Friday, October 17, 2014

God's Own Country and Marital Arts

As I write this, I am sitting on the upper deck of a houseboat. A thatched roof covers us from the thundering storm approaching, but the open sides allow the cool breeze to flow through.



I am basking in my own glory. (And I admit I posed and told Matt to take my picture. #noshame)

Before our wedding, Matt and I decided to equally split our duties- he would begin planning our trip and I would plan our wedding. Now that the wedding is done, I have to pitch in on the trip a little more. Two things I now know: planning your future, but currently nonexistent, home on Pinterest is not considered an equal duty and planning for travel is harder than planning a wedding.

One of my tasks has been finding tour companies for the areas we think it would be more efficient than trying to get around on our own by train or bus. This is not the most fun research to do, but I think I've gotten pretty good. (And when I need a break from tripadvisor I spend a little time on Pinterest.)

Each time we've started a tour, I sort of hold my breath. You read reviews, you send a lot of emails, but in the end you're just not exactly sure what you're getting yourself into.

But here I am, lounging on a houseboat, enjoying the fruits of my labor. We booked a tour to take us around the southern state of Kerala. Our tour of the Golden Triangle was good, but we were constantly on the go. Here in Kerala, it's like a true vacation. We drive a few hours through the jungle then we arrive at our hotel, which have all been like resorts, we have the full attention of the staff (kind, but awkward) and we make occasional stops at spice plantations or scenic lakes. It's lovely.

Kerala is known as "God's Own Country." It is very paradise-like. It's what I imagined India to be like. It's the Jungle Book. You do expect elephants and tigers to walk out of the trees.



We flew from Jaipur to Cochin, which has been used as an important sea port for centuries. There are some European influences throughout the state, most notably, Catholic Churches. I have noticed that Indians like to erect small temples either on their own or in front of a bigger church or temple. These small temples are ornate and house an image of god behind glass windows. As we approach them on our drive, I'm never sure if I'm going to see a god with the face of an elephant or the Virgin Mary holding Jesus, it can easily go either way.


On our first morning, we drove to Munnar. The roads were twisty, but lush. (There were many signs warning drivers of "accident prone" areas. There were also signs that said, "Do not urinate on the roadways," but signs are just suggestions, no matter what they say, right?) 

The houses hidden amongst the jungles were painted bright colors or creamy white. They were beautiful. Many looked like they could be featured on International House Hunters. Some looked... moist. (It is the jungle after all.)



When we arrived at the Bird Valley Resort we were pretty excited. It was a RESORT. We stay in hostels and we couch surf. This was the high life. We had a simple, but beautiful room with a balcony that looked out over the valley. There was an incredibly attentive staff, who showed us everything in our room before we went out to the restaurant for lunch. (Side note: the kitchen smelled like Rubio's. So, it was a little disappointing, if not surprising, when our curry didn't taste like tacos.)



There was no sightseeing that day, but our tour company offered an optional traditional cultural show of dance and "marital arts." 

That's what the itinerary said and you can imagine me bobbing my head Indian style.

There were two shows. The first was traditional theater of Kerala. The actors wear elaborate face paint and only use facial expressions and gestures to convey meaning. After a demonstration, which we couldn't really understand and some audience participation (during which we both, separately, thought about how we would avoid/refuse if called upon) they put on a show. I thought it was a love story (marital arts, right?). It started off with a man/god and a woman. I thought they liked each other, but I guess I missed something in the synopsis. The man kept telling the woman to go (just with gestures). She tried some different tactics, he refused. Then, all of a sudden, the music got crazy, she started screeching and ran down the aisle. Then a monkey man came on stage (the woman may have transformed into the monkey?) and tried to seduce the man who continued to refuse, and then started to beat the monkey with the sword. The monkey started making weird noises and finally ran away. I guess the man was victorious.




I don't think I blinked the entire time. It was bizarre, and I was grateful when it ended.

So, we skipped the photos with the actors and moved to the second theater for marital art. It was an arena lined with weapons. 

This was a fun show to watch. The traditional martial (not marital, that, unfortunately, was a typo) arts is a mix of acrobats, yoga and combat. The men did flips, performed fights, did high speed yoga and jumped through rings of fire. It was impressive.



So, that was our cultural experience: screeching facial expressions and martial arts (I'm glad that Kerala does not actually consider either of those to be marital arts).

Speaking of marital arts, one thing I've noticed is rarely seeing men and women together. Sometimes, we'll see couples or young families. But, generally, there are groups of men and groups of women. At the airport, there are separate lines for men and women, and women go through security behind a curtain. I am very much looking forward to quizzing my friend Camille who is living here in India working on her PhD and therefore an expert about culture here in India. Also, when we filled out our papers for immigration, we could check male, female or other! India is either very progressive or very traditional.

Anyways, in Munnar, we went to a few lakes and lookout points, as well as a botanical garden. But, mostly we enjoyed the resort.



And in the morning we woke up to these friends on the balcony!




From there, we drove to Thekkady. Along the way, we stopped at a spice farm where we were guided through the garden. It takes me a little while to understand the accents here, I had to not only decipher what he was saying, but then he wanted us to repeat it, like a quiz! Forcing me to admit I really had no idea of half the things he said. Oh well, as usual, he mostly addressed Matt anyways. "Very good, sir." (Matt is a star when it comes to spices.)

We also stopped at the Periyar Lake Tiger Reserve. Here, I argued with the ticket sales, Matt argued with a monkey, and we did not see any tigers.

We did take a boat ride. They pointed us to a boat we both thought looked a little rickety (until we saw one of the other boats). 


At least ours was still floating.

As the boat started, the crew came up behind us and silently started dressing us in our life preservers! So, we enjoyed safe passage observing birds, deer, monkeys and boar. We also saw a deer fight and a boar fight (but we did not see a deer and boar fight).





When we drove up to our next hotel, I was in love. I'm sure in making reservations, I chose the budget hotels, but they were all so nice! This one, Coffee Routes, was very new and so comfortable. 


I mean, look at these chairs!

(Mom and Dad, will it bother you if I buy some of these and mail them to you to keep for me?)

We were the first guests from USA! And we made up half the guests they had that night, so again, we were treated to a very attentive staff. So attentive, that when we tried to get another helping of rice and curry at lunch (from the bowls in front of us at our table) they rushed over to dish it for us. We decided we needed ice cream, so we ordered a milkshake. We have learned that milkshake here literally means shaken milk, but this menu said "with ice cream." Well, their first American guests zoomed right in on that and ordered a chocolate milk shake.

Best. Milkshake. Ever.

We risked room service and ordered a second later that night. I suggested milkshakes for breakfast, Matt, shockingly, was not against that. (That's how good it was- Matt thinking we should have milkshakes for breakfast!) But, don't worry, we pulled our self control together and had toast and eggs instead.

Here is the jungle right outside our room!


After breakfast, we headed to Alleppey, the backwaters of Kerala. I read somewhere that this is the Venice of India. People live along the river tributaries in colorful houses while houseboats float along the waterways. 

I had read some  reviews about houseboats and knew that they couldn't be compared to hotels, but also knew they could be either really nice or really rough. I had been a but nervous, but after the hotels we've had, I felt confident we'd be comfortable.

We drove for a few hours before reaching the boats lined up on the river. From the outside I got a little nervous again. I just kept praying it was a real toilet, not a squat toilet- I couldn't handle that on a boat. We boarded and all fears vanished. It was luxurious. Simple, but comfortable. We share the boat only with the crew who are kind and quiet. We had amazing meals (I even ate a fish served with its eyes and enjoyed it, probably didn't hurt that it was fried).


Are you proud of me, Mom?

And here we are, sitting in the balmy breeze watching the lives of the people along the river as we go by.










If you ever visit India, go to Kerala. It's jungle. It's green. It's God's own country.

Next, we are headed to Mysore to see Camille and Zac! So excited for dear friends from home!