Last days in Kochi

We have reached our final destination! I thought I’d managed to get an Uber to take us back down the endless winding road back to Kochi  but then it seemed like he’d gone in a completely different direction so I had to cancel.

Leju, our homestay host who is also a taxi driver, offered to take us back for twice the price but it was worth it to have a gentle calm driver round all the bends and road works! He even insisted on washing the car before we left!

We are happy to be back here. As we get older we enjoy staying in places for longer, letting the environment become familiar rather than racing from one place to another, ticking off each and every tourist attraction! 

We do less but because we have been here so many times people remember us. The other day we flagged down a rickshaw to go down to Mattancherry to meet up with friends from Portugal and who should pick us up but Zakki who we first met six years ago in his brand new multi coloured tuk tuk! He gave us a free ride!

Accidentally we chanced upon Yousuf’s Art Gallery…still the same…and looking through old pics on our phones it was ten years since we were last there! Free ginger lime sodas and home made fruit cake! 

Charlie put his exhibition up in RedYoungs Sports club and has been going there every afternoon chatting to the locals and taking more photos.

Meanwhile I’m loving spending time at the Cochin club, swimming alone  in the pool surrounded by squawking crows and egrets, and yesterday in the huge rain tree I saw an eagle and a kingfisher! 

Watching the sun go down each evening and hoping we will be back again very soon! 

Maliyeckal homestay

Maliyeckal homestay is a spice farm in the middle of nowhere, nesting in the hills below the hill station of Munnar.

Huge misty mountains rise up above the lush vegetation of banana, cardamon, cashew, pepper vines and mango trees, with coconut palms swaying overhead. 

I don’t think I’ve ever been to such a peaceful place, all you can hear is birdsong and sounds of other creatures, maybe crickets, that my app can’t identify!  

The roof terrace provides a cool retreat for the heat of the days. It should be cooler up here in the hills but it doesn’t feel like it during the day! 

We visited Munnar two years ago so we’ve visited the main tourist attractions and really just wanted to come up hear to relax, but our host suggested a driver might take us to see elephants come down to the river to drink at dusk. 

It sounded like an opportunity we shouldn’t miss!

However when we set off the driver said it was an hours drive, and mostly round the hairpin bends I’ve been trying to avoid! 

When we arrived at the river bank there were already Indians and tourists alike sitting on the grassy bank optimistically waiting. You are allowed to stay till 5.30 pm and if no elephants arrive you have to leave. We passed the time chatting to people from all over the world! 

Were we in luck, not that day, although the driver said that lots had been down earlier in the week.

Zero🐘🐘🐘 only a pile of 🐘 💩 as evidence on the grass as I ate my coconut ice cream!

I was really keen to try swimming in one of the river pools nearby! Jaan, the son of our host offered to take me, and helped me down the difficult path down to the river. The pool is part of the nearby power station system and most of the river was bubbling like a jacuzzi but I managed to get myself into the pool. It’s wasn’t as cold as I expected and I had such a refresh swim. Then the power station closed the sluice and the water level dropped by about a meter so I had to clamber out before I found myself in a mud bath!

There is also a pond so Charlie has been itching to try fishing in it! At first he was just catching little fish but after while he got to know the water and pulled a whopping tilapia out of the depths in the shade.

We were hoping our friend from Portugal would call in as she passed by to Munnar, and around 5pm we heard her walking down the narrow lane!  Her driver was too nervous to bring his car down! 

She stayed for less than half an hour for a lemongrass and ginger tea and jackfruit cake! 

It meant the world to us all, because we have been talking about this trip for so long! 

I started cooking tomato fry and I was going to do rice but suddenly Jaan arrived with the fish 🐟 perfectly cooked by grandma! I didn’t bother with the rice and fried okra!