5 AM rolls around and I roll out of bed, wash up, pack my bags and head out to the kitchen to grab some spiced milk tea. George, one of the Mission fellows is up. Apparently the roosters woke him up earlier than he had planned. Philip, our host at GreenPalms is up as well. We make small talk as we're all still a bit groggy from the early morning. Jacob crashes our tea party at 5:45 AM. He wanted to see my off. What a bud! Jacob's been another great travel companion here in India. He's a very amicable fellow with good wit and a kind heart. I'll miss him and our joking around. We shake hands, give bro hugs and say our goodbyes.
It's now 6:45 AM and the village is slowly waking up from its deep slumber. There's a fine mist hanging over the river. The motorboats are nowhere in sight. There is a strange calm hanging over the islands. Taking the canoe back to the other side of the river banks from where I first started seemed almost surreal. It felt like the canoe reached the opposite side faster than it had on my arrival. I wonder why? Reaching the shore, I hop on the back of a motorbike driven by one of the homestay's help. This is my first time on a bike and I'm not in the least bit scared. I just took it for what it is, a transportation method. You need to have that kind of attitude here in India. Just take it as it comes. Manu the bike driver stays with me at the bus stand until my bus arrives.
On the bus to Kumily, I befriend a group of high school kids making their way to a quiz competition. They've been quizzing each other non stop ever since they boarded the bus. "Who was the first to win Tennis' Grand Slam?", "Who wrote Romeo and Juliet?", "What is the capitol of China?" We exchange the usual introductions and I soon find myself being quizzed by them. They seemed thoroughly enthralled in my background and my opinions of India. I give them my honest opinion about the delightful people and how helpful everyone has been during my travels. They looked a bit shocked that the local Indians have been so kind to me. Maybe Indians treat their foreign guests differently, perhaps out of curiosity they're more engaging, or perhaps they're just trying to practice their English, but as far as I'm concerned I've had no problems thus far. In fact as I stated before, for the most part I've been treated with respect and kindness in India.
As we approach the Kumily bus stand, my fellow passengers urge me off and tell me that we've arrived in Kumily. They must have overheard my conversation with the high schoolers who have since gotten off the bus at an earlier bus stand. See what I mean by helpful? Once I step off I'm bombarded by touts selling their sight seeing service. Suddenly a chain smoking wiry old man approaches and with perfect English asks me "Where are you going?". I tell him my hotel is GreenView Homestay and that I'm to meet with the owner Suresh. "I work for him" was Sakiel's response. Hesitatingly I follow this man to a rickshaw. On an earlier phone call to Suresh, he advised me not to trust anyone at the bus station who claims to work for him. Well, as long as the rickshaw takes me to GreenView I couldn't care less. So the rickshaw makes its way past pedestrians, auto rickshaws, cars, trucks, etc and after 5 minutes pulls into GreenView. I place my trust in Sakiel and he pulls through.
At GreenView I decide on some activities to do in and around town. I place my trust in Sakiel again by placing Rs 1,800 in his hand to purchase tickets to another Kathakali Dance performance and a safari in Periyar (South India's largest game preserve). When the time comes, a rickshaw driver arrives at my hotel door and takes me to the performance. I've been given a front row seat in the middle aisle! The best seat in the hall! Sakiel's the man! Arriving early, I take my assigned seat next to the first person to arrive, an Italian native in her 20's doing volunteer work in Madurai. She's beginning her 1 week vacation from work to visit Kerala. She's also actually quite an attractive lady and from the stories I've heard from other foreign female travelers about the negative attention they've received from local men, I ask her how she's been faring in India. She tells me everything has been fine thus far. This is a bit surprising to me. I've been told that local men would sneak photos of Caucasian women with their camera phones. They would even ask to pose with them in group photos and sneak glances down low cut blouses. Whistling apparently is a common activity while for some men chanting "Sex, sex, sex!" is preferred. One Brit even told me that young kids on motorbikes once drove by and grabbed at her chest and hair. She also found a train security guard filming her while she slept on an overnight train. I've never actually seen any of these behaviors but I truly hope they're just off-chance encounters.
The Kathakali show was fine. It seemed more authentic than the one I saw in Fort Cochin. After the curtain call, I made my way to the exit in the back of the hall against the tide of people rushing to the front to take pictures with the extravagantly dressed performers. It's beginning to rain. I spot a bookstore and decide to duck in and wait it out. I need a new book anyways as I'm nearly through with "Norwegian Wood". I highly recommend it by the way.
Picking out "Shantaram", I notice that the rain is coming down even harder now. It's close to 9 PM and I'm getting hungry. Quickly making my way to a nearby restaurant recommended by the bookstore employee I inevitably get soaked and head to the wash room to dry up a bit. After I finish my Rs30 Masala Dosa I hail a rickshaw to take me back to the hotel. I strike up a conversation with the friendly driver. He tells me he makes good money on rainy nights but prefers not to work because it is "Very dangerous!" This is not surprising considering the rain and the manner in which drivers weave in and out of traffic. If I haven't pointed out already, drivers here don't follow the dividing lines, frequently using the opposing lane to pass other vehicles. I encounter the driver again the next day and have another brief conversation. He actually spots me first and waves me over to talk a bit. Nice people here!
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