February 9, Vakara, India

Yesterday, Jim and I went to the city of Vakara. We didn't last long until we were ready to head back to the beach. Even crossing the street is so difficult, as horns beep and everyone seems to be coming ever which way.  Guess I just don't cross too many busy streets in Portaupique.

Lots of colours, smells and sounds mix to make a sort of frantic energy in the city.

While where we are staying is very touristy, it is also quiet and beautiful and relaxed.

We had another great fish supper last night.

My new cane has been very useful. Yesterday I took it to a shoemaker to get a leather tip over the slippery brass one. Today, it is at the drum maker getting repaired as the brass part that joins the two pieces of the cane together is very wobbly.  I fear that it will no longer come apart and be packable but hopefully it will be secure to use.

Every morning we watch fishermen while we are having breakfast.

And this morning on the beach

We also saw some wonderful yoga.  Hopefully once I am walking better, I will be able to bend and stretch and stand on one foot again!

One more day of vacation, and then it's back to the hard work of seeing India!

February 7, 2914 varkela, India

What a wonderful day today. Usually I am filled with have to dos and want to dos but today finally I am having a great day off. Jim and I had a terrific breakfast and then I read for the morning., finishing Anne Tyler's The Beginner's Goodbye. Ever since I read her Accidental Tourist many years ago, I have enjoyed her writing.  Recently I figured out how to borrow ebooks fom the library. Now I always have ten holds ahead,( the maximum) and a couple of works waiting to be read on my bookshelf. On this trip so far, I have read sue Monk Kidds,  the Invention of Wings (excellent) and February and of course, today's The Beginners Goodbye.

Then Jim and I changed into our bathing suits and headed for the beach. The waves were spectacular

And a little nerve wracking as they knocked you off your feet. We weren't in long before we decided we were cooled off and perhaps it would be safer on shore. Parts of the beach had red flags, presumably indicating that the surf was too strong to be out in.  Jim said that I was making quite a fashion statement.  "Why?" I asked. Well he said you are the only female on the beach in a one piece bathing suit except for a few bikini wearers who just neglected the top part.

February 6, 2014 Varkala, India

This fellow joined us as breakfast this morning!

Later in the morning we stopped for beer. It comes in teapots this time of day to satisfy the police.

After our beer break we head to the beach for a swim.The water was warm and clear, the sand was white and perfect and the surf was huge! Eagles and para gliders were overhead. 

February 5 , 2014 Varkala, India

This morning Francis picked us up in Kollum and took us to his home.

We met his daughter Olive and his wife Jacquilin.

It was wonderful to see a real home and to have breakfast. This was definitely a highlight of my trip so far.

The we were off with Francis to see where he grew up.  Lots of boats and fishermen.

The boats here are sewn together with coconut rope, no nails.

I walked up to the top of a lighthouse.

And then we drove to Varkala and eventually we found the spot that Jim had booked on line. Unfortunately we first found a fantastic coconut village that I could imagind spending the rest of my trip at. Imagine when I found out that it wasn't our  coconut village but a cheap one! Of course our coconut village is not nearly the place that the other one was BUT it does have wifi and I can look and see the ocean, so all is good.

Francis took us to see the beach and to get beer before he left us. Suddenly we came across a snake charmer. I had grown up with a photo my Dad had taken in India during WWTwo of a snake charmer. This photo has now disappeared but now I have seen the real thing.

I have been admiring all the men in loungis. They continually seem to flip their skirts! One minute long, the next showing knees. Jim has joined the fraternity thanks to Francis.

February 4, 2014, Kollum, India

Yesterday, Jim and I took a five hour ferry from Alleppy down the inland waterway. It was a lovely trip.

More of the Chinese fishing nets: this time not on the shore but right in the channel.

Lots of fishing boats

and again, my favourite, the people.

I was quite excited to be going to stay at the Amrithanandamayi mission, Jim was skeptical. The ashram is enormous, more than two thousand people live there plus all the visitors. It's a huge pink edifice wedged between the inland water way and the Indian Ocean. The  site is spectacular. After checking in and getting our sheets, we made our way down to the ocean. Ama was leading some meditation. For the next hour, many people in plastic lawn chairs sat and breathed. 

Unfortunately, both Jim and I were appalled with the entire cult mentality. After the meditation, there was another service for two hours in a huge hall.  This was all songs in Hindi praising "AMA" the mother god. Ama was at this service too. By the time it ended, we were too disgruntled, and tired to eat so we were back to our bare room and drank rum and coke.  Absolutely against the rules, as is 

handholding, fratranizing with the villagers, taking photos and on and on and on.

Anyways, this morning before breakfast, we went and sat on the beach. I did two sketches and wrote this:

A flat cerulean sky

Meets the Indian Ocean

Far on the horizon.

The water is pale and calm

Until it reaches the rolling 

Beige and mauve sand.

Then the wave deepens 

To a dark blue green

And swells until it 

Can rise no more.

It collapses with

A booming, thunderous spray.

The white froth spills up the beech

And then recedes

Just before the next wave crests.

After a plate of rice, I returned to the beach where I sat and painted for four hours. it was glorious!

Then we checked out of the cult- freedom felt wonderful and we caught a tuk tuk to Kollan.

By the time we arrived, I was starving, no lunch or supper yesterday and some rice this morning and no lunch.  I was also totally scared to death because of the many near misses in the tuk tuk.  

As soon as we found a place to stay ( too expensive, but we were desperate) we got another tuk tuk to go to a hotel where they served beer and food. Jim and I ended up in the lounge called the glazier-- everything was stark white, walls, tables, chairs everything and of course the entire place was empty! It certainly seemed surreal.  Until this spot, I thought that vegetarian food was easy to get in India. Not at the glazier, Jim enjoyed spicey beef and beer and I settled for french fries! And so ends another day in India.

February 2, 2014 Alleppy, India

The men here in Kerala mostly wear skirts, they look like bed sheets. They spend a lot of time flipping them up and down. Maybe it is cooling.

It's Sunday morning and after walking in the heat and dodging traffic, Jim suggested we go get a cold drink. We went into a hotel, skipping the crowded bar and down a dark hallway to an insence filled dark restaurant. We both ordered a cold beer and we remembered a time in Siuth America where we had beer on a Sunday morning! Yesterday no beer could be sold in Alleppy, for which there seems to be no reason.

The street food is delicious. We tried some fresh donut like things this morning!

I am always interested to see Che Guevara as a symbol of freedom around the world

February 1, 2014, Allepie India

We arrived by train yesterday and last night took a tuk tuk to a restaurant on a beach recommended in Loney Planet. Lots of foreigners.they only sold beer until 6:30 so we sat and had some Kingfisher beer and eventually had a great supper

The camels were on the beach

Today we took a five hour boat trip through the canals of Allepie. This is the Venice of India but it didn't look a bit like Venice.  A lot if the canals were narrow and the land between them was narrow. In behind some were enormous rive paddies. We even saw some men throwing rice for seeding.

The entire feeling was very rural and tropical.

You can see that it is the people that captivate me.

Also the birds

We had a traditional Kerela lunch by the shore; four types of curry, fried fish, boiled rice, served on a banana leaf and all eaten with fingers. It was delicious.