Varanasi

Charlie has wanted to come here for more than 25 years. Maybe ever since his first visit to the Himalayas in 1996.

I have always been unsure…I don’t like being in crowds and if I’m honest I don’t like the hustle and bustle of India in the same way as he does! 

That’s why I love Kerala and Fort Cochin…I have no desire even to cross over the water to Ernakulam unless there’s a really good reason!  

But last summer I got stuck on Euston station for three hours in a big crowd and I found a corner to sit down and I survived! 

So I wondered why I was afraid of flying up to visit Varanasi and a day later I booked our flights!

Back in 2013 we met an English lady at our homestay in Fort Kochi who lived in Dharamsala and she recommended that if we ever went to Varanasi we should stay at The Vishnu Rest House! 

Hard to find but right on the waterfront of the river Ganges! 

It was certainly hard to find! Our taxi from the airport just stopped in the middle of a busy street and said I’m not allowed to go any further! After much persuasion he rang the guesthouse to ask someone to come and retrieve us and carry our bags! 

As I trailed behind the boy with all our bags on his head and Charlie trying to see which corners he had turned down it reminded me of the back streets of Venice or maybe Fez! 

The final approach to the guesthouse  is more like walking through a farmyard! Past dozy cows in the lane eating scraps while we dodged cow pats! 

We absolutely loved it here. Misty views over the Ganges with a subtle but constantly changing light. Vishnu Guest House has been running since 1977 when the current owner’s grandfather built a small temple 🛕for Vishnu in this city of Shiva.

Over a week we explored the narrow lanes each day from one end to the other by foot 👣.

Even though many homes are practically falling down, the facades are beautifully painted.

Some areas are so busy and the hassles and scams are overwhelming. Charlie shook hands with someone and ended up with a full body massage!

The burning ghats just seem like a natural part of life and death. 

Nothing like the horror stories I’d heard. Death is celebrated here. 

One day we took a boat trip to get a different perspective!

Every morning the vegetable sellers trundled their carts through the lanes ladened with fresh green peas, radishes and bunches of baby spinach with fennel!

 I loved trying to cook in our room with just a kettle! A bit like camping! ‘Maggi’ noodles and crispy marsala coated peanuts! 

Other highlights…saffron and pistachio lassi at the famous Blue Lassi cafe…I arrived in a wheelchair instead of a rickshaw after we had walked round and round for two hours trying to find the entrance to the Golden Shiva temple only to be told we had to go and get tourist tickets with our passports which were back at the guesthouse!

And almost by chance meeting our friends Kevin and Lindsey from Loulé who were walking past Pandey Ghat and Vishnu Guest House just after we arrived back from Sarnath!

Varanasi is a place like nowhere else. 

One of the oldest and most spiritual cities in the world.

Waking up to sunrise over the Ganges and watching the everyday flow of life and death was overwhelming and moving.

At dusk, kites soared into the sky.

The crowds queueing in the lanes to enter the temples, the constant noise, the hassles and the scams drained and exhausted me. 

They say Varanasi lets you lose your way so that you can find yourself. 

I’m glad we came! 

Om Namah Shivaya

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New Year

We changed our travel plans and decided to go back to Kochi for New Year’s Eve and the carnival on New Year’s Day which was completely crazy! Mayhem all night …a kind of non stop street party in the whole town. 

Traditionally they burn a huge Pappanji  ( old man) at midnight …this year they had two on different sites to help with crowd control!

They also burn Father Christmases!

Although we have Guy Fawkes I think burning Santas wouldn’t go down too well in England! 

Burning the Pappanji

Marari Beach

We have been to Marari beach three times and each time we see a different side to this sleepy fishing village. 

We were a bit further away from the centre but our homestay host was also a rickshaw driver so he could whizz us to beach restaurants at the drop of a hat.

The homestay also had a lovely little pool!

On the first day Charlie went off to explore along the beach and managed to lose the key for the padlock so they had to saw the lock off! 

We had been planning to go on a boat trip across Lake Vempanad and then maybe a backwater canoe trip…but suddenly it seemed like a lot of travelling for something we’ve already done a few times in the past so we chilled out at the homestay.

Some ‘batchelors’ arrived and splashed about it in the pool and then went off to the beach for a swim leaving the remains of their takeaway on the table.Next thing you know the crows had swooped in and spread left over rice and tin boxes all over the place. What a mess! 🐦‍⬛ 🐦‍⬛ 🐦‍⬛ 

We had lunch at a ‘boutique resort’ along the beach…despite the waiters telling us how all the food was freshly grown and nothing was frozen it the gobi Manchurian and veg noodles looked and tasted the same as everywhere else I’ve eaten it! 

But the place itself was interesting with lots of nooks and crannies! 

A peaceful few days away before the mayhem to come! 

Christmas in Cochin

 Soaking up the familiarity of Fort Kochi, simple things like buying veg for a salad for lunch…or freshly fried king fish from Channu’s stall. Corn on the cob and butterscotch ice cream on the beach for tea. So happy to be back on the roof terrace watching the sun sink down behind the trees every afternoon.

A warm welcome from Thanvi and Jaanvi, the twin daughters of our friend Zarine in England. They served traditional plum cake, payasam, a sweet pudding made for celebrations out of milk, nuts, vermicelli and jaggery and ‘wine’ …it’s not alcoholic they insisted!

It turns out to be home made fermented grape juice! 🍷 

Down to Mattancherry to Kunst gallery to meet Tensing Joseph who invited Charlie to represent UK in the exhibition Blended Narratives. 

I was thrilled to meet Lili from Madagascar in the kitchen who speaks 12 languages and is fluent in Portuguese having lived in both Portugal and Brazil! I just couldn’t believe my luck that I can carry on practicing every day!

Johnson invited all the guests at the homestay to join him for Christmas lunch! It was like the United Nations! Us Brits, Irish, Swiss, German, South Korean and Lily fromMadagascar!  Plus all Johnson’s family and the maid and her little girl who danced for us all afternoon! 

All the family are devout Christians and Johnson sang happy birthday to Jesus with such joy! 

In the evening of Christmas Day we went up to Veli  to see the switch on of the lights on Asia’s largest Christmas tree! 🌲 

Veli ground is about 8 acres and up to 50,000 people were there to watch! 

We got caught in a a near crush situation for what seemed like an eternity…very scary trying to exit the only gates. 

Even outside it was rammed with people and parked scooters for over a mile.

We met our homestay neighbour Denise and I forced out way out with my walking stick torch.

Then the long walk home! 

An unforgettable Christmas Day!

Back to the Biennale

 This year…to the sound of drums…the biennale opened on time! In fact we arrived just after the gates opened!

It was lovely to meet up with old friends and have the opportunity to meet many of the artists over the next few days!

The inaugural day ended with an amazing concert on the Parade ground by Shanka Tribe. 

The following day there were more openings in Mattancherry including EDAM, meaning Space in Malayalam exhibiting work by Keralan artists. We especially wanted to see the work of Unni Krishnan’s mum who we had visited at their farm and studio in the countryside a few years ago. 

Her work was beautiful.

Then I was drawn towards some layered digital photos and chatted to the photographer Abul Pattanam who actually Charlie had already exhibited with years ago and I was already following on Instagram! He had known Martin Parr and Jo Spence and had trained at Farnham.

At Hallegua House we were fascinated by the installations of Amphibian Aesthetics.

I talked to one of the girls ( volunteer art educators there to help explain the installations) about the Kappiri…the spirits of enslaved Africans who were killed by the Portuguese and buried over their treasure to guard it when they fled from the Dutch.

The spirit of the Kappiri is still worshipped by local people in small shines tucked away in Mattancherry.

In another godown were two more incredible installations…the first by Niroz Salpathy, sculptures made out of found objects from landfill sites in Delhi! He’s been scavenging for all the objects over twelve years! 

Then a huge installation by Ibrahim Mahama…the Parliament of Ghosts…we sat on our own to try to take in the massive sack covered warehouse filled with old chairs! 

Another complete surprise down an alleyway round the corner…Durga Puja a celebration from Bengal including a bamboo boat, paintings and a 3D interactive experience. This project draws on the festival as a creative inspiration presented in the context of contemporary art rather than as a religious ritual.

Finally further down the road in another derelict warehouse a fascinating archive of different castes in Kerala.

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!