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Posts tagged ‘Kerala’

Nov 22

Goodbye to Gowri, Hello to New Friends & Adventures!

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.

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Nov 7

Alleppey = Beautiful

Alleppey is beauty personified. A local told me that the name Alleppey literally means beautiful, but whether this information is factual I cannot say. Regardless, it is hard to convey the full extent of my enchanting surroundings: the vibrant hues of the flora and fauna, the exuberant people, and relaxed vibe of the town. Marco Polo hit the nail on the head when he famously described Alleppey as the “Venice of the East.”

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Oct 23

Cochin (Kochi)

Yesterday, we left Bangalore to head to an old Portuguese trading fort in the province of Kerala. To get there, we took a 13hr overnight train in a semi air-conditioned car, which was shared with 6 other people. After the first 6hrs or so of reading I became fidgety and decided to crawl into my bunk and try to sleep. This decision was partly due to the constant singing and chanting coming from the man next to me, which was beginning to get on my nerves after about the 5th hour!

We arrived in Ernakulum at 5:50 in the morning, took a bumpy auto rickshaw ride to the docks and walked down a dark and narrow dirt path, past chai wallas to an empty ferry station. The ticketing booth didn’t open for another half hour so we headed back to the chai wallas for an early morning tea. The hot fragrant chai made the humid air seem even more thick and sticky.

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