Buddies, Beaches, and Beef! (Kerala & Goa)

During our final two weeks in India, we traveled to the southwest of the country, visiting Kerala and Goa. After nearly two months of being continually surprised by India, we discovered that our capacity for surprise remained, and we left with bellies stuffed full of coconut curries and heads full of images of beautiful tropical vistas.

The best part of this phase of the trip was that we got to meet up with three friends from home and travel with them for a couple weeks. We had an awesome time with our travel buddies, highlights of which included challenging the physical capacity limits of tuk tuks on mountain roads, learning the secrets of a devilishly amazing card game called Hanabi, and developing techniques for drinking curry out of plastic bags on trains without utensils.

For those in the know, Indian tuk tuks can actually fit five passengers, but it requires one of the passengers to ride in the front with the driver and put an arm around him as a “meatbelt”

“God’s Own Country”

The Indian state of Kerala has perhaps the most ambitious official tourism slogan in the world, claiming to play host to the Divine. If it’s true, God must be quite the foodie – Keralan food was absolutely delicious in every way, and also completely opened our eyes to what Indian food can be since it’s so utterly unlike all the other food that we tried in the country.

Because of the natural bounty of the province, Keralan food makes heavy use of rice, fish and other seafood, banana, mango, and coconut, adding a tropical layer on top of the typical chilis, spices, and pulses of other Indian cuisine. There’s also a lot of fermentation, to create dough for spongy breads and doughnuts, and to make sour buttermilk. Perhaps most importantly for one of us, beef is used in many dishes in the state due to a historical foreign influence.

Trying to maintain focus in the face of the onslaught, including the first beef in a very long time. This became the only restaurant in our entire trip so far that we dined at 3(!) separate times

Kerala is famous for the many-item feast served on a banana leaf…

… every item of which deserves to be thoroughly devoured

We even found a ginger-focused restaurant. Everything on the table is made with it, vegetable platter excepted

Ethan’s ginger-drinking face

South India really pushes the limits on brilliant fried food. These are medu vada: crispy, savory doughnuts made with lentil and rice flour. Many plates’ worth were consumed

While in Kerala, we did a fair bit of trekking, which, like vegetarian hunters, gave us the chance to observe our quarries (the plants) in their native environments and then return home in the evening and feast upon them. It felt primally civilized

Bartender, I’ll have eight fingers of dosa!

At least it’s pasteurized! A hobby has been observing packaging around the world

Fish + Spices = Money + Excitement

We started in Kochi, an ancient Keralan port that’s hosted spice traders since time immemorial, and has been a major fishing hub through the ages. Today, the city remains an important port and, to Ethan’s great excitement, hosts both an LNG terminal and a large Indian naval base. Unsurprisingly, he spent considerable time ship-spotting.

Kochi’s prosperity has always come from the sea: fishing (the spidery “Chinese fishing net”), and trade (the container port)

The Chinese fishing nets are still in use today – while they don’t bring in that many fish anymore, they do manage to catch many tourists who, like us, compulsively photograph them in action. In the background, evidence of the more modern port’s source of trading prosperity…

The morning’s catch. An interesting division of labor has developed where you can take the fish you buy to any of the nearby food stalls and they’ll turn it into a full curry meal with all fixin’s for you

Signs of the city’s long history of trade – now with added tourist-trap signs

Sunset over the port, and a great time for a spot of people, boat and pigeon watching on the promenade

Kochi served as our introduction to Kerala, and it was initially a bit of a shock to the system. Besides the oppressive, damp, and ever-present heat, Kerala was just so thoroughly different from anything else we’d seen in India. The language sounds entirely alien, and in written form it’s a beautiful, looping, Spirograph-style mystery. Traditional mundu are the clothing of choice for many men.  Although we’d seen hints of it elsewhere, here Christianity dominates, and particularly in Kochi it is common to find religious paraphernalia spread throughout houses, hotels, and restaurants.

More than anything, the ambiance surprised us. Everybody’s just so laid back! Maybe it’s something to do with the temperature, or the lengthy socialist history, but in Kochi locals ambled around chatting with tourists and each other, and even the haggling in markets was calmer than the other places we visited. Combine this with lush jungle, the aforementioned food, and beaches, and you have a mecca for vacationers that the state has cunningly harnessed and transformed into a commercial machine.

A stack of bibles – as helpfully indicated by the cover illustration, since we had no chance with the text below

The Kochi Carnival takes place around the new year, and is a massive draw for tourists as well as a much-anticipated celebration for the locals. When we arrived things were just kicking off, and streets were all suitably adorned

Although we suspect that it’s been played up a bit for the benefit of the tourists, Kochi has a long history as a center for the arts due to the many foreign visitors and consequent cultural mixing. Modern street art combines Christian and Hindu religious themes, among others

Traditional kathakali dancing is on every visitor’s bucket list, with good reason – performers spend a lifetime in training to perfect the extremely specific movements (especially eyebrows). An intense half hour was spent online trying to understand the various symbols, and the meaning associated with the complex hand gestures and facial expressions, before we gave up entirely. The show was immensely enjoyable nonetheless

Jess trying to use the mellow vibe of Kochi to finally find her inner EPL-er

Although Kochi has benefited greatly from it’s maritime resources, the city first gained the attention of the world thanks to activity a little further inland, and evidence of Kochi’s long history as a spice trading hub is omnipresent. As is to be expected, every market stall has prepackaged bags of spices for tourists to take home, but it seems that there really is still a lot of serious spice trading going on between locals.

The only pepper exchange in the world is apparently in Kochi. We spent an afternoon talking through a pitch for a Kerala-based pepper-focused commodities fund, but sadly we couldn’t get this great lifestyle business off the ground

In addition to spices for food, Kerala’s fertile plants supply an amazing collection of aromatic oils and scents that are used for perfumes, medicines, and beauty products

Kochi was occupied first by the Portuguese, and thereafter by the Dutch and the British. This cultural mish-mash, combined with the inevitable international influences on a flourishing port town, have left Kochi with a fascinating blend of architecture, and a very inclusive feel. Within a few square miles around Fort Kochi, we passed a synagogue, a church, a mosque, a Hindu temple, and a Jain temple, as well as entire city blocks packed with unique European-style buildings.

Kerala was the first stop for the Portuguese in India, and they had established a fort in Kochi by 1505. Christian missionaries were quick to follow – as well as claiming the oldest European church in India, modern Kochi is home to the impressive Santa Cruz Basilica

The interior is a vast, airy masterpiece, and a great refuge from the heat. Eclectic decor is topped off by neon lights with a touch of Vegas about them…

Kochi was home to the oldest Jewish community in India, with the first synagogues constructed around the 12th century, and evidence for visits by Jews even well before then. Although the community has almost disappeared at this point, the synagogue is still maintained in excellent condition

Just one of the countless colonial masterpieces on show

Rice = Paddies + Paddling

Towards the end of our time in Kochi, we were joined by a few American upstarts, and things got a bit more exciting. After a couple of fun days in the city, we made the short journey down the coast to Alappuzha, known for centuries as the rice bowl of India, and for millennia as an important agricultural hub (there is even evidence of trade with Ancient Greece).

While Kochi was laid back, Alappuzha was off-the-charts sleepy. The town consisted of a sprinkling of small restaurants which served you when they felt like it, a haphazard collection of shops which nobody in particular seemed to be serving customers, and a vast number of guesthouses. To the west of town lies a beautiful and under-exploited beach, but like most visitors we were more interested in the dense network of backwaters beginning a few miles inland.

The typical approach to touring the backwaters is to rent a houseboat and recline in splendor while sipping on beer and being served elaborate, multi-course Keralan meals. Instead, we bravely opted for a self-propelled kayak tour. Although we were initially a bit anxious, this turned out to be a brilliant decision (our thanks goes to Ian, trip planner extraordinaire) – we were able to navigate the smaller channels, ducking under low bridges and chopping our way through water hyacinth, and as such we were treated to a far more genuine, and tranquil, taste of local life.

The first mate was a bit grumpy about the start time…

…but it was totally worth it

The backwaters are a maze of interconnected canals which provide the perfect environment for rice growing – we learned from our guide that this is one of the few places in the world where farming takes place below sea level. Rice paddies are situated on small islands within the backwaters, and local communities have clustered on the narrow strips of land dividing the paddies from the water surrounding them. Naturally, life revolves around the canals, with dish washing, clothes washing, transportation, cooking, and entertainment all largely dependent on the abundant freshwater.

Despite our best efforts we were regularly overtaken by frail-looking locals who somehow powered their way through the foliage at top speed – it was tough going! 

After a few hours of paddling and a heavy lunch we were a little bit relived to discover that we could hitch a ride on a rather comfortable boat for part of the day

Much lounging ensued, interrupted only by the occasional kingfisher sighting – and by passing party boats

Houses lined the edge of the waterway. Although most residents live a very traditional lifestyle, we were surprised to see some pretty large, modern buildings among the more typical dwellings

Back to the ‘yak for a few victory laps

Tea as an Invasive Species = Vibrant Beauty

Munnar lies only a few hours drive inland from the coast, but the feel is drastically different. Surrounded by verdant rolling hills, the town sits at a surprisingly chilly 1,600 meters above sea level – and the challenging, corkscrew ascent gives the town a feeling of isolation. Not that this prevents thousands of tourists from making the decidedly perilous journey every year. We were staying in Munnar over Christmas, and the holiday weekend seemed to have inspired half of India to seek romance and tranquility in the mountains. Fortunately, though, most of the other visitors were more focused on gazing at the view from their hotel jacuzzi than they were on adventuring. This left the path relatively clear for us – if we could only navigate the complex web of sketchy transportation links, government restrictions, and vague word-of-mouth advice that confronted us.

Arriving in Munnar, we were greeted by stunning vistas in every direction

A quick break from hardcore adventuring to appreciate an obscenely cute goat

Munnar seems like a perfect base for some fantastic hiking, but the state government and various private businesses in the area have conspired to make this as difficult as possible. Having found a few promising internet leads, we promptly found ourselves on wild goose chase between dusty government offices, attempting to get permission to hike up a mountain. Alas, they really wanted us to stick to one of the horribly expensive day trips offered by various agencies in town, and a seeming breakthrough ended in frustration when the official we were dealing with suddenly added an extra transport “fee” to the already inflated price we had agreed on. Not to be deterred, though, we jumped on a bus the next morning and hoped for the best – and we had so much fun, we did it again the next day.

Bus travel around Munnar involves spending 50% of the time on the edge of a sharp slope, desperately trying avoid disaster by leaning the other way

Among other highlights – nature’s original SUV stuck in traffic

Our first bus ride involved not one, but two collisions. Despite the mutual damage inspections, nobody seemed particularly upset about it

Ethan had a front row seat for the first incident

Calming our nerves in possibly the saddest bar ever – drinking is frowned upon in Kerala, and is generally conducted in shady back rooms, or worse yet, places resembling hospital cafeterias

Much of life in Munnar revolves around tea, and it feels as if every inch of the lush fields in the area is covered with the vibrant green leaves. Although it seems obvious, we had to keep reminding ourselves that tea was only introduced to these parts in the late 19th century – evidently, the impact of this British staple utterly transformed the environment, the economy, and the culture.

By far best trip we took around Munnar was a visit to the Kolukkumalai tea plantation which, at over 2,000m, claims to be the highest organic tea plantation in the world. Tea is processed on site, and much of the equipment dates back to the original investment by British owners in 1935. More importantly, the location is absolutely spectacular, and the elevation means it is possible to take a long walk through acres and acres of picture-perfect tea fields on the way (if you don’t mind walking past a few no entry signs…).

A dazzling scene reminiscent of a certain desktop background – with bonus goats!

Fields were helpfully labeled with first plantation dates – with some dating back to the 1890s.  

A lot of the plantation workers live in the vicinity, and we passed through a small village sitting amidst the tea leaves

Coming soon to a vacation brochure near you

The ascent was pretty tough, but it was easy to justify taking a break or two with views like this (and a bountiful supply of spicy banana chips)

Despite Jess’ best efforts, Ethan was still taking every opportunity to deploy his Himalayan explorer hat

A non-traditional summit beverage

Jess was forced to accept the inevitable among a group of Americans, and volunteer to demonstrate the ins-and-outs of tea processing

Yup, definitely British

 

Christmas in Munnar was a little different. The best interpretation of a Christmas dinner we could muster was local plum cake, accompanied by some of India’s “finest” whiskey. And there were no Christmas carols in earshot. But we did manage two of the most important traditions – for the Americans, this was the ceremonial viewing of Die Hard, and for the lone Brit, this was the YouTube rendition of the Queen’s Speech. Two national icons, two rather different excitement levels.

Gathered for movie time – and looking a little bleary eyed, as is appropriate on such festive occasions

We actually spent Christmas Day taking in some more pretty mindblowing scenery en route to “Top Station”, the highest point on the old railway the British built through the region

Unfortunately, due to our total lack of understanding of the Munnar public transport system we missed the last bus home. Then, a Christmas miracle – we hitched a ride with a friendly family, on what turned out to be Munnar’s greatest party bus

Disco lights!

Probably the most awesome person we met in all of India – this kid will go far

Christmas in Munnar…was a little bit creepy sometimes

Aging Hippies + English 90s Pop Songs + Glitter = A Strong Start to 2017 (A New Year’s Eve Tale)

Ask a backpacker about India, and one of the first things you should hear about is Goa – that mythical place full of perfect beaches, incredibly cheap food, yoga retreats, and hippies who arrived there a few decades ago and never left. Of course, these days the aging hippies are battling it out with rapidly-spreading resorts packed with Germans and waves of gap year students swarming onto the beach in search of the famed hidden parties. Not to mention the burgeoning group of Indian vacationers heading there from Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore to recharge. Needless to say, we jumped at the chance to celebrate New Year with such a colorful crowd. All it took was one very efficient overnight train journey (which we’d thankfully had the foresight to reserve six weeks beforehand), which would have been a highly civilized affair had we not forgotten to pack utensils and plates for the curry we had brought for dinner.

Three approaches to dining adversity: the critical spectator up top, judging others’ techniques while avoiding the food himself; the practical but low risk approach bottom left, focusing on the chapati; and finally, the kamikaze on the bottom right, go-gurting steaming curry out of a puny plastic bag in a confined space on a moving train 

Against the odds, we arrived the next morning in Goa well-rested, well-fed, and eager to explore. Or, you know, wander down the beach a bit before settling down for the day… We’d chosen to stay in Palolem, which we’d heard was a little less built up than the popular beaches further north. What we encountered was a quite enjoyable mix of basic beach huts and nicer, but small-scale, hotels, a tight local community (who club together to manage trash collection and fund much of their own infrastructure), and some great Goan dining options, peppered with just enough western food to satisfy our cravings.

We received a very enthusiastic welcome from our guesthouse’s owners, and their hyperactive pug

Flat, calm, and in many cases virtually empty, Goa still retains miles and miles of amazing beaches despite the encroaching resorts

The beaches are dotted with cabins of varying luxury level, from rickety wooden shacks to rather glamorous, picket-fenced, and air conditioned retreats

Palolem seemed to attract a broad array of visitors, but certainly had a healthy dose of backpackers – and the Israeli contingent was particularly strong. As our visit was during Hanukkah, one evening we spotted a chabad and were immediately invited inside to light candles and drink whiskey. Great times were had

Alongside travelers, Palolem played host numerous practitioners offering to cure* a truly mind-boggling list of ailments, many with intriguing descriptions. Although it would have been keeping with the spirit of adventure, we neglected to experiment. *These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

Goa has a rich colonial history, having been the capital of Portuguese India for over four hundred years, and links remain strong to this day – in fact, long-term Goa dwellers are still entitled to apply for Portuguese passports. We paid a visit to Old Goa, where it’s pretty easy to imagine you’re strolling down the street in Portugal.

Transported to Portugal in Old Goa

Atmospheric, don’t you think?

A different form of street art altogether

As we were beginning to learn, the Portuguese were rather fond of building churches, and there was no lack of spectacular examples here…

Unsurprisingly, Christmas decorations were out in force

Like Kerala, Goa is unbelievably fertile, and a quick hike east from any beach transports you to a land of thick jungle, rice paddies, and vast spice plantations. Also like Kerala, Goan food naturally incorporates the local bounty, and is full of coconut, fresh spices, banana, and seafood. Unlike Kerala, though, Goan food reflects centuries of Portuguese influence, and we spent a number of wonderful meals chomping on Indianized-Portuguese delicacies. Goa is famously the home of vindaloo, but not as you know it – the real thing is a bit less spicy, and far more tangy thanks to copious quantities of vinegar. Cashew nuts are everywhere, and piri piri chillies make a number of glorious appearances – most notably in cafreal curries, which were a favorite for the whole group.

We hiked up to one church with a beautiful view looking back across the lush trees and towards the bay

The rice paddies of Goa

Despite Ethan’s general dislike of beaches, we did manage a few days of tranquil fun in the sun, hanging out with the friendly cows that wandered up and down the beach searching fruitlessly for a patch of grass (or, more likely, a couple of handouts from the beachfront restaurants). The only slight hitch was when we accidentally bought counterfeit sunblock from a beach stall that didn’t work at all and left us charred. After a 30 minute stare down with the owners, we got our money back, but sadly, not our outer three layers of skin.

And…relax

Kayak / chin rest – who knew bovines were so creative?

Sizing each other up in advance of the final battle

We almost made an entire post on the dogs of Goa. They’re everywhere, and have developed the most ingenious ways of using beached watercraft as sun shades

Described to us by our companions as a form of “multiplayer solitaire,” Hanabi is an extremely engaging card game with the potential to demolish friendships. This turned out to be our salvation after the sunburn incident, when we were forced to take shelter from the sun and watch glumly as people frolicked in the waves

In between bouts of sea kayaking, town exploring, and basking, we decided it was time for another cooking class. The highlight was the spicy fish, but the hats were also a big draw, and something we may try to get started back home.

The red on this fish is chilis. Just pure chilis

After the humiliation of being fired from the chapati station by the ladies of the house in Jaipur, Ethan was leaving nothing to chance in terms of focus, preparation, and attire

Bon apetit!

The full array of dishes, including spicy fish, chicken curry, cashews, spinach, and the requisite carbs

New Year’s is a huge party in Goa, even in the more tranquil south where we were staying. As is always the case at New Year, there were a few unexpected challenges to deal with. The first was an utter onslaught of glitter bombing at the bar we went to. They sold huge bags of the stuff for only a few rupees, and people were pouring it all over everyone. None of us escaped unscathed. Ethan, in particular, was sporting coruscating eye sockets for most of the night. The second issue we faced, which caused greater friction within the group, was that the liveliest bar on the beach just happened to be British bar. This, combined with the significant number of long-time expats that had come out of the woodwork for the occasion, meant that the 80s and 90s pop songs they played were almost entirely unknown to the Americans in the crew. While Jess was joyfully singing along, her companions looked increasingly confused, and had to resort to a sort of mute but rhythmic swaying. Nevertheless, spending New Year’s Eve on a gorgeous beach, surrounded by lanterns and fireworks, was a pretty amazing experience.

We differ in our reactions to face glitter. Unfortunately the quantity we ended up with was inversely proportional to our enjoyment of it

Ringing in 2017!

What’s the most important meal of the day? Breakfast. What’s the most important meal of the year? January 1st breakfast, duh

After the hangovers ended and we scrubbed ourselves of as much of the New Year’s glitter as possible, we had to bid a reluctant farewell to our friends, and to India. We will undoubtedly be back.

Farewell, Goa! Last Indian train trip of the journey