Cochin in 140 characters

It is always fascinating to retrace your steps after you finish a journey and look back at the moments. I tried live blogging in my last post when I was on a train to Madras , but this time, I was rather active on twitter. I was in Cochin for little more than a day and it was quite an experience ..Just to give you a flavour of the trip , I have stringed together the series of tweets that I posted in the last 24 hours . I  have of course left out the conversations that i had with many as it gets longer - you can follow me on twitter to get the complete story .. here you go for now -  A day in Cochin narrated in 140 characters

Prelude - Day 1 (Madras /overnight in train )

21st May  , Madras (Chennai)
lakshmisharath  Chalo Cochin for the next 36-40 hours #travel

21st May, In the train (Trivandrum Mail)
Now my ears are bombarded with only one nasal language - Malayalam ; will be like this wonly for the next 40 hours

21st May, In the train (Trivandrum Mail)
Co pax says a firang was so happy with the food served in his friend's restaurant in Fort Kochi that she gave gold bangles to the hostess

Day 2 - Cochin

22nd May, early morning  from the train (Trivandrum Mail)
Freezing cold inside the compartment . Didnt realize that fan was on and I dont use blankets

22nd May, Still in the train (Trivandrum Mail)
Very foggy here - looks like its rained a bit ; Im getting off at Ernakulam tho (@Angamalli Railway station )

22nd May , Still in the train (Trivandrum Mail)
If you want to visit Kalady, the birthplace of Adi Sankara, you need to alight at Angamali .Its also very close to Cochin airport #traveltip

22nd May, Still in the train (Trivandrum Mail)
Morning folks, its raining in #kerala, Periyar river near Aluva http://yfrog.com/gyw1ujjj

22nd May, Still in the train (Trivandrum Mail)
Trains late , we shd have been @ Ernakulam by now - just left Aluva, train stops for a long time at every station

22nd May, Still in the train (Trivandrum Mail)
Raining - the green looks greener #kerala

22nd May, Still in the train (Trivandrum Mail)
#Kerala needs to do somethg abt ensuring trains are on time ; very few tracks says my co pax ; no point promoting tourism if you cant arrive on time

22nd May, Still in the train (Trivandrum Mail)
When we halted at Edapally 10 mins ago, there was no one at station - not even a chaiwala, now I see a handful of people. We are still here

22nd May, Ernakulam Town Railway Station
Welcome to the town where you are certain to get ripped off  - only in #kerala, one pays Rs 450 officially to a cab for 10 kms & its not prepaid

22nd May, Cochin
The more I travel in #Kerala, the more I realize that its a huge tourist trap - people,places, experiences- everythg abt it is Touristy

22nd May, Cochin
And Im abt to enter the most touristy of all places in Cochin - Fort Kochi

22nd May, Cochin
Checked in at Napier House in Fort Kochi , a quaint villa which is more than 200 years old , originally owned by a Dutch #kerala

22nd May, Cochin
Love the wooden staircase #napier house

22nd May, Cochin
Im at BTH (Bharat Tourist Hotel ) #lunch

22nd May, Cochin
My cabbie & another driver were watchg a movie in their Indica DVD player while we were lunching - seraichale was the film #kerala

22nd May, Cochin
Veg food in #kerala is a delicacy - very few restaurants even in the key cities serve veg food - in the highways, its next to impossible

22nd May, Cochin
Board on a lampost in Cochin - "Specialist in Sexually Diseases! Contact ..." #kerala

22nd May, Cochin
Theres a toll booth near Cochin that charges Rs 7.5 return #kerala

22nd May, Thripunithura
At Thripunithura - the Hill Palace was huge but I had to give it a miss, as I had another appt elsewhere #kerala

22nd May, Thripunithura
Watchg young boys learning the "chenda" in the temple at Thripunithura #kerala

22nd May, Thripunithura
Interestg aspect of Thripunithura is that most buildings are palaces and people live here even today #kerala

22nd May, Thripunithura
The sound of "chenda" is reverberating in my eardrums - what a vibration and there are just 4 students here, 3 of them boys

22nd May, Thripunithura
Just visited a 250 year old palace in Thripunithura, there were just 2 rooms in it - one has some precious murals and portraits on walls

22nd May, Thripunithura
I hv heard them in Guruvayoor temple and now sitting in the chenda class, the ground below me is shaking with high decibel levels #kerala

22nd May, Thripunithura
Watchg a rehearsal of a kathakali show by an all women's team - they may not hv costumes, but its power packed - performance in Blr nxt week

22nd May, Cochin
Traffic jam at Fort Kochi- no place for pedestrians . Horns screeching #kerala

22nd May, Cochin
Both @aaroo4 and I were quite surprised to see the cop do an alcohol test on a cabbie #cochin #kerala

22nd May, Cochin
Nice desi khana @Dal roti , Fort Kochi

22nd May, Cochin
Extremely disappointed with Malabar house , Fort Kochi as they didnt let us in , claimg sm corporate group has booked the restaurant & lounge #kerala

22nd May, Cochin
Also disappointed that my fav kashi art cafe in Fort Kochi has shut down for vacation & off season period - so have several cafes #kerala

22nd May, Cochin
Nice to see firangs enjoyg desi daal roti food - just two Indian couples around #fortkochi #kerala

Day 3 - Cochin

23rd May, Cochin
Morng Cochin , pity its been a short visit, but your trains are running full and hence Ive got to fly early ; catch you next time #kerala

23rd May, Cochin
Got a cabbie who doesnt know how to go to jew town fm fort kochi - he says hes fm alleppey ; gps to rescue #kerala

23rd May, Cochin
What a weird cabbie - hes more worried abt me payg parkg rather than checkg the vehicle cmg fm other direction - banged into him almost

23rd May, Cochin
Some amazing frescos in the Dutch palace museum - of deities and scenes fm epics - highly recommended #cochin #kerala

23rd May, Cochin
Finally I make it to Cochin's Synagogue after several attempts - usually land on Fridays or Sat when its closed to the public #kerala

23rd May, Cochin
Only 15 families of Jews still live in #Cochin - the lady @synagogue says they are tired of talking to people esplly journos #kerala

23rd May, Cochin
Just saw an #Amma-ul hoarding in Cochin celebratg the "Chennai Super Queen's " victory - now will the Kings win ? #kerala #Tamilnadu #amul

23rd May, Cochin
Still on MG road Ernakulam, got to reach airport by 1230 and the cabbie is crawling - wondering if I can make it #kerala

23rd May, Cochin
You dont call it a highway when you hv autos blocking traffic and sm innumerable signals enroute to airport #kerala #cochin

23rd May, Cochin
Spoke to the airport guys and bought sm ten mins , but I think we will make it well within the stipulated time #goair #cochin #win

23rd May, Cochin
Boarding people - see you in a while in #bangalore

Epilogue
23rd May, Bangalore
lakshmisharath Planning a post - Cochin in 140 characters on backpacker - fun to read them all over again...

So what do guys think ? The trip/the post/ the tweets - do give me your feedback 

Kerala - Gods own country marketed by man

Until five minutes ago, I was writing my column - Inside Story for the Metro Plus on Kumbalangi - a small hamlet on the outskirts of Cochin. I had just written about 100 words when I was faced with a dilemma. Do I paint my views on Kumbalangi the way I see it or do I just write about it objectively as a destination to be experienced ? The dilemma is rather complex because the question arises what or where is Kumbalangi

At one level, Kumbalangi is a beautiful village on the outskirts of Cochin. But on a different level,  it is a product packaged by the Incredible India-UNDP project  to promote it as an Model Tourism Village for tourists..now what does that mean ? Nothing ,according to me - its just marketing jargon. But then in kerala, everything seems to be a product like this one and we are all consumers - so even simplicity and rustic beauty is packaged and sold to you as an experience..they tell you to walk in the fields and experience village life ,  like you didnt know it before... You are also told that you can go fishing or watch a small scale coir unit or see crabs being caught in local pools..but they dont tell you that you have to pay a price for all of them. I do not have a problem with that, but I do get a bit worried when locals say they have a gag on their mouths as they cannot just share information about crabs or birds to any tourist who just comes visiting.

It is not really a model village where you can see these happenning around you..they are " arranged" for you if you stay in one of those homestays, but you need to give them adequate notice and then you get to " experience" Kerala's rustic beauty...Even the locals who are very pleasant will ask you for money if you want to take a photograph of them or the orchids in their garden...Nothing wrong with this, because " model tourism village "means the locals earn from tourists and you need to pay them for giving you this experience..

I am all for rustic tourism and I would like to go all out and promote sustainable rustic tourism . Its great to go fishing, learn about local culture and understand the nuances of farming and I am even willing to pay a small price for it,but I have a problem if it becomes a tourist trap. Having said all that, Kumbalangi lives up to the promise of Gods own country, and unlike rest of urban kerala which is spoiled by man, this lives up to its marketing promise as well. So now, you have me in this dilemma..what do you want me to say ?

And my world today is spicy

From the display window of the spice village in Mattancheri , the Jew Town near Fort Kochi. If you are planning to buy spices here, believe me , its very expensive. My driver had a suggestion - he asked us to buy the spices from a whole sale market close by. We did buy a few samples there as gifts, but its no less cheap.

This is my world today ..If you would like to see more exciting worlds, participate in My World Tuesday 

Birding in Cochin

Ok..its the birding season and everyone has flown to exotic destinations to look for exotic birds. Well, I am an exception..not that I dont want to do birding, but my compass currently points towards home. However, during my recent trip to Cochin, I didnt do much birding, but we did spot a lot of water birds and a few woodland birds. The malabar whistling thrush was singing away, while I spotted the black headed oriole , pied wagtail, black drongos . I went looking for horn bills near Athirampally Falls, but I guess they flew away to avoid the crowds. Here are some pictures of some of the more common birds - a cormorant here, which the locals refer to as " neer kaka" or the " water crows", a pair of white breasted kingfishers, which had their breakfast while I had mine, a pond heron and a coucal which landed right in front of my room window.

A lone boat in the clogged backwaters of Kerala

Just got back from a quick trip to Kerala...Updates soon..

Happy Deepavali and Im off to Kochi

Its customary that we take a holiday in the first week of November and I was itching to go this year as well. Just that it coincided with the Deepavali holidays - As  a rule, I avoid travelling to any tourist places during festivals and holidays as I cannot stand crowds and them of course, one needs to deal with the gentle pressure of spending festivals at home - this time however we decided to please everybody and head for a short trip to Kerala. My tickets are still not confirmed , even on tatkal, but if all goes well, I should be on the train to Cochin..

Somebody asked me why Cochin and I realized since my 2nd standard, I havent really explored the city, even though Ive gone there many times on work.Its also well connected to many other destinations like Trichur or Munnar or Kumarakom or to the temples or to lesser known places. Although personally I prefer Trivandrum to Kochi (Its very loud and noisy now) , I hope to just chill and spend some time in Fort Kochi, go to the touristy and non touristy places and relax a bit. If I can, I will try and squeeze a couple of destinations or temples around Kochi..The idea is not to travel with a list of must see places , but to go with a  basic idea and see whatever I can see..Ive realized that i enjoy this type of travel these days , which helps me to meet people, reflect, relax and still explore..

So Happy and Safe  Deepavali folks and I wish Kerala shows some mercy to my ear drums and treats me to a noiseless Deepavali....