Flying The Flag

Talk about a travellin' - she's the fastest train on the line. Nope, not the Orange Blossom Special so fondly described by Johnny Cash but the Netravati Express to Kochi. It made a welcome change to the horrors of the morning - we took the opportunity to dry some of the clothes by hanging them out the window - greeted by a tsunami of indifference from the locals. The scenery was pretty spectacular, the train clattered through the night and the 28 hour journey passed without incident (apart from an intense and emotional game of travel chess). I feel as if we're actually travelling now. We booked into the Hotel Grand in Kochi, and met with the other people on the Intrepid South India tour - there are four other people on the tour (two others having dropped out). Isaac is a 56 year old civil engineer from California (originally from Hong Kong), Jasmine is a gap year student, Sue is a veteran traveller to all continents and Pria is our Swedish tour guide. Given the trauma of the day before, the most sensible thing to do was to get an early night and get up the following day with a clear head. We didn't do that, we got roaring drunk instead.

The first day of the tour proper started with a mosey around Fort Kochi, amongst the spice bazaars and art museums and then to the banks where the fishermen make their catch. They use a traditional style of fishing using a construction that looks somewhat like a huge catapult - a good place to eat as the fish is as fresh as is possible. In the evening we went to a performance of Keralan theatre - a sight I will not soon forget. The preparation by the actors is as much a part of the proceedings as the actual performance. A narrator explained how the actors have 'alphabets' of hand shapes and facial expressions. Two main performers were assisted by a percussionist and narrator.

Afterwards we went for a meal, punctuated by extended power cuts between the courses. I think it may have been here that Dan picked up his stomach bug, as he has been quite ill for the last few days. In the morning we dumped a lot of our stuff at the hotel and caught the bus to Alleppey (hitting a dog on the way) and then a boat to the backwaters.