I could hear Emily's (our) friend Jessica's voice saying, "Finally! Finally, a place I belong!" Jessica tends to appreciate the finer things in like – especially those that involve lounging and convenience.
Walking through the entry to The Keraleeyam Resort, it was clear we were in a whole different India. When we reached our bungalow with a large patio overlooking the Kerala backwaters, thatched roof, wood and reed construction, gorgeous furnishings and a tree that literally goes through our porch deck – I said, "Now this is my idea of India!"
But the best feature of the place is the "bathroom" – which is outside in back. The open-air, outdoor shower, with privacy blockades. Absolutely my favorite kind of shower and it reminded me instantly of my first visit to Bali when I stayed in a similar bungalow in Ubud.
With a giant wardrobe and dressing area adjacent to the "bathroom", we are able to get all of our stuff put away and out of sight – which is a phenomenal contrast to our room in Mumbai which lacked storage space and left us feeling like our backpacks and clean laundry were our roommates.
Like any good tropical bungalow, it shutters up at night to create a soft, and tranquil space which gave us a great night of sleep. In the morning, we opened the door and windows to the sunny, tropical lake and backwaters with houseboats and occasional long-tails constantly floating past our door.
This is Rudyard Kipling India. And being tropical, with bungalows and men wearing sarongs, this is an environment I know. There are floral scents I recognize from Bali as well as the men's attire. Animals, including birds, make noises at night.
Keraleeyam is an Ayurvedic resort with Ayuervedic medicine, treatments, massages and yoga on-site. Emily is attracted to the latter two. Their restaurant serving traditional local fare needs at least a two-hour advanced menu order – because that's the pace of things here. They ask that you order lunch at breakfast, dinner at lunch and breakfast at dinner.
Things move slowly. Our Internet moves slower. Unfortunately, we have hit a technical glitch, which seems to be the norm here in Region 2. While Keraleeyam has the high-speed Internet they promised, there was some confusion about WiFi and the meaning of wireless. They have high-speed Internet in their office. It's not WiFi. This means my iPad can't connect – it doesn't have a data port for a hardwire connection. Emily's laptop can connect there – which is good.
The confusion about "wireless" revolved around them extending a connection to our bungalow. They have and tried to use a wireless transmission antenna system to route data from the office to a hardline connection in our room. They have a special antenna they connected to our bungalow for the purpose. This is the "wireless" capability they have. Unfortunately it hasn't worked yet. And it doesn't solve my iPad issue.
We are looking into resources in town so that I can work elsewhere. Emily also has a break from classes for the next two weeks. We might – to our horror – have to share her laptop for almost three weeks. We both have fears and trepidation. But neither of us wants to change our accommodations.
Hopefully, between in-town resources and laptop sharing, we'll come out okay. We're of course disappointed not only because it's inconvenient, but because Emily spent a lot of time calling and emailing to make sure we had the right resources. Such is the way of Region 2.
However, while the Internet situation is more pressing now, it's far from the most shocking and bizarre event of the last 24 hours. Last night at the Cochin airport, we were in line for a prepaid taxi when everything came to a grinding halt. The taxi drivers went "on strike". We were told to walk over to the international terminal where drivers were still taking passengers. This made no sense to us, but we went along with it.
As we arrived, the "strike" was apparently hitting the international terminal as well with drivers standing and yelling at the prepaid taxi window. They were all crowded around the window, yelling in Malayalam at the taxi bookers.
Some people starting heading for a bus to the bas and train stations where they hoped to find taxis. We had a two hour ride in front of us with large, heavy bags. We wanted a taxi.
I didn't understand the strike, but I knew that in India money talks. I decided to enter my own negotiations – directly with the drivers. When I asked the group of them who weren't yelling at the window if I could cut a deal directly, the eldest of them approached me and said I should complain to the Terminal Manager. He led me to the office. So, I went in and explained our predicament and asked if anything could be done to get us to Alleppey.
The terminal management people seemed almost surprised to hear me say that there was a problem. They calm made phone calls and then told me that things would be resolved in 20-25 minutes, and could I wait outside. I returned to a somewhat frazzled Emily who was standing near the prepaid taxi window, feeling our prospects were dimming and not altogether sure what to do.
I suggested we bank on the terminal management people and wait it out. Meanwhile, she began inquiring about the airport hotel. At least the yelling had stopped, although the taxi guys seemed angry.
Looking around with nothing to do but wait, I thought that perhaps it might be good to try to understand the issue at hand and just how likely or not that it would resolve. I approached the taxi-drivers again and asked them what exactly the issue was. At first, they didn't understand that I was simply trying to inquire and tried getting me to complain to the terminal management people again. But after a couple of attempts, one simply said, "It is a small issue."
Okay…
I went back to the Terminal Manager for a status check. They said, "It is a small issue, we will resolve it soon. Don't worry. In the worst case, we will call a taxi for you."
Huh?
We think they meant that they would get a regular city taxi to take us since only the airport taxis were striking. But that's strictly a guess.
In any case, within ten minutes "the small issue" was resolved and the first passenger was able to book a taxi. Then a crowd of angry passengers formed at the window and were yelling in Malayalam about something. The taxi drivers and most of the passengers, shook their heads as if the two guys pushing and shoving were complete idiots and asses.
Emily was supposed to be first in line and the rest of the male Indian passengers were stating so and supporting her. But the yelling guys wouldn't stop for almost ten minutes. Emily told them she had been waiting longer than they had. But that did nothing.
Eventually, it stopped and Emily pushed in and paid for our taxi. A driver who had figured out where we wanted to go sort of "claimed" us – perhaps because our destination was close to his home, or maybe because of the relatively high fare our trip represented. The drivers seemed to like us and were all very helpful about seeing us get our taxi. One even spoke up for Emily during the yelling passenger situation.
In any case, we made it through the "strike", never discovered the real issue, and had a very comfortable ride to our destination.
Along the way, we saw Cochin and other towns along the way. A completely different world from Mumbai. Moderate towns with calmer feels and lots of average cement-block buildings stretched from there to here. There were people eating late dinners at small restaurants and families having get togethers while shirtless men in sarongs were barbecuing their dinners.
Because our plane was almost two hours late and then we hit the fierce drivers strike of 2010, we arrived at Keraleeyam at almost 11pm. We hadn't had any dinner and were hungry. The restaurant was closed, but the extremely kind people got us some toast, jam, butter and bananas. We enjoyed them sitting out on the porch, overlooking the water, listening to the sound of whatever those animals were.
While we have yet to explore this fascinating area, it feels vaguely familiar. Tropical life, tropical culture and people who remind me of some of the sweet and kind nurses from Kerala I worked with in Singapore. There's a lot of warm-hearted head waggling under the tropical sun.
*Because of technological issues, there will be no photos today. Inconvenience Regretted.
