yesterday i left Kochin. so long and farewell. the little town that raped my money.
i ate at an indian place for breakfast. had potato curry and parota(like nan bread). i couldn't eat it. it wasn't breakfast.
i hopped on a rickshaw and went to the bust stand. a one legged man helped me which bus i need to get on. i hopped on the bus to Alaphuzza(Aleppey). drove 2 hours. arrived in Aleppey. a busy little city. tonnes of marketplace for it's small size. and a nice canal running through the middle of it. i went to a juice bar to escape the heat. drank some pineapple juice and then a lemon juice. i found a place to stay for the night. at a bamboo treefort place. my favourite place i've stayed so far. reallyn neat. only 250 rupees(5$) a night. i dropped my bag off there and walked to the beach. so far. walked along the beach. the sand was white but the water had hundreds of dead floating fish. the beach was empty except for the ice cream vendors. i went to a little field and watched kids play cricket and watched women paracticing driving scooters.
i went to an indian coffee house. they're a chain restaurant here. they are nice. had a little refreshment. went back to the beach and met some local indian guys who were 'professional' frisbee players. we played frisbee for like 4 hours on the beach. it was a lot of fun. they were really good. walked back towards my treefort.
a man slowly drove by on a motorcycle and stopped ahead of me. i walked upto him. i thought he was going to ask if i wanted a ride back. he shook my hand and when we let go he grazed my penis. i thought nothing of it because it was dark and maybe he couldn't judge our distance. he spoke some dialect of Indian i didn't understand. i responded yes and no to the questions i thought suitable. he then grabbed my crotch and said "homosex?". i flinched back, pushing his hand anway. i said "no, thank you" smiled awkwardly and walked away. i came back to my room and had a shower. feeling disgusting from sweating and rolling around in the sand. and also from a hand grabbing my manhood. i slept. the mosquito net did wonders.
i leave for Kollam on the backwater trip tomorrow.


the backwater trip was alright. although, wasn't as scenic as i expected. the boat had other travellers. a couple from Japan(the guy could of been david suzuki's son), a couple from France, a couple from the UK, a guy from Japan and a man from Korea. it was still enjoyable watching the land go by. little villages and huts tucked away in the banana and cashew plantations. mango trees hanging over the water. women washing clothes in the ghats. children running up to the shore to wave to us. men fishing from little canoes. large boats transporting goods. other tourist housboats. more of bamboo yachts.
the French couple recognised me from Hampi. they said we ate at the same restaurant one night. i remembered. we played cards with the boat guide. it was some Indian card game. i was awful at it in the beginning because i wasn't sure how to play. then i got the hang of it and won most games.
we stopped for lunch at a little strip of land with a restaurant. it was a typical thali meal. thali is like a meal/combo plate. with rice, chapati, dal, vegetables and chili peppers. it was served on a banana leaf. purely for the tourist novelty. the british couple complained about eating with their hands. they ate with both hands which in India is not proper. your right hand is your eating hand and your left hand is your dirty hand. it's the hand you use when finished using the toilet. they don't use toilet paper.
we were rushed to eat our lunch. we hopped on the boat and kept moving.
i sat on the top and fried in the sun. my right arm is darker than my left.
we motored through a strip of Chinese fishing nets. we passed under bridges.
we skipped our afternoon tea stop because our schedule was running late.
i played more cards. we eventually reached Kollam.
it was 7:00pm when we arrived. i got a rickshaw with the French couple to a hotel the boat guide suggested for us.
it was by the beach and you could hear the waves were big.
the double rooms were superb. clean and had a tv. my room was a single with no pillows, no tv and crickets crawling on the walls.
i ate dinner with the French couple, Xavier and Emilie. Xavier has a biology degree but is a bartender. Emilie is a nurse and also works as a bartender. they work in the Alps during the winter and on the beach during the summer. they are traveling around the world for a year.
i said goodnight to them and went to bed with the crickets.

this day was a travel day. i had breakfast with Xavier and Emilie, at our hotel.
i checked out the beach. it was nothing special. the surf was big but broke very close to shore. i went back to hotel and looked at the map of Kerala. i decided where i wanted to go today. Munnar. i had to take a train to Kottayam and then catch a bus to Munnar. i was told this route was possible, so i tried. i went to the train station with Xav and Em. they wanted to book at ticket to Madurai. i got my train ticket to Kottayam. it left in one hour. good timing.
we went for a beer at a bar across from the train station before i had to get my train.
the bar was dark. too dark. we sat at a table and couldn't see eachother's faces. we each got a large kingfisher.
i said goodbye to them and jumped on the train.
it was my first experience with second class, or 'cattle class' some call it, and it was my last. the seats were full. it was elbows to elbows. i stood with my backpack on for an hour and a half with everyone staring at with a 'what the hell is he doing in this compartment' look. i couldn't see the stations we were stopping at so i had to ask everytime we stopped. i asked a new person each time because i didn't want to be a nuisance to the same person.
a beggar woman came aboard and played songs with two flat rocks. she sang aswell.
the songs sounded sad. it felt like they were of sorrow. it made me feel sad. the has a beautiful voice. i gave her 5 rupees.
i reached Kottayam and barged my way through the people and off the train.
i walked to a bus station and was told it wasn't possible to get to Munnar from this station. i took a rickshaw to another station and they said the bus to Munnar would be leaving in an hour. good timing. i went to a bakery and ate some assorted pastry puffs. egg, potato and onion. i jumped on the bus and we were off.
the bus ride was amazing. driving through rolling hills and dipping into valleys swallowed by forest. swerving and weaving around the tight narrow curves in the road. it turned into night and we reached a hault. a line of vehicles backed up for a kilometer. a car had fallen off the road and into the river. the passengers all survived but had to be taken to the hospital. two weeks ago the same thing happened and two people drowned.
the police, ambulance and firefighters zoomed by and things started moving again after waiting for an hour.
the rest of the bus ride was incredible. we climbed and climbed up and up the mountain. the air was getting colder. we were in the clouds. a steep valley dropped next to us and another hill rose from it. the fog and the mist made from the clouds looked magical.
we arrived in the town of Munnar. it was 10pm. i was in shorts and a t-shirt. i stepped off the bus and i was cold for the first time in India. i could see my breath.
everything was closed. i had no clue the layout of the town. Munnar wasn't in my lonely planet. i walked into the market where i could see signs for hotels and tourist homes. i tried several but they were full. it was the high season. i went to use the internet to look for a cheap place to stay. it didn't help. all the places that came up were high end resort hotels. i walked around more. freezing. i eventually found a hole in the wall. literally. they gave me a little room wuith no bathroom. just a bed. it was expensive but i needed a place to rest. the man was nice.
a group of indians were in the room next door partying. they told me to join them. they gave me a glass of rum water and an orange. they were all really drunk. they each took turns taking pictures of me with them. i said goodnight and went to bed. about an hour later i heard a knock. one of the Indian guys was at my door. i opened my door and he pushed his way in. he asked if i was staying alone. i said yes. he sat on my bed and asked if i liked sex. i said no. i told him to leave because i wanted to go to bed. he asked if i wanted sex. i again said no and was getting a little tempermental. i tried to lift him up. but he fell over. the man that owned the place came out and kicked him out of my room. thank you nice man. his name is Joseph.
i went to bed and had a nice sleep with the cold air.