Goodbye to Gowri, Hello to New Friends & Adventures!

The Highly Recommended Gowri Residence in Allepey

I am particularly amused by the eccentric little oddities of Gowri, which I find endearing. There are an abundance of resident roosters, chickens, and other miscellaneous birds, such as emus, are living with us at Gowri. The birds crow and make bizarre noises starting at ungodly hours! One type of bird here makes a hilarious cartoonish whistling noise. In addition to the birds, the temple next store blasts a mix of Indian music and chanting at strange hours. Instead of incensing me, which it would in the ‘real world,’ here it’s just one more quirk that makes India so enchanting.While staying at the Gowri Residencewe made a few friends: Jo, a fellow traveler from London, England and Nachi, a native of Alleppey and coincidentally Jo’s boyfriend. On a previous trip to India, Jo had met Nachi while staying at Gowri (the later was at the time an employee of the residence). The two hit it off and Jo had returned to India to visit Nachi and see more of India’s countryside. After running into them both numerous times in and around Gowri, they invited us to have drinks with them and their friends (most of whom worked at the hotel). The two had planned a short trip to Mudamalai (a nature reserve) and Ooty (a nearby hill station). Ooty, a remnant of the country’s colonial past, is one of the few places where you can still ride one of India’s remaining steam trains.

They suggested that we all go together and since Nachi spoke so highly of Mudamalai, a nature reserve that spans three states, we figured it was an opportunity that couldn’t be missed. So instead of traveling further south to the cliffs of Varkala we will head North into Tamil Nadu, Kerala’s neighboring state.

Little did we know at the time that this was a decision that made our entire trip!!!