Royal Tea

Firwood Avenue flying the flags.

I'm a Republican at heart and therefore didn't spend yesterday morning glued to the television. I did catch a few glimpses of the events on the set by the treadmill at the gym, from which it occurred to me that David Beckham looked the most likely handsome Prince on display, whilst the bulky and balding Prince William resembled a journeyman centre half at somewhere like Hartlepool United. Whatever the fawning commentators on the BBC might have said, he is certainly not very good looking. Pippa Middleton, though, is another matter. Phwoarrrrr! Joking aside, from what I did see, the body language of the happy couple gave every indication that this Royal love match, finally, is a genuine one, and I wish them all the very best. The absolute hightlight of the few bits I did see was the little bridesmaid who didn't appear at all well covering her ears and looking absolutely terrified as the noisy jets swooped over the Palace. Priceless, and much more entertainingt than the over-hyped 'kisses'.

As the ceremonials came to and end, the residents of Firwood Avenue made their the down to the end of the street where our Royal Wedding street party was ready to get underway.

A Royal tea fit for Royalty!

The party was meticulously organised by Juliet and Val from across the road with help from Hannah and another neighbour, Florence. The rest of the street were all keen to join in and the spread of food that took shape as people emerged from their houses was quite staggering. My personal favourite was the hot curried beef rolls served up by Paul from no. 65. In the beverages department there was really only once place to loiter. Chris from No. 14's 'Firwood Ale' keg. The home brewed beer slid down very nicely!

Chris dispensing his Firwood Ale.

Just as we started to tuck into the food, some menacing clouds and a few drops of rain threatened to cause havoc, but within a few minutes the sun reappeared and stayed for the rest of the afternoon.

Tucking in.

There was plenty going on, including the Royal Cake competition. Some of the entries were more regal than others, although I'm not sure quite how edible the cake in the shape of a crown actually was.

A Royal Fruitcake? And the Duke of Edinburgh nowhere to be seen!

Hannah was delighted to win the children's categories with her arty buns arranged in the shape of a heart. There weren't actually any other entries in this category, but I'm sure she would have won even if there were.

Love Food!

The most popular activity was definitely the tug of war. It's many years since I last took part in one of these and I had forgotten just how much fun they are. We started with odds against evens, moving on to various other combinations based around gender and age groups. Great fun!

Heaaaaaaaaavvvve!

Other activities included a marathon raffle, face and pavement painting, various shove ha'penny style games, a photo quiz, photo displays, best presented house and garden competition and a longest-standing resident contest. As daylight began to fade partygoers began to disperse particularly those with young children, but a hard core of revellers remained outside well into the evening. It was a thoroughly enjoyable event. I enjoyed chatting with neighbours, some who I already knew and many more who I didn't. Funnily enough, the wedding itself wasn't mentioned in any of the conversations I had. Perhaps I was giving off some kind of Republican vibes, who knows? Whatever the reason for the party, though, anything that brings people together in such a positive way can only be a good thing. Cheers!

  

Temporary Setback

It had all been going so well. Both of my first two training runs since returning from India had been completed in best ever times for the circuits involved, but as I set out on a gentle three miler early on Friday evening, something just didn't seem quite right. My legs were moving, but with absolutely no fluency and I felt completely drained of energy.

After about two miles I simply ground to a halt and had to walk the final mile back along the Alban Way, the first time I have not kept running for many, many months (frequently for much longer distances). Perhaps it was the effects of an unusually hot April day, or maybe the intoxicating polleny fragrances heavy in the air. Or more worryingly that my first two post-50 runs had been something of a swan song, and this was how things would be from now on.

The most likely reason became clearer yesterday morning, however, when I woke up to find the lymph glands in my neck a little swollen and a lumpy sensation in my throat when I swallowed. Currently taking a course of penicillin, Hannah was adamant that I too had fallen victim to tonsillitis and I guess she is probably right. Other than my lumpy throat, though, I felt OK and enjoyed our visit in the afternoon to Butterfly World on the outskirts of St Albans.

One of the themed gardens at Butterfly World

A beautiful inhabitant of the steamy butterfly enclosure

Overnight I started to feel quite shivery and, rather like a butterfly about to emerge from its chrysalis, increasing uncomfortable in my own skin. After a restless night with little sleep, I woke up feeling exhausted and in no fit state to attempt the six mile run I had planned.

After a snooze in the sunshine in the garden on a beautiful Easter Sunday, a longer sleep in bed during the afternoon and the healing power of a large chocolate easter Egg, I now feel a lot better although my glands are still swollen and I'll go to the doctors if they're still playing up on Tuesday. I'll also leave it a couple more days before going for my next run, and hopefully my preparations for the Beat the Banana 5K in Hyde Park on 12th May will not have been affected too badly.

I'm tempted to give Charlton's home game against Rochdale a miss tomorrow to avoid the inevitable strain on my vocal chords, but I just know that if I don't go Charlton will go on and win. This would be such a rare event of late that I don't think I want to take the risk of staying at home. Come on you reds!

Nothing to be afraid of!

I was dreading turning 50. One of the reasons I decided to start Project Five O was to help me feel more positive about reaching an age that seemed just so, well, OLD. I know there's all this talk of 50 being the new 40, and with life expectancies lengthening all the time there is definitely an element of truth in it, but psychologically I had found it very difficult to even think about being 50. Well, having now passed over into the abyss, I am happy to report that it's not an abyss at all. I feel fine, happy even. I've just completed one of my running circuits (five and a half miles) in my fastest ever time, and I've been up and down the stairs countless times today without even the most fleeting thoughts of a Stannah stairlift entering my head. No, it's 17th April 2011, and I'm merely three days older and wiser than I was on the 14th. It's official, turning 50 is nothing to be afraid of!

Two birthday cards that I received sum things up very nicely and encapsulate my whole idea for Project Five O:

"50 today! You can't turn back the clock... But you can wind it up again."

"50 today! It's important to have a twinkle in your wrinkle!"

I've said this before but I'll say it again, I hope that you are enjoying reading my blog as much as I'm enjoying writing it.

I'm sure that my current joie de vivre has a lot to do with the lovely time I've had on Friday and Saturday, so many thanks to all concerned, and to Juliet and Hannah especially. My birthday itself on Friday was fairly quiet as we adjusted back to life in St Albans following our wonderful holiday in India, which I consider to have been an birthday event in any case. Nevertheless, the day was made special by being brought Bucks Fizz in bed followed by a delicious meal of bubble and squeak cakes with bacon, grilled tomato and poached egg at the Breakfast Club and in the evening a lovely dinner at my favourite St Albans restaurant, the Blue Anchor.

A great way to start the day

During the day I also learned about what had been organised for the following day. I had always said that I didn't want a party so being able to enjoy the facilities of an executive box to watch Charlton v Huddersfield at the Valley in the company of Juliet and Hannah, my Mum and Dad and all five of my brothers was the ideal celebration for me.

View from the Sky Sports Box

We arrived at the Valley at 12:30 and discovered that we had been allocated the Sky Sports box. Due to Charlton's slide down the divisions these past five years, televised games at the Valley are rare these days and the box is available for hire most weeks. Following a champagne reception, a tasty buffet and much jollity we were visited briefly by Charlton legend Colin Walsh. In the unlikely event any readers of this blog have not avidly followed the Charlton Athletic story over the past thirty years, on 5th December 1992 Colin scored the first goal for Charlton back at the Valley after their exile at Selhurst Park, a period that saw the club nearly cease to exist. As Colin pointed out, this feat is still celebrated by a banner adorning the back of the North Stand. He was friendliness itself and having my photograph taken with him added an extra layer of magic to the occasion.

Charlton legend, Colin Walsh who will be 50 next July

We were joined shortly before kick off by my fellow sufferer at home games Marcus, also known as Charlton Casual, and proceeded to watch one of the best displays I have seen Charlton put in for a long time. Unfortunately, the goal and the victory that would have made the occasion even more special just failed to materialise and, as has been the case more times than I care to remember this season, the opposition sneaked an undeserved goal to condemn the Addicks to yet another defeat. In spite of the result, everyone in our box seemed to enjoy the game and the event, no one more so than me.

A fantastic day!

Made it!

This photo was taken at 7:15 am, the exact moment I turned 50! I'd only just woken up and hadn't had time  to apply any make up or do my hair so I don't think I look too bad for an old codger!  Bucks Fizz in bed? There's life in the old boy yet!

It seems like Juliet and Hannah have some exciting things lined up for me over the next couple of days, so I'll report back after the weekend.

I haven't yet finished my final blog post from India so I'll slot that in later, hopefully some time today.

Life begins at 50 (he said crossing his fingers)!

Lazy Days and Kerala Cuisine

I'm starting to write this final Kerala blog post on the second leg of our journey home from Kochi to Heathrow via Dubai. In around 4 hours time we will be landing back in England, and I've just changed my watch back to UK time. Sadly our holiday is nearly over.

Our rice boat

Our final three days saw a change of pace as we left behind the plush surroundings of Aanalavisam and were driven to Alappuzha (also known as Alleppey) where we boarded a two bedroomed rice boat for a cruise around the Kerala Backwaters. These waterways are scenic and tranquil and offer a glimpse of the simple but seemingly happy way of life of those who live at the water's edge surrounded by paddy fields.

A typical view along a narrower part of the Backwaters

Our subsequent two days at Nelpura Homestay developed our insight into this aspect of life in Kerala, but our time on the boat was really more about chilling out, reading, snoozing in the sun, taking the occasional photograph and aligning ourselves with the peace and tranquility of our surroundings.

Our three man crew of Joseph (the Captain), Jos and another Joseph (the cook) were attentive and looked after us very well. The food was surprisingly good and, continuing the trend of our holiday, plentiful. The day was hot and steamy, but the breeze coming off the water made the conditions bearable.

The sun sets on the Backwaters

Although small and fairly basic, both bedrooms were air-conditioned, albeit noisily, which allowed doors and windows to be closed to mosquitoes and, against the odds, my bite tally remained at 31!

Sunrise after a good night's sleep.

I was out of bed early the following day in time to photograph the sunrise, and the morning shortly became even more memorable when I turned on my phone to receive a text confirming that my contract at the Open University has been extended for a further three years. This had been in considerable doubt until now due to the savage government cuts to University funding and I started the holiday not knowing for sure whether I would still have a job from 1st May. Although I was not going to let this get in the way of my enjoyment of the holiday, the news brought about a massive 'phew' all the same.

'Our' bridge and two traditional wooden canoes

The rice boat dropped us off next to a small bridge where an old wooden canoe containing three whicker chairs and a wizened old boatman was waiting to ferry us and our luggage under the bridge and along a narrow shady canal to our final holiday accommodation, Nelpura Homestay.

Nelpura Homestay

The owners, Mr Chacko and his family have converted the granary (Nelpura means granary) of their 150 year old ancestral home, Edayady House, into three bedrooms. The accommodation has a very traditional feel to it and retains many features of old-style Kerala architecture and woodcarving. The well-tended gardens are lush and colourful and the location of the village within the small village of Moncompu provides a real taste of family and community life.

In the garden at Nelpura

Home-grown Mango, not quite ripe yet.

Guests at Nelpura are the only tourists in the village and, although the local people are friendly and welcoming, they have not yet sought to overtly profit from their visitors. The only 'shops' are a handful of ramshackle food stalls with not a trinket or souvenir to be seen anywhere.

All-in-one washing machine, dishwasher and bath.

Although the lifestyle beside the waterways appears rather primitive, it is characterised by some interesting contradictions. Many of the villagers have mobile phones for example, and voting in the State elections on the final day of our stay generated far more enthusiasm and involvement than for any election I have witnessed in the UK, and was carried out via an electronic system. No crosses in boxes here! I'll write a little more about the election later.

Every house on the canal has its own steps into the water, where clothes, dishes and bodies are washed. The water itself didn't appear to be particularly clean, but with rigorous use of soap and elbow grease the local people and their clothes always looked clean, happy and colourful.

Festival time - a colourful procession to the temple

The children in the village are delightful. Their waves were the most enthusiastic and their smiles the brightest; the older ones would often ask where we were from. Unfortunately, our visit coincided with the start of the school summer holidays, which ruled out a visit to the primary school, something I was really looking forward to with my professional hat on. Visitors to the school are encouraged to leave a small donation (about 500 Roupees / £6) to help the school buy new equipment or to take pens and pencils to distribute to the children. We hadn't picked up on this prior to our trip, but it soon became evident on our first wander around the village when sometimes children came up to us saying 'one pen please!' Certainly this appeared to be the fee for taking a photograph with some children, although others were quite happy to pose for free. Before our next village walk, I raided Hannah's pencil case and was able to make a few children very happy as I made my way around. It was very moving to see how handing over such a small, but useful, object was rewarded with such lovely broad smiles.

Local children - with pens!

Word must have got around of a 49 year old tourist distributing gifts, as when I was relaxing on the lounger in front of our accommodation shortly afterwards, a tiny girl's head appeared above the outside wall followed by a little finger beckoning me closer. As soon as I was within earshot, a little voice piped up 'two pens please'. That's inflation for you!

It was extremely hot and humid during our two days at Nelpura - another slight drawback of going right at the end of the season, although as I've mentioned before this also brought benefits. Even Mr Chacko admitted he was struggling a little with the heat. The conditions did restrict our ability to be active to some extent, but this was compensated by being able to take it easy and relax in the shade in such delightful surroundings.

Mr Chacko is a real character. Large, loud and jovial, he's a Professor in Pharmacy at the Mahatma Gandhi University and runs Nelpura as well as other tourism related enterprises on the side. Well most of the running of Nelpura is done by his wife, Saleema and yet another Joseph, the caretaker who has the main responsibility for making sure the guests are happy. Mr C tries to spend some time with his guests every day over dinner, and on our second night he talked to us for a long time about the State elections which had taken place earlier in the day. Throughout our stay evidence of the election was everywhere - posters glued on almost anything that didn't move and candidates with loud hailers in cars and vans at almost every turn. Mr C explained how each candidate is represented by a symbol, which appear on the electronic voting device, and adorn all of their posters. The two main candidates in 'our' local ward were represented by a leaf and a clock. Mr C had spent the whole day and much of the preceding month working on behalf of the 'leaf 'candidate. He'd also supported him at the last election, which had been won by the 'clock', a very wealthy man living overseas who had made many promises (in particular to improve the roads, which Mr C feels is crucial for the future prosperity of the area) but palpably failed to deliver according to Mr C, who was very hopeful that his man would come good this time. Mr C had hired a motor boat at his own expense for the day to help with ferrying supporters of the 'leaf' to vote. He then arranged for us to hire the boat for an hour and a half sunset trip after he had finished with it, which made us feel very much a part of of the day's events.

Throughout the holiday we have experienced some delicious cuisine. Apart from the chocolate samosas that featured in my first post from Kerala, I haven't found the time to give a flavour of our culinary experiences. Many spices are grown in Kerala, and the best way I can think of summarising the cuisine is to say that it is spicy without being hot, although some dishes possess a definite kick. It has been possible to savour all of the ingredients in every dish. The following run through of one day's food offering at Nelpura gives just a taster of our overall food experience in Kerala ('run through' being potentially an unfortunate choice in this context, although apart from Hannah's short lived upset tummy halfway through, this aspect of the holiday was trouble free).

Breakfast (note the endearing 1970s design plate)
Curried boiled egg with cardamom, coconut and onion sauce
Rice noodles
Small bananas (quite different and tastier from bananas I've eaten before - very sweet)

Breakfast

Elevensies

Tea
Water melon slices

Lunch
Tandoori Fish
Dahl (lentils) sauce
Fried Okra (lady's finger)
Chopped beans and coconut
Something else delicious (I can't remember what was in it)
'Fat' Kerala rice
Popadom

Fresh pineapple slices

Lunch

Afternoon snack
Tea
Banana fritters

Snack accompanying afternoon tea

Finally .... Dinner

Mince and potato cakes
Tandoori chicken
Curried coconut
Kerala vegetable curry
Chapattis

More fresh pineapple slices

Our final meal in Kerala

Every mouthful was delicious, but it makes me feel full just listing it all again.

This has been a fantastic holiday. Kerala is a beautiful part of India with a lot going for it. With a relatively effective education system,  91% of its population literate and rich natural resources, the extremes of wealth and poverty are nowhere near as shocking as in other parts of the country. Nevertheless many of the people we saw possessed very little, and alongside enjoying some wonderful accommodation, hospitality and experiences, an enriching part of the holiday for me was being made to reflect on how fortunate I have been in my life so far in so many ways, and that in fact having lots of money does not necessarily bring with it happiness; it is possible to find contentment whilst possessing very little in material terms. A lasting symbol of this for me was the poise, elegance and beauty with which the colourfully clad women of Moncompu (often holding high an umbrella to protect themselves from the sun) carried themselves gracefully along the dusty paths of their village.

Thank you, Kerala, for having me.

Plantation, Plantation, Plantation

A passing truck

Our 120 mile drive inland from Kochi to Kumily passed over beautiful hills and through valleys, a seemingly never ending sequence of plantations – tea, coffee, fruit and all manner of different spices. With not a dual carriage way in sight we were on the road for nearly five hours. It was a fascinating and at times spectacular journey.

View fromthe Western Ghats

You begin to get a sense of the size of India’s population when a journey through such green and fertile land still involves negotiating countless large, bustling and ramshackle towns and a quick glance at the map of India shows how small a part of the whole is formed by Kerala.

Towards the end of our journey we paid a visit to Abraham’s Spice Garden. This enchanting place is not advertised or signposted anywhere, although it has gained in popularity with British visitors since featuring on Monty Don’s BBC programme ‘Around the World in 80 Gardens’ a couple of years ago. There’s no admission fee, although if every visitor enjoys a similarly delightful and informative hour as we did, I am sure Abraham’s garden tours generate a significant income in tips.

Abraham and two of his pupils!

Of course, we had already learned a little bit about how spices grow from Kate Humble, but Abraham’s wealth of knowledge and experience added a whole new dimension to our understanding. That is in addition to the sensory thrill of being able to taste and smell the leaves and seeds that were plucked and handed out. Sometimes you come across people who have something very special about them, an inner calm and quiet authority. Abraham is one of those people; he has a great sense of humour too and is highly intelligent. When a French speaking couple joined us part way through our tour, he was able to seamlessly switch between English and French and instantly drew them under his spell.

Abraham's (bamboo) ladder

There’s something else I need to tell you about Abraham, though. He has the thickest, darkest, most visible ear hair you will ever see. And judging by the length he’s allowed it to grow, he’s obviously proud of it. Amazing! It wouldn’t surprise me if there’s an additional spice garden concealed in his left ear and another one in his right.

Elephant Junction just outside Kumily was our next stop for an unashamedly touristy and not entirely comfortable thirty minute elephant ride. Boy are elephants big! Nevertheless it felt surprisingly safe up there, although the shifting to and fro of such enormous muscles exercised some in my own inner thigh for the first time in many years. Hannah loved the ride, and enjoyed the added bonus of having her legs regularly slapped by the elephant’s enormous ears.

All aboard the elephant!

Our ‘home’ for the next two nights has been the Aanavilasam Plantation House in the Western Ghats, South India’s highest range. Up in the hills, it has felt much cooler than Kochi and as well the accommodation being very comfortable, there is plenty of interest in the seven acres belonging to the property.

The owner is Salim Pushpanath, a well known photographer and publisher in India, who we have been fortunate enough to meet during our stay; a really charming and interesting man who is clearly a very shrewd businessman too. A lovely Finnish lady, Pirkko, acts as host and has made us feel very welcome. Cardamom and pepper are produced commercially on the estate, but many other goodies are also grown in small quantities for in-house use, bananas, papayas and coffee to name but a few. It’s been especially thrilling to know that some of the fruit we have been enjoying at breakfast has been picked outside only a few hours earleir. Without exception the food has been delicious and plentiful.

Aanavilasam staff processing pepper grown on the estate



Apart from the accommodation itself, the highlight of our two days at Aanavilasam has been the trek into the forests of the Periyar Wildlife Reserve that began at 7:00 am this morning and left us ravenous for our breakfast when we returned to the plantation three hours later. We thought we had signed up for the gentle sounding ‘Soft Trek’ but it transpired we were on the ‘Cloud Walk’, which involved climbing up and down numerous seemingly impossibly steep inclines in our search for wildlife.

Up in the clouds at Periyar

We were led on our trek Krishna, who like all of the forest guides, is a tribesman living in a village within the reserve.

Our guide, Krishna

He was rather taciturn and spoke limited English but was desperate for us to see some of the big beasts in their natural surroundings. However, apart from two black monkeys swinging high in the trees, the briefest glimpse of a wild bison and numerous species of birds, our quest was unfruitful. But it was very exciting! We could hear just how close the elephants were and see and smell their freshly made deposits, but mindful of our safety as well as his desire to please us, Krishna was unable to manoeuvre us to a place where we could view them safely. Having experienced first hand the day before just how huge elephants are, it was incredible to think that they can traverse such steep terrain. It felt like real David Bellamy stuff at times, emerging from thick undergrowth with bits of plants stuck in our hair – great fun with a bit of tension thrown in too. Watching Krisha move was a real joy as well; dressed in dark khaki he moved with silence and stealth, often gesturing to us to hold back while he sought out his prey. A real creature of the forest, and whilst we were all drenched in sweat within minutes of starting the adventure, Krishna remained completely dry despite his uniform appearing to be made of viscose, and with his impressively coiffured hair unruffled throughout.

Our other planned event whilst staying at Aanavilasam was a visit to a performance of the traditional Kerala martial art form of Kalaripayattu. I have to say that whilst the skill and in particular the strength and fitness of the performers was highly impressive, this was not really my kind of thing. It was genuine stuff, though, with one of the combatants in a sword fight receiving a nasty looking cut on his arm.

Our short time at Aanavilasam has fairly flown by, and in the morning it will be time to head to the Backwaters. In other news, the giant spot on my face has now started to shrink, but my bite count is up to 31, largely made up by the 26 that Hannah has counted on my back. Funnily enough, after the first four, which have now receded, none of the subsequent bites have itched or hurt at all. With our final three days to be spent beside inland waterways, I can only hope that this trend continues.

Three Wheels on my Rickshaw

Our second full day in Kochi began with a leisurely late breakfast after we had all slept soundly to complete the catching up process. With nothing specific organized other than looking for gifts for Hannah to take back for her friends, we wandered off in the general direction of the Chinese fishing nets and took in more of the sights, sounds of smells of our location.

Typically colourful Kochi buildings

Kochi in bloom

En route to the fishing nets we were persuaded by a jovial autorickshaw driver to take a detour to see the Jain Temple, a place of interest not included on our guided tour the day before. We had already thought we might pay it a visit though, so it didn't take too much cajoling by the driver to lure us aboard his three-wheeler.

Our 'air-conditioned' autorickshaw!

As we passed through neighbourhoods more rundown and overcrowded than we had seen before, it became clear that our 'official' city tour had been the sanitised version. Even so, there was bustle, life and colour aplenty and no shortage of friendly smiling faces and waving children to continue to make us feel welcome.

The Umbrella Family

This road was much larger until T.A. Kunjali shrank it.

A ride on an autorickshaw is a multi-sensory experience. Not only do you get to see and hear what's going on (as is the case in Jaya's air-conditioned Four by Four), you get to taste and feel what's happening too: heat, dust, cooking, drains, the lot. All at rock bottom prices too; our 20 minutes trip (not including time in the Temple) cost under a pound and included some very helpful background information about the Temple and other points of interest too. We instantly became autorickshaw fans and travelled this way a number of times more during the rest of the day. There are some real comedians amongst the drivers. One took great pleasure in impersonating a cat every time a dog came near to his vehicle. Admittedly as our journey proceeded this did progress from being confusing to funny to slightly irritating, but it was a more original attempt at entertainment than 'you'll never guess who I had in the back of my rickshaw the other day?'

Elephants guarding the entrance to the Jain Temple

Jainism is an Indian religion that preaches pacifism and a path of non-violence to all living things. Its origins can be traced back to between the 9th and 6th centuries BC. In line with the philosophy of Jainism, the temple was a serene and peaceful place in which the only discernible movements were the smoke rising from numerous joss sticks and the elderly man seemingly gliding along as he swept the floor. Initially it was a little disconcerting to see so many swastikas adorning the temple, before a little research uncovered that long before the Nazis corrupted the symbol it was adopted by the Indus Valley Civilisation of ancient India, and remains widely used today in Hinduism and Buddhism as well as Jainism.

We spent at least two hours over lunch in a very basic cafe, mainly waiting for our food to be cooked (due, it seemed, to many ingredients needing to be obtained from elsewhere by the waiter, who was constantly sent scurrying from the kitchen to neighbouring establishments). Nevertheless it was worth the wait, the quality of the food belying the modesty of the surroundings.

After an hour by (me) and in (Juliet and Hannah) the hotel swimming pool, we set off for a boat trip around the harbour as the sun was setting. Due to it being the end of the tourist season, we had the whole boat to ourselves and although there was not much of great interest to see from the boat, it was a lovely two hours in the sunshine with the sea breeze to keep us cool. The sunset was modest, and was snuffed out by the arrival of thick clouds that preceded the brief but heavy downpour that began just as we were being served our dessert on an outside table beside the sea an hour or so later.

It's those fishing nets again!

It's one day on as I write this and it will be Sunday before I'm able to upload it to the blog. In the meantime we've moved on from Kochi, and my next blog in a day or so will report on our latest adventures.

So far this holiday has been every bit as fantastic as I'd hoped for. Loads of highlights and nothing to spoil the fun as yet. Well, that's not strictly true. No dodgy stomach episodes thus far, but in spite of stringent application of insect repellant I have succumbed to my first insect bites. Only four so far, which is not bad at all when you're as attractive to biters as I have always been. And thanks to the combined power of piriton and anthisan, administered after the first inkling of an itch, the bites have so far been no more than mild irritants.

However, it seems that something about the trip so far has taken exception to me and decided to plant right on the edge of my lower lip the most enormous angry looking pus spot in the history of the world (think of the biggest zit you've observed on a teenager with acne and multiply it by 10). It's unsightly in the extreme and most uncomfortable. As a teenager I never ever suffered from spots; in fact to my acute embarrassment a very attractive young female French teacher once remarked on my 'lovely peach like complexion' in front of a class full of 15 year old boys! However, it seems that due to some form of natural justice, all those zits I didn't have as a teenager have now been visited upon me in one enormous serving. Perhaps it's down to the humidity, maybe an excess of spicy food or it could be completely unrelated to my current whereabouts. Who knows? What I do know, however, is that we are off into the forest tomorrow morning to look for wild animals, and I only hope that my appearance doesn't frighten them all away.

It Ain't Half Hot Mum!

If you caught the first programme in Kate Humble's recent BBC series "The Spice Trail", you will already have had a glimse of our first port of call in India, Cochin (or Kochi as it's known locally). I've never quite grasped why a place name should have more than one version; why can't Kochi be known as that universally, for example, as that's how it's known here? However, I digress. Juliet and Hannah managed to get a couple of hours of intermittent sleep on the second leg of our journey, but for me it was the night that never was. I didn't even attempt any sleep because I find doing so upright to be so uncomfortable I end up frustrated and feeling even more tired than when I started.

We were met in the arrival hall by our unassuming but friendly driver Jaya, and emerged from Kochi International Airport into hot and steamy southern India - it's the start of summer over here with temperatures in the 30s and 80% humidity. By the time we'd walked the two hundred metres to the car, its efficient air conditioning was already very welcome. I have read that the state of Kerala is less disorganised and calmer than other states in India. The apparent mayhem on the roads during our 80 minute drive to Kochi either suggested otherwise or that driving elsewhere in India must be even more hazardous. Cars, trucks, bicycles, motorbikes, animals, pedestrians, autorickshaws all weaving about, under and over taking, horns constantly beeping - how there wasn't a collision I'll never know. Perhaps that's just the way it is here and people are so attuned to it they have developed an innate ability to safely brake or swerve at the last minute. It makes for great entertainment, though, once you've relaxed enough for your heartbeat to return to something approaching normailty.

The Old Lighthouse Bristow

Our base in Kochi is The Old Lighthouse Bristow Hotel, located right next to the beach and happily benefitting from a cooling sea breeze. The building was originally home to Sir Robert Bristow, the founder and first chairman of Kochi port, and doubled up as a lighthouse to guide ships into the busy harbour. It's very cool in our spacious sea view room and the friendly, helpful but understated approach from the staff add to the sense of peace and serenity of the place.



Local Kochi men and boys enjoying an early morning swim.

There's a lovely swimming pool and a spa, so Hannah (aka the fish) and Juliet respectively are more than happy. We all opted for an Ayurvedic massage to help us unwind after the long journey; this seemed a suitable choice as the herb-infused oils used in Ayurvedic treatments claim to return one's body to a state of healthy balance. It certainly was relaxing, and I did feel kind of healthily balanced afterwards but also a little bit like a well oiled baking dish. If the masseur (male) had placed 12 jam tarts on me and popped me into the oven for 25 minutes at gas mark 6 it would have probably felt completely natural.

This morning we went on a short guided tour of the city led by Abe and were again grateful for Jaya's air conditioned car. Kochi is the most populated city in Kerala, but doesn't feel like a city at all, certainly not in Fort Cochin where we are based. It's higgledy piggeldy and very colourful with lots of green. It has been under the control of the Dutch, the Portugese and the British at various times, with much evidence of the legacies of all three making for a fascinating and eclectic mixture of styles and atmosphere. We visited St Francis Church, the first built by Europeans in India, and where Vasco da Gama was buried in 1524, although his body was later returned to his native Portugal. An interesing feature inside were the enormous manual fans, that in days gone by would been operated by Punkawallahs positioned outside the building, where I can assure you 'it ain't half hot Mum'. I know, it's very contrived, but I think the last time I heard the wonderful word 'Punkawallah' was during that television programme (I hesitate to use the word comedy) during the 1970s. Less modest in both exterior and interior than St Francis Church is the Santa Cruz Basilica with its colourful, kitsch indo-romano-roccoco decoration. It was nice and cool inside though!

Santa Cruz Basilica

The iconic Chinese fishing nets were next on our tourist agenda. Traders from the Kublai Khan were said to have introduced them to Kochi. That's Kublai Khan, the grandson of Genghis Khan, and famously the subject of the poem wtitten by Samuel Taylor Coleridge in 1797 following an opium fuelled dream. I suppose that technically makes them Mongolian fishing nets, but lets not be picky. 

The Chinese Fishing Nets of Kochi

My role as tour photographer meant that I was unable to respond to the local fishermen's request for help in reeling in the morning's catch, but fortunately Juliet and Hannah were willing and able to lend a hand.

It was hard work apparently but they were up to the task, even landing a handful of fish.

After mingling with Indian Royalty (well, paintings of them) in the Dutch Palace at Mattancherry, we arrived in Jew Town. This part of the city was previously the heart of Kochi's once-thriving community but is now mainly a shopping area popular with tourists although the Synagogue is still used as a place of worship by the fifty remaining, and apparently very elderly, Jews. 



Kochi's Jew Town

For us it was time for some shopping with fabrics, spices and greaan tea on our shopping list. In one shop Hannah and Juliet were fitted with a Sari while I was made to look extremely fetching in a Dhoti, the traditional men's garment worn on the Indian Subcontinent and favoured by Mahatma Gandhi, although he used to arrange his differently to me. Overcome with that extravagant 'on holiday' feeling I even went ahead and bought one. I wonder if I'll ever be brave enough to give it an airing back home in St Abans?

Well, David Beckham did wear a sarong once!

Jew Town is also the centre of the spice trade, and we were able to look in on the aromatic warehouse full of ginger, scene of the old fashioned deal making shown by Kate Humble on her television programme.

You can have any spice you like, just as long as it's ginger!

A sack full of chilli



From chilli we turned our attention to chilling out by the hotel pool for a couple of hours before getting dressed up, although not to the same extent as the Kathakali actors, for a performance of Kerala's unique ritualised theatre. In spite of receiving both a written and spoken synopsis of the plot and having the conventions of the art explained to us beforehand, I had absolutely no idea what was going on. Apparently the female character, played by a man, turned out to be demon disguised as a beautiful woman, whose penalty once her true identity had been discovered by the Prince was to have her nose and breast sliced off with a sword. Cheerful stuff! Nevertheless the performance was colourful and noisy and the whole experience an enjoyable and worthwhile one.

Leg or breast, you little devil?

 It's been a fantastic day. I've run out of time, and haven't written anything about the wonderful food yet, but that can wait for another day. However, Hannah was very keen for me to include her photograph of the chocolate samosas in mango coulis that she had for desert last night. Looks delicious, doesn't it? I was allowed a small bite myself and can confirm that it was.

.Chocolate Samosas - photo taken by Hannah

We've a less busy day planned for tomorrow, but one thing is for certain. Once again we will be drinking lots and lots of water.