It’s over

As it was going to be a long day today with a checkout required by noon and a flight not leaving until 10.25pm we were able to move at relatively glacial pace in everything we wished to do today so started off with a late breakfast followed by a final repack of the suitcases before, around mid morning moving cases down to the foyer and entrusting them to the hotel efficient staff for the day.

Having done so and handed in the room door card we took the MRT from City Hall to Tiong Bahru in the hope of seeing some old housing. While we couldn’t find any we did find the wet market and food court, the food court buzzing as it was now around lunchtime.

With the body temperature starting to rise we decided to head back to the MRT and go to Marina Bay Sands to get into an air conditioned environment. This centre is high class with all the prestige shops, some with more than one outlet, throughout. We walked down one branch of the complex and it was high value watch shops one after the other.

Around mid afternoon we decided to go back to Marina Square to see whether the balloon display had been completed and as luck would have it, it was. I never imagined that we would be so engrossed looking at balloons but we were as it was a wonderful display.

The completed display

It was then a walk back to the hotel to pick up our bags (all the time following the Warriors game – Up the Wahs!) and getting a taxi out to the airport. We struck a taxi driver who wanted to talk about his medical history which was interesting in that we have never found Singaporean taxi drivers to say more than a few words.

We have now checked in and had dinner and waiting for the next 2.5hrs to pass before we start the last leg home.

A fabulous holiday in a very different part of the world will now start to be a memory, but a memory that we hope stays with is for a long time!

One to go

After breakfast we walked to City Hall and took the MRT to Harbour Front before climbing up the hill to Mount Faber and then onto Henderson Waves, the tallest pedestrian bridge in Singapore with a length of 274m and a distinctive wavelike structure. By the time we got to the end we, like quite a few others, sat with sweat freely flowing and taking some water on board.

If Singapore do one thing well (they in fact do many things very well) it is developing green parks and attractions in the outdoors e.g. botanical gardens, Gardens by the Bay.

As we were going up the walkway there was a worker blowing leaves off the walkway something you would not see in Auckland – you never see a suburban footpath being sweep clean let alone one effectively in a bush environment!

 There were some nice views out to sea and also towards the city looking past what appeared to be government provided accommodation.

After recovering we returned down to Harbour Front and took the MRT back to City Hall having lunch in Marks & Spencers in Raffles City.

After dropping some bags and an umbrella we were carrying back at the hotel we walked to Marina Square to pickup Sherry’s new glasses. While there we noticed a wonderland of balloons being erected this being the 15^th annual balloon display put on in this vast mall and which starts on Saturday so it was unfinished when we saw it but nevertheless very impressive.

As the promo says

Step into our balloon wonderland where breathtaking flowers dance amidst fairies, giant butterflies take flight and vibrant hot air balloons float above a spectacular balloon garden.

A video looking at the display being constructed- listen closely and you’ll hear balloons popping

It was then back to the hotel to rearrange our suitcases and submit our arrival card & customs declaration to NZ Customs.

After dinner we walked to the Riverfront area and along the river which had a very vibrant and colourful atmosphere with all eateries being well patronised and queues waiting to ride in the bumboats.

As we did so we agreed that we were in a city that we very much enjoy and which has been a magnet drawing us back numerous times but is this the last time???

Tomorrow we need to fill in the day once we have checked out until we fly out around 10.30pm - shouldn’t be too hard.

Muggy

One of us slept well last night, the other didn’t.

The intention today was to find the Pan Pacific Orchard a hotel which was voted Best Tall Building in the world in 2024 which my research suggested was near Istana, the President’s residence in Singapore which is located in Orchard Rd at the end nearest to our hotel.

Having walked to the area around Istana no hotel was found so asked an individual who after looking it up on his phone said it was further along the road so off we went again just as a motorcade with outriders and numerous vehicles came down the road at speed with all other traffic brought to a standstill.

Not too much further along Sherry spotted the flagship store of a clothing retailer she likes so a detour was made and some time was spent, coming out with another bag of goodies.

Now using our own Google maps we found the PPO up Claymore Hill which is off Orchard Rd and in my opinion not an ideal position for such an iconic building nevertheless the building is quite eye catching.

The building has around 7000 sq. ft of greenery over the building and four open aired terraces – it looks very different from all the other hotels in Singapore.

When we returned to Orchard Rd we were now at “the far end” and we saw the Isetan, a large department store so not near Istana!

By now we were well into the afternoon so found a café for lunch and a sit down following which we started the walk back to the hotel. On the way back at an intersection traffic in one direction was stopped so we stood around to see what was going to happen and sure enough the same motorcade we had seen previously was now returning to the Presidential residence.

A Google told us that it was a visit to Singapore by the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam, To Lam.

motorcade in Singapore

After it passed we continued back to the hotel now feeling quite drained due to the muggy conditions and soon after we were into the pool though that was cut short due to it beginning to rain so we retired to our room later crossing over to Raffles City for a touch more shopping and dinner.

During the afternoon news filtered in that one of our usual four had a hole in one on the ninth at Pupuke today – well done Tony M and good to see that he can break 90 again as it has been a few rounds since he last achieved it!

Jaded

Arrived in Singapore after the short(ish) flight from Kochi - turbulence and a noisy child ensured that any deep sleep was not going to happen.

Fast taxi into the CBD dropping us at our happy place in Singapore, Carlton Hotel, a hotel we have stayed at, on at best count, 5 of the 7 times we have stayed in Singapore. It is well situated being next to Raffles Hotel and across the road from a metro station.

Once the city started to come to commercial life we left the hotel and walked to one of the many shopping malls here so that Sherry could get her hair trimmed at a stylist she has used previously and then to an optician so that she could have an eye test and new glasses - the new glasses will be ready tomorrow but the lass there is off that day so won’t be picked up until Thursday; even that is a far superior service than we are dealt in NZ.

Seems to me to be a very long way to travel to get a haircut and specs though.

During the day we received the following lovely message from Ashok:

I miss you so much.🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏❤️

Once again my greetings to you and your wife!

Please message me when you reach home.

A late lunch and then a walk to Bugis Junction to poke around there before two quite weary oldies had an earlish dinner before getting our heads on the pillow.

The final day

Packed after breakfast and sat around waiting to be picked up by Jinas at 11 o’clock.

While waiting we said goodbye to the two guys (never got their names but the guy on the right in the below photo called himself the map man as he was the one who told guests the directions around town) who ran the accommodation at Kochi and who I had friendly banter with while watching the cricket final. The map man had a very engaging personality with a ready smile and was another person we met who knew what customer service was all about.

This time Jinas arrived on time despite having travelled home to Alleppey overnight (by bus both ways), which is an embarrassment to us, and we then went to Ernakulam, the central business district in Kochi, to another marketplace the intention being to fill in as much of the eight hours that we needed to before going to the airport.

It was a typical Indian market which we strolled around before finding a nice restaurant for our lunch, a very nice meal for the princely sum of $8.

After lunch Sherry spied a clothing store which attracted attention and so sometime was spent doing some more shopping before we called up Jinas to pick us up and move on to a mall.

The mall was as modern as you would see anywhere with both high end and mid range shopping however by this time we were finding it difficult to motivate ourselves to give it the attention it may have deserved.

After an hour or two we again messaged Jinas and had him take us to the airport. On the way he was as chatty as he had been at any time in the trip and we saw a different side of him.

While it was not our doing we did apologise to him once again for the inconvenience of not being provided overnight accommodation at Fort Kochi.

.

He told us that in fact it was a new government directive that accommodation, washroom and facility to wash vehicles needed to be provided by all hotels for tourist drivers.

We now sit at the airport waiting to book in for our overnight flight to Singapore.

And so our Indian odyssey comes to an end, a holiday we have very much enjoyed having seen the real India, marvelled at some stunning monuments and temples, coming up close and personal with a fabulous Bengal Tiger but more importantly being made welcome by some lovely friendly people (& our dear friend Ashok). If anything the people may have been the highlight - getting a wave from youngsters, high fiving or fist bumping many of them and answering the frequent question “where are you from” and having told them normally getting a reply suggesting NZ is such a great country.

As much as we enjoyed it I doubt that we will be back.

And for anyone thinking of coming to India, Delhi belly is a myth (unless we get struck down by our last meal in India in the airport lounge - an uninspiring cold buffet!)

Drivers Plight

Must be something about websites and being on holiday as I tried to submit our arrival cards for Singapore this morning, which must be done online, filled in all the details for both of us, hit submit and got an error message “System not available, try again later” – a grand way to start the day!

Spoke to family back home prior to being picked up at 10.30 by Jinas however 10.30 came and went and no Jinas so sent him a message and received the response “2 mint”.

He arrived around 10.45 and it transpires that there was no accommodation provided for him in Kochi so he had driven home to Alleppey (2 – 2.5 hr drive) yesterday when we said not required and he has driven back again this morning to take us out for a couple of hours. If we had known we would not have asked to be picked up today and used tuk tuks and he could have stayed at home for another day. Can only assume he sleeps in the car tonight as we need him tomorrow to get to the airport. Something is not right the way these drivers are treated!

He took us to the Jewish area, though apart from a synagogue and being cleaner than most there was nothing much to suggest it was other than a typical Indian area with market stalls to catch the unwary tourists (which they did) and a few streets of well patronised shops selling in the main clothes of all colours, styles and prices, antiques and Knick knacks.

It was a nice environment to be in and also to interact with the market sellers. When we arrived it was relatively quiet and we got haggling over an item but we didn’t make the purchase though to get away I promised we would be back. A couple of hours later after lunch we returned to that area and the crowds were significant but as we walked towards the stall the seller came from behind us and said welcome back – their ability to KYC or at least their potential customer is well honed. We did the business and a little more and found the driver who returned us to the hotel where the pool was the magnet.

Finally got the Singapore arrival card sorted during the afternoon as well as following the cricket which is not trending the way I would like.

Tomorrow is our last day in India as we fly out tomorrow night at 11.00pm to Singapore arriving there at 6.10 am on Tuesday morning. Tomorrow we will have to find something to fill in around 8 hours from the time we book out until heading to the airport but alas a dip in the pool won’t be one of those things.

Squirrel on the hotel roof

$4 cheese, tomato and egg toasted missing a bite!

I’m not kidding you

Some colour seen in recent days

Unless there is good wifi on the flight next post will be from Singapore

A Lecturer not a Teacher

This morning we had a lesson with Maria in the art of South Indian cooking.

Having found her place last night we arrived at the scheduled time only to be kept standing around for about 20 minutes before Maria appeared, made her introduction and took us through to the kitchen.

The wait suggested that we hadn’t found another Shashi and so it proved. There is no doubt that Maria knew her stuff but she lacked personality and took on the air of a lecturer rather than a teacher and rattled detail off without much thought of our ability to absorb it.

Nevertheless various dishes were made (by Sherry and I merely took some videos) and then dished up for our lunch. Whereas with Shashi the lesson was scheduled for 4 hours and we were there longer Maria’s was scheduled for 3 hours but she was done and dusted including the lunch in 2 hours such was the way she approached the lesson; very academic and no lightheartedness!

No real complaints as we did (or more correctly Sherry did) come away with some new recipes and greater knowledge of South Indian dishes.

As the lesson was in the heart of the retail area we then spent a couple of hours scrutinising many clothing shops getting hotter and hotter, stickier and stickier in the tropical heat.

Flagging somewhat we strolled back to the hotel and straight into the pool to try and refresh, afterwards spending an hour or so on the Singapore airlines website which is the slowest most frustrating website that I’ve encountered and really does nothing to enhance their already very good reputation as an airline to fly with.

The frustration was not helped by the heat and having finished online it was back into the pool again.

We then walked out to the broad walk where we were last night and again there were hundreds of folk, including families, waiting to see the sunset. 

We had read about the Chinese Fishing Nets and found them as we walked further around the broad walk. There were 4 “jury rigged” cantilevered nets that are lowered into the water and when raised later hopefully have some fish in them. They were introduced to Kochi by a Chinese person, Zheng He, between 1350 & 1450.

Having taken in the sights by the water (signs saying swimming is forbidden) we then made our way into the “main” area and found a nice café and found some forbidden fruit which we could not resist – every thing you read about staying healthy in India is don’t eat salads but it sure as hell is salad weather and we both fancied anything other than the Indian fare we have had for the last 30 or so days. Fingers are now crossed!

Received a message from Ashok this morning reminding me that India are playing NZ in the cricket final tomorrow and after a couple of messages back and forth we now have a 500 rupee bet on the result – last of the very big gamblers.

Landlubbers again

Wasn’t the greatest of sleep in the cabin last night, whether it was the hard mattress or the clammy heat even though we have air conditioning I don’t know.

Around 8 Joseph fired boat 20 up and we sedately moved through the back waters heading for where we started off. Shortly after anchor up breakfast was served- fruit, toast and coffee with eggs offered but declined and rice noodles and chana masala left untouched.

Just after 9 we moored and waited around 20 minutes before a lighter vessel came and picked us and luggage up as well 3 other couples from other houseboats dropping us back to dry land where our driver was waiting so ending our trip on the backwaters of Alleppey.

It was a time to relax away from the hustle and bustle that India throws at you and allowed one to see how life is lived in this watery environment – it was better than I had expected and well worth doing.

For the next 2 or so hours we raced to Kochi along highways, through villages and back roads only having one very near miss when just as we went to pass a stationary truck on a narrow road the truck driver opened the door to get out causing our driver to swerve violently, Sherry to be woken from her slumber with an expletive!

Booked in at the Secret Gardens in Kochi another heritage hotel luckily including a pool as the temperature here is low 30s with reasonably high humidity.

After unloading we walked into a nearby shopping area for lunch and a walk around the shops which are of a better class than seen elsewhere being more of a western style.

First impressions of Kochi are a seaside city tidier than those in the north with more of a feel we are used to. I’m told, after we spent some time looking in the shops, that they have some high quality shops that need closer inspection.

Flagging now we came back to the hotel and into the pool. The expectation was that it would be a cold water swim but the water had been under the heat of the sun for 6 or so hours so  that it was like a warm bath!

In the evening we walked to the beach where there were great numbers of people standing around to see the sunset, then onto the restaurant where we had lunch for dinner.

Tomorrow we have a cooking class for South Indian cuisine so after dinner we found, not easily it must be said, where we have to go to before heading back to the hotel to end another day.

Like all of India (that we have seen) there are tuk tuks galore and if your walking one after the other will pull alongside to encourage you to get in. Here in Kochi the common banter from the driver as he pulls alongside is something like “do you want a lift in my Ferrari”

Some house boat activity on backwaters here

Houseboats at mooring in Alleppey

Joseph, Kumar and Titus

Gosh I’ve run her aground

 Cabin

Dining room on the deck

Doing the washing 

The fish shop the boat stopped at for us

An interesting bird many of which seen in the back waters

A floating pharmacy

On a slow boat to ???

Last night we met a very nice French couple and shared our travel experiences over dinner, meeting up with them again at breakfast. As we were both leaving the accommodation this morning good byes were said and we went in different directions, them to Kochi and us to the backwaters to spend an overnighter on one of the 1000 (so it is said) houseboats that are for rent.

Having signed in at reception we were transferred by a lighter boat to our home for the next 18 or so hours – houseboat number 20, crewed by 3 very nice individuals, Joseph (20 years experience) the driver/skipper, Titus (12 years experience) the CSO and backup driver & Kumar (18 years experience) the cook.

As an aside in discussion we find that Kumar is a Hindi and the other two are Christians ( what denomination yet to be disclosed but assuming Catholic) but interestingly Kumar tells us that the company will not employ Muslims (no reason given).

As luck would have it, we sat tied up for around 30 minutes after boarding as there was a problem with the generator which powered the aircon in our bedroom (essential in this high temperature, high humidity environment) and we had to wait for one to be brought out from shore.

Once the generator was hooked in we were off at a leisurely pace. There are 700 kms of backwaters in and around Alleppey and our trip would go around a 45km circuit.

The water was “awash” with houseboats all starting the trip for the day, some going  clockwise and others anti-clockwise. It was not too long before we tied up by the shore for lunch to be served – it was very well done ,served at a dining table towards the front of the boat, being fried fish and a couple of Indian salads, the only downside was the amount of food served being enough to fed half a cricket team when there is only two of us.

After lunch was cleared Joseph fired boat 20 up again and we went on our sedate way. Once we were underway Titus explained that the evening meal would be a chicken dish but if we wanted fish we could stop at a fish shop on the way.

I was happy with chicken but Sherry preferred fish so around an hour later the boat pulled beside a wall on the side of the backwater and Titus took us to the fish shop right in front of us and we brought a whole mackerel (not your small sized one) which was brought on board and hopefully placed in cold storage.

For the rest of the afternoon we went on our sedate way being served fried banana and coffee for afternoon tea stopping around 4.30 to visit a church that has its inception back to 427AD. 

To get to the church you walk past a row of shops placed perfectly to catch people just like us with “salesmen” standing outside imploring you to go and have a look at their wares.

We relented and looked in a couple and got into a haggle with one for a couple of items but couldn’t come to agreement so we moved on to the church. Having viewed the church Sherry said she would very much like to buy the items and we discussed and agreed our buy price and started back towards the shop.

Even if we wanted to we weren’t going to get past the shop as the salesman was standing outside waiting for us to come passed again and as we approached he beckoned us back in, that signalled to us that he wanted the sale and therefore could be squeezed on price.

After a little bit of back and forth we shook hands where we were paying around 50% of his initial asking price. As he was wrapping the items up Sherry was looking at jewellery with another salesman and called me over – how much was it and what is he asking now I asked. They had got to 50% of asking price so I suggested that we would be willing to take all the items, those agreed on and the item of jewellery, by rounding the original agreed price up to the next thousand of rupees which was agreed. Deal down we then started talking about last nights semi-final in the cricket and the upcoming final NZ v India, shook hands and left for the boat.

Off we went again at our sedate pace until just before sunset when we anchored up for the night, our hosts prepared dinner, again too much food, and having eaten we are sitting in the foredeck area enjoying the coolness of the evening (but so are the various bugs and other undesirables so its off to the cabin!)

Uploading this post Is by mobile data which is too slow for photos so they will follow at our next stop

 

Some garden

Today we relocated from Munnar to Alleppey a 4 plus hours trip which gave us time to reflect on a couple of things we had noticed recently as well as take an interest in the countryside we were travelling through.

We have mentioned the roadworks around Munnar and we have noticed the absence of heavy machinery undertaking the work. Yes we have seen some excavators but there is a heavy reliance on manpower and unlike road workers in NZ they don’t stand around do nothing.

We were driving back from dinner last night, it was dark but there were still workers pouring concrete. What time they finish is anyone’s guess but from the noise out on the highway this morning they start early!

After a while travelling in India you start to be conscious of the value of tips that you are throwing around, just like confetti. 500 rupees a time is not uncommon (& we know that is only $NZD10) but if you are tipping guides, drivers, waiters at three meals, guys who lug your bags, every day over the course of a 30 day holiday it would add up to $1000+

If you drive through a town at night it will be lit up like Times Square and tempts you go and  visit during the day however unfortunately it is only a mirage as in daylight you see the real truth.

A sign on a shop as we left Munnar – Live Chocolate Factory!

What we have noticed in South India is that the majority of mean wear dhotis, either full or short length.

And also numerous lottery outlets – there was an old chap sitting on the side of the road today in a remote location with a table of lottery tickets for sale and no shops or other retail outlets in cooee. Perhaps it is a state lottery rather than a national one as we didn’t see lottery sale in the North.

Kerala appears to be a very fertile area to grow produce as on the trip today we saw the following:

·      Pineapple plantation 

·      Jackfruit trees

·      Rice paddies 

·      Banana trees

·      Rubber trees

Rubber plantation 

Jackfruit tree

Mangoes 

And then there was the lunch fiasco!

Stopped at a restaurant just before we got to Alleppey, directed to a table and handed a menu each. Menu duly studied and decisions made and waiter returns. 

Order started to be placed and “sorry that is not available” so waiter dismissed while further study. 

Another decision made, waiter returns, order placed “sorry that is not available”.

“Ok what is available”

“These aren’t and this and this is” pointing to menu

“OK, we will have this” being one of the items he said was available 

“Sorry, that is not available”

Total frustration but in the end we finally ordered dishes that were available and couldn’t help wondering that if they have a smaller menu for lunch why not print a lunch menu- would be a whole like more simple.

Arrived at accommodation which is a century old building converted to a heritage villa set on the backwaters. A little remote but there are places that we can have a walk providing we are not zapped by the 30+ degree heat.

Accommodation 

So after settling in we went for an interesting walk along the “broad walk”, saw a ferry stop and pickup a family, house boats moving through the back waters, some spices drying in the sun, the rice paddies, more bananas, mangoes still coming into season, coconuts on and off the trees and a funeral (& got zapped by the 32 degree muggy day).

Houseboat

Spices drying

The owner gave us a tour of his garden which has nearly every imaginable fruit tree growing in it, from jackfruit to cashew nuts and out the rear of the property there is a 1000 acre rice field of which 9 acres are theirs - it’s an impressive setup.

Part of the 1000 acres of rice fields

Tomorrow we have an overnighter on a house boat and don’t expect that internet will be available.