One last meal of Egg Dosa at SN Restaurant and I take off for Fort Cochin on the west coast of India. I wanted to change it up a bit from my regular breakfast of Masala Dosa and I was not disappointed.
Leaving JJ Cottage was hard only because I really liked the homestay. Great proprietors, clean rooms, and a hot shower gives it my top recommendation. The bus station was only a hop and skip away. Its starting to drizzle now but I expect it to last an hour before it dies down. I ask the station attendant how long till the bus arrives. With a thick accent he tells me it will arrive soon and to take a seat. The drizzle soon gives way to full on rain. It feels like San Francisco with the rain, cold air, and the fog.
I hurriedly step back into the station office to shield myself from the downpour when the bus arrives. It looks like it came straight out of hell. The buses yellow paint has long since faded and gave way to a reddish hue from the rust. It creaked as it settled in for a brief respite from whatever journey it has recently undertaken. As soon as it came to a full stop, the driver and the on-board ticket taker hopped off to enact some repair on the front right wheelbase. I told myself, "Oh boy, this is gonna be a rough ride. I sure hope we don't break down on the five and a half hour ride."
As soon as I take a seat, another lady boards the bus. She was an older woman dressed in hippy beachwear. "She must have been to Goa recently" I think to myself. Spotting me in the empty bus, she starts up a conversation. That's different was my reaction! I was so used to approaching others to strike up a conversation that I was a little surprised. This was actually really refreshing! Ovid, an Israeli woman was traveling around India for a month and ending her vacation in Thailand for the second month.
On the way there and despite the rain, I notice that the countryside here is soooo green and beautiful! They have a slogan for Kerala, "God's Own Country." I can't argue with that.
I arrive in Ernakulam and take the first ferry out to Fort Cochin. The rain has subsided and the weather is starting to look promising. Arriving at Saj Homestay, I was greeted at the door by the man himself with a warm greeting and a nice cold bottle of water. I instantly know that I'm going to like it here. Not too long after unpacking, I receive a knock on my door. It's Saj and he's introducing me to an Oakland, CA native by the name of Sam. What a small world this is! We exchange introductions and quickly decide to venture out into town together.
After seeing a few local sites and grabbing a mediocre dinner, we inquire of our restaurant waiter about the nearest bar in town. The waiter tells us, "It's not possible." The next establishment we seek out which clearly states in its signage "Beer and Wine", tells us the same thing, "It's not possible." Apparently the local goverment has frozen all sales of alcohol in the runup to the local elections. The 3-4 licensed restaurants/bars in town won't be serving alcohol for the next 3 days. Crap! Undeterred by this, Sam and I spend the next hour going in and out various establishments in our quest for beer. We try every corner market, restaurant, and bar we passed with no luck. After a couple of deadends and misleads, we get a tip that proves successful! The only catch was that the restaurant served them in white mugs. They called it "tea" and so we spent the remainder of the night having our fill of "tea".
The restaurant having emptied of patrons, began to close down for the night. Sam and I slumber back to our respective rooms after hitching a ride in an "auto" rickshaw with an Isle of Man couple we met over "tea". Count em, five total in the rickshaw including the driver.
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