Tea, Forts and Houseboats - India Three Ways

India is a delight to the senses, with its colorful patterned scenery, jovial people, and brilliant saris; its flavorful food and constant sounds -- be it soothing sounds of the jungle or the incessant honking as cars jostle for space along the narrow roads. 

We were last in India in 2009 when we visited the large towns of Chennai, Bangalore, Mumbai, Delhi and Agra (Taj Mahal).  Our current visit brought us to the southwestern part of India and the region of Kerala. Kerala is less hectic, cleaner, and more orderly but just as full of life as the other parts of India we have visited in the past.  This time, we ported in Cochin and quickly left its sweltering heat for the cool mountains of Munnar, about a 4-hour drive up narrow, twisting roads to the East of Cochin.  If you look back to our blog post about Sri Lanka, you might see some similarities with the road travel there. 

Munnar

Munnar sits at about 5,000 feet above sea level and is surrounded by thousands of acres of tea plantations.  Textured green fields cover the contoured mountains in every direction.  Munnar is a destination that attracts locals from Cochin escaping the heat and vacationing honeymooners and families from all over India.  We stayed at Chancey’s Windy Woods and since there were few foreigners at the resort, we had a truly Indian experience with wonderful cuisine.  The hotel was set on a mountainside with 4 distinct buildings that were connected by a maze of elevators and stairwells.  We got our exercise by trekking up the man-made jungle path, complete with waterfalls and bridges, which wove its way under the buildings from our room up to the lobby.   It was an 8-story climb from our room up to the lobby (or three different elevators)!

Rather than try to navigate the very very windy roads full of crazy traffic, we hired a driver for our two days in Munnar and explored the tea plantations, high mountain lookouts, reservoirs, and spice gardens.  The tea and spice tours were interesting and we saw where so many of our foods and spices come from and how they can heal us as part of the Indian Aryuvedic tradition.

The second day, we were entertained at Dream Land, an adventure park where we could try 25 activities including riding mechanical bulls, walking the tight rope over a pond, climbing rope walls and attempting obstacle courses.  It was good fun and provided some much needed exercise.   After a VERY oily massage, we went to the local martial arts show where young men demonstrated their skills in fighting with swords, spears and sticks in addition to acrobatics where they flipped over top of Jay and Ryan (and six (!) other people) and through fiery rings. 

Allepy Houseboats

After three nights in the mountains, we headed back to the coast to explore Kerala’s extensive backwaters with 550 miles of lakes and channels.  1,200 houseboats take visitors on daytrips and overnight excursions on the tranquil waterways that weave through immense rice fields and small villages.  Our two-bedroom houseboat had a large air-conditioned, glass walled sitting room where we played games, ate meals and enjoyed the scenery as we cruised around the backwaters. 

We docked for the evening alongside one of the villages, which backed up on literally miles of rice paddies.  The homes lined the channel and were connected by a dirt path running in front of them.  Christy took an early morning walk down the dirt path and witnessed how the local people started their day.  People were bathing, swimming, washing dishes and brushing their teeth along the channel.  One couple loaded their round basket boat with bananas while others played with their children before breakfast.  It seemed out of place when a man walked by while taking on his cell phone.  As in many parts of the world, in India it seems that the cell phone is the one ubiquitous technology that bridges the gap between 100 years ago and today!

Fort Cochin

We spent our last day and night in Fort Cochin, which was packed with tourists and retained a European feel from the colonial era. We went from among Indians on their vacations to among foreign tourists in the lap of luxury. Kerala is trending towards being a “dry” state and Munnar and Allepy were leading the charge so it was nice to find a glass of wine and a cooling swimming pool at the Old Harbour Hotel.

We adventured out in the sweltering heat to try our hand at the large Chinese fishing nets that line the harbor.  After casting the net, we each grabbed a rope line and heaved as hard as we could to lift the net into the air.  Alas, it was not the season to catch fish in the harbor, so no fish for us. 

During our visit we had a taste of life in Kerala for a few days.  India is so vast and diverse that we always find ourselves saying that we need months, not days, to explore even the smallest corner of this fascinating country.

India

India was Christy’s most memorable country when she went on Semester at Sea in 1990 and it rates highly on our current voyage.  We experienced India as tourists in Agra/New Delhi, business people in Bangalore, and through the eyes of our expatriate friends in Mumbai.

India is a country of 1.2 Billion people with extremes of poverty and prosperity; pre-industrial and modern at the same time; and facing some of the world’s biggest opportunities and challenges at the same time.

New Delhi/Agra

Our previous travel prepared us well for the vibrant traffic, sights and sounds of India.  After flying from Chennai to New Delhi, we went to take the train to Agra.  After a roundabout path that took us to the train station, a chaotic auto-rickshaw ride and a chance encounter with an Indian travel agent who lives half-time in Vancouver, we found ourselves with a driver and car for the 5 hour car ride to see the Taj Mahal, in Agra.  The car ride was entertaining as we watched all the cows (which are sacred and roam freely), auto rickshaws, pedal and motorbikes, cars, trucks and pedestrians intermingle along the crowded streets.  At home we only use our horn at most once a month.  In India, hardly 10 seconds go by without blowing the car horn.   The distance to Agra was not far, but the traffic was awful coming out of New Delhi and the pollution from the traffic and trash fires gave Christy a hacking cough.

We visited the Taj Mahal in both the evening and at sunrise.  Its magnificence and grandeur are all the more impressive knowing it was built in 1653 by the Emperor Shah Jahn for his wife who died giving birth to their 14^th child.  20,000 people worked on the Taj for over 22 years.  Their creation was a beautiful sight to see and admire.   

Bangalore

Bangalore, the garden city of India, is the country’s Silicon Valley.  Most internationally known technology companies like Google and Dell are there.   We went to Bangalore to visit a Young President’s Organization contact of Christy’s.  Dinesh Puri, his wife Geeta, and his kids Uday and Ankita helped us with hotel arrangements, took us around town and hosted us for 3 amazing days.   Christy visited their medical company that makes pacemakers, the first implantable device being made in India.  She also visited GE Healthcare and another Indian device maker.  The Puri’s even threw a large party at their home so we could meet some of their YPO friends and other leaders in the community.  A highlight was playing golf at the Karnataka Golf Association Club where Thomas Friedman got his inspiration for his book title, “The World is Flat.”  

Mumbai

In Mumbai, we stayed with Brooks and Laura Entwistle and their 3 lovely daughters who are around Luke and Ryan’s ages.  Christy and Brooks, who runs Goldman Sachs India, are in the same class of Henry Crown Fellows from the Aspen Institute.    We saw a unique perspective of Mumbai though the Entwistle’s eyes. 

A highlight for the boys was visiting the expat school.  Luke got to join Kayla in 1^st grade for the day.  It was the day they celebrated Halloween, so Luke got to make Halloween crafts and be in a holiday parade.  That was followed by a Halloween party at the Entwistle’s house and then we went trick-or-treating at the teacher’s apartments. 

Mumbai is the financial hub of India.  It is the most densely populated city in the world with half the population living in slums that are interspersed around the city.  We toured the Dhavari Slum, the one featured in Slumdog Millionaire.  We expected to see a very sad situation.  Instead, our experience was quite the opposite.  The slum is a bustling community of entrepreneurs and families.  They are the recycling center for Mumbai and sort, clean, and melt down the materials.  They build their own chipping machines that cut up plastics.  Then they wash, dry, melt and extrude the plastics into new plastic pellets that they sell to manufacturers.  The same is true for metals, including an aluminum recycling operation! 

In other sections of the slum, we found potters, cookie makers, seamstresses, and ladies making papadams.  They even let the boys try rolling a papadam - the boys should keep their day jobs!  Although the homes were small and simple, most were made out of cement and were clean.  Narrow alleys with open sewers connected the homes and it was an adventure walking through the community. 

In contrast to the slum, we had lunch at the iconic Taj Hotel that was the site of the Mumbai terrorist attacks last year.  While he food was great, it was hard to imagine how 4 terrorists were able to kill so many people in the hotel.  It is mostly rebuilt and fully back in business. 

Overall our India visit was special because of the friends we visited and the new friends we made.  The Entwistle and Puri families made us very welcome in India.  It is a country with warm, friendly people who are striving for a better life.  They have made amazing advances but now they must tackle their remaining challenges of sustainability (water, energy, pollution), building an infrastructure that can keep up with the exploding population, and living peacefully next to Pakistan.