Sweltering, steamy, sizzingly southern India--It was hot!
Sep 25th, 2015, 07:49 AM
#101
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Bike trip Day 5—
Before we started the day I’d asked our guide about the hills, and he reassured me there was nothing too bad. Wrong! We were fuming! It seems that there is no way to get from here to there in the area we were cycling without going up some long climbs. The scenery, however, was lovely and we had some interesting glimpses into lives of the local as we cycled through the area. This is a predominantly Christian area, and we cycled past many churches of unusual design.
It was once again super hot, and we now started to talk about where we would go in a couple days when the cycling trip ended. Other than one reservation we had made based on the dates for a Pooram we wanted to observe, we had no plans at all for the remainder of our trip other than knowing that before leaving for home from the Bangalore airport, our final visit would be to Mysore.
Our one objective in the rest of our itinerary plan was to try to find some places that weren’t so hot, so that obviously eliminated Tamil Nadu which is supposed to be even hotter at this time of year. Speaking of Tamil Nadu, our guide told us that all of the men and women we saw doing manual labor alongside the roads were from Tamil Nadu. Wages apparently are much higher in Kerala (it is the richest state in India), so people from Tamil Nadu come here to work.
Kuruvinakunnel Tharavadu our destination for the night is a lovely place set on many acres of ground. So, score another point for the guide for choosing nice places to stay. What more could travelers ask for? Our room was in a separate building that is the ancestral home in this heritage property; the owners' house was just across the driveway affording the best of all worlds for all. There was a sitting room and a small kitchenette adjacent to our room. Our room was more normal ceiling height, but the adjacent sitting area was typical of the centuries old Keralan homes with small door openings and lower dark wood ceilings. We had peace and quiet and privacy all in a great setting with large, lovely grounds.
Once again this was an ancestral place that had been in the family for many generations (a theme we came to learn about many times in Kerala). Apparently the tradition in Kerala is that the youngest son inherits the property and the parents. In many ways this make sense since the youngest son will also be the one who still has the energy to care for elderly parents.
The hosts were very welcoming and were absolutely incredulous when they heard where we had just cycled from. They are perhaps 15 to 20 years younger than we are and said they never could have cycled the hills we just did. So this affirmed that we weren’t the ones whose perceptions of the hills were off base. Before dinner, after we’d showered and rested a while, the owner took us on a walk to visit his aunt and uncle who live on another large piece of property nearby. We were invited into their large, lovely home and had a 15 minute or so visit. This goes way beyond what we’d normally expect and was a fascinating glimpse of how these extended, landed families still live in Kerala.
The next morning we set out for our final destination—the owner/guide’s house in the backwaters. Hot, hot, hot again, and once again a huge uphill climb. This was the point where I finally lost it and the guide finally got my message. I told him I was extremely angry about the hills since we had discussed this ahead of time and told him what we were doing was exactly what we did not want to be doing. Looking back on the entire experience, I think that the major difficulty is that in Kerala there are some areas that are quite flat, but getting to others involves going over hills. It probably is not possible to do a cycling trip of more than a couple days avoiding hills. I just wish this guy had told us off the bat that this was the situation.
He did get my message and stopped his car about two thirds of the way up an extremely long climb and asked us if we wanted to ride in the car the rest of the way up. Despite the fact that it was a hassle to put the bikes on the car rack, we accepted. After we reached the summit, we got on the bikes again for a while to cycle another hour or so. At this point the guide (who by now had finally figured out that we are not die-hard cyclists) suggested that we just drive the rest of the way to his home because the traffic would be heavier is some places and it wasn’t the best cycling.
We got in the car, and our cycling for the trip was done. Our itinerary was supposed to include another day of cycling tomorrow, but we told him we preferred to just take in the backwaters area in other ways. We do not need to cycle just for the sake of cycling, and we were driving through areas we’d probably be cycling through the next day anyway.
When we pulled up at his home (another situation of an ancestral home he’d inherited along with the parents), we were somewhat dismayed. In fact, this turned out to be one of two places we’d stayed on our entire six week trip that I would not recommend. There was some junk lying around the yard (the kind of stuff that people who were hosting paying guests would keep cleaned up I should think). We went into the main family living area and met his wife and were later introduced to their two daughters. This stay is marketed as one where you get to meet the family and do some cooking lesson with the wife. No cooking lesson. And, interacting with the family meant that they sent their two girls (perhaps 11 and 14) to talk to us.
No AC here anywhere, and it was extremely hot. After a shower and resting for a while, we set out to walk around the neighborhood. It was an interesting backwaters location and perhaps a block or two from the main river where all of the houseboats and local Alleppy ferries ply their way around the area. Later on we opened the gate that provides the property with privacy and pulled over some chairs so we could watch what was going on on the local small canal.
We had a small patio outside of our room and sat there for a while after dinner (it had been brought to us to eat on the patio), slowly being eaten alive by the mosquitoes. About 8:00 or so we couldn’t stand the bugs any more so went into our room. There we discovered another problem. There were no screens on the windows, and we all know how attracted to light bugs are. And, it was sweltering in our room. Our choices were to have lights on and be attacked by mosquitoes (the curtains did keep them out somewhat) or to be in the dark.
Hot, high humidity, no AC, no screens, no breeze, mega mosquitoes. We were done, we were fed up, we’d had it with this entire experience. We decided that we’d just forego the lodging in this house that we’d paid for for the next night and leave figuring our somewhere else to go.
Before we started the day I’d asked our guide about the hills, and he reassured me there was nothing too bad. Wrong! We were fuming! It seems that there is no way to get from here to there in the area we were cycling without going up some long climbs. The scenery, however, was lovely and we had some interesting glimpses into lives of the local as we cycled through the area. This is a predominantly Christian area, and we cycled past many churches of unusual design.
It was once again super hot, and we now started to talk about where we would go in a couple days when the cycling trip ended. Other than one reservation we had made based on the dates for a Pooram we wanted to observe, we had no plans at all for the remainder of our trip other than knowing that before leaving for home from the Bangalore airport, our final visit would be to Mysore.
Our one objective in the rest of our itinerary plan was to try to find some places that weren’t so hot, so that obviously eliminated Tamil Nadu which is supposed to be even hotter at this time of year. Speaking of Tamil Nadu, our guide told us that all of the men and women we saw doing manual labor alongside the roads were from Tamil Nadu. Wages apparently are much higher in Kerala (it is the richest state in India), so people from Tamil Nadu come here to work.
Kuruvinakunnel Tharavadu our destination for the night is a lovely place set on many acres of ground. So, score another point for the guide for choosing nice places to stay. What more could travelers ask for? Our room was in a separate building that is the ancestral home in this heritage property; the owners' house was just across the driveway affording the best of all worlds for all. There was a sitting room and a small kitchenette adjacent to our room. Our room was more normal ceiling height, but the adjacent sitting area was typical of the centuries old Keralan homes with small door openings and lower dark wood ceilings. We had peace and quiet and privacy all in a great setting with large, lovely grounds.
Once again this was an ancestral place that had been in the family for many generations (a theme we came to learn about many times in Kerala). Apparently the tradition in Kerala is that the youngest son inherits the property and the parents. In many ways this make sense since the youngest son will also be the one who still has the energy to care for elderly parents.
The hosts were very welcoming and were absolutely incredulous when they heard where we had just cycled from. They are perhaps 15 to 20 years younger than we are and said they never could have cycled the hills we just did. So this affirmed that we weren’t the ones whose perceptions of the hills were off base. Before dinner, after we’d showered and rested a while, the owner took us on a walk to visit his aunt and uncle who live on another large piece of property nearby. We were invited into their large, lovely home and had a 15 minute or so visit. This goes way beyond what we’d normally expect and was a fascinating glimpse of how these extended, landed families still live in Kerala.
The next morning we set out for our final destination—the owner/guide’s house in the backwaters. Hot, hot, hot again, and once again a huge uphill climb. This was the point where I finally lost it and the guide finally got my message. I told him I was extremely angry about the hills since we had discussed this ahead of time and told him what we were doing was exactly what we did not want to be doing. Looking back on the entire experience, I think that the major difficulty is that in Kerala there are some areas that are quite flat, but getting to others involves going over hills. It probably is not possible to do a cycling trip of more than a couple days avoiding hills. I just wish this guy had told us off the bat that this was the situation.
He did get my message and stopped his car about two thirds of the way up an extremely long climb and asked us if we wanted to ride in the car the rest of the way up. Despite the fact that it was a hassle to put the bikes on the car rack, we accepted. After we reached the summit, we got on the bikes again for a while to cycle another hour or so. At this point the guide (who by now had finally figured out that we are not die-hard cyclists) suggested that we just drive the rest of the way to his home because the traffic would be heavier is some places and it wasn’t the best cycling.
We got in the car, and our cycling for the trip was done. Our itinerary was supposed to include another day of cycling tomorrow, but we told him we preferred to just take in the backwaters area in other ways. We do not need to cycle just for the sake of cycling, and we were driving through areas we’d probably be cycling through the next day anyway.
When we pulled up at his home (another situation of an ancestral home he’d inherited along with the parents), we were somewhat dismayed. In fact, this turned out to be one of two places we’d stayed on our entire six week trip that I would not recommend. There was some junk lying around the yard (the kind of stuff that people who were hosting paying guests would keep cleaned up I should think). We went into the main family living area and met his wife and were later introduced to their two daughters. This stay is marketed as one where you get to meet the family and do some cooking lesson with the wife. No cooking lesson. And, interacting with the family meant that they sent their two girls (perhaps 11 and 14) to talk to us.
No AC here anywhere, and it was extremely hot. After a shower and resting for a while, we set out to walk around the neighborhood. It was an interesting backwaters location and perhaps a block or two from the main river where all of the houseboats and local Alleppy ferries ply their way around the area. Later on we opened the gate that provides the property with privacy and pulled over some chairs so we could watch what was going on on the local small canal.
We had a small patio outside of our room and sat there for a while after dinner (it had been brought to us to eat on the patio), slowly being eaten alive by the mosquitoes. About 8:00 or so we couldn’t stand the bugs any more so went into our room. There we discovered another problem. There were no screens on the windows, and we all know how attracted to light bugs are. And, it was sweltering in our room. Our choices were to have lights on and be attacked by mosquitoes (the curtains did keep them out somewhat) or to be in the dark.
Hot, high humidity, no AC, no screens, no breeze, mega mosquitoes. We were done, we were fed up, we’d had it with this entire experience. We decided that we’d just forego the lodging in this house that we’d paid for for the next night and leave figuring our somewhere else to go.
Sep 25th, 2015, 12:01 PM
#105
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I thought I had done my due diligence on some of this. I'd corresponded with a guy over on TA who had done a private tour with this guide. But, here the guide served as a driver for a non-biking tours. He said the guide was a great guy, and he is a nice person. (We had a private guide in Vietnam who was not a nice person, so I really know the difference.) But, the person I'd been corresponding with over on TA said that this homestay was the highlight of his trip. I can't imagine! And, it certainly showed me once again that I need to look for multiple perspectives on places and tours.
Sep 25th, 2015, 12:36 PM
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Ouch...not a great experience. Perhaps the person you corresponded with on TA was a friend or relative of your guide. Hope the rest gets better. Didn't think the mosquitoes would be that bad that time of year. Glad to know that in advance so I'm sure to take my malerone.
Sep 25th, 2015, 12:37 PM
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Ouch...not a great experience. Perhaps the person you corresponded with on TA was a friend or relative of your guide. Hope the rest gets better. Didn't think the mosquitoes would be that bad that time of year. Glad to know that in advance so I'm sure to take my malerone.
Sep 29th, 2015, 11:27 AM
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This is a sample to see if I will be able to copy and paste a trip report. I have not been able to do anything in that format for the past few days. I’ve contacted the moderator but haven’t had a response.
Oct 2nd, 2015, 02:35 PM
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I want to finish this off before we embark on our next adventure.
Day 6 of bike trip—
We got up determined to leave that day to find a better place. But, at breakfast time the guide told us about some things he had planned for us for the day since we had said we didn’t want to cycle. For a morning activity he had arranged for a local man to take us on a guided walk through the hidden paths that we never would have ventured out on our own since we would have gotten lost. And, for late afternoon (once again notice the timing so that there is nothing in the middle of the day), he arranged for a man to come pick us up in a small boat to go around in the very tiny canals. These were exactly the types of things that we had hoped to do in this area! So, despite the fact that the room was miserable, we decide to stay for the day and night because by the time we were back from the boat trip there would not be time to change lodgings. And, as is usual in these awkward situations, we were dependent on the guide for transportation. Part of our package included transportation to our next location.
We set out on foot following our local guide to the teeny boat (local ferry canoe) to deliver us to the other side of this large river (the one all of the Alleppy houseboats go on and the one that goes down to Kollam). We walked down the main path and then back to a larger path that cut between the fields and lagoons. We stopped at a large church and convent and chatted with the local priest, saw some local shops and just generally took in the intriguing environment.
After our walk ended around 11:00 we asked ourselves what we were going to do for the next five hours. We’d kind of had it just sitting in the yard of the guesthouse and wanted an excursion. So, we decided we’d take the large boats (water buses) that ply the river so we could visit Alleppy for the afternoon. After getting instructions on where to find the most convenient stop for the direction we wanted to go, we got on the boat with all of the local people who use this for transportation. I think this may have cost us maybe 10 or 20 rupees (nothing!).
The hour-long ride down the river was super interesting as we saw exactly what people on those very pricey overnight houseboats see. It was really a fun trip and highly recommended as a do-it-yourself expedition. Alleppy was fine for about an hour of walking about and then a stop for lunch, but we weren’t particularly impressed. Then, we set off to find the boat that would take us back to our place. It was a tad confusing, so I stopped in a local boat office and asked about where to get the boat and when. We were told that there was a fancier boat leaving in just a few minutes—more of a tourist boat with an upper deck for better viewing. This one was more pricey, maybe about 50 rupees, but well worth it. And, there were definitely other tourists on this one riding on the upper deck. It was a great way to while away the afternoon, and we got as much out of it (or more) than if we had paid the big bucks for a private houseboat tour.
When we returned, the guide’s wife was a bit annoyed with us since she had prepared lunch for us, and we were no where to be found. Too bad! We hadn’t been told that this was the expectation, and we had asked how to get to Alleppy by boat, so they knew we were going. We were served a cold drink and a snack, and our boatman arrived.
Going slowly through all of the very small and narrow canals off the main river was definitely a highlight for us. Some are unfortunately now so clogged with water hyacinths—an invasive plant--that they are nearly impossible to get through. I took photos galore, and this was a fabulous way to spend a late afternoon when it wasn’t quite so hot any more.
All in all, despite the fact that we were once again mosquitoes’ dinner that night, we were very glad we decided to stay to see what everyone comes to the backwaters for. Our way worked just fine, and I definitely wouldn’t recommend the overnight houseboat instead. We saw absolutely TONS of them parked in one area near Alleppy, with many more cruising up and down the river.
Feb. 27 to March 2 Marari Beach
Over the past week we’d been trying to figure out where to spend our four nights between the end of our cycling trip and the reservation we had for two nights in a very devout Hindu family’s home to observe a special family religious ceremony and a local Pooram. Dates for these were set in stone, and we couldn’t just do a bit of rearranging to our itinerary. This had to be factored into the fact that we were so hot that our other main planning concern was where to go where it wouldn’t be so hot. We thought about Munnar but on the advice of our guide decided against it because it was so far out of the way between Alleppy and our guesthouse in the River Nila area.
Our cycling guide recommended the Marari Beach area which we had never heard of. Many of the guests at Dewalokam were also headed there, but in a much more upscale lodging than we ended up in and one that probably cost about four times as much. We finally decided that at least right by the Arabian Sea there might be some cooling breezes.
After reading a lot of reviews on TA, I called Austin’s Marari Beach, which is front row on the beach with a better location than many of the small guesthouses located around there and has rooms with balconies which overlook the sea. This is nothing at all fancy, but it was just what we were looking for. Our pretty stark room had a bed, a small table, a chair and a private bathroom. And, it had AC! There were a couple chairs in front of our room on the common balcony, and we spent a lot of time here just watching the activities of the local families right in front of our balcony. Or, we read or used the internet. Breakfast is included in the price, and they serve an optional dinner which we had every night.
Other than this it was a typical beach trip in really hot weather. Our routine was get up in the morning. Have breakfast at the tables set out in the shade in front of the guesthouse. Take a very long walk on the beach. Swim. Retreat from the sun and heat. Go for another swim. Have a snack we’d brought with us (no lunch served here). We’d sit on the balcony for the worst part of the middle of the day, or if it got too bad go into our air conditioned room to read for a while. Then, in late afternoon we’d walk again, swim again, return for a before-dinner beer, have dinner, relax (as though we hadn’t had enough of that yet during the day!) read, and go to bed
The two different beaches we stayed at were very different. In the Kannur area, the beach was a series of small coves with rocky headlands at the ends, and we had to go up and find an onshore path if we wanted to get to the next beach. There were no restaurants along the beaches at all,
Marari Beach, on the other hand, was a long sandy stretch with a couple widely spaced out small eating joints here and there. It is also an active fisherman’s beach. This was good and bad. While it made for interesting people watching observing the fishermen and their boats, in places it was not so good. Quite a ways down the beach to the south from the stretch we were staying on was an area that the local fishermen used as a toilet in the morning. Enough said. You get the picture. Needless to say it was better after high tide.
Our most strenuous activity and only expedition while staying here was to walk perhaps four blocks to the small local shops to purchase some tangerines. Back away from the shoreline it was even hotter and more humid! We were drenched in sweat by the time we returned from this gentle, mid-morning walk, and we were very happy we’d stayed beach front and not a few blocks back where some of the other guest houses are located.
All in all, on a long trip like ours, this ended up being a good solution as to how to fill in these super hot days.
Day 6 of bike trip—
We got up determined to leave that day to find a better place. But, at breakfast time the guide told us about some things he had planned for us for the day since we had said we didn’t want to cycle. For a morning activity he had arranged for a local man to take us on a guided walk through the hidden paths that we never would have ventured out on our own since we would have gotten lost. And, for late afternoon (once again notice the timing so that there is nothing in the middle of the day), he arranged for a man to come pick us up in a small boat to go around in the very tiny canals. These were exactly the types of things that we had hoped to do in this area! So, despite the fact that the room was miserable, we decide to stay for the day and night because by the time we were back from the boat trip there would not be time to change lodgings. And, as is usual in these awkward situations, we were dependent on the guide for transportation. Part of our package included transportation to our next location.
We set out on foot following our local guide to the teeny boat (local ferry canoe) to deliver us to the other side of this large river (the one all of the Alleppy houseboats go on and the one that goes down to Kollam). We walked down the main path and then back to a larger path that cut between the fields and lagoons. We stopped at a large church and convent and chatted with the local priest, saw some local shops and just generally took in the intriguing environment.
After our walk ended around 11:00 we asked ourselves what we were going to do for the next five hours. We’d kind of had it just sitting in the yard of the guesthouse and wanted an excursion. So, we decided we’d take the large boats (water buses) that ply the river so we could visit Alleppy for the afternoon. After getting instructions on where to find the most convenient stop for the direction we wanted to go, we got on the boat with all of the local people who use this for transportation. I think this may have cost us maybe 10 or 20 rupees (nothing!).
The hour-long ride down the river was super interesting as we saw exactly what people on those very pricey overnight houseboats see. It was really a fun trip and highly recommended as a do-it-yourself expedition. Alleppy was fine for about an hour of walking about and then a stop for lunch, but we weren’t particularly impressed. Then, we set off to find the boat that would take us back to our place. It was a tad confusing, so I stopped in a local boat office and asked about where to get the boat and when. We were told that there was a fancier boat leaving in just a few minutes—more of a tourist boat with an upper deck for better viewing. This one was more pricey, maybe about 50 rupees, but well worth it. And, there were definitely other tourists on this one riding on the upper deck. It was a great way to while away the afternoon, and we got as much out of it (or more) than if we had paid the big bucks for a private houseboat tour.
When we returned, the guide’s wife was a bit annoyed with us since she had prepared lunch for us, and we were no where to be found. Too bad! We hadn’t been told that this was the expectation, and we had asked how to get to Alleppy by boat, so they knew we were going. We were served a cold drink and a snack, and our boatman arrived.
Going slowly through all of the very small and narrow canals off the main river was definitely a highlight for us. Some are unfortunately now so clogged with water hyacinths—an invasive plant--that they are nearly impossible to get through. I took photos galore, and this was a fabulous way to spend a late afternoon when it wasn’t quite so hot any more.
All in all, despite the fact that we were once again mosquitoes’ dinner that night, we were very glad we decided to stay to see what everyone comes to the backwaters for. Our way worked just fine, and I definitely wouldn’t recommend the overnight houseboat instead. We saw absolutely TONS of them parked in one area near Alleppy, with many more cruising up and down the river.
Feb. 27 to March 2 Marari Beach
Over the past week we’d been trying to figure out where to spend our four nights between the end of our cycling trip and the reservation we had for two nights in a very devout Hindu family’s home to observe a special family religious ceremony and a local Pooram. Dates for these were set in stone, and we couldn’t just do a bit of rearranging to our itinerary. This had to be factored into the fact that we were so hot that our other main planning concern was where to go where it wouldn’t be so hot. We thought about Munnar but on the advice of our guide decided against it because it was so far out of the way between Alleppy and our guesthouse in the River Nila area.
Our cycling guide recommended the Marari Beach area which we had never heard of. Many of the guests at Dewalokam were also headed there, but in a much more upscale lodging than we ended up in and one that probably cost about four times as much. We finally decided that at least right by the Arabian Sea there might be some cooling breezes.
After reading a lot of reviews on TA, I called Austin’s Marari Beach, which is front row on the beach with a better location than many of the small guesthouses located around there and has rooms with balconies which overlook the sea. This is nothing at all fancy, but it was just what we were looking for. Our pretty stark room had a bed, a small table, a chair and a private bathroom. And, it had AC! There were a couple chairs in front of our room on the common balcony, and we spent a lot of time here just watching the activities of the local families right in front of our balcony. Or, we read or used the internet. Breakfast is included in the price, and they serve an optional dinner which we had every night.
Other than this it was a typical beach trip in really hot weather. Our routine was get up in the morning. Have breakfast at the tables set out in the shade in front of the guesthouse. Take a very long walk on the beach. Swim. Retreat from the sun and heat. Go for another swim. Have a snack we’d brought with us (no lunch served here). We’d sit on the balcony for the worst part of the middle of the day, or if it got too bad go into our air conditioned room to read for a while. Then, in late afternoon we’d walk again, swim again, return for a before-dinner beer, have dinner, relax (as though we hadn’t had enough of that yet during the day!) read, and go to bed
The two different beaches we stayed at were very different. In the Kannur area, the beach was a series of small coves with rocky headlands at the ends, and we had to go up and find an onshore path if we wanted to get to the next beach. There were no restaurants along the beaches at all,
Marari Beach, on the other hand, was a long sandy stretch with a couple widely spaced out small eating joints here and there. It is also an active fisherman’s beach. This was good and bad. While it made for interesting people watching observing the fishermen and their boats, in places it was not so good. Quite a ways down the beach to the south from the stretch we were staying on was an area that the local fishermen used as a toilet in the morning. Enough said. You get the picture. Needless to say it was better after high tide.
Our most strenuous activity and only expedition while staying here was to walk perhaps four blocks to the small local shops to purchase some tangerines. Back away from the shoreline it was even hotter and more humid! We were drenched in sweat by the time we returned from this gentle, mid-morning walk, and we were very happy we’d stayed beach front and not a few blocks back where some of the other guest houses are located.
All in all, on a long trip like ours, this ended up being a good solution as to how to fill in these super hot days.
Oct 2nd, 2015, 06:24 PM
#113
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Glad we've decided not to do the overnight boat trip. We are planning on hiring smaller boats as you did. I'm hoping the weather is not as hot as you encountered, but given that we are going around the same time as you, I'm not overly optimistic. There's something to be said about a modern hotel with air conditioning to retreat to! I give you lots of credit to have stuck it out with the mosquitos.
Oct 3rd, 2015, 09:02 AM
#114
Pity about the overnight boat trip. Back when I did it, in 2001, there weren't that many boats. Just a few were parked where we were for the night. But they seem to have metastasized! Of course, back then they didn't have AC....
