India, Part II – March 2017

Welcome to part 2 of my Indian adventure, the South – Not as entertaining as the North but let’s see… Left Kolkata and flew to Chennai, from here we drove along the coast, the shores of the Bay of Bengal to Mamallapuram and so far with just the roads and noise alone, completely the opposite of the North. Checked into a rather decent hotel with a swimming pool, nice. As an aside, Explore hotels are generally clean and fairly pleasant, you may get the odd one that is a bit questionable but overall ok, this one was a bit more modern than what we had experienced thus far. Also, our Southern guide was the complete opposite of the dude in the North, he was young, no earrings, unmarried, enthusiastic, friendly, new to the role and very zen – greeting us each morning with an affirmative Whatsapp message. Namiste…

First day we had a walking tour to the Shore Temple of Mamallapuram. Not going to lie, really did not know much about South India and didn’t do any research – my bad but I had heard of Kerala and Goa… The stone carvings we visited were amazing to be honest and totally unexpected, the detail, for the most part, was pretty clear and the skill involved in rock/stone carving really was impressive given the tools they must have used. The massive ball of rock that was just perched on this hill was crazy, why hadn’t it rolled down, what was keeping it there. So did the usual tourist thing which I hate but… had to have a photo of me trying to push it – cringe and contradiction alert! In case you hadn’t heard me before this place is HOT, as in weather hot not banging LOL! Dry heat.

Hope Foundation school – We visited the Hope Foundation school at Pudipattinam Fisherman’s colony, this area had been hit hard by the 2004 tsunami and was obviously devastated, since then they have been trying to rebuild and ensure that the local children get a good education. Explore are supporters of this school which is really lovely to know. We were able to look around the school, drop into a class or two but the kids had put on a show for us which was very special and extremely entertaining – bless ‘em. It was great but I really dislike the thought that they have to do this song and dance routine (pardon the pun) for visitors in order for them to donate – again, a double edged sword… you can easily set up a regular donation, how can you not after that presentation…

Overnight train to Madurai – Whoop! We visited the 16th century Meenakshi Temple and Tirumalai Nayaka Palace. It took a little getting used to the laid back attitude and almost tranquillity of the South after the hive of activity and noise of the North. We drove across the Cardamom Hills to Quilon passing farmers with their water buffalos working the fields, pretty cool to see. The journey was long but interesting because the views were stunning, we actually got to see some salt fields.

Kerala – We took a motor boat to cruise through the backwaters from Quilon to Allepey, it was long, very long but beautiful and interesting. Boats are how these villagers commute, sell, deliver, do just about everything. You can see the homes along the canal way as well as the most wonderful boat houses (for tourists) which looked fabulous, tranquil and relaxing, if I was inclined to come back, this would be my preferred accommodation – well for a couple of days. We weren’t staying at a hotel here, Explore like to make your experience a little more authentic so we stayed at a ‘homestay’. This was pleasant enough but it was still someone’s home, the family were very friendly and welcoming… Kerala is predominately Christian which was obvious on Sunday morning when all the church bells rang out – so fascinating to see the number of boats dropping off people to worship at the various churches. What was a little odd was you were able to hear the sermons because they went out on loud speaker, I guess that it was for those that were unable to physically be there – thinking about it, quite innovative…

Kochi – This place was a bit different to anywhere we had visited so far, it had a very European feel, the architecture was English, Dutch and Portuguese, there were cobbled streets that felt a bit out of place but looked great. We visited the Mattancherry Palace which has some interesting murals. There was also a beach which all the locals seemed to congregate to in the early evening. It was really great to see that there were a group of people picking up trash to clean up the beach and trying to get others involved too. Walking along the road above the beach, you are able to buy all sorts of things, souvenirs, hats, street food… This place is a weekend and holiday spot for the people of India. One of the things I would recommend for you to do is go see a Kathakali dance performance. Weird but entertaining and fascinating at the same time, it is a dance that portrays legendary Hindu stories, with the focus of expressions on the dancers faces and movement of their eyes, odd but a really good to experience. The Holi festival was in full swing whilst we were on this trip but unfortunately, as we were in the South we missed the full throng of paint throwing. The Holi festival is celebrated less enthusiastically in the South than it is in the North, which could be considered a good thing as we didn’t get covered in colourful paint powders, but it probably would have been a fun experience…

Ooty (official known as Udagamandalam) is located in the Nilgiri Hills – I didn’t know anything about this place at the time but in the UK, they were currently airing a programme called The Real Marigold Hotel where some older celebrities were travelling around India and Ooty featured. This place is pretty high up in the hills, elevation of in excess of 7000 feet, I have to be honest our hotel, although it looked really grand from the outside, was a dump. It was totally old, grim and in a state of disrepair. In fact, when I got to my room although vast and had a pretty good view, there was an ashtray full of cigarette butts and it stunk to high heaven, they weren’t bothered when I complained… There was an indoor pool but dear God, you’d take your life in your own hands if you went to swim in there, it was green and I’m pretty sure it wasn’t meant to be – Ewww. You can’t come here without going on the Toy Train, it’s this steam engine train that doesn’t really take you anyway it’s a circular journey but does have good views and again, is a must even if just for a photo opportunity!

Mysore – drove here, no train Yay! We visited the Maharajah’s palace which was originally built in the 14^th century – very grand. We also went up to the Chamundi Hills that oversee the city and visited the Sri Chamundeswari temple and the giant representation of Shiva’s sacred bull, Nandi. From here we then had another and our last (Whoop!) overnight train to Hospet to visit Hampi. Hampi has some real old history, amazing ruins and great countryside views. This one temple we went to you had to climb a LOT of stairs and once up top you had to take your shoes off before going into the temple. Thing was, there were loads of monkeys up there too and would often go over, grab shoes and run off with them – very funny but needless to say I carried my footwear in my bag. There were some great views from up here – worth the climb.

Goa – We took a day train to get to Goa but oooh, it was really lovely, not like the rest of India AT ALL. It has an eclectic mix of cultural influences, a real mixing pot. The hotel we stayed in was really cool – it was part art gallery, Panjim Inn. It was located a fair distance away from the beach but to be honest, I was good with that. It was very European even down to the religion, Catholic. We visited a spice plantation but to be fair, I was looking forward to going to the beach. The Malabar beaches, I believe are in the Arabian Sea and have gorgeous white sands. My last night in this country was spent having a couple of cocktails and a meal on the beach. Great way to end what had been an amazing trip – hectic, good, bad, sad, educational, interesting, contradictory… Too many adjectives!

Ending – You will probably realise by now that I am very opinionated but I also try to be not only real but fair too. As much as I was freaked out by North India and the assault it had on all my senses, I have to admit, I found it much more interesting than the South. I am a total contradiction myself because the North was too much whilst I was there but during my time in the South, I kind of missed the hectic nature of the place. The South is so laid back which is obviously great for a lot of people and it was a really fabulous experience, but I guess I just enjoy a faster pace.

I did enjoy South India it was so different from the North, way more relaxed and chilled but as crazy as it sounds, I preferred the complete chaos of the North – I am such a contradiction…I totally loved Kerala, so peaceful and calm. If I am being honest, this country (and I haven’t even seen all of it) is NOT somewhere that I would come back to. But, in saying that, I am totally glad that I went and experienced this place. To be fair, it is really not somewhere that I would feel like I’d need to revisit. I have no desire to ‘find myself’ and to be frank, it I did, it would not be here. In saying all of that, it was a great experience and if you do feel the need to experience India, be safe and maybe travel with a group…