Dost To Dost 2
- krolesh
- Feb 27, 2024
- 3 min read
Kollam
After a few days we headed to Kollam, a larger town about an hour north up the coast.
Keralan coastal snaps from the road.
We stayed right on the Ashtamudi Lake, a couple of clicks out of Kollam town, in a beautiful spot. The four of us shared a room. And we all survived.
Our spot right on the lake. A few other travellers were staying there too.
Seriously being Frankie
Eventually we strolled and bussed it into town.
Catholic Church with golden flagpole. The golden pole idea has been stolen from Hindu temples, we saw a bunch of them in other places in Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
Crossing the lake
Licit contraband
This guy was a banana dosa. Don't try one, at least not from this place. It was spicy and savoury, and the semi-sweetness of the banana definitely didn't ding any of our bells. Only two of us finished what we'd started.
The Communist Party of India (Marxist). On a state government level, southern India has either been ruled by, or influenced by, this political party for decades. They're the biggest party in the currently ruling left wing coalition in Kerala.
It's not a coincidence that social welfare, health, literacy and other social indicators are consistently higher in Kerala than in other parts of India.
We nearly went to the Donalduck restaurant, but got distracted by some other Mickeymouse wannabe.
Dyed chicks before they're died
The underwhelming city beach at Kollam
You don't see many naked boobs in conservative India, especially on modern statues.
Be careful
Street tatooist
The best staircase ever. It's been made to look exactly like an escalator, with the glass and the railings, but it ain't an escalator, just a plain old staircase.
Local old-school picture theatre. There was nothing on with English subtitles.
The smoothies weren't very berry good. All the different flavours we ordered tasted pretty much exactly the same. Sad but true.
India's full of posters like this, they're everywhere
I had a falooda, which is a fruit/yoghurt/milkshake thing, with various additives like rice noodles and tapioca balls. It would've been even more delicious if it weren't for the three kilos of sugar.
Not exactly sure how much vigilance is going on. Corruption is still a huge problem in India.
The Backwaters
After a really fun night of exploring the local streets (and the street food of course), we headed back to town the next day, so we could grab a bus further north.
Luckily we hitched a lift on this houseboat, which was stocking up on water at our guesthouse.
Frankie and Phil said they went to some great early morning pujas at some local temples, but I didn't believe them. Looks more like Frankie slipped into some cowshit, which isn't hard to do in these parts, given that it's basically everywhere.
The quadruplets, warmed under the Sacred Heart of Jesus
On yet another squeeze bus.
More coastal Kerala
The southern Indian state of Kerala is known for its laid back vibe, its beaches, and for its backwaters. The backwaters are large tracts of waterways spreading inland and roughly running parallel to the coast, where villagers have lived for centuries, getting around on small wooden boats.
Unfortunately, these days some parts of the waterways have become tourist meccas, where the thing to do for wealthy Indians (and some foreigners) is to pay exorbitant amounts of money to zip around on big houseboats. Hundreds of them ply through the larger waterways, making the whole place feel more like a busy harbour than a tranquil backwater.
To avoid these shenanigans, we decided to rent a much smaller boat and skipper, and go cruising around ourselves.
Peace and love man. Fingers, legs and feet.
Crawling through the plant-topped small canals out of Alleppey township.
One of the hundreds of houseboat behemoths we saw on our trip. Well, they're actually quite beautiful, it's just that there's way too many of them
We stopped at a local eating place for a stunningly good banana leaf thali.
Before
After
After after
After after after
Houseboat circus
It was beautiful cruising through the quieter smaller canals as dusk came on, waterways that the larger houseboats can't manoeuvre through.
Churchpole
Water village. Boat access only.
Eventually we made it back to Alleppey, and took a taxi to our beachside homestay at Marari Beach, about 10 clicks up the road.
Actual backpacking
Stocking up on fruit and chocolate
Our guest house entrance wall. This an image of a kathakali dancer, a traditional Keralalan dance form characterised by incredible eye and facial movements, as well as elaborate costumes and face makeup that often looks just like this.
Go to Part 3
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