Thursday 12th June
The drive to Kumarakom. 3 ½ hours at most. But then we got to a certain point, and my driver said “I live over there”. He lives in the region. Did I want to take a detour which wasn’t very long, and we would come into Kumarakom from the north rather than the south. Ok, why not? We had to go overland in a jeep to get to his house, which he had bought a few months ago, because the track was so bad his car couldn’t make it. So he works in Cochin, and lives here, several hours’ drive away. He said he comes back every month or two. His parents, who work on the tea plantation – an 80 year‑old plantation, planted by the British, and not nearly as tidy as the other ones we’ve seen (mainly owned by Tata, which seems to own most of India) – live in the house with his brother, his brother‑wife and children.
He was clearly very excited to be home on an unexpected visit, and I was given a cup of tea and a large plate of biscuits, cakes and banana chips to enjoy. I briefly saw the sister‑in‑law, then she went and hid, I had a few words with his brother, and managed to repeatedly scare the two small children, who had never seen a foreigner before. And also one teenage girl who peered around the door, then giggled and ran away when I said hello.
The house is a simple cottage with a couple of rooms, a calendar hanging off a cross on the wall, and satellite TV. And they have a view to die for.
My driver is studying electronics, and driving to pay for it. He has two years to go.
Made it into Kumarakom, still having a number of near‑death experiences every day. General rule of thumb: if you are going to pass another vehicle approaching the crest of a hill on a blind corner, there will always be a giant truck coming the other way.
Was very muggy when we arrived at the Cocobay Resort parking lot. Noticed that my water bottle was squooshed in from the increase in air pressure – I guess we’ve been at around 1,500 to 2,000 metres for the past four days or so and now down to sea level. And it might explain my less‑than‑stellar performance in the gym. Haha. It’s a really big change from being comfortably cool in a t-shirt and shorts or jeans, to being swamped with humidity.
So. Spent some time at the carpark, because the problem was that I had to catch a boat to the resort itself. So I needed to know what time to get picked up tomorrow to go to the houseboat. Or know whether I actually need to get picked up at all, the houseboat might come to the resort. And where to get picked up the next day. Driver tried calling the number listed on the voucher, but it wasn’t helpful. I called Shubha, my travel agent, and she promised to: find out; tell the transport agent, who would get back to my driver and let him know. And he will call me sometime this evening… So I guess someone will eventually tell me what to do, and hopefully before checkout time tomorrow… My driver is really very sweet, he made sure I had his number (I thought I did, but he seems to have switched phones or numbers or something) – and if I have any problems whatsoever I’m to call him for help!
Slow boat to resort
Resort is fine, room is big, bed is hard (which is fine, but unlike Cardamom County where the bed had a giant doona as an undercover and was like sleeping in a cloud) (a pretend cloud, not the damp, uncomfortable real kind of cloud I’ve spent the last few days wandering around in). Restaurant is outdoors, and I had to order my meal in advance and say what time I wanted to eat, so they could cook it for me. Pro: meal is freshly‑made (theoretically). Con: you have to know what you are going to want and when. A general pro: the fresh lime soda is good. Actually, I’m quite counting on the freshness pro, I chose prawns malabar without considering the consequences…
Truck Name Of The Day: Clearance
Sign Of The Day: Child Friendly School
No comments:
Post a Comment