbye to our houseboat (there's clawmarks in the woodwork we're they had to pry me off the boat)we made our way by local bus again to Kottayam and then onward to Ernakaulum, which is where our bus was to depart for Bangalore. We had plenty of time to kill so Davey and I decided to head by ferry again back to Fort Cochin again and leave our bags with Mr Walton while we cruised around as it really is a beautiful spot to spend some time!
We then headed back where we did some indian clothes shopping. Davey and I bought a beautiful painting on our initial visit to Fort Cochin which Davey's be carrying all the way around with us... he left it behind in one of the clothes shops we were in. When we realised that we were missing it from our luggage we went to the shop and it was closed til the next day! Our bus was leaving in 30 minutes time so we were in a bit of a wuandry as to what to so. The travel agent where we were catching the bus from (sonny) said that he would go to the shop the next day and forward it onto us by bus the next evening. We were doubtful that we would ever get the painting, some of the indians on the bus even said that we should just say goodbye to it as it was as good as gone! Amazingly, though, Sonny was good to his word and he sent our painting to us by bus! We caught the evening bus from Ernakaulum and said goodbye to Kerala as we headed to the state of Karnakata to the city of Bangalore.
