Kerala — “God’s Own Country”
I’ve been to India several times in my life with my family, but since we have roots in Punjab, we always end up spending our 2-week vacation visiting numerous relatives and friends. This leaves little time to explore India.
Thus when embarking on my 6-month backpacking journey across India, I chose to start somewhere I’ve never been before. I was particularly interested in the other side of India — the south. I’ve heard many good things about Kerala, so I decided to land there and begin my journey.
Fort Kochin
After landing in Kochi, I took a 45-minute taxi drive from the airport to Fort Kochin. I chose to begin in a smaller town with a laid-back vibe. I stayed at Maritime Hostel, where I noticed there was a good mix of local Indians and foreigners. I learned that a lot of people around India, mostly from Bangalore, were coming for an art festival happening during this time.
I started my first day by strolling along the bay and appreciating the epic trees (and thanked them for the shade). As of late-March, its already getting hot — around 9o degrees.
I watched a classic Kathikali performance at a cultural art center. The performance is more about using expressive gestures to tell a story vs. being a dance. The make-up and costumes are amazing.
Fort Kochi also has a “Jew town” within. Apparently Cochin Jews have lived here since the time of King Solomon — so about 500 B.C. Only 3 Jews remain today, as most left India after it gained independence in 1947.
I biked through Jew Town, but didn’t notice much Jewish influence, except for some banners on the street. There is a synagogue to see, but it was closed.
Luckily, I arrived to this small town during an art festival called Bienalle. There were various forms of modern art throughout the city. Here are my two favorites.
1) This ~30-foot long panorama drawn by a Chinese artist, Dai Xiang. There’s a lot going on, and photos won’t be able to do it justice. It’s got some humor in there.
2) This fish art installation — impact of plastic and sea animals. The “art piece on dirt” look reminded me of Burning Man and gave me some nostalgia.
Trivandrum
After visiting Fort Kochi, I took a 4-hour train ride down to Trivandrum. My friend Srikanth back home from California grew up in this city, and invited my to stay there with his mom to have a “soft landing” before continuing to explore India.
The timing ended up being good luck for me. By the time I arrived in Trivandrum, my left ankle was swollen, and walking was painful. I took off my socks and inspected my foot. Immediately, Srikanth’s mom said that I had an infection, the same had coincidentally also happened to her brother when he had visited India. I deduced that I had gotten bitten on my foot by a mosquito in Fort Kochin. My sandle strap ended up rubbing this bite as I walked, further opening up the wound and letting bacteria in. Less than a week in India, and I already need to see a doctor. lol
Luckily I was in good hands. The next morning Srikanth’s mom took me to a private hospital. I paid $5 to register and get a hospital ID card. Within 30 minutes, I saw a doctor. Within 30 seconds, he saw my foot and diagnosed it as infected. He prescribed me antibiotics (Amoxicyllin). I picked up the medicine from the pharmacy, paid 292 rupees (about $4.50), and went on my way.
I’m grateful to have Srikanth’s mom guide me through this whole process, as it would have been a lot more work for me to figure out where to go, what to say, etc. Within a day the pain went away, and within 5 days the swelling was gone.
Padmanbhaswamy Temple — “You’re Not Hindu”
The next day, Srikanth’s mom invited me to go along with her to the temple, which is part of her daily routine. The Padmanbhaswamy Temple is grand, and in recent years has been popularized as the Indian government recently had some secret vaults opened, and found a stunning amount of jewelry. This temple is the wealthiest place of worship in the world, with an estimated $1.2 trillion rupees worth of gold (that’s about $18 billion U.S.). This wealth has been amassed through time as wealthy kings and such have made offerings to the temple over time.
The temple has a strict dress code — men must enter topless, and wearing a dhoti. No phones or anything with a camera are allowed. I don’t have a photo of myself dressed this way, but here’s what it looks like to be in dress code:
Srikanth’s mom and I arrived to the temple at 5pm. I’m dressed in the dhoti. The gate is guarded by two men with large rifles and a security guard holding a stick. As I start walking towards the metal detector, the security guard asks me if I have a mobile. I simply say “no”. Perhaps my accent was sufficient for further questioning.
The guard tells me to come back. He then asks me if I’m Hindu. I say yes. He asks my name. I tell him — “Ankur”. He then asks, “it is a Christian name, no?” I tell him its Indian, and I was born in Punjab. He then asks what is my current citizenship, and I say its US. And then he has this “aha!” kind of face, like he’s found something crucial. He asks me if I have my passport, and I say no. He then says he can’t let me in because I cannot prove that I am Hindu, and that rules must be followed.
Srikanth’s mom visits the temple everyday, and she attempts to vouch for me, saying she knows that I am Hindu and Punjabi. The security guard keeps referring to “the rules”. Srikanth’s mom points to my Om tattoo on my chest as evidence, but he nods it off. There’s more back and forth between them. Ultimately he says I must apply for a special permit from the temple office.
I tell Srikanth’s mom to go ahead without me, and I’ll just wait outside somewhere. She’s determined though. The temple has 4 gates — so I follow Srikanth’s mom to the West gate, and we get through security there with no questions asked. She then says something like, “God knows the truth, and that’s all that matters.”
The temple is grand and ornate from the inside, but I didn’t have much time to admire it since the security guard had wasted our time, so we were rushing to see the temple and the altar before the temple closed at 6pm.
Later I reflected on the whole experience with the security guard, and I felt annoyed. I had not bothered arguing with the security guard, but who was he to give me a religion test? And what does showing a passport have to do with religion? It was a bit intimidating as well with the two armed officers with large rifles by his side. This also made me think of the whole Muslim Ban happening back home in the US, with travelers at airports being discriminated against because of their religion. I ended up learning that temples in South India tend to be more conservative and strict than the temples I’ve gone to in Punjab.
The rest of my time in Trivandrum was relaxing. I mostly rested, letting my foot heal, and spent the time planning the next week of my trip in Kerala. I ate a lot of good home-cooked food thanks to Srikanth’s mom. I learned to enjoy eating with my hands like the South Indians do.
Initially before my visit, I was concerned about moments of awkward silence, but there were none, and I found Srikanth’s mom to be energetic, active, and easy to talk to. I’m grateful for all the care she has given me.
Varkala
My next destination was Varkala, a small beach town among the cliffs, with a well-kept and clean beach below. The area is popular with foreigners, mostly European and Australian, coming to relax on the beach, or do yoga retreats.
My first hour there I met a fellow traveler, James, at the “Vedanta — Wake Up!” hostel. He was a very friendly guy. Within an hour of arriving at hostel we went out to dinner, an he led me to an off-the-tourist street thali restaurant. I got a full vegetarian thali for 70 rupees ($1).
James and I shared stories, but James shared a particularly interesting one. He told me how the previous night he had walked into a restaurant, an Indian waiter saw him and froze. He asked the waiter for some directions, but the waiter replied, “my hands are shaking!” I would say James is a handsome white guy, and he’s also young — 20 years old. The waiter was so awestruck by James, he asked him to come back to the restaurant again so he could see him once more. The waiter had a crush on James. James described how he had felt awkward the whole time.
The story could end there, but it didn’t. We left the restaurant, and walked along the path along the cliffs. Coincidentally, the Indian waiter was hanging out on the path and spotted James. He shouted, his facial expression was elated. He started chit-chatting with James, and then he put his arm around James’ waist. They walked like this, awkwardly, for about 10 minutes. I became the third wheel. James was too nice and didn’t want to hurt the waiter’s feelings, so he persisted with the awkwardness. Eventually the local Indian man was disappointed that James wasn’t attracted to him, or men in general. Still, he asked James to visit him at the restaurant once more before he left to say goodbye, to which James obliged. Again, very nice of James!
The rest of my stay in Varkala was quiet. I did some yoga. My first yoga class on Thursday evening was a challenge. The first instructor cancelled the class 5 minutes before it started. The second instructor I went to seemed like he would also cancel, as I sat there for 5, 10, 15 minutes, and he still hadn’t shown up. He arrived about 20 minutes late. Apparently there was a procession of elephants for a religious festival, which then caused a lot of traffic and thus the delay. So India! During our yoga session, the electricity went out, so we were doing yoga in the dark with a small flashlight. Then a thunderstorm started. Welcome to yoga in India. A memorable experience.
Alleppey
Alleppey is famous for its backwaters, and it is labeled as the “Venice of India”. A popular and expensive option here is to rent a house boat (6,000 rupees & up($92) and stroll along the backwaters. Another popular and less expensive option (900 rupees, $14) is to have an all-day canoe ride through the backwaters. I think the second option is better, since the canoe is thinner, and can navigate the narrower canals, which the bigger house boats cannot. This way you end up seeing more of the local neighborhoods.
Our tour started with a ferry ride, followed by a short walk to a local’s home, where we were served breakfast. A young Keralan girl entertained the 14 tourists, while her mom prepared and served us our breakfast of idli and sambar.
We then got into our 4-seater canoes, and started exploring the backwaters. As we waded through, we almost seemed invisible to the locals, who went about their day, cutting vegetables, or fish, or doing laundry, by the waterside.
In the canoe with me were three Europeans: a male from the Netherlands, and two women from the UK. Somehow the conversation became about politics, specifically Trump and Brexit. I was interested in the conversation for a bit, to hear the perspectives about non-Americans about Trump, but then I became quiet, as it was pulling us from the experience of the backwaters.
Later, when we were talking about beaches, the guy from the Netherlands told me a story about how a local Indian man had tried to seduce him on the beach, asking him if he wanted a “special massage”. Hmm, seems like a theme is developing here. The two women shared how they had initially felt scared with traveling in India, fearing harassment by Indian men, but they actually felt safe here over the past month. Seems like its the foreign white guys having issues or harassment!
A second highlight in Alleppey was going around town with Rashmi, who worked for the “Artpackers.Life” hostel I was staying at. Rashmi was creating a food tour for the hostel guests, and I tagged along. I ended up going to little shops and sampling lots of authentic food that I wouldn’t have been able to figure out on my own.
This sums up my time in Kerala. My next destination is to Tiruvannamalai, Tamil Nadu, where I’ll be volunteering for a 10-day Vipassana retreat.
