Kerala, Goa & Mumbai – December 2015
PHOTO GALLERY
In December 2015 my friend Debbie and I did 12 days in Sri Lanka before flying to India to meet up with our good friend Rachel, an independent travel writer who was in Kerala to research and update the Kerala chapter for Rough Guides.
From Sri Lanka to India
DAY 13 – Fort Cochin, Kerala, (Wed 23rd Dec 2015)
Today we flew from Colombo (the capital of Sri Lanka) to Kochi in Kerala, where we met up with my friend Rachel, a travel writer who was there to research and update the Kerala chapter for Rough Guides. After what felt like a really long bus ride, we finally arrived at Walton’s Homestay, centrally located on Princes Street where we received the warmest of welcomes.
I don’t really know what I was expecting but Kerala very much pleasantly surprised me, it felt cute and quaint and different to what I thought it would be. The streets were cozy, lined with cute shops, cafes and restaurants and it had a nice holiday vibe. That night we had some lovely local cuisine, sat on plastic chairs on the side of the street, in a very much no-thrills type of place.
DAY 14 – Fort Cochin, Kerala, (Thurs 24th Dec 2015)
After a lovely homemade breakfast from our host, Debbie and I headed out to explore. Fort Cochin (or Fort Kochi) is described as part of a “handful of water-bound regions” and also known as ‘Old Kochi’.
We first headed towards the water to get a look at the local fisherman at work, famous in this area for their Chinese fishing nets – it really was quite a sight. From there we walked further down along the coast, eventually heading inland wandering around the cute streets, popping into little shops and cafes along the way. We didn’t see much of Rach that day as she was busy working, however later that night the three of us had a lovely dinner at Fort House Restaurant, sat outside by the water.
When we got back to our homestay we were thrilled to see that Mr Walton had left us Christmas presents on our beds – what a lovely gesture, especially being away from home. We were each given a book, mine by Nobel Prize winner Rabindranath Tagore and inside a lovely note, “Wishing you & family a Merry Xmas and a bright & prosperous New Year. Your friendly Innkeeper, Christopher Walton & family”.
DAY 15 – Fort Cochin to Cherai Beach, (Fri 25th Dec 2015)
It’s Christmas Day…and we’re in India, this isn’t weird at all!!
We started the day with breakfast on the rooftop of a family-run restaurant which despite being closed to the public, the owner (who Rach had met the day before) insisted we came. Whilst his family ate below, the food kept coming and coming. It was so lovely and his hospitality was beyond what we could have expected. To top it off we were sat opposite a Christian Church, which when away from home, was so comforting to hear the familiar Christmas hymns.
With full bellies we left Fort Cochin and took the ferry and a taxi to Cherai Beach, one of the most visited beaches in the state. We checked into Cherai Beach Resort which despite looking idyllic, was a little smelly (which I think was down to the backwaters and no fault of the resort).
Christmas Dinner was another Indian buffet but it was yum! We then headed down to the 10km long beach and took a lovely stroll, taking it all in and dipping our feet in sea; it wasn’t long before we were approached by some local kids who seemed very intrigued by us.
We headed back to the resort, took a swim in the pool and got ready for our evening, which consisted of another Indian buffet dinner and another stroll along the beach but this time, ready for it’s famous sunset.
What an experience, 100’s and 100’s of locals had also flocked to the beach and what with us pretty much being the only white people there, we were very much a novelty and were asked to be in a lot of photos. A very different Christmas Day experienced, but one that I will always remember.
DAY 16 – Alleppey, South Kerala, (Sat 26th Dec 2015)
From Cherai Beach we headed 80km south on a hot, sweaty train to Alleppey (also known as Alappuzha). Slowly falling in love with this country, it really upset me to see how normal it was for local passengers to throw their rubbish out of the train window – including people who looked like they should know better. However as shocked as I was, I decided to keep my disapproving looks to myself.
Famous for its backwaters, ‘a network of tranquil canals and lagoons’, we checked into Angeo Beach House, located in the fisherman’s village, Chettikadu Beach. With nothing much around other than more guest houses and local homes, we chilled on the veranda for a bit, before going on a sunset cruise which our host had arranged for the two of us. Later that evening we had a gorgeous selection of food that our hosts had made us and still to this day I can remember eating the most amazing BANANA curry!
DAY 17 – Alleppey, (Sun 27th Dec 2015)
The obvious thing to do whilst on the backwaters is to hire a houseboat, however with there being only the two of us, it was looking costly (partly because we hadn’t booked in advance) and also the houseboats were huge and we would have felt silly having it all to ourselves.
Instead, through our hosts we hired a Shikara boat (which was still large enough to accommodate 10-12 people) and had a two hour tour of the backwaters. It was so beautiful and peaceful and fascinating to see such a different way of life. As well as passing young children waving desperately to get our attention, we also saw families going about their daily chores, a mother washing clothes in the river, men fishing and up coconut trees and kids playing in the water.
It really was a lovely chilled day and in keeping with our day of relaxation, we decided to get massages. I always think you need to be very open minded when you opt for a massage in unfamiliar surroundings, as you never really know what you’re going to get. Leaving my inhibitions at the door, I entered a room which couldn’t look further from your typical massage room – I wasn’t expecting candles and whale music…but I was expecting something other than a hard wooden table in the middle of a large room; being the polite Brit that I am, I hopped on and said no more. I can only imagine how hilarious I must have looked, semi-naked, oiled up and slipping and sliding all over the place! From there, with hand gestures alone (due to the language barrier), I was instructed to get into what I can only describe as a wooden hotbox type thing, where I sat on a stool, which was far too low for me and so my head only just poked out, digging into my neck…uncomfortable and sweaty I reminded myself that this must be ‘good for me’, despite feeling like it was the beginning of the end and that I was actually in some kind of assassination chamber.
Later that night Debbie and I compared ‘awkward massage’ notes on the veranda and ate another amazing dinner of lots of gorgeous vegetarian dishes.
DAY 18 – Alleppey to Goa – approximately 825km (Mon 28th Dec 2015)
Deciding to brave it, we left Alleppey and got a taxi to the local bus station where we needed to catch a bus 130km north to Thrissur Railway Station, so that later that afternoon we could get on our sleeper train to Goa. I say brave it as our other option was to hire a private taxi to take us the whole way, however as this was going to cost significantly more, so we decided to join the locals and take the scenic route.
Upon arriving at Alleppey bus station we were met with chaos; there were crowds of people, long queues and little information available to us. As we had struggled to find anyone that spoke English (and there were no other tourists around), with very little confidence we boarded the bus that had been pointed out to us as the one going to Thrissur. Taking the last two seats on the bus – not sat together – we were surprised that this rickety open-aired bus (with no glass in it’s windows) was the bus used for this long distance journey. With every scheduled stop, we were getting more and more delayed. No one else seemed bothered by this apart from Debbie and I, as we were facing the realisation that the likelihood of us catching our sleeper-train to Goa was fading fast. We even started to think of back-up plans, however we knew catching a later sleeper-train to Goa wasn’t an option, as we’d booked this train weeks and weeks in advance!
Finally, we’re pulling into Thrissur Bus Station – hot, sweaty and anxious we threw our heavy rucksacks on and ran the 800 metres to the train station ticket office where we had to collect our sleeper-train tickets. The lady who served us – with absolute no urgency – didn’t bat an eyelid to the fact that she was actually issuing us our tickets, at the exact same time our train was scheduled to depart. This gave our desperate sweaty souls that tiny bit of hope, that when in India, nothing runs on time and perhaps this was going to be the case for our train!
Checking the board for our platform, we glance over and see our train still there – one more sprint up and over the stairs and we’ve made it!
As we settle up onto our bunk-beds, relieved beyond belief, it doesn’t take us long to realise that we’ve no water and no food to keep us going for the next 12+ hours, and with what’s already been a very crazy long day, we’re already starving and really thirsty! As I stay put, looking after our bags and valuables, Debbie goes off to find the food-cart, only to come back 2 minutes later having been told there’s no electric and so they’re not serving any food or drink FOR THE WHOLE ENTIRE JOURNEY!
Fortunately, the elderly couple who had set up home beneath our bunks, befriended us – they were on their way to Mumbai to visit their daughter at university – the dear old chap told us that in an hour or so the train would be stopping for longer and that we’d be able to get some food at that station. Cue another crazy experience…
As we pulled into the station it was chaos, as Debbie jumped off and ran over the kiosk to try and get us water and snacks, it was my job to get us some hot food from the vendors who were pacing the platform shouting “Biryani, Biryani, Biryani”. The best 50p I’ve ever spent; my job was complete. Debbie on the other hand was nowhere to be seen. As I anxiously hung out of the train desperately looking for her, worried that the train would depart, I could see that our new friend was also starting to worry, despite telling me that everything was fine.
As I’m frantically trying to weigh up what to do 1) stay put and hope that Debbie has jumped back on the train but into the strong carriage or 2) grab our bags and jump off so we’re stranded together…we eventually see Debbie running towards us, just in the nick of time! And breathe….
Luckily, the rest of our journey was uneventful. After eating our lovely Biryani dinner, we settled down for the long night ahead with the reassurance that our new buddy would wake us up just before we approached our stop. If it wasn’t for him I don’t know how we would have known when to get off, as there were no announcements and most stations had little to no signage.
DAY 19 – Goa, (Tues 29th Dec 2015)
Super tired but super excited, we finally arrive in Goa at silly-o’clock in the morning. However, our journey isn’t over just yet, as we still need to get to Palolem Beach, (from Madgaon Junction) which is another 50 minutes / 35km in a taxi (which only cost us INR 1,110, approx. £11).
Although unavoidable, annoyingly it’s around 4:30am by the time we get to Palolem – it’s really quite dark, it’s chilly and nothing is open and so we do feel a little vulnerable whilst waiting for the sun to rise and for the first lot of shops and cafes to open, with only stray dogs for company. However, as soon as we’re able to, we check into Mika Mocha, our beach hut accommodation for the next three nights.
Today kind of felt like a holiday within a holiday as there weren’t huge amounts of things we wanted to do here other than relax on the beach and soak up the summer vibes. It was also nice to see other tourists about and for the first time it felt acceptable to wear beach clothes, having naked shoulders and knees on show without being judged.
With Rach not joining us until tomorrow, Debbie and I spent most of the day walking along the beautiful beaches, having a little sunbath and wandering through the cute little shops.
**Make sure you arrive with money as ATM’s in these areas are very rare and hard to find
DAY 20 – Palolem Beach, Goa, (Wed 30th Dec 2015)
Today we decided to go further afield and took ourselves off to Anjuna in the north of Goa, to visit the famous Anjuna Flea Market, one of the most famous shopping places in Goa. This massive open-aired market is described as much a part of the Goan experience, as a day on the beach and it’s a great place to hunt for a bargain and practice your haggling skills.
For us it was a good 2 / 2 ½ hour taxi ride there from Palolem Beach, however we negotiated in advance with our taxi driver the cost for the day, which meant he waited around and drove us home once we were done. The market itself is so colourful and full of everything you can imagine – we really had to remind ourselves not to get carried away. PLEASE NOTE this market is only open on Wednesdays.
Once back in Palolem Beach we were finally joined by Rach and enjoyed a lovely evening dinner together on the beach.
DAY 21 – Palolem Beach, Goa, (Thurs 31st Dec 2015)
Today we decided to take it easy as we knew with it being New Years Eve, we had a long day and late night ahead of us. We started the day off with a few hours sunbathing on the beach – you’d think by now we were used to the creepy men staring at us in our bikinis, however today felt worse and a few times we were sure men were filming and taking photos of us as they walked passed. Feeling a little uneasy we decided to get off the beach and instead went for lovely relaxing massages.
Despite finally picking up a bit of ‘Delhi Belly’ (inevitable really), we headed back to our room to get ready for the night ahead, which started with a few beers on the beach. Wow, NYE in Goa is CRAZY, people were letting off fireworks all over the place, with no health and safely in sight! Men were literally letting them off in their hands and they were firing off in all directions – it was actually quite scary.
We saw the New Year in at a beach bar, dancing the night away, but never letting our guards down as those creepy men had reappeared and were ogling at us hard. We didn’t let each other out of our sights, even going to the loo in threes! That said, there were loads of lovely local families and a few other tourists about that we were happily celebrating with. What an experience!
DAY 22 – Goa to Mumbai, (Fri 1st Jan 2016)
Having not drunk much the night before, we wake up to 2016 feeling pretty good and ready for the next and final part of our trip – Mumbai. With our flight not until 5:05pm it’s nice that we can leisurely pack up, check out and slowly make our way to the airport.
Landing in Mumbai at 6:20pm, it’s great that we have the whole evening ahead of us to explore the city. Grabbing a taxi and heading to our accommodation, it really was quite an eye opener to see how different Mumbai was to everywhere we’d visited so far. On the one hand it looks like a thriving city, however it’s met with extreme poverty with families living at the side of the road in make shift huts, children playing by the busy traffic and people rushing up to your car to beg as we slowed in traffic. It really was unsettling and a very sad sight to see.
We checked into Hotel Abode Bombay which was lovely and very modern and luxurious compared to all our previous places, especially our Goa beach hut. After a quick change of clothes, we headed out to find somewhere for dinner and it wasn’t long before we found Koyla, a fancy pants rooftop bar (in Colaba). However, not knowing what to expect for a Friday night, we didn’t end up staying as it was super busy, there was a long waiting list to be seated and to be honest the Friday night crowd were making us feel like scruffy travellers.
Getting really hungry and struggling to find somewhere that looked decent, we ended up going to a brightly lit café across the road called Café Basilico and ordered pizza. Shortly after we called it a night, with Debbie taking her leftovers with her and giving it to some kids sleeping rough on the street. So sad.
DAY 23 – Mumbai, (Sat 2nd Jan 2016)
With only one full day in Mumbai we were up and out early so to make the most of it. We first headed over towards Churchgate, an area described as full of tourist spots and other must-see locations. We walked across the Oval Maidan where lots of locals were playing cricket and then over to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya (the main museum in Mumbai).
Later that afternoon we went back to our hotel to quickly freshen up before heading to the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel where we enjoyed a lovely high-tea in the Sea Lounge; for the first time this holiday we were actually feeling a little bit fancy – although not that fancy when we looked at the wealth around us. After filling up on lovely cakes and crust-less sandwiches we walked across the road to the Gateway of India and watched the sky turn pink as the sun slowly started to set. It was crazy to look across the water and see so much smog.
To finish the evening off we thought it would be a great idea to go to the cinema to experience watching a Bollywood film, as we’d heard that it’s quite an event and that people sing and dance up and down the aisles. This however was not the case and it was very much your normal bog-standard trip to the cinema. We watched a film called Dilware and it was actually a really funny experience, as only about 35% of the film was in English and so we each came out with very different opinions on what had happened as we’d all interrupted it differently.
DAY 24 – Mumbai, (Sun 3rd Jan 2016)
It’s our final morning on what’s been an amazing adventure and one I’ll never forget. With our flight at 10:25am back to London (via Dubai) it’s an early start for us, simply checking out and heading straight to the airport. Fortunately, the timings of this flight were great, meaning we got back into London at 6:15pm on the same day.
The End!
- FLIGHT DETAILS & COSTS
Sri Lankan Airlines = £433
DEPART: London Heathrow – ARRIVE: Colombo Bandaranaike International
Sri Lankan Airlines = approx £77 (LKR 16,520)
DEPART: Colombo Bandaranaike International – ARRIVE: Kochi Kochi International
IndiGo = approx £84
DEPART: Goa (5:05pm) – ARRIVE: Mumbai (6:20pm)
Emirates Airline = £597.20
DEPART: Mumbai (10:25am) – ARRIVE: Dubai (12:10pm) / DEPART: Dubai (2:30pm) – ARRIVE: London Heathrow (6:15pm)
- SLEEPER TRAIN
SCHEDULED DEPARTURE: Thrissur Bus Station (3pm) – SCHEDULED ARRIVAL: Madgaon Junction (3:15am). Distance 775km
Class: AC 2 Tier (2A) / Ticket Fare: £16 per person (3,180 INR for the both of us)
- ACCOMODATION
Fort Cochin, Kerala – Walton’s Homestay / 2 nights = £?? (Rachel booked so can’t remember)
Cherai Beach – Cherai Beach Resort / 1 night = £20 per person (6,000 INR)
Alleppey – Angeo Beach House / 2 nights = £15 (per person per night, including breakfast)
Goa – Mika Mocha / 3 nights = £20 (per person per night)
Mumbai – Hotel Abode Bombay / 2 nights = £43.50 (per person per night)
The Departure Gate 