Kerela — January 21st - 24th
2 March 2010, mid-morning
After Chennai we travelled by plane to Cochin, in Kerela. I was very excited about coming to Kerela: it’s the communist state in India. Sadly, after a day and a half there I ended getting incredibly sick. I don’t think i’ve been more ill in my entire life. So, I spent most of my time in Kerela in bed. My pictures of Cochin on Flickr. (Or IMG VQVZ) I took these notes to myself on my iPhone, hence the strange change in tense, poor grammar, and what have you.
Jan 21st
I don’t think we’ll be able to fit all out bags in our drivers car. I don’t know why my parents can’t pack light.
Chennai’s airport is as chaotic as the city. They don’t fuck around when it comes to security. Our flight was delayed. Classic Air India. They make up for the delay with pretty stewardesses in saris. The flight is not busy so Shima and I get a row to ourselves.
Kerela is gorgeous. I can’t believe this is India. We are staying at a sort of B&B. It’s incredibly nice. A girl called Cythinia runs the place with her dad. They will make us some sort of fish curry tonight. My goal is to eat as much fish and appam as I can while here.
The fish was good. You basically eat what people caught earlier in the day. They cook way more than we could ever possibly eat.
I spent most of the day asleep. The one time I was up I met a British dude who is also staying here. He was working in Sri Lanka for 3 months, at Dilmah tea. He is in Kerela for work as well. Apparently it’s easier to get a job here than in England. What?
Jan 22nd
Fort Cochin is clearly one giant tourist trap.
We walk to the pier and then grab a rickshaw to see the rest of the city. The original plan was to just go to the Jewish town, but the driver wasn’t having none of that. They get a kick back for driving you to shops. He also took us to some nice sites. So I guess it was all bad. My dad is basically a bit of push over. The driver was friendly enough, anyway. It cost is 200 rupees for his time, which is something like 4.50 Canadian.
Waiting for a Martial Arts performance to start. … OK, that was pretty crazy.
There are so many tourists in Cochin. And they have such shitty manners. The people here must feel like they are on show. Though, I guess technically this is a show. The Kathakali dance was quite good. The makeup is quite impressive. It’s interesting to see a dance form that basically makes almost no use of the feet.
I am totally wrecked. God damn. I think I am crazy dehydrated. Maybe I have food poisoning. Regardless the night wasn’t pleasant.
Jan 23rd
Still wrecked.
Spent the morning and early afternoon in a Kerela hospital. They call them nursing homes here. Was given fluids via an IV. The hospital was kind of ghetto.
Sleep.
Still wrecked.
Jan 24th
Still wrecked.
Shima looked up what the pills I was given do. One has side effects which match my symptoms. Nice.
Sleep. Woke up to the sound of a parade. The Kathakali Centre organized some sort of event. There was an elephant. That was the first time I left the flat in a good while. [TODO: Post photos once I develop them.]
Given different, but sadly equally ineffective, pills by Prem.
This night sucked about the same as the rest.