Sunday, May 4, 2008

Trivandrum (or, as close to the bottom of the subcontinent as we can get)

Hello,
We are now in Trivandrum (aka Thiruvanathampuram...say that 5 times fast). Its the captial city of the state of Kerala, and almost at the very bottom of India. For a good sized city, it's really nice and laid back. Vellore was ten times more crowded and dirty, and it was just a little town with no real claim to fame other than a hospital.
To get here we took the train, one of my goals for the time in India. We got unreserved sleeper car tickets, and I was initially worried that we wouldn't be able to get on the train. You know...unreserved, only a couple of spots per car since they are sleepers....wrong. "Sleeper" means that there are bunks and stuff, but the closest I can come to describing this car was the pics I have seen of troop carriers ferrying US soldiers over to Europe in WW II. People all over the place, on bunks, in the aisle, hanging out the doors. Felicia and I get on with our backpacks and go "Whoah". We crush past people through 3 cars, finding nowhere to even stand, get off the train, go back up 4 cars, and then wind up I think back on the very 1st car we had gotten on. We found that if We took off our packs, slung our smaller bags up onto a bunk with other baggage, we could lean against the wall in the back of the car, between the doors and the bathrooms, with about 8 other people. Luckily, nobody closes the main doors on the cars, so there was a breeze to take away the revolting stench from the bathrooms once we got moving. It was soooo hot and humid too, sweat was pouring off of us. And these guys kept pushing through the cars selling hot coffee and tea the whole time. Nuts. Well, after about 1/2 hour some people got off, and then about another 1/2 hour later we managed to snag a bunk/seat next to window. The trip was much more enjoyable after that. Watching Kerala go by, with the breeze and traveling like the locals do, it was pretty neat. The whole thing took about 3 1/2 hours, pretty reasonable. Our tickets were Rs 84 each ( a little over $2, so what do you want), nobody even came by to check them. We decided that Kerala is officially beautiful. Sorry I have no pictures of the train trip, but there were so many people that were all crushed in there, and trains are so notorious for theft here, that I locked our bags and chained them to the seat. Just take my word for it, it was an initially unpleasant experience that improved significantly. And cheap too.
We got in, got to our hotel, with a/c and hot water (yes!) and feel a little like real people again. Unfortunately, it looks like most stuff is closed here on Mondays (?) so we will do a little sight seeing, a little shopping, and finish recharging ourselves before heading into the proverbial lions den that I hear Mumbai can be. We leave tomorrow AM, get into Mumbai around noon, will probably get to our hotel by 2PM (if lucky). We are there for 2 1/2 days, and hear it is the craziest place of all in India. Wish us luck.

Here are a few last pics from Kerala. I'll stop now, I promise.






These are people waiting at a "bus stop", since all transport on the backwaters is via boat.









If you don't take the bus, you take the family car. This is the only way to get out of the house.







Kerala was the first place to ever have a freely elected communist government, back in the 50's or 60's. The party is still popular, and you see stuff like this all over. Commies in paradise. Hey, if it were this vs siberia, I'd take this.












Our little friend who lived under the sink in our outdoor bathroom in Alleppey. Sometimes would serenade me at night, thanking me for splashing so much water all over the place.









Typical first thing I would see in the morning at the rustic Malayalam Lake Resort. Hot water? - no. A/C? - no. Mosquito net or screens? - no. Electricity? - usually. View and atmosphere - oh yeah.







Twilight on the backwaters. Man, this was nice.






We're off to shop and take pictures of temples and stuff. Mumbai will be nutty, but I'll try to get a post or two in from there. Thanks for reading!
- Chris and Felicia