We arrived by plane to Fort Kochin....a cute little seaside town in the Southern part of India in the State of Kerala and were greeted by a driver that was arranged to take the homestay/cooking school that I was soo looking forward to attending. Unfortunately the Universe had other plans....................................
First a flat tire in a very sketchy part of town that required us to stand roadside as we waited. Thankfully the driver moved quickly and we were back on the road in no time at all.
Then we pull up to the homestay to find the owner waiting outside. No room at the Inn he said. Interesting since I had been in touch quite a few times in the days leading up to our arrival. The owner said he had told us by email that for this night we would have to stay in his apartment and then back to the homestay the following night. Never got the email he said that they sent but how bad could it be? Well let's just say in the most loving of ways possible that there should be at least one mandatory requirement when staying over at someones house. That is...... that there be at least sheets on the bed. Is that asking for too much? So there were no sheets on the bed, no water in bottles to brush the teeth with, no soap or face cloths and the straw that broke the camels back.......showering with the hose meant for bidet was not a desirable option. So off it was in search of a hotel at 10pm at night (with the homestay owner who I swear managed to up the chosen hotel price so that he was still getting his share of wallet for our backing out of his apartment stay). And BTW the cooking classes...........didn't get those either. Trip Advisor will be my new friend shortly.
So to make the best of a sticky situation we wandered about this little seaside town and took in some shopping opportunities......did some research on our next stop - Allapuzha....had lunch with some great people from San Fran that were doing some touring and soul searching as they had received job offers to move to India and most of all - more photo opps.
and they sure do take their Sunday night Cricket Games seriously! This game had hundreds of spectators (all men but for one woman that I could see).
First a flat tire in a very sketchy part of town that required us to stand roadside as we waited. Thankfully the driver moved quickly and we were back on the road in no time at all.
Then we pull up to the homestay to find the owner waiting outside. No room at the Inn he said. Interesting since I had been in touch quite a few times in the days leading up to our arrival. The owner said he had told us by email that for this night we would have to stay in his apartment and then back to the homestay the following night. Never got the email he said that they sent but how bad could it be? Well let's just say in the most loving of ways possible that there should be at least one mandatory requirement when staying over at someones house. That is...... that there be at least sheets on the bed. Is that asking for too much? So there were no sheets on the bed, no water in bottles to brush the teeth with, no soap or face cloths and the straw that broke the camels back.......showering with the hose meant for bidet was not a desirable option. So off it was in search of a hotel at 10pm at night (with the homestay owner who I swear managed to up the chosen hotel price so that he was still getting his share of wallet for our backing out of his apartment stay). And BTW the cooking classes...........didn't get those either. Trip Advisor will be my new friend shortly.
So to make the best of a sticky situation we wandered about this little seaside town and took in some shopping opportunities......did some research on our next stop - Allapuzha....had lunch with some great people from San Fran that were doing some touring and soul searching as they had received job offers to move to India and most of all - more photo opps.
Not sure how the sheep's tooshie managed to make it's way in there. But it is kind of funny.
This display of antique teapots was in a restaurant that we popped in to look at the menu of but chose not to stay.
I know, I know not very Indian-ish per say but I think worth sharing.
And a couple of authentic Indian extracurricular activities...........................
and they sure do take their Sunday night Cricket Games seriously! This game had hundreds of spectators (all men but for one woman that I could see).
Off to houseboat!
Cheers!
Tammy
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