India

We arrived in India at the port of Chennai on March 11th.  My plan for India was to travel directly to the state of Kerala on the southeast coast with my friends Haley, Alyson, and Dave.  We agreed that we would all meet at the ship at 4:30 that evening.  Initially I got off the ship with Haley, Dave, and my other friends Martin, Danny, and Peyton.  Within 20 minutes of getting there, however, we got separated into two groups by auto rickshaws, small three wheeled taxis that carry three passengers.  Haley, Martin and I spent about an hour and a half trying to figure out where the other three of us went, but we never got back to them.  We eventually started exploring Chennai by ourselves.  We ended up at the train station to buy overnight tickets to Cochin, another southern port city in the state of Kerala.  Haley and I found the foreign tourist ticket counter and worked on getting the tickets for nearly two hours while Martin waited on a bench for us.  The first lady we talked to was not very helpful.  She told us there was a waiting list for the tickets we wanted; when we asked her if there was another way to get to Cochin that night, she told us that she only deals with trains and that she wasn’t a travel agent.  Eventually, to our confusion, she left the office telling us that the next guy whose shift was next would help us.  We waited another 15 minutes for the next guy.  He eventually arrived and started helping us get tickets.  He was much more helpful and got us on the waiting list for four tickets to Ernakulum Town near the wildlife reserve we wanted to visit. The tickets were Rs. 1,300 or around $30.  Haley and I met our friends Dave and Alyson back at the ship.  Luckily we were able to get on the train that night at 7:45.  We had the overnight sleeper train with air conditioning which was quite comfortable.  After switching seats with a few Indian friends, the four of us got beds next to each other.  I went with Dave for a cigarette and met two friendly Indian men that we think may have been police officers, but we couldn’t tell for sure because their English was limited.  Although smoking wasn’t really allowed on the train, one of the crew members told us that it was fine.  Our slogan for India is “It’s possible” because of all the times we heard that phrase.  For many of the things we did in India, it was kind of like the country telling us, “You’re really not supposed to, but go ahead and do it anyway.”  We met a woman on the train, Lakshmi, who told us she was a daughter of a government official in Kerala.  She told us to stop in Kotayam, which was closer to the Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary where we were going.  She also gave us her phone number and told us that if we lost or got anything stolen, we could call her and her father would get it replaced for us. 
        The next morning we got to Kotayam and took a three hour roller coaster bus ride for Rs. 75 through the hills to Thekkady Road in Kumily, about 4km from the reserve.  The area is about 800m above sea level and considerably cooler than where we were in Chennai, which was a relief.  Upon getting off the bus, a man who introduced himself as Osaka told us he would help us find a hotel and lead us around the area.  We agreed and didn’t know it then, but Osaka would help make our trip quite unforgettable.  Osaka told us he would take us to the Rainbow Hotel near the bus stop, so we started walking.  Around us we saw some of the slums of India and people outside working, talking, and enjoying each other’s company.  As we continued to walk we came upon a brightly colored edifice that definitely stood out among the Indian slums.  The hotel had just about every color and each room was a single bright color theme.  Dave and I got the blue room while the girls got the green room.  Later that afternoon Osaka took us to go ride elephants followed by an ‘elephant shower’ which involved us sitting on the back of an elephant while it took water into its trunk and sprayed it repeatedly onto us.  We were completely drenched afterwards.  It was one of the most fun things I’ve ever done.  We then went to a spice garden and got to see and taste plants like pepper, coffee, vanilla, avocado, nutmeg, and masala.  We even tried an insulin leaf, which the guide told us he gives to people with diabetes.  That evening we went to a local home where a family showed us how they make a traditional Indian dinner.  We got to help mix ingredients and roll dough.  It was the best meal I had in India.
        The next day we took a Jeep into the heart of the Periyar Wildlife Reserve.  It was an open-air back seat so we stood up the entire way there and took in all the sights, smells and sounds.  When we got there, we took a boat ride on a lake in search of tigers.  We got off near some muddy grass and saw tiger footprints, but unfortunately no tigers.  Afterwards, we took an hour and a half hike to our campsite in the jungle.  A moat was dug around the area to keep out any animals.  At night, while I was shining a flashlight into the brush, I saw two pairs of green glowing eyes making their way through the bushes.  I shined my light in another direction and saw what I thought was another pair of green eyes.  Desperate to see a tiger, I imagined what I saw was a tiger and even had my friend Haley believing it.  After getting so excited and calling over the guide however, we discovered that it was merely a bit of reflective material and a plastic bag.  The next morning, we hiked back and saw some wild bison.  The day before we had seen the national bird of India flying through the trees, as well as some wild monkeys and squirrels. After leaving the wildlife sanctuary, we took a taxi to Alleppey, where the backwaters of India are located.  The backwaters are a collection of villages on the edge of a long series of rivers and canals.  We stayed overnight on a houseboat that travelled around the canals and docked for the night.  We were able to go into town to pick up drinks and had quite the pleasant evening. 
        The next day we took a rickshaw back to Cochin and dropped off Haley at the ship.  Me, Dave, and Alyson explored the city and got a hotel for the night.  Before we went out that night, we went to a textiles store and asked for suggestions on traditional Indian clothing.  I’m wearing a dark green ‘skirt’ and green dress shirt as I’m writing this.  That night we went out to the bars in our traditional clothing.  We got many gestures of approval and amusement walking around the streets of the city.  When we got to our second bar and we met an Indian man that spoke nearly perfect English.  We asked him some questions about the culture and politics of the region and the rest of India.  Later he took us to another bar and bought us a round of drinks.  I bought the last round after that before we headed back to our hotel.
        While Dave, Alyson and I were walking around Cochin the next day, two Indian boys called out to us to play with them.  We had nothing else to do so we agreed.  We ended up playing cricket in the street with the two boys.  They used a piece of wood as a bat.  We asked them if there was a place close to them that sold cricket bats and they led us to a local sports store.  We asked one of the boys which bat he liked best and we paid 600 Rupees (around $14) for the bat.  We then gave the bat to the two boys.  They were in shock.  As we parted ways, we saw the boys ecstatic and running across the street to show their friends.  It was a good feeling.