Month: May 2019

30 May 2019 – Time Goes By in Kerala

Nearly every day, we see something different from our own culture. One afternoon, we noticed small fishing boats moving with the current flowing past the marina. We watched a group of fishermen in round boats (yes, round and built of bamboo, not plastic) pulling in a net. 

There are several women working in these boats, and at least one of the women has an infant next to her chest as she works. 

The marina staff told us that these people are gypsies, living a nomadic lifestyle. They make camp everyday on a shoreline, and then break camp and move somewhere else. Their boats are called a Parisal (english name is Coracle), a traditional round boat found in South India. Apparently, these little round boats are an effective fishing vessel because they hardly disturb the water or the fish, and they can be easily maneuvered with one arm, while the other arm tends to the net. The paddle is used towards the front of the coracle, pulling the boat forward, with the paddler facing in the direction of travel. (Photos courtesy of Peter on SV Kokomo)

About 2.5 hours drive North of Kochi lies the city of Thrissur, still in the state of Kerala. We went there for a day trip to visit the zoo. Started in the year 1885, the Thrissur Zoo and Museum covers an area of approximately 13.5 acres. The zoo houses a wide variety of animals, reptiles, and birds. I’m not a fan of zoos, I have to say, because its concerning to see caged animals, particularly animals that we have often seen in the wild. I suppose the most interesting to me was the opportunity to see a Bengal Tiger, yes it was confined to a cage, but at least the zoo visitors were safe.

Here you can see that they take security seriously. 

This is a large water buffalo of some kind. It had an unusual name.

This resting but very alert jaguar is a beautiful animal. 

A purpose built building houses the reptilian collection of King Cobras, Cobras, Python, Kraits, Vipers and Rat Snakes. This is an Indian Rock Python. 

The Art Museum located in the zoo has a good collection of wood-carvings, metal sculptures, Kathakali figures, ancient jewellery etc. It also has some historical items like swords, jewellery, rocks, stuffed butterflies, etc. 

I’ve been to the doctor for my 6 week post surgery knee checkup. He pronounced me “healed” and fit to do “as much as I can”. I’ve got good flexibility and I’m still working on building strength and endurance. 

This is a custom “barnacle scraper” that I had a local welder make up for me using SS 316. For 10 years I’ve been scraping the hull and cleaning things off using production made drywall and putty scrapers, but they always rust and break after a few months of use. Lets see how this one makes out. It is definitely “heavy duty” compared to what I can buy in a store.

Our friend and driver Varghese has told us that many Indian expatriates go to the Gulf countries (Kuwait, UAE, Oman, Saudi Arabia etc) for a decade or more of work. If they work hard and save, many of them invest in affluent properties on their return – an 8 bedroom house with only 4 people living in it. We’ve seen many. Maybe this is one example?

Our boat is docked at the outer edge of the Kochi International Marina docks. Since our boat is pretty heavy, we don’t suffer much from the wake of passing boats, and we have never complained about the wake. However, we have complained a lot about the nuisance of passing tourist boats. Many have passed within only a metre or two of our docked boat, while travelling at 3-5 knots of speed. This is reckless and unsafe. The boats are jam packed with tourists and loud music is playing. If we happen to be on deck, they yell and holler at us and are desperate to take a few photos of “white people on a yacht”. These actions, we have viewed to be dangerous and rude – and we have been very vocal about it. When on the back deck, Diane has used the water hose to spray the boat Captain and even the guests – but they keep coming back for more! The latest action on our part has been to pay for and install three large signs warning boats to stay at least 20m away and not to take photos – in both English and the local language of Malayalam. The next step will be to bring in the news media.

10 May 2019 – First Real Tourist Trip

We finally had a real tourist outing. In one of our many trips to the dentist, the doctor or the mall – we came across Varghese, who drives for Uber. Varghese spent nearly 20 years working for the Catholic Church in Dubai. As a result of that experience, Varghese speaks very good English, at least English that we can understand. He also takes people out on private tours, and turns off his Uber-meter. Together with Peter and Donna on SV KOKOMO, we took a day trip to the Athirappilly and Vazhachal Water Falls, managed by the Kerala Forest and Wildlife Department – and finished at the Hill Palace just on the outskirts of Kochi. The total driving distance was just under 200 km, but it took us out of the city and into the back areas, where there was lots of unspoilt jungle with monkeys and other wild animals.

At the Athirappilly Water Falls, the ground was uneven and challenging for me to walk on, but I trudged along, determined to get some mileage in and see some of the Indian wilderness.

I promised Varghese that I would immortalize his image on my blog, so here he is together with Peter.

Much to my surprise, up there in the hills I found this police station just for tourists.

Our next visit was to the Hill Palace at Tripunithura (just outside of Kochi). It was the imperial administrative office and official residence of the Cochin Maharaja. Built in 1865, the palace complex consists of 49 buildings in the traditional architectural style, spreading across 54 acres – although I have to admit, I only covered a fraction of this territory.

The complex has an archaeological museum, a heritage museum, a deer park, a pre-historic park and even a children’s park – although I didn’t see it, and nobody could take photos of it anyway because they confiscate your camera and cell phone at the entrance.

Presently, the palace has been converted into a museum by The Kerala State Archaeology Department and is open to the public for a small admission fee. My impression of the Hill Palace is that it a little worn and tired looking, basically in need of a paint job – although this photo certainly makes it appear to be in very fine condition.

While in the grocery store yesterday, I came across this display of cricket bats, pretty much dominating the sports section. There was no baseball or ice hockey gear in sight.

4 May 2019 – Second Post From India

It has been nearly 7 weeks since we arrived in India, how time flies! This is a typical sunrise at the marina. The water is quiet and there are only a few boats on the docks. 

At the 3 week point, as planned, I embarked on my Total Knee Replacement surgery, addressing an injury that came up about 1.5 years ago. Although I was able to walk, sometimes for 10km or more in a day, over the past year I was often in great pain and the bone-on-bone grating was just getting worse. Rather than fly back to Canada for the surgery, I decided to have it done here in India, at a fraction of the cost. The planned recovery would be done entirely in our home, our boat. The surgery was done by Dr Bibu George at Aster MedCity Hospital (a large, private care facility right here in Kochi). This is the Johnson and Johnson artificial joint that was selected for the job.

As I write this blog, I am now 26 days post surgery. Three days after the surgery, I walked out of the hospital with a cane, not a walker, and not crutches – a cane. We stayed in the Marina House hotel (part of the Bolghatty Resort Complex) for the first 4 nights and then moved back onto the boat. I have been walking unaided since day 7, when we moved back onto the boat and I ditched the cane. The staples and bandage were removed on day 15, and I was permitted to resume my daily swimming pool “activity” from day 18. The pool has made a noticeable difference in my recovery, but of course – so has my daily self-paced physiotherapy. On discharge from the hospital, I was given an exercise sheet to follow, and I do the necessary exercises nearly every two hours through the day. At first, when walking, it felt like I was walking on a prosthetic leg, and I realize now that this was because my thigh quadriceps had been cut/altered with the surgery and I had to relearn how to walk and build those muscles up again. Every day its getting better, but I’m still not walking more than about 1.5 km. I’m sure this will gradually increase over time – as will my flexibility. 

We are still going to the market, at least once every week. Last week we bought a fresh chicken from this man. When I say fresh, I mean the bag was still warm when I picked it up (and not from cooking).

I also bought fresh mutton from this man. He told me that he only operates his shop in the mornings. Its actually his father’s shop, but his father is off wandering about India right now. He tends to save up money for 6 months and then leaves to go travelling for 6 months – and then returns to repeat the pattern.

We had to buy some rice a few weeks ago, and although this is a fuzzy photo, it does illustrate the variety and volume of rice available at this one shop.

I took this photo of Nazar one day, he was a bit sad because his Tuk-Tuk had to go in for extensive and expensive repairs. His Tuk-Tuk is his way of making a living, and he needs it back on the road. 

Here, Nazar’s Tuk-Tuk is in the shopping getting the full treatment.

His little grand daughter helps to cheer him up.

On another day, after his repairs were made, Nazar took us to the “Indian Cafe” near the court house for lunch. The food was Indian, of course, and of good quality and low price (they are all cheap, unless you eat where the tourists go).

This food server was even dressed in a uniform to suit the establishment.

We’ve had a bit of bother with the local tour boat operators and some of the fishermen. These tour boat operators are coming closer and closer to our boat. They are loaded up with tourists (sometimes on two decks) and pass by often only a meter or two from our hull. I’m afraid that one day, one careless Captain is going to scratch/dent the side of our hull – and then there will be hell to pay! We’ve written to the Port Captain, the Marina Manager, the Resort Manager, everyone but the English language newspaper  (not yet) and there are signs of improvement, but in our opinion – it is still a risky business. Not only are these boats passing unnecessarily too close to us, but it is a gross violation of our privacy. These people are leering and taking photos and they are so close I could reach out and slap them! Diane has taken to sitting on the back deck, with the water hose in hand – ready to give a soaking to any boats the pass too close — and she has soaked several, with cameras and mobile phones in hand! This is a photo I took of some jack-ass fishermen, two minutes after they accidentally bumped into our hull, twice, at 8 o’clock in the morning. What the hell? The river is flat calm, 300m wide, with not another boat in sight. Why in hell are they bumping into our boat? I sure gave them a piece of my mind. 

Next week, we’ve arranged for our very first day tour, a bonafide tourist trip that will take us out of Kochi, away from the boat, away from the market and the mall – if only for a day. I’m looking forward to it!