Trying to beat the cyclone out of Chennai, I decided to go to Kerala this week instead of later as planned. I didn't sleep well knowing I had an early start and stressed more when every time I woke up it was raining. I arrived at the airport by 5:30 am for an 9 am flight to Kochi. There are lots of military around the airport. Before even entering the terminal, I had to show my itinerary and my passport. A sign also indicated that it is a silent airport and there are no PA announcements for flights, but they must have some announcements for boarding! I had to remove the battery from camera for my checked bag, and then a nice woman showed me the ladies only security line. I was quickly body scanned in a private vestibule and then waited for my items to come down the conveyor belt.
It's now 6:12 and I've scoped out my gate and gotten a South Indian filter coffee. I could have also gotten a Krispy Kreme donut if i was a fan of them. Who knew? The food court is right next to the smoking lounge, but it is enclosed and I have not smelled anything.
Since I'm in the domestic terminal, I'm not seeing anyone melanin challenged like me. However, many people including the women are wearing western clothing. Other than the dual language signage, it's pretty much like any other airport. A driver is meeting me in Kochi to take me to Thekaddy where will stay at the bougey Spice Village. I hope this driver pick up works, but I do have a local contact who can assist if needed.
The plans for Thekaddy are the Periyar wildlife reserve where I will go on an escorted nature walk in hopes of seeing tigers, elephants, and other wild life. I may, in fact, see only birds, but that will be great too. A bamboo raft ride on the lake is another attraction. And I'm really hoping to get me some spa services too!
Along the way, the driver stopped at several places where I could take pictures and a spice farm. We passed two dams which were quite impressive, and signs for elephant crossings. No one was slowing down on the hair pin turns for them. One has to just have faith that the drivers know what they are doing and not watch as they overtake cars with little to no visibility. But that is why everyone honks. They honk when they come up on another vehicle. They honk when they pass. They honk going into blind turns. They honk at pedestrians and animals in the road.
The spice farm was interesting. I didn't really have a choice of going in. I mean I could have said no, but everyone is always getting a kickback for bringing friends or tourists to businesses with whom they collaborate. I've traveled enough and watched enough Bollywood movies to know that. And the people work hard for what little money they make, so I went along. The lady gave me a tour and showed me the plants. Then it's into the showroom for the hard sell. They have ayurvedic herbal medicines and tonics with a cure for everything.
As I'm doing Christmas shopping here, I went all in and got a bunch of stuff that I have never seen in the US. It wasn't until we got to the hotel that I realized, I'm gonna have to buy another suitcase before I go back to Chennai. I'll never get this all into my rollerboard that was already pretty full for seven days of travel.
The hotel is like a compound and it's designed to be little or no carbon footprint. The pool is oxidized--no chlorine or salt. They use solar. They use no plastic, etc... That is nice, and they have a lot of activities that they offer here or that they set up. I arrived with very little sleep after a four hour drive of crazy hair pin turns and many accelerations and decelerations -- almost bumper cars. I was tired and wanted nothing more than a hot shower and a meal.
The nice young lady at the front desk was very sweet but trying to explain all of the services offered and get me booked for something the next day. I was trying not to lose it. I told her I was very tired and just wanted to rest. She kept on. Finally, we had two hours at the spa and a nature walk at 7 a.m. I got to my room, and was half undressed with the shower going, when she called and wanted to renegotiate the nature walk. Did I want her to come to the room? No! She finally got it and said she would contact me later.
I took too long of a nap, but dinner did not start until 7:30. I was groggy but arrived at the restaurant right on time. Interestingly, this is the first place that I've been that serves and pushes alcohol. I didn't really want anything, but I decided to try the Indian single malt whisky -- just one shot. I took one for team whisky, because it is not a nice drink. It opened up a bit after the ice cube started to melt, but no.
Dinner was a buffet which was not my favorite on a night when I was tired, however, the selection was amazing and the food quite good. I even tried to seafood curry -- my first meat since arriving -- it was yummy. The tomato soup was good, they weren't making naan but I got some roti bread. They had a lot of pickled items that I tried. That is always good to keep the stomach settled with probiotics, too.
It was off to bed after that. I slept pretty well until 3:30 am, so I got up and did some stuff and watched part of a movie. I've just decided I'll try to sleep when I"m tired, and if I wake up, I'll do something until I feel tired again. I don't think I'm going to get the sleep thing totally managed while I'm here.
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