Monalia's World

This video combines both Alleppy and Kottayam backwater footage

We sleep in and check out at around 11:30, ignoring Rajeev’s hurry. He spoke with Bijoy this morning, who suggested we explore the Kottayam backwaters, located about half way back to the coast. We are told there is a completely different vibe in Kottayam than in Alleppy, and we say, “Sure, why not?” There are still 3 days until payday, so one more adventure sounds like fun.

Kotayam is much more upscale than Alleppy, and overnight accommodations reflect this. Goodbye Tiger Sanctuary, hello backwaters adventures part 2.

Once we make it to Kottayam we learn it isn’t easy to find a reasonably priced, comfortable place to stay. Rajeev is in good humor. Maybe he’s happy we finally agree to one of his plans, or maybe he’s happy to not have to drive all day in order to make it back to the Arabian Sea, or maybe he somehow got a good night’s sleep. Whatever the reason, he cheerfully drives us from hotel to hotel. He won’t let us stay anywhere that is overpriced, and his persistence pays off; for half the price of the one hotel we did like, there is a family run accommodation only about a block away, accessible only by canoe. This already sounds promising, that it is located on a canal.

Rajeev speaks with the hotel manager, who meets us in the parking lot (where drivers sleep but Rajeev says its okay here, because the lot is quiet and also has a designated overnight parking area.) He knows one of the drivers who will also be sleeping in the lot, so he’ll have someone to chat to. Also, there is a bathroom in the parking lot intended for drivers who have to spend the night in their cars.

It is already early evening once we get in the creaky canoe with our luggage and gear.

Creaky canoe

We take this tiny canal to our hotel.

Although the ferry ride to our accommodation is creaky and the ferryman older than Methusaleh, the hotel proves to be perfect for us. The tiny canal spills into a big lake, and our place is on the corner property. It has a beautiful swimming pool overlooking the lake, a rinky dink but functional dial-up internet connection, and a mellow vibe; not at all touristy like some of the other places we investigated. Later I spend countless hours recording and photographing the busy life force that flows through this funky canal like blood through an artery.

The swimming pool is dreamlike.

After his swim Mark goes into the hotel reception to see how our business is going. Harsh reality; our Musicloops.com check-out system is suddenly broken and the paypal checkout isn’t working for people with credit cards. Our programmer, Guru, is not following through with his job. Mark spends 2.5 frustrating hours on the slow hotel computer creating new download pages and apologizing to impatient customers.

I wander around and try to shoot video, audio and photos while Mark slogs away on the dial-up office computer. There is so much aural and visual stimulation I become a caricature of myself, with expensive techno gadgets spilling out of my pockets, hanging around my neck, strapped around my waist; Its much easier when Mark does this with me; normally one of us shoots video while the other records audio. But poor Mark is stuck in a claustrophobic room working on a quasi antique hotel PC, trapped in a nightmarish scenario, trying to control his rage, but slowly resolving the multiple problems that have piled up overnight. When something like this happens I know I’ll be spending some “alone time”. So I blithely amble around and capture the unique ambiance of where we are, to alchemize into future blogs. There’s no point in me getting worked up about the business, my job will soon be to buoy Mark back up, which is never an easy feat when we have business snags.

1) Evening shot of our little canal which feeds into a lake. 2) Poetic evening light.

At sunset fishermen come back in from the lake.

1) Coir boat 2) Collecting silt from the lake bottom.

Next morning I get up early to catch the sunrise. There is a surprising amount of activity going on at daybreak. We are scheduled to go on another overnight backwater cruise, and I look forward to it. But I’m right here, right now, and concentrate on capturing this unique little corner of the backwaters. I know that when Mark wakes up he’ll head directly to the computer to make sure everything is working. So its up to me to document where we are.

Rain, critters, rills and insects inhabit the soundscape.

I notice an image I see a lot, mostly at the beach, of an awkward newlywed couple. I will write more about my take on “Bollywood Newlyweds” when we reach Cherai. The couple I presently refer to is staying at our hotel. They are the product of an arranged marriage. (I always ask this question when I meet young married people here). She is bashful and he seems tentative. They obviously don’t fit together yet, but to me they make a cute couple. They are actually traveling with her brother and sister-in-law who have rented the room next door to them, just to help her adjust to the transition into marriage and to make sure she is okay.
Arranged newlywed marriage.

1) The modest canoe ferry that will take us back to Rajeev is parked and waiting for us. 2) Our little canal is teeming with working life.

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Kottayam backwaters part 2

Reunited with Rajeev, we head to the houseboat. We pass affluent homes on our drive to our kellum boat. This houseboat is much bigger than the Alleppy boat, but so are the canals in this area. Like on the Alleppy canals, we see people using the brown water to bathe and wash their clothes and dishes. I even see a guy brushing his teeth using water from the canal.

1) A woman doing her laundry. 2) A man washing himself.

I can see Mark is having a hard time letting go of his stress even though the website crisis is over. So when we get to our houseboat I request a beer run to help take the edge off his mood. I’m not a drinker and Mark only drinks alcohol when on holiday.

We head out on the boat and Mark has a couple of beers, which do the job. In no time he feels as careless and free as a skylark. I have no problem at all relaxing, but I *rarely* do. Relaxing has always coe easily to me. Every so often I go to our bedroom for a toke. Our room has a perfect stoner spot for me near the window, on my side of the bed.

1) My very own spot from where I can chill while watching the passing landscape from my little window. 2) As evidenced in this shot, Mark has left the stressed persona behind, replacing it with his Fun Mr. Carefree and Nice Guy character.

I love the teapot handle on this drawer in my corner. 2) Typical, elaborate Kerala lock.

I start to trip out on the details of our boat.

Four vintage “artsy fartsy” MLV compositions.

As dinnertime approaches, our driver stops the boat at his village, where we are to dock for the night. He asks Mark if he wants to go with him to see his village. Mark says “sure” (of course) and they walk past a houseboat maintenance yard which is crude but very impressive. They continue walking to a street where they meet the driver’s buddies. His friend gets his motorcycle and drives up, tells Mark to hop on. Mark has always loved motorcycles and used to race dirt bikes when he was young but I have a motorcycle phobia, and when we got together I made Mark vow to never get on another bike, I don’t want to lose my soulmate… so he hasn’t ridden one since we hooked up over 15 years ago.

Mark climbs on the back and they take off down the village road, past a very impressive temple and up another small dirt track to what looks like a moonshine distillery with some tables out front. They get off the bike and Mark is ordered to sit at the table. He is brought a ‘Toddy’ but unlike the toddy we had at the restaurant a few days ago, this one is “Strong Toddy”, mixed with alcohol. Toddy is apparently sugar cane fermented into alcohol and then sometimes made stronger by adding more alcohol and sometimes even valium. The taste is bitter, sweet and tangy all at the same time. (To me it tastes like dirty socks).

He gives Mark a big glass (washed out in river water, hmmm) and he drinks it. Then the bar owner drinks one too, and they all chug the strong toddy. His host gives Mark a small bowl of spicy mussels from the river just in front of the village. They are very good.

Once they are done with their drinks they hop back on the bike and head back to the boat. Our driver takes off again to get us 4 litres of toddy to go with our dinner; before, during and after I guess… I am a good sport so I drink a glass despite my distaste for alcohol in general, especially stinky toddy. But there’s way too much toddy for me, there’s even too much for Mark. They must have gotten the impression we’re a couple of boozers. Too bad I’m not a drinker – sometimes I wish I were. But I’m happy with my smokeable birthday present, which should last another week to 10 days if I am frugal with it…

Here I share some scenic shots taken from the boat:

Our ship captain asks us if we’d like to take a canoe out to catch the sunset. We’ve already docked for the night, but its still light out for another couple hours. “Sure!” we say, and are balanced onto yet another rickety canoe boat.

After sunset we are served a gourmet meal and then left to our own resources. We are free to walk around the canal banks if we like, but it starts to rain and we’re cozy in our houseboat. I record some night sounds.

The night chorus sounds wet and wild.

We wake up the next morning and begin our slow cruise home, past Chinese fishing nets popular in the backwater region.

Dead Body

We eat breakfast while cruising down the big lake, which we learn later is a shortcut to our launching dock. We come up to a bridge where there is traffic, but it is not like a real bridge where boats can pass underneath, it is basically a road that is sitting right on top of the water and the water passes underneath it. There are big black metal plates between the road and the surface of the water which are meant to catch large debris before it floats into the other side. Well this morning the debris catchers caught a human body. The driver points it out and we can just see the bloated and clothed figure of a man bobbing face down against the very black debris catcher. There is a group of men on the road looking down at it as they yell at cars to stop to get help.

It is a bit unnerving. Mark and I spend the rest of the morning making up stories about how he might have been killed and ended up there in the debris catcher. I imagine he was a stern priest or pastor who was killed with knitting needles by jealous follower. Mark thinks he was probably the communist brother of a crooked local politician who found himself in the wrong place at the wrong time. It seems like it would be easy to dispose of a body in these backwaters…

It quickly becomes apparent that we had been watching far too many CSI type crime dramas in Spain before we left on our trip.

Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary

Although we’d like to spend a whole week in Varkala, we’ve decided to proceed with the plan to go to the wildlife sanctuary. It is a long drive. Rajeev has a list which includes several stops but he fails to communicate his agenda for us. We are under the impression we are going to the Parambikulam Wildlife Sanctuary, as this is the sanctuary described as the best for getting up close to the wildlife, as the location is in an isolated valley. As I mentioned in earlier blogs, our driver Rajeev does not speak very good English and he understands even less. We do not know the roads and our tourist map is inadequate, so we trust he is taking us there. There are houses, temples, fruit stands, etc. all along the drive, which we learn later is how all the roads of India are; even if the property behind is a rice field, a forest, or even if its fallow, along the side of the road itself you are never far from civilization.

About 3 hours into the drive Rajeev pulls over and tells us to get out, “This is where we are to take an elehant ride”. We contest, we do not *want* to take an elephant ride, we really just want to get to the sanctuary. We’ve ridden elephants in other countries, and it is not an experience or an expense we need to include on this trip. Although Rajeev has a difficult time understanding we do not want to do this, he finally does, and crosses off the word “elephant” from his list. This is about the time when both Rajeev and Mark become grumpy, Mark because its so difficult to communicate and Rajeev because he’s a typical stubborn Indian man. He storms off and calls Bijoy, who we presume tells him to let it go, to do what we wish, so we all climb back into the car. About 6 hours into our journey we enter the Connemara tea country. Again Rajeev pulls over and makes us get out. There is a “cheap” tea tour along the road which he has been instructed to show us. Over the last hour of driving I can see Mark grow visibly more agitated. It has come to our attention that Rajeev is not taking us to the Parambikulam Wildlife Sanctuary but is instead headed to the Government run Periyar Tiger Reserve, which our book says can be a bit like Disneyland, but it does boast a wide variety of wildlife. By this time we’ve accepted that we’re not going to the sanctuary we had planned and its just settling in. I look up the Periyar Tiger Reserve and it also looks promising though more mainstream than the Parambikulam Wildlife Sanctuary, so we hold our tongues. However, we refuse to do the tea plantation tour, this is not something we are interested in. I buy a bag of Connemara tea to bring home from the stand outside and we continue on our journey. Despite the fact we’re all grumpy by now, I know it would be silly to not buy it here, as the tea is famously smooth and only grows between here and Munnar (if I understand Rajeev correctly, that is).

We realize we cannot force Rajeev to go to the reserve we *thought* we were going to, that he doesn’t even understand that a sanctuary named Parambikulam Wildlife Sanctuary exists, that his instructions are to take us to the Periyar Tiger Reserve. We chock all this down to “lesson learned”. Next time we come to India it will be with our good map and we will make sure to find a driver who caters only to *our* interests. There will be no list involved of popular tourist activities we have no interest in.

We stop nearby for lunch and then head out on the last leg of the drive, through endless lush connemara tea plantations.

We drive past lush tea plantations

Periyar Tiger Reserve
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An audio recording to put you in the mood for the Kerala wildlife experience

Hours later, but before sunset we finally arrive at the Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary. Rajeev is keen to take us for an ayurveda massage in the village, also on his notepad of must do’s, along with the elephant ride and the tea plantation tour. We are more concerned that we find a reasonable hotel than with getting a massage. Mark says to me: “I’d rather have *your* hands all over my body than some stranger and I quietly agree. Rajeev brings us to an ayurvedic center recommended by his boss. Kerala is famous for its healing ayurvedic massages, people travel here just for treatments we are told.

The problem is, neither of us are in the mood for a massage; its not something one does from a checklist. Sure, we’ve passed countless Ayurvedic centers since being in Kerala, and although maybe I’ll try one while in Kerala, now is not the time. I leaf through the brochure while Mark barks at Rajeev to *please* just take us to a hotel, we need quiet and relaxation.

I ask the eager massage therapist if the treatment called “Uzhichil¨” which boasts of “improving your circulation and stimulating your senses” could help with the hearing loss in my left ear, which has been my only medical concern of late. The brochure says this particular massage “opens your brain chakras and leaves you with heightened senses”. But I am informed that no massage can help my hearing, and that *maybe* if I had treatments every day for a month I might notice some improvement. I shut down, go sit in the car and let Mark deal with the situation. All either of us wants right now is to get away from our driver and to not sit in a claustrophobic car. I officially wash my hands of dealing with it.

Rajeev is upset and although he’d never admit it, I’m sure he’ll be just as happy to get rid of us as we of him when the time comes. He’s just trying to do his job, and I must concede overall he is a really good, safe driver who is delightfully quiet while driving. He takes us to a charming hotel overlooking the wildlife sanctuary. We are given “low season” rates, which proves to be an incredible deal. Our room has a big balcony overlooking the sanctuary, where I plant myself and relax in *my* style, consuming more of my birthday present from Varkala.

1) Tools of the trade – cameras, laptop, NAGRA audio recorder, sun hat, lighter and a gold bag of stash. 2) Excellent wildlife viewing from our hotel balcony.

I am happy recording sounds and images from our balcony:

I can hear macaques but do not see any yet.

A big bird flaps by, really close to me.

Once in our room I plant myself on the balcony and record audio, video, photos and passing thoughts. I would be happy to stay put – the jungle safari will probably be fun, and if I had my wish we’d stay here a few nights so as to record all the intoxicating sounds in a relaxed fashion. But Rajeev is not excited about sleeping in his car in the hotel parking lot for 3 nights. I can see him imploding with anger at the thought of a third (unplanned on his itinerary) night spent in this fashion. We offer to put him up in a room but he is embarrassed and refuses the offer. So two nights here it will be, and we intend to make the most of it. I know now in my heart that we will return to Southern India someday and do a better job of sound designing the experience. This trip is a teaser.

Once Mark and I are on our own, with a free evening to relax, hold each other, sit on the wonderful terrace and take in this heavenly ambient wildlife experience we come to an inevitable executive decision. We’ll have Rajeev drive us back to the coast and then let him go on his way. With two more weeks of travel ahead of us, we are both weary and excited. I am extremely inspired and shoot lots of video and photos from our balcony.

Wonderfully weird wildlife photos from hotel balcony.

I love this area. So what if its not the sanctuary we thought we were going to; we’ll go to Parambikulam Wildlife Sanctuary *next* time we visit. Everything about where we are *now* pleases me, from the banyan tree TV stand to the poetic shower with a glass view overlooking the nature reserve.

Sensuous shower.

1) I love this banyan tree TV stand/hat rack. 2) Heavenly creatures graze outside. What a view we have!

Exotic animal sounds.

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We are tired of being rushed through these wonderful Kerala experiences, will be relieved not to have someone sleeping in his car because of us in days to come. When Mark catches up with Rajeev later to get the info for our daybreak jungle jeep safari he informs Rajeev of our decision. Rajeev is both disappointed and relieved; he was under the impression he was to take us to Munnar next, something we had never discussed. This would involve another full day of driving. We are not interested in seeing more tea plantations. And although he doesn’t say it, I know in his heart Rajeev is happy there is an end in sight to our travels together. We insure him we are very pleased overall with his skills as a driver, which makes him happy. We explain to him, although I don’t think he understands, that we are nearing the end of the month and although we are on vacation, we have *work* to do. We need to make our way to a hotel on a pretty beach with WIFI if we’re serious about keeping our business afloat while we travel. With only a few days until March 1, or payday, plus a few website programming issues that need to be tended to, we need to stay in the same place for at least 5 days to take care of business. We have a reputation for paying our composers at the beginning of every month, and do not want to let them down. Our highest earning composer averages about $5000 a month and we have at least 10 composers who normally earn around $1000 a month. Even the composers who only earn $100 – $200 a month from Musicloops.com rely on a timely paycheck. In the early 90’s, when we wrote music for Mark Mothersbaugh’s company, Mutato Muzica we would get paid every couple months even though we were writing about a song a week. We were kept in a constant state of rags to riches. We know how that feels so we strive to spare *our* composers from the insecurity of not knowing *when* their next check will be.

Later, Rajeev is anxious when I exclaim in glee “I love this place! I could easily stay here a week!” And I could, I would be happy to just enjoy the balcony and the view indefinitely and record sounds and images from our room… From his reaction I know we will stick to the departure plan though. Next on Rajeev’s written list is Munnar, 6 to 8 hours north. “No way!” we say. After consulting his boss he agrees we’re to head back to the west coast after our 2 nights here.

We’re advised not to go trekking by foot because it rained recently and there are too many leeches for the uninitiated. So we book a private wildlife jeep safari leaving tomorrow morning at 6:00, wake up call at 5:00. It sounds exciting! We like the *sound* of going on a jeep safari. I imagine chasing elephants and sloths through the bush with our ¨private jeep¨. We hope to record the pure animal sounds of the Periyar Tiger reserve. We know its not guaranteed we’ll *see* the animals we hear but are told we’ll see *some* of them and definitely hear them.

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Part 2 – Jeep Safari Through Periyar Tiger Reserve

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Daybreak at Periyar Tiger Reserve.

The intrepid duo

The jeep ride to the official park entrance is a jumbly, bumpy 20 minute drive. All illusions of this being an intimate, private affair are dropped as we cue up behind a line of jeeps full of French people, Germans, even Spaniards. We are not alone. In fact, we are given an itinerary of what is included in our package tour, none of which really excites us. We tell our driver our objective to record the animal sounds but although he nods his head in agreement I’m not sure he understands. I realize that this *is* a Disney ride, only more fun. There appears to be only one road, a dusty one, and I try to embrace the discomfort of the initial early morning chill, the jostle of jeep over mottled terrain. This is reality We are here!!! No elephants or sloths appear, but we do spot some exotic wildlife, as evidenced by the video at the beginning of this blog.

Our driver stands up in the jeep as he drives, scanning the terrain for signs of interesting wildlife. All the jeeps appear to be in communication with each other, so if one jeep spots something, those following will pull over to see if they see what our driver thinks he sees. I force myself into patient mode, which is a good decision. The truth is we are travelling in a caravan of “private jeeps”, effectively negating the personal contact with nature I was hoping for. However I begin to snap photos and shoot video from the jeep, and as you can see from the photos I share, the beauty did not disappoint.

At one “scenic stop” I take a short walk and record some sounds before the jeeps start up again. Here’s what I recorded:

Jungle sounds

Mark looks at the itinerary pamphlet and sarcastically grunts, “Typical Kerala buffet is part of our package, I can’t wait…” Both Mark and I hate buffets, which usually serve up lukewarm, spongy food matter in our travelling experience. There are strict lunch hours (12:30 to 1:30) so all are encouraged to be mindful while exploring the park. I ignore the red flares that go off in my brain and take photos:

The safari tour package is divided into 3 parts, the first being the one hour drive to the nature center, where we are encouraged to do one of 3 guided activities, which appear to be strictly timed. There is a big patronizing sign spelling out what is *not* permitted on these verdant grounds. When I ask about the stern language I am told “This is a government run operation” as an explanation.

1) we can do an “easy one hour guided walk”, or a more taxing 2 hour trek along the well trodden footpaths which visitors are admonished not to wander off of.
2) we can take a row boat (with driver of course) and paddle around the lake.
3) we can just hang out at the lake until lunchtime, after which we are encouraged to go on a tea plantation guided tour. (not at all appealing to us).

We are deposited at the center, slightly disgruntled but willing to make the most of it. Thankfully we remembered to pack some granola bars and 2 bananas, because the buffet it a noisy, cacophonous disaster which we refuse to be a part of. We want to go home to our quiet hotel… but we’ve learned to somehow get our way, so despite all the organized efforts we are able to find a sweet, young guide willing to take us on a private hike despite all efforts to rope us into a bigger group. Pure sound is not easy to capture, especially in a group.

Interesting looking ficus tree

Strange, colorful, poisonous wild mushrooms and a huge ant nest hanging high up in the trees.

It is blissful here. We distance ourselves from the other park visitors, young guide in tow. He asks if we want a 1 hour or a 2 hour trek. “We don’t know” I reply, “Is it possible to improvise the length of our hike?” He is a bit confused, but we start out on a hike nevertheless. His name is Indika and he’s lived in this area all his life, though he’s only been working at the park a few years. “Its a good job” he says, “I love this park” and as we walk he tells us several charming tales of his encounters with the wildlife here.

Once he gets the gist of what we’re after Indika allows me to fall behind and do my thing. Both Mark and I have digital audio recorders and our guide learns to be quiet while we’re recording. He is very astute, calling our attention to and identifying the animal sounds we hear, pointing out paw prints, trying to teach us some plant names as well as calling our attention to birds we see.

We come across some fresh leopard paw prints, which we are told is unusual to see.

1) Leopard paw print almost looks like a child’s hand print. 2) Fresh elephant poo on our trail

Indika is a wealth of elephant anecdotes. He says its easy for them to climb up a hill but downhill is a different, slippery matter because they are so heavy. He also mimics the different sounds they make. He’s learned what the different grunts and sounds they make are. Normally an elephant will make a low pitched, friendly “humph” to let you know they see you if they are grazing when you pass. But if they make a series of sharper, more percussive sounds it means you better get out of the way. He has a mirthful, full belly laugh which makes his ear lobes shake.

We are in heaven. It wasn’t easy to maneuver a good result from this safari, but we are having a great time. It would be hard to imagine a prettier location.

1) I see this shape in a lot of Kerala ironwork 2) Happy husband.

1) A perfect opuscule of a lake. 2) These are the tiny rowboats we are allowed to paddle around in (but only with a guide).

After our hike we have Indika paddle us around in the lake for a bit. He takes us to a waterfall which is only a short hike from where we dock. I choose to stay in the boat because I don’t want to get in and out of my cumbersome life jacket, but Mark hikes there, says its “pretty” . On the ride back Mark and I decide we don’t want the buffet lunch nor do we want to visit a plantation. We want to go back to our mellow hotel room overlooking it all. Indika sings a pretty song as he rows. I am so bound up in my life jacket that I can only access my iPhone. So I record the sound of Indika singing as we row with my iPhone:

Boatman sings while he rows us across the lake

Once ashore we find our napping jeep safari driver and ask him to take us back. He is surprised, says “but don’t you want the buffet lunch?”

“No!” we reply in unison.

“And how about the tea plantation, don’t you want to see a *real* historical tea plantation?”

“Absolutely not”

On the drive back we have better luck spotting animals.

1) A monkey hiding in a tree 2) A rare flying squirrel.

1) The drive back is lush. 2) A cute monkey.

Crimson and green landscape.

Once back in our room, we are thankful we’re so compatible. Its a luxury to kick back on our balcony and just be *lazy* sound designers. We relax; I enjoy my Varkala ganja while Mark sips his Kingfisher. We are elated to have a quiet evening assimilating our thoughts. Mark works with our website programmer in Bangalore while I capture the magic of where we are.

Later when we take a stroll through the tiny village we come across Rajeev, who is pushing us to get an early start tomorrow, is anxious because he wants to make it to the coast before sunset. But we’ve been through the drill; we’ll check out when we’re ready to, and not a minute sooner. There’s no point in having a discussion on the topic.

I leave you with a parting image:

A very happy ME holding my Nagra recorder in the air.

Here are some more wildlife audio tracks to listen to while you continue on to read my next Kerala blog post:

Night sounds

Mysterious animal groan

birds, apes, roosters – what other animal sounds can you identify?

More night sounds

Monday Feb 21st –
Varkala

On the overnight houseboat Mark and I agree that after 2 days of backwaters we are ready for a beach.

We are reunited with our driver, Rajeev, who complains he is achy from sleeping in his Maruti SUV. We are only beginning to get to know Rajeev. He is not very talkative, probably because his English is poor. He is keen to take us straight to the wildlife sanctuary but we have other ideas. We eventually learn that he has a little map drawn of where he plans to take us and when, which he has memorized by heart. It takes us awhile to make him understand that we really, really need to find a hotel on the beach with good internet so we can take care of our customers, irregardless of his memorized agenda. He finally understands that our plan is non negotiable. We convince him to head back in the direction of Trivandrum, that we need to spend a couple days in a neutral environment and if we combine that with a beach location, we will be very happy. We are ready for a couple of lazy days to leisurely catch up on Partners in Rhyme business without distractions, as well as to simply hang out to assimilate our trip thus far and compare notes.

This is when our adventures with Rajeev truly begin. Like most Indian men, he is stubborn to a fault. He makes several phone calls to his boss, who we later find out is none other than Bijoy (even the car is owned by Bijoy). Rajeev grudgingly agrees to accommodate our wishes, despite his memorized itinerary which has no room for spontaneity. It is imperative at this juncture for Mark and I to take a stand. If he is unwilling to comply we are happy to let him go his own way. We need the illusion of control over our time. We are not willing to compromise just to please our driver.

Rajeev drives us to a beach named Kayamkulam, located half way between Alleppy and Kollum. In our guide book it boasts of beach front on one side, backwaters on the other, but to us Kayamkulam beach looks unappealing and and the environs unfriendly. We don’t like the look or the vibe here, so we continue on to Varkala, where we immediately feel at home. To his credit, Rajeev takes us straight to the perfect hotel. It is an inexpensive (by Western standards) 3 star hotel with WIFI, a swimming pool, a nice restaurant and a view of and path to the beach. We like it here. It would be nice to spend more than a couple days here…

If we want to keep both our business and our love life healthy we need to spend at least two days in Varkala before heading out on another culturally saturated escapade. We have a hard time communicating to Rajeev that we need to spend two nights here, not one. He keeps nodding his head like he understands, but then says:

“Okay, so, I pick you up tomorrow morning 10:00 am?”.
“No, please pick us up in two days” we reply.
He nods his head and repeats,
“So, I pick you up tomorrow morning 10:00 am?”.
“No, not tomorrow, the day *after* tomorrow.”
“Okay, so, I pick you up tomorrow morning 10:00 am?”.
This goes on like a bad sit-com skit, much longer than necessary.

Rajeev is unwilling to understand, makes several phone calls to Bijoy (who until now we thought we were no longer tied to), until finally we come to an understanding that he will go spend a night back home in Trivandrum (only about an hour drive away) but we will pay him for his services for the non-driving day irregardless. We figure that if we had hired a car we’d have to pay for the night it was unused, and the same logic applies to this rented car with driver. So finally, after both the hotel manager and Bijoy tell him to go home and not to return to pick us up for two days, he understands. He is happy to go spend a paid night sleeping in a real bed rather than the SUV once he understands we will pay him for the day irregardless. He leaves, saying

“Ökay, I pick you up not tomorrow but the next day at 10:00, okay?”

This is when we begin to realize our driver has a secret agenda for us, one carefully memorized and in his mind, somewhat inflexible. We’re tempted to simply let him go, but decide to keep him on to drive us to the Parambikulam Wildlife Sanctuary and record the sound of the macaques, langurs, and long-tailed flying squirrels that allegedly live there. We know that our hotel check-out time is noon, but rather than starting a new canon of misunderstandings about the exact time to leave, we are happy to know Rajeev will be available to us the day after tomorrow. He is keen to get us to the wildlife sanctuary, which will be a full day’s drive from Varkala. Understandably he wants to get an early start, but also understandably we are in no hurry to get there. We do not want to be rushed on our vacation. As soon as he leaves we feel a wave of euphoria overcome us.

1) Hotel swimming pool 2) View from our luxurious hotel room balcony

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Our hotel room is divine! Its modern and has a big balcony. The WIFI connection is easy. We are happy. It is fun to lounge around in luxury after a full week on the road.

I stay in the room to unpack, set up techno recharge stations and rest while Mark heads out to check out the village. He heads down to the beach, which is a bit of a downhill walk, past beautiful ashrams and yoga centers with thick jungle and gentle streams everywhere. At the end of the trail he pops out at the beach which has a very mellow, laid back vibe. Hindu holy men are giving people blessings and sending them out into the surf to become one with the water. There are packs of cute stray dogs roaming the beach and village. They look well fed despite having no collars. There are a few restaurants, fruit stands, homestays and souvenir stores along the cul de sac leading to the beach, which is sandy with red cliffs. There do not appear to be many tourists, but there are more than a few devotees with shaved heads. We learn later that the beach here, named Papanasam Beach, has long been associated with ancestor worship. We also learn later there is a world known Krishna temple not far from the baths.

I have made a conscious decision to relax rather than obsessively document things, so this Varkala blog post will not have videos or sounds. When I do hike down to the beach later, it is only with my piffero flute, iPhone, and 100 rupees in my pocket. I set out past the main beach, onto the jagged shoreline in search of an anonymous spot to tootle on my flootle. The tide is out far enough for me to wander under the sheer, red cliffs to a shady spot next to an overhanging rock. I climb to my spot, where only the gods can hear me play and I release my soul through a medley of whatever improvised melody comes to mind, including a chorus of “Hare Krishna Hare Rama”, which is not normally in my repertoire.

These iPhone shots don’t really do my magic spot justice, but I share them anyway.

I walk down the beach, past a tiny police hut.

I hike along the coast until I find my spot underneath these jagged cliffs. It is here that I play my soul out. I can feel a divine presence, and learn later that my audience is named Saraswati, goddess of music.

Varkala Part 2

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Buying Ganja

Before sunset Mark heads out on his own. After so many days spent together 24/7 its nice to do a bit of independent wandering. After checking out the beach Mark heads up the street back to our hotel using a different route, by passing the jungle path he came down and continuing along the main road instead. He finds a really cool antique store which pulls him in. He is attracted to a large scary mask of the god Mahakala buys it for me as a belated birthday present. The store is filled with things he knows I would like so he decides to make this day my actual birthday and shower me with gifts. He buys a couple of cotton skirts, a hand-painted Ganessa necklace and the giant Mahakala mask for my bedroom. The mask is to be directly sent to Barcelona by mail, as we could never lug it around.

My Mahakala mask

Mark takes his bag full of smaller presents and heads up the road again. He notices a huge outdoor bath area. These outdoor baths are common here but this is the biggest one he’s seen, with steps leading down to the water and statues spewing out streams of water. There are lots of people washing themselves and their clothes, busy using the baths in various ingenious ways. Stray dogs and goats roam, naked babies cry, the place is teeming with life.

He walks around the perimeter of the bath, which covers about an acre and a half, and passes by a guy who smiles and says hi. Mark asks him if he is on the right path back to our hotel and the guy says yes. Then he asks Mark if he needs anything. Mark says no and keeps on walking. The guy asks him again, with a wry expression, “do you need anything?”.
Mark says, “like what?”
He says “marijuana”.

Mark says “yes!” and is thinking, “this is too perfect, the icing for Monalia’s belated birthday party.” They decide on a price and a time to meet and Mark is off back to the hotel to grab some cash. He keeps everything a secret from me. He mysteriously asks me to wait in the room.
“Don’t leave, I’ll be right back,” he says while rushing back out the door.

After waiting for a bit in the designated spot Mark notices his guy is late, so he starts wandering around. Another guy comes and asks him if he needs anything. Right when he was negotiating a deal with the new guy Mark’s original dealer appears so he heads off with him. They go into the nearby jungle and he shows Mark the weed. Mark is not a pot expert, he rarely smokes it himself, but this looks and smells very strange to him so he instantly doesn’t trust the guy. He’s never seen pot that looks like this before, sort of dirty and stringy. It doesn’t smell like any bud he’s been around, so although he is not normally a smoker, Mark realizes the only way he can buy it is if he can test it.

So, they go on a small journey to find a place to test it, and some papers to smoke it with. They walk for a while and the guy finds one of his friends who is apparently a professional smoker of the local herb. They all three head uphill via several staircases to an open field in the jungle on the other side of town. The friend cleans the pot almost entirely with one hand and then rolls it in a dry coconut leaf. Mark is impressed.

As he rolls a big spliif Mark’s friend is telling him about the field and pointing out the enormous mounds of poop decorating it. He tells Mark they are from elephants. The marijuana joint is ready. Mark takes two big hits and immediately feels euphoric. He looks at his new friend and asks, “Where are the elephants?”
He says “right behind you”
“WHOA!”

Mark turns around to see an elephant towering above the bushes behind him, munching on a branch. Mark is feeling happily buzzed by now. Although he’s completely startled by the enormous mastodon, he just says, “woah, cool”.

He shakes hands with his new friends and heads back to the hotel, excited to have such a great stash of presents to give me and quite a tale to go with it!

Its time to really celebrate, Hollywood style.
Happy Birthday to Me (again…)

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… Next Morning…

wake and bake

Early morning I am awakened by a virtuoso songbird so I record it:

Indian Songbird

I follow my ears on an early morning walk around the hotel gardens. I see this pretty bird and snap a shot with my iPhone. I would like to think it is the same bird I heard this morning.

I return to our room as Mark is waking up. How intoxicating it is to have a full day to ourselves! We order room service espresso coffee. We read the quirky English edition Indian newspaper that seems very quaint in its use of language. We are slowly realizing just how old-fashion India is despite its new cyber presence and clout. Its the patriarchy that is so very old fashioned. Dowries and arranged marriages are still predominant in Indian society, and the Indian justice system appears to be harsh.
Women are intelligent and educated, but still need to find their voice.

We smoke my birthday present, make use of the hotel swimming pool, enjoy their international cuisine (nice to take a break from vegetable curry and rice), roll around, get silly, and watch TV.

From television I learn that in India the President of Congress is an Italian woman named Sonia Gandhi, daughter-in-law of the late Prime Minister of India, Mrs. Indira Gandhi and widow of Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. She is allegedly the most influential person in the country. Hmmm – my curiosity is piqued; what does she stand for? I’ll have to look that up sometime.

We channel surf from Bollywood video clips, to overly dramatic melodramas often involving big headed females wearing scarves, to the slick Islamic channel that advertises upcoming movies and events, and back to Bolywood, for tomorrow our journey with Rajeev will continue.

Later, while Mark is on the balcony working with our website programmer who lives in Bangladore, I hang out on my comfy bed. Many Indian TV shows are playful and silly. In fact, I had no idea so many Indians love a good laugh. Its infectious. I shoot a couple images from these shows because it will always remind me of this blissful 2 day hiatus in Varkala.