Eight-legged Freaks
Alleppey, Kerala,
India
Monday, February 11, 2008
Actually got some time to update the blog in a bit more detail, well, as long as I can sit in front of this computer anyway... This blog is brought to you by the letter S. As in sunburn, spiders and save me!
From the most southern tip of Kanyakumari, we stuck to our guns of using the bus over the train - you generally have to reserve your train tickets a day in advance and even after 3 months traveling, we're still really not THAT organised... Although there are certain things to remember about the buses. Sitting at the back can make for a bumpy ride, although the roads are usually pretty good, it only takes a couple of slams to the privates before it looses it's charm. If you can, dump your bags at the front of the bus and sit as near as you can to them - some buses reserve the front few rows for women only. Although the further forward you can get, the better, as it gives you front row seats to the constant game of 'chicken' that the buses play with each other, around blind corners, hills, wherever, as long as they've got the loudest horn, or the biggest screw loose, they seem to come out on top.
And so started our trip up the west coast and in to Kerala, which we'd heard was going to be great. A bus up to Trivandrum, and then another up to Varkala saw us reach our first bit of real beach life in India :)
Varkala is another sacred place for Hindus, but it's also a tourist hotspot, and after Tamil Nadu it was strange to see so many foreigners around the place. The main area for sun seekers is a strip of hotels and guest houses on a cliff top overlooking the long sandy beach - and the sand isn't the reddy brown we found on the east coast, it's actually closer to the white we'd become accustomed to/spoilt with in Thailand, despite it being totally black a couple of inches down. A short tuk tuk ride from the center of town where the bus stops, and we arrived at Kerala Bamboo House, which is a small cluster of bamboo cottages just off from the cliff, about 5 minutes walk from the beach. After setting our bags down and heading to the nearest bar, the cool beer, familiar faces, sea views and some decent music ( I think I am missing my stolen ipod as much as my stolen camera) and for the first time in nearly two weeks, we actually started to relax. A couple of beers and cocktails later and we were very relaxed, albeit absolutely knackered after the day on the bus. Although beer is legal, not many places have a license to sell it as the excise on it is so great. Apparently a large bottle of beer costs about 12 rupees, but excise means it's around 80 rupees to buy, although most places it costs between 100 and 140 rupees, which means it's a luxury as it can cost about the same as a meal for 2. Even though, at a glance about half the places on the cliff top have huge Kingfisher (the brand of beer you're most likely to find) posters and banners alongside their restaurant banners, you have to stick your bottle under the table and cover your glass with a napkin, if it's not being served to you in a teapot.
The next few days were spent on the beach soaking up the sun, where I managed to burn my back about as much as I could have done, and I've been walking round with a flaky map of the world on there ever since. The weather was all in all pretty good for tanning (or in my case burning) on the beach, and in the evening temperatures would dip slightly and it would drizzle, which was a nice change from the sweltering nights we'd had so far. That was until the third night, when it poured down, and after a great pizza from Clafoutis Bakery, we headed back as normal, started readying ourselves for bed. Having brushed our teeth like good girls and boys, I turned to head out of the bathroom and noticed something by the door, or rather, edging round the door frame, and I think that after the whole ordeal, that is the vision that will stick with me the longest, sending shivers down my spine. Not wanting Shell to run headlong through the bathroom wall, I gently grabbed her arm and politely asked her to 'GET OUT OF THE BATHROOM, NOW! NOW!! JUST DO WHAT I SAY!!!' and with a gentle push she made it. The following orders for her to get under the mosquito net, close her eyes and stick her fingers in her ears were pretty well received and executed rapidly.
I think it's fair to say that both myself and Shelley are terrible, terrible arachnophobics, and although I'd not seen the whole of what was lurking behind the door frame, or told Shell what the hell I was shouting orders at her for, it's safe to say that we both knew that it was either 'it' or us that would be staying the night in the bamboo hut. And my god 'it' turned out to be the biggest spider I ever, EVER want to see in my life, I would have taken a photo of it if I wasn't paralysed with fear for the first minute or so. After picking up my flip flop, and realising that it would probably chew through it making chuckling noises rather than be actually harmed by it, then on to my trainers, nope, not enough weight behind them, then finally, thank god for my walking boots, I thought I was well equipped to deal with the thing. I'd still not seen the whole of the beast, as I thought it was sitting in the cavity between the bathroom wall and the bedroom wall, just under the door frame, although it actually turned out that there was just one wall, and it was on the bedroom side, with just 2 legs sticking out waiting to be whacked... THUMP, nothing happened, didn't even flinch... THUMP, and out it came, up the door frame and underneath the shelves. That's about the time that I started feeling physically sick, it's strange what a phobia can do to you, I don't think I've ever had so much adrenaline running through my body, especially when I finally saw the whole thing in the torch light, and also how fast it could move...
It was about the size of a saucer, about 12-15cm wide, and with an abdomen the size of a chunky tea spoon, and with dark grey hairs that shone silver in the torch light. Although it was the size of a tarantula, it didn't have their nice lumbering motion, it was fast, Speedy Gonzalez fast, just without the 'arriba, arriba'. A bit more psyching myself up and whimpers from Shell and I aimed the heal of the walking boot at it again, THUMP, and it was gone, but not gone as in 'gone to a better place' but gone as in 'aaaaaaaargh, I don't know where it's gone, it could be anywhere' gone... I finally located it back in the bathroom behind the toilet, and by now, the size of it was some how absurd, you only get spiders that big in films don't you, I'm not actually having this one-on-one in the bathroom, isn't it all just a bad dream? After a quick count to five, the walking boot finally hit it's mark, and managed to spray spider gunk half way across the bathroom, thankfully none of it landed on me, or that probably would have scarred me for life. Thankfully the drain in the bathroom was just a hole in the ground, so it slipped down with the help of a bucket of water, and after filling the bucket and putting it over the drain, it was finally safe to hit the hay, even though I was still just a little bit jumpy.
That little saga finished our days at Varkala, even though I managed to come out victorious, it hasn't cured my arachnophobia, although I know that anything I come across in the UK with eight legs is going to get laughed at. The next day we headed up to Alleppey, entrance to the Backwaters of Kerala, where we were going to hire a house boat for 24 hours, which had been recommended by a few people we've met along the way, and it definitely is worth doing. It's very expensive when you're on a budget, around $120 for 24 hours, meals included, but the scenery and serenity you have for the 24 hours is great. We also had a great cook, and felt like royalty floating around the canals and lake, being served drinks and food, while just soaking up the place. We moored up in the evening and watched the colours change, sipping a beer. Later on we went with our cook to a precession at the local temple which was great to see, and followed by a huge elephant with an elaborate head dress. The next day ended a little sooner than we'd expected, we were moored up just around the corner from where we started, not at the other side of the lake as we'd thought.
Kerala so far has been excellent, it's a lot more relaxed than we found Tamil Nadu, and the scenery, especially around the backwaters is great, something not to be missed. That almost puts us back on track with the blog, just Fort Cochin and up here in Ooty to fill you in on, which I'm sure will come some time next week as we're heading in to the jungle tomorrow morning, for some trekking and jeep safari's, hopefully we'll be able to spot some wild elephants, and if we're really lucky, a tiger :)
Lots of love
Peeps and Shell
xxx
