More Kochi sightseeing

3.2.19

For every low there’s a high and after washing my hair with the bucket of cold water and the jug I discovered our internet package has kicked in. We don’t have to go and have a row with the nice Airtel man. Having access to timetables and Google maps makes life so much simpler.

I feel like I’ve been awake forever, at 6.40am there were loud slapping noises that would have been disturbing if followed by screams but still enough to prevent me getting back to sleep.
Watched a few episodes of Celebrity Coach trip til John woke up. What vile specimens Jedward are, talentless and spiteful.

Sat on balcony having coffee and the slapping started again. It was our neighbour doing her second load of laundry!

We made our way to the ferry port and caught the 10.15am boat to Ernakulam. Such a strange mix of grand houses, areas of poverty, stinky canals and modern shops within a 20 minute walk.

The ferry takes just 20 minutes and is the equivalent of 5p each.
The men and women queue separately to buy tickets and sit in seperate areas of the boat.

When we arrived in Ernakulam we pulled up next to another boat and cut through that one onto the jetty.

First stop pineapple juice. (unsweetened) Lush.

It was great walking through the town. Some beautiful churches, absolutely rammed with people as it’s Sunday. Then through all the street stalls and the fruit and vegetable area.

I bought a dress in a small shop along the way. I packed very little hoping to buy lightweight clothes here.
Most of our clothes in Turkey are shorts, tops with thin straps etc and I need more modest clothes here than I have brought with me.

We walked for about an hour as far as Mahatma Ghandi street and got the metro to Indias largest mall just in time for lunch.

The metro system was really easy, the staff were super helpful. Having someone in a ticket booth makes the whole experience nicer. A real human to tell you which platform you need and which station to get off at. 60p for both of us. Spotlessly clean too.

Lulu Mall food court was huge, a mix of Western Brands and Asian.
We chose Indian, despite my previous issues about curry for lunch I ordered butter chicken and garlic naan, John had a non-vegetarian biriani mix.
My butter chicken wasn’t a patch on last nights but the garlic naan was superb.

We had a wander around the mall which was mainly international brands. Mothercare, Marks & Spencer, Body Shop etc. In all the sport shops and in Clarks nothing was priced. Goodness knows how much extra GST they could add on for us!

Actually I saw more washrooms than shops, luckily several on every level! All spotlessly clean with 2 cleaning staff in each washroom.
I was right. Curry is not a lunchtime meal.

2 Immodium later I was good to go and we caught the metro back close to the ferry port.

The queue for tickets was huge and suddenly a man called everyone to get on and there was a mad rush. We went with the crowd and squeezed on with everyone else. Seperate male & female didn’t apply.
Part way over a ticket man came and instead of 5p each it was 20p..suspiciously I confirmed with the local lady next to me (not trusting anyone by now) and it was correct as its the private boat to a different jetty. Great views of the Chinese fishing nets.

I need to stop the paranoia and accept that Seagull Seafood Restaurant are the exception, not the rule!

Disembarking was hairy, everyone was trying to clamber up onto the high concrete step while the next passengers are climbing in.

I’m kind of dreading Delhi. It’s going to be mental!
I was already feeling like locals push and shove past because we are foreigners. However, John had been chatting on the blokey boat side earlier to a very educated man who was explaining that they don’t mean any harm, they don’t know any different and do it to each other. It’s not exclusive behaviour to foreigners.

Doesn’t mean I have to like it though.

As friends had said we simply must see the Dhobi Khana laundry, we walked there after my heart rate came back to normal. Luckily we hadn’t been pushed overboard and drowned.

Glad we saw it, lovely friendly people who take great pride in their work. Everything was so beautifully ironed, using big chunky irons, some electric and some heated on a fire. They all looked quite terrifying, the wiring didn’t look particularly safe.

We had spotted an ice cream parlour on the way so it had to be done on the way back. Coffee and butterscotch (not at all like butterscotch and not sugar free) for me and a pineapple sundae for John which he absolutely loved.

We stopped and read a takeaway menu for a nice looking restaurant not far from where we are staying, but both feeling like we don’t want a full meal.

Ended up bringing the balcony table and chairs inside and playing rummicub while eating crisps that we had bought for the plane journey.
Followed by a bit of packing and some tv.

Tomorrow we are getting a train to the scenic backwaters of Allaphuza and will be staying there for 3 nights.

John chose the accomodation …

Seriously- anything is possible.