5th Feb - Alleppey to Vypin

Up early this morning to pack and get on the road. I went to the normal place round the corner for breakfast of veg curry and porotta again. I spent a little time on the net trying to organise money in the uk and ordering some tyres for my bike to arrive in Goa. I was going to leave about 10 but then Fawaz said he would like to go to Kochi too and suggested that we went on the train. I decided that I really should get as far north as possible today so that I can get to Ooti to meet Couch Surfing John before he leaves so decided to go to Kochi with Fawaz on the train, have lunch with him and then head north.

I left the Homestay at about 12.30 and said goodbye to Tony and the others. I have really enjoyed staying there. The people were very friendly and it was a fantastic introduction to India. I would highly recommend it:

Aashiana Homestay

It turned out a very interesting experience getting the train - one that I would not like to repeat again quickly. It ended up taking longer to get the bike on the train and get to Kochi than it would have done to bike. The train was due at 12.50 and we arrived at 12.30 to get the tickets. I was very glad of Fawaz's language skills as we needed to get 3 different forms from 3 different places in order to check the bike on the train as a parcel. The tickets were only 23RS for me and Fawaz but the bike was 45RS - and it should have been even more but the guy took a 10RS bribe (which Fawaz sorted out). The train arrived about 1 hour late and was extremely full. We had to stand in the corridor with about 10 other people and all of my bags and could not see the view. The journey then took 1 hour 30 mins rather than 1 hour as it was supposed to. It was interesting to watch the interaction between the Indian men though. Men are so touchy feely with each other all the time. They do not have the same regard for personal space and not touching strangers. Lads that are friends are very happy to not just hold hands but also sit on each others laps and hold each other very openly. Many books say that this does not mean that they are gay and I can very much see that but other people that live in India (Indians and Westerners) have also told me that there lots of sexual exploration takes place between young males especially before they get married.

We did not get to Kochi until 3.30ish and we then walked through town for a while and I went for lunch with Fawaz. Kochi does actually have a Pizza Hut and we toyed with the idea of eating there but it was extremely expensive. Fawaz is very good at finding up market places with great food but that do not cost very much more than Indian restaurants. We shared a great last meal together and then I said goodbye and headed off.

I choose to bike South and across the road bridges to Fort Kochi and then get the ferry to Vypin and avoid the busy roads in rush hour. It took about 1 hour to get to Fort Kochi and I enjoyed getting back on my bike again. I regretted getting the train this morning but at least I have learnt what I need to do if I need to catch a train again in the future.

The ferry ride from Fort Kochi to Vypin should have taken 5 mins and I thought I must have missed judged the distance when I had still not landed 20 mins later..... When I got off at the harbor I realised that I was at the same place as I was 1 week ago - the harbor at Kochi Centeral (Emakulum). Oops! I had got on the wrong ferry and gone East rather than North and ended up just 10 mins away from where I had lunch with Fawaz 2 hours ago!

I caught another ferry to try and get back again. Unfortunately because most places have 2 names (an old name and a new name) for the same place I again got on the wrong ferry. I thought that a place name was spelt slightly differently to the place I wanted to go to but in fact it turned out that is was actually a completely different place. I got off the ferry thinking that I was in the right place and biked round for 20 mins asking for directions to get on to the right road before I realised I was on Wellington Island rather than Vypin - damn! I had biked across the island about 1 hour 30 mins ago. I then got on my third ferry of the day to get where I actually wanted to go! 2 hours 3 ferry rides later I arrived as it was starting to get dark! Arrggg I try not to bike in the dark as it is not very safe.

I biked north for about 1 hour looking for somewhere to stay on the way but the hotels that I found were full. The road was busy but it was interesting to see a big festival at a church on the side of the road with a huge number of lights and stalls by the side of the road.

Eventually I found a really dodgy looking hotel with huge queue for the liquor store next to it. I had to trade off how unsafe it was to bike along the road in the dark further north (13km to next town) verses staying in a dodgy place. I decided to stay as I only needed to chill in my room with the door locked and do my blog and sleep. I lovely old guy helped me up the stairs with my bike. It was 200RS for a night and not a particularly nice room but it was fine just for one night.

I had just had a shower and settled down in my room when there was a knock on the door. The old man that had helped me with my bike bought me some food for a gift as I had given him a nice tip. He was very sweet. Later in the evening he turned up again and asked if I would like anything else - I gave him some money and he returned with a feast! It is strange that sometimes you stay in the most dodge places and need to be on your guard but end up experiencing more generosity and kindness than else where. It was a lovely chilled evening - but a frustrating day.

Phoned banks to activate my new cards and found that it costs me more to do this than it did for my accommodation!