From Yoga to Eunuchs

The Basilica at Fort Cochin

All good things indeed must come to an end, and so my stay in Kollam rounded up pretty quickly. As so often happens, I began to fully appreciate the past two months just as I was about to leave. The final few days were spent consistently losing to Sachu at chess, my leaving gift to him. And as a token of his appreciation I was even taken on a culinary adventure by "the boss" .

Whilst I had become more than accustomed to eating curry three times a day, my favourite; a fiery hot "uli" onion curry for breakfast with a handful of parotas all for about 30p on the roadside. On my final evening I was guest at the local five star, where they had put on a international food festival. What must have consisted of over 100 dishes from 30 different countries, buffet style, real all-you-can-eat indulgence.

Mr Matthew - Hero

I admit after two months here I had little appetite for such abnormal quantities of meat, however once again as the only noticeable foreigner I was duly confronted and force fed by the head chef, keen to win my approval. Naturally he did, this local man had perfected his craft across the world for the last 30 years working on cruise ships, hotel chains and finally returning to Kerala. I was impressed by the passion with which he worked and he told me of mass wedding meals where he had catered for congregations of 25,000. However in this country of paradoxes, it was hard not to be mindful of the fact that this was pure indulgence where you see scenes of others going without on a daily basis.

Bishop's Residence - Any aspiring clergymen; the Catholic church is certainly in the money in these parts of the world

Pepper - Known locally as Black Gold

I remained In Kochi for a few more days finding myself part of a small yoga group led by Saji, a very committed and welcoming teacher who taught in his own home accepting only small donations, and inviting the group to share meals after classes. Alas, whilst others had committed considerable time top their perfection of yoga, I could only manage a few days before my worn hamstrings demanded I move on. Nevertheless a fascinating insight with a few lessons to take on with me. So I find myself writing a draft for this blog on the train travelling North to Karnataka where I am heading to Hampi. I have already been accosted on three separate occasions by different heavily built "ladies", looking for charity. I struggled to understand why they were begging, not displaying the typical signs of poverty. My neighbour quickly pointed out that they were "No F, No M" All very well, until the last one gave me a cheeky caress of my beard... needlesstosay I slept with one eye open that night.