10/28/10 Chennamkary

Sorry I haven't posted in awhile.  I didn't have internet access for several days.  Once I got back to Bangalore, the damn hotel food got me sick for another several days.  So what follows are transcripts from my notes.  Marie and I leave for Delhi tomorrow!

The four of us (Karen, Susie, Jacob and myself) wake early to take a morning walk around the island villages with Binu, our guide for the day.  Binu is a native of this part of Kerala.  His English is excellent and his demeanor very friendly, even if it was mainly directed at the Scottish girls.  We came to learn many things from our guide through the course of the walkabout. 

To give you an idea of the area where I'm staying, it's a collection of islands outside of the city of Alleppey.  This community of islands form what is called Chennamkary.  Alleppey is considered the Venice of Italy and while that may be so, it seemed to be overly commercialized with too much trash, businesses, and touts trying to sell you their overnight houseboat service.  Chennamkary on the other hand was quiet, conservative, and didn't have any businesses to speak of save the one local produce/snack shack located on each island.  No one here asks you to "Please come to my store", or "I give you tour in rickshaw".  In fact, there wasn't a single motorized vehicle anywhere except the motorized houseboats and ferries hauling people between the islands.  This meant no traffic to dodge and most important of all which has become standard here in India, no incessant honking by all manners of vehicles.  Even the bicycles have bells!    About the only thing you hear is the sporadic rooster crow.  This meant a whole lot of peace and quiet. 

After a nice long walk, we were treated to a tasty Keralan style breakfast prepared and served in a local villager's home.  A home cooked meal beats any restaurant's food in my opinion.  We followed this up with a lively game of Badminton.  While playing I notice that I'm a bit rusty in my lateral movements.  I'll have to work on this when I get home.  Continuing our walk, Binu stops for a moment and fashions each of us a small musical instrument made out of a single leaf and thread pulled from his "Longyi".  He instructs us to blow into it and voila, music!  Well, not exactly considering it sounds like a Vuvuzela, but it keeps us occupied like kids for well over an hour. 

Upon returning home, Jacob and I dig in with our books on the front porch while Karen and Susie attend a cooking class.  Five minutes haven't passed and Jacob is fast falling asleep.  It's quiet, the roosters seemed to have given me a reprieve.  In the far off distance you can hear the chants of Mass being performed in the local church.  They're very religious here in Chennamkary.  The islands contain a mix of Christian churches, Hindu temples, and Muslim mosques.  Each island or village has their own.  I continue to read Haruki Murakami's "Norwegian Wood" under a whirling ceiling fan, intent on finishing a chapter or two before I fall victim to Mr. Sandman. 

The girls finish their cooking class and soon we're called to lunch.  Karen and Susie under the guidance of Ann, the matron of the family who owns this 3 house compound has done a fine job preparing our meals.  The typical Keralan meal consists of a starch that's either a large grained rice or ground coconut mixed with rice flour.  All the mains and sides contain some element of coconut, whether it's the coconut stem heart, coconut meat, coconut oil, or coconut flower.  After lunch, and a bit more reading (or sleeping in Jacob's case), we  rent a motorized boat to see more of the backwaters.  Unfortunately, Karen and Susie are checking out this afternoon but we're quickly joined by a Canadian couple that just checked in.  Jeff, Jennifer, Jacob and I decide to hop on the metal roof of our boat to get a better view.  This proves to be extremely fun though a bit unorthodox.  The whole way through, we're waving to kids and locals and they're waving back at us!


Midway through the boat ride, our captain, Anthony invites us to his house.  Although not in the original itinerary, we all agree to this detour.  Anthony's family proves to be very welcoming.  They serve us coconut water out of a coconut and teach us about the various stages of a coconut's life and the way it's used in their cooking. 

Arriving "home" we make our way to the dining room/green house and are treated to more of Ann's excellent cooking.  I've never eaten more in India than I have here at GreenPalm's Homestay!  Their traditional Keralan style of cooking is out of this world.  Super!  I had never been partial to coconut based foods like the way the Thais or Filipinos use coconut in their cooking, but the Keralan style was different.  It used an abundance of spices which give it a kick that I'm used to in North Indian and Pakistani cooking.  When I say spices, I mean ginger, coriander, cardamom, cinnamon, cumin, curry leaves, allspice, curry leaves, etc., and not just the chilies. 

We are again joined at dinner by a new round of travelers from the Mission in San Francisco.  This is definitely a small world!  After dinner we all retreat to the covered porch and talk the night away.  At 11:45 PM, I bid my adieu  and head to bed.  I'll be waking up at 5 AM to catch a 5 hr bus to Kumily to see the Periyar Tiger Preserve.