India (Kochi) - The Fort

After a few days of sitting around in the ashram eating mushy food and watching devoted from around the world go about their daily solemn meditation and yoga and all that good stuff, I decided it was time to move on. All of that silence, deep thought, people clad in white atmosphere, people going on in bliss about "Did you see her?!!" was for some reason getting me into a funk. That and reading Gandhiji's autobiography. Great guy, but all the stuff about his experiments in diet and eating only fruits and nuts to subdue his "animal" appetites was seriously getting me down. I have always looked up to Gandhi and aspired to be like him, but I guess one doesn't get to be a mahatma without sacrifice. Too bad I like my meat, sweets, pizza and other sinful indulgences too much.

Anyway, hopped on the boat around midday to continue the journey up to Allepey. Considered staying a night in Allepey (dubbed the Venice of India because of its extensive canal network) but instead threw in my lot with a Spanish couple and gentleman from France who were on my boat and in a hurry to reach Kochi. I felt pangs of regret at first, wondering if perhaps I had given up the chance to see someplace beautiful and make some good new friendships (as it is low season and tourists are few in numbers here), but those pangs were dispelled as I spoke with the Spanish woman on the taxi ride up about the fascinating path she had taken over the past couple of decades from being a casual backpacker to a tour guide to the owner of several small shops in Spain selling goods from India and SE Asia. I learned a great deal.

Upon reaching Kochi, we found rooms in the old fort area. I was blown away. So quiet. So beautiful. And so clean. Unbelievably clean. No people defecating or urinating on the side of the road (to be fair though, I've only seen people defecating on the street a couple of times), garbage in predetermined places, lots of greenery, a minimum of traffic, no cows wandering around grazing on roadside garbage...The rooms of my homestay place even are amazing - the walls are freshly painted, the floor is so clean I can actually see my reflection in it (as opposed to most of the floors I have experienced thus far that have been covered in dust, various foodstuffs and insects) and I don't have to deal with a perpetual stench from my bathroom area.

The next morning, I arose and took a walk around the area to discover a place that is peaceful, green and beautiful. Old churches are everywhere(By some accounts, Christianity first reached here in the first century AD, well before it managed to get a foothold in Europe) and old colonial buildings make up the rest of what is to be found here. Boys play cricket in the open grass field (the old parade grounds) between my guesthouse and St. Francis Church (the oldest church erected by Europeans in Asia which was the first resting place of Vasco de Gama's remains when he died).



Yes. That's right folks. Ashamed though I am to admit it, the reason I'm liking it so much here has a lot to do with the fact that the colonial era left this place so European looking.



But then yesterday night, I crossed the bridges over to the neighboring city of Ernakulum and yes, it was a return to the beep-beep honk honk chaos, but things are still much cleaner and less chaotic than Madurai. In fact, things are downright prosperous.

Sigh. One of the major discoveries I've made on this trip is what a wussy I am. There are only so many days that I can stand breathing and walking in and sleeping in filth and noise before I start to crave a nice, clean, quiet room to recharge in. And I like being clean. And shaven. And I have the nerve to complain about my room stinking and being dirty when I see things like a woman and her children sleeping out on one of those aforementioned dusty, dirty, stinky, garbage-strewn streets.