We wrapped up our trip with one last breakfast at the hotel with our Tour group, shared hugs with our fellow travellers, and said a heartfelt goodbye to Thilip, our guide. Some now packed their bags and headed on their way, others moved on to their next adventure. We looked back on the past two weeks of travel, food, photos and amazing memories and marvelled at what we’ve done.
And then sense of adventure in hand, yet again, we embarked on a few days of Kochi our way, sans guide. We wandered out of our hotel intending to walk to the Jewish Quarter for a little retail therapy, however a persuasive tuk tuk driver had another plan for us. He had a laminated card with a series of landmarks in Kochi marked on it, he offered us a two hour tour for 200 rupees each. We decided this was good deal, 400 Rps is around $7!
The tour took us to an amazing Basilica, the signs out front said no visitors, but the people inside said come on in. They were putting together a light show for an upcoming festival, based on the wiring it’s going to be quite a sight. Next stop was Dhobi Khana, a washing business that’s been in operation since the Dutch occupation in the 1700s, that’s quite a business model. All the washing is done by hand with the use of rock and good old hard work. The ironing is done with an ancient coalpowered monster of an iron. Helen had a try, this now dispels the myth that she doesn’t know how to iron. We also stopped at a spice market and a merchant selling silks, jewellery, statues and incense. Let’s just say his shop is minus a little stock after our stop.
We got our driver to drop us at the Synagogue, our initial destination. As we strolled down the lane the store keepers each haggled for our business with the usual chat about “first customer” and “morning price”. Most weren’t successful but two did persuade us, I’m now the proud owner of a tuktuk and a couple of nice shirts.
As we walked back to our hotel, the temperature lifted as did the humidity, then as is prone to happen the rain started. That stopped any further rambling for a few hours. Helen decided this was prime time for pampering while I chilled with a good book.
In the evening we ventured out for dinner, there are so many places the choose from this could take us a while. A guy appeared next to us and asked to help him, he needed a ‘favour’. He was a tuk tuk driver and apparently some shops give them coupons for rice etc if they take people to the shop. I’ve always wondered what sort of kick back these guys received for recommending various retail outlets. His request was simple, if we’d visit the shop, no obligation to buy, he drop us where we wanted to go for free. It was starting to rain again so we thought we’d play along, not sure at this point who is scamming who. The merchant did his best to sell us jewellery, carpets, wooden carvings etc, but we did relent and buy a table runner (can’t have too many right!). The driver then, true to his word, dropped us down the street so we could have dinner, although not without trying to sell us a tour of Kochi.
We wandered around looking at a few shops, we had a few destinations in mind that we’d seen online, but when we actually saw a few we crossed them off our list. Most venues here are alcohol free, the state of Kerala is very much a dry state due to government legislation to control an alcohol consumption problem in the region. When you do find a bar they tend to have beer and wine by the bottle only, beer options are okay and at around 400-500 rupees ($6-8) for a 650mL bottle pretty good value. Wine though is another story, it can be fairly expensive. You have to buy a bottle, no wine seems to be sold by the glass unless in a 5 star hotel. A 375mL bottle averages 2000 rupee (around $32) while a 750mL bottle sits at around 3500-4000 rupees depending on quality. The range is also often quite limited, so for the wine connoisseurs out there things can seem a bit unusual.
We did find a great little bar, The Dutch Connection, in a building dating back to the 1700s where are enjoyed a beer and a wine while listening to a cool soundtrack featuring The Doors and The Beatles amongst other artists from that era, all while watching Tom and Jerry cartoons. Does life get any better! After that we had a great meal at a local restaurant before heading back to our hotel.
The rain was falling lightly and a tuk tuk driver offered us a ride. We hadn’t gone 100m when he too wanted us to play the rice coupon game and visit another shop. This time we politely declined, obviously he was not happy with this as his pleasant attitude quickly vanished, the speed increased and we were promptly dropped at out hotel without a further word from him.
What will we find to do next?? Today is our last day in India for this trip, we will be back as there is still so much to see. It’s also the AFL Grand Final today, although I don’t fancy our chances of finding anywhere to watch it, unless I sit by my iPad and stream the game, not really the atmosphere were used to for the big dance.
And now dear reader Helen will regale you with our adventures from our final day in Kochi…
After breakfast we waited for the rain to stop. Once the sun was shining we headed out for a walk, once again to the tuk-tuk drivers’ dismay. We had decided to head back to the markets where Simon bought his first tuk-tuktuk to get a second one for our fleet. While we were walking a young woman who was walking in front of us asked if we’re being harassed by tuk-tuk drivers and we started talking. Sam, her shortened name, was here for the day and had decided on a little walk then some day drinking. The 3 of us had a great chat then went our separate ways. We headed to the Water Metro terminal to catch a ferry to High Court terminal for a look around. The ferry takes 20 minutes and is comfortable. Once we landed we headed along the promenade for a easy walk when suddenly people started running past us. We turned to see a torrential shower heading our way. Everyone took shelter where they could. It hit hard and fast and the stopped just as quickly. We continued our work for a little longer then headed back on the return ferry.
We continued our last walk around Fort Kochi, looking for a place for a light feed and some cold refreshments. We settled on PlanB, a bar specialising in wings of all varieties, only at present no wings at all on the menu, so a pizza it was. Very fast though and another venue with good tunes.
After lunch we thought one last stroll was in order, as we meandered along in no fixed direction we turned the corner there was this young woman looking at us and waving, it was Sam. We decided to head back to The Dutch Connection for a drink and some good laughs. Then came the time for our goodbyes, as we walked back to our hotel of course it starting raining.
Now for the final pack before heading to the airport.
And then, it’s Malaysia here we come for yet more spicy food and adventure. Will KL live up to the hype?