The first stop in our month-long stint in India was Kochi, the coastal capital of the south western state of Kerala. Top of the list for most tourists visiting Kochi is the nearby Kerala Backwaters, a network of rivers and lagoons, so that’s where we headed on our first full day. Many travelers hire a houseboat to spend a night anchored on the water, but for us an eight-hour day trip was more than enough. Our tour included, as small breaks from the pretty but relatively repetitive scenery, a couple of short stops to see how the locals make a living. We first visited a small factory that breaks down clam shells for all sorts of industrial uses (ranging from cement to pharmaceuticals), and later witnessed locals making rope from dried coconut fibers.
Kochi is known for its historic Fort, which played host to Portuguese, Dutch and British (in that order) traders during the 16th and 17th centuries, and now features lots of museums, hindu temples, christian churches and a famous jewish synagogue, each built during various stages of the Fort’s multicultural history. Despite the European influence, Fort Kochi is unmistakably Indian, with plenty of spice markets, local fishing nets and outdoor communal laundries (not to mention the cows and honking tuk tuks). We stayed close to the middle of the Fort, and could easily have walked to all of the attractions, but instead chose to take a tuk tuk, ensuring we wouldn’t get lost or get too sweaty wearing temple-compliant winter clothes in hot summer weather. We’d recommend the tuk tuk as a really good cheap option, so long as you’re prepared to say no when drivers insist on taking you to all sorts of small stores (a hefty commission, often as high as 50%, is where drivers really make their money).
Kathakali (which in the local language means story play) is a style of Indian dance-drama that originated in Kerala in the 17th century, so while we were in Kochi we attended a performance. The play we saw told an 18th century story of an evil woman who tries to seduce a prince. The actors train for 10 years to tell the story using exaggerated facial expressions and dance, so there is no need for tourists to understand the language (although an open mind is necessary in order to enjoy the show and keep a respectfully straight face). One of the key features of Kathakali is the elaborate make-up, so we arrived at the theater an hour early to watch the actors transform themselves on stage.
The next morning we left Kochi, taking a smooth three hour, one stop, flight to our next destination, Goa. The state of Goa features a beautiful stretch of beaches running for over 100 kilometers, with the airport in the middle. We were keen to choose one beach and stay put, but that meant doing a lot of research before making our choice. We ended up settling for Colva, a very pretty white sand beach in the south (where most of the nicer beaches are) that still offered a decent range of restaurants and bars (but not as many as some of the northern party beaches). We felt that Colva got the balance just right, particularly since we only had to walk 100 meters down the beach to get away from the crowds of locals.
Prior to Goa the only time we’d come across Russians in our travels was at the World Cup, but in Colva they were everywhere. The waiters all spoke Russian, the bars played exclusively Russian music and Sam (because of his white skin) would inevitably be given a Russian menu. This was certainly not expected, but I guess not too surprising since there aren’t many closer beach destinations for price conscious Russian tourists (which is a polite way of describing most of the people we came across, with many sneaking their own alcohol into restaurants and arguing about very reasonable food prices).
While in Colva we quickly settled into a nice routine. Each morning we walked to a chill beachfront shack to set ourselves up for the day on some sun loungers. Between swims we enjoyed very cheap kingfisher beers and tasty tandoori chicken with fresh garlic naan. At night, we kept going back to our hotel restaurant, which served some of the best Indian curries we’ve had anywhere. We could have happily stayed in Goa for a week, but after three full days we felt refreshed and, we thought, ready to take on the mad metropolis of Mumbai.
While in Colva we quickly settled into a nice routine. Each morning we walked to a chill beachfront shack to set ourselves up for the day on some sun loungers. Between swims we enjoyed very cheap kingfisher beers and tasty tandoori chicken with fresh garlic naan. At night, we kept going back to our hotel restaurant, which served some of the best Indian curries we’ve had anywhere. We could have happily stayed in Goa for a week, but after three full days we felt refreshed and, we thought, ready to take on the mad metropolis of Mumbai.
We didn’t feel so ready a few hours later, however, as our taxi crawled through horrific traffic, passing seemingly endless stretches of slums. At every traffic light, beggars knocked loudly on our windows as we wondered how long it would take us to get to the nice part of the city (where our well reviewed hotel must surely be located). We certainly hadn’t reached the nice area when we arrived at our hotel. Affordable accommodation is tough to come by in Mumbai, but we didn’t expect to be staying on top of rat infested restaurants in such a gloomy part of town.
In one of the most fortunate travel cock-ups we’ve come across, our hotel had lost our reservation, was booked out and needed to find another place for us to stay. After much negotiation, we ended up getting a free taxi to a much nicer (and usually three times more expensive) hotel located immediately behind the iconic Taj Mahal palace hotel (Mumbai’s number one attraction). After regrouping for a while in our room, we headed out for dinner at the nearby Leopold cafe, which is famous both for its relatively affordable food and for being one of the targets of the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks (the major target was the Taj Mahal palace itself).
The following morning, we checked out the Gateway to India on the way to boarding a one-hour ferry to Elephanta island.
Between the 5th and 8th centuries, a series of impressive Buddhist and Hindu rock sculptures were cut inside three principal caves at the top of the island. The caves are still relatively well preserved despite several centuries of neglect, and the day trip was definitely worthwhile (just make sure you hold on to your belongings, because there are hordes of thieving monkeys on the island).
After a busy, hot, morning on the island, we were greeted by aggressive street vendors and beggars as we got off the boat. In need of some peace, quiet and air conditioning, we decided to indulge ourselves in a sugary taste of home inside the relative nirvana of the Taj Mahal Palace Starbucks. The real indulgence came later that afternoon, as we sat down for the famous all you can eat high tea at the Palace. The price of admission was not exactly backpacker friendly, but by treating it as our only meal for the day we managed to get very good value for money (especially when you take into account the quality of the view, the luxuriousness of the restaurant and the rarity of the view from our window seats).
Mumbai is known for having the best shopping in India, so for our last night we headed to its biggest mega mall, High Street Phoenix. We were mostly there for window shopping and people watching, but ended up each getting a pair of very Indian pants (allowing Sam to wear something other than hot jeans or a make-shift skirt on temple days). The following morning we were quite happy to be heading to the airport having seen enough of Mumbai to know that we won’t be in a hurry to come back.