9-7-2024
The realisation that we only have six weeks left here in Kerala does hit hard. I am reminded of the exchange students we have had in our home, who suddenly realised that there is so little time left to do everything that was till on their wish list. We feel that pressure now too. Besides being back to teaching three to four days a week now, we also want to spend our free time well. No more spending whole weekends on campus, and maybe even not in Kochi. Some wishes we have already written off completely, like visiting the archaeological site in Hampi, as it is too far away. Visiting Ooty will be difficult, but might still be possible. And at least some places closer by we should be able to visit.
We decided to go away for a few days after the communion party. We still wanted to stay at Bolgatty Palace. Just because it is a special building with a special history.
Unfortunately, there was only one night's room available there, after the weekend. So, instead, we took the train to Kottayam on Sunday evening. A town on the backwaters of Kerala, but otherwise not a very special place. However, Simon had found a nice hotel there: the Windsor Castle Hotel. With a swimming pool and Ayurvedic spa. With a cosy bar and a large waterfront garden.
On the train, the luxurious VandeBharat, we had a hot meal. We had to eat this one quickly, as we were already at our destination after 50 minutes. At Kottayam station, we boarded taxi that took us to the hotel. We arrived by 8.30pm, and went to our room first. The swimming pool, as in every hotel we have visited so far, had closed at sundown. Even the spa was no longer accessible. But the Pirate's Island bar was still open. After freshening up a bit, we headed out. Through the hotel's garden, a footpath ran along the water. We passed a boat, and everywhere were placards with -partly made-up- stories about Dutch and pirate history in Kerala. Eventually, we could go no further: The path ended at the waterfront. We could see the Pirate's Island and could clearly hear the music.
A ferry, guided along a rope across the water, took us to the Pirate's Island. Inside the club, a group of young men, who had already consumed quite a bit of alcohol together, were already dancing lavishly. At first, we sought out a quiet corner to enjoy our beers. After a while Simon decided to check out the dance floor. There he struck up a conversation with the gentlemen, and when he came back my way, they followed him. We had to laugh a little at these guys, who had obviously been drinking too deeply. We were like one big family, they said. Simon and I were their brother and sister. Faith and looks didn't matter. We are from the Netherlands? Fantastic! We teach? Totally awesome. About sustainability even? Couldn't be better!
In the end, we all went to the dance floor one more time. I was standing there, as the only woman, dancing with about 15 guys. But the atmosphere was friendly and cheerful. The music was loud. And we had almost finished our beers. By now it was close to eleven o'clock. We had had enough. It had been a long day. And a beer (a bottle in India contains 650 ml!) hits home quite hard. We're not used to that much alcohol anymore. We were ferried back across the lake and walked through the dark gardens back to the hotel.
T he next morning we were able to sleep in. The breakfast buffet in the hotel was simple, but with ample variety. Before our train would leave Kottayam, we had enough time to do something fun in the hotel. We would have liked a nice ayurvedic massage. So off to the reception. Unfortunately they couldn't reach the spa, but "in half an hour, the empoyees will be there". We waited in our room for half an hour, while reading a book. We tried calling the spa ourselves, but the phone wasn't answered. So what's next? We walked through the gardens again in daylight, and concluded that it is indeed a very nice resort. Designed in the traditional Kerala architectural style, with many flowers and trees and a large water feature, in which the Pirate's Island is located.
We arrived at the spa and saw a pair of shoes. So someone should be present. We walked around for a while, but the therapist (or whatever it was) was very busy (although we didn't hear anything) or he was sleeping. Anyway, we were walking through the rain back to the hotel, when we discovered the pool. At the same time, the sun broke through. As if it was meant to be. We arranged a few towels, and had a great time for an hour in the -not very clean- water. In any case, it was wonderfully cooling.
We then decided to start heading towards the station. On the way we came across a nice restaurant, where we ordered a thali and fresh fruit juice. We ate our lunch under a roof of palm leaves, after which we continued the walk towards the station. It was hot, and the humidity was high. Sweaty weather. When we had enough of walking under these conditions, we took a rickshaw that took us the rest of the way to the station.
Not surprisingly, our train was delayed. It's almost like, unless you board at the starting point of the train, the train is late by default. For us it wasn't too bad: in the end only 35 minutes. According to the announcer, another train was delayed by more than three hours! The best thing about train travel is that you can just doze off – Indian trains are ideally suited for this with their beds – while you whizz through the countryside on your way to where you want to be.
Back in Ernakulam we took a taxi to Bolgatty Palace. Bolgatty Palace was built in colonial style in 1744 by Dutch VOC merchants. It was then used as a governor's residence and later leased to the British as a residence for the British resident in Cochin. After independence in 1947, the building came into the hands of the state of Kerala and was converted into a hotel.
In the main building, some rooms are redecorated in the colonial style. Father Shaiju had arranged for us to get a luxury suite (the manager of Bolgatty Palace is a friend of his). And a beautiful luxury suite it was! Through the covered balcony we entered through double doors into a spacious living room. On the other side of the room were again double doors, which again led to a covered balcony. There were a few seats, a pool table and a bridge table. We had to share this balcony with the other rooms adjacent to it, we were told.
Furthermore, we could go from the living room to a dressing room. Adjacent to this, were the bedroom with four-poster bed and the luxurious bathroom with jet stream bath. Wow!
Sticky from the trip, we first took a shower, and then went to the restaurant. We had already had dinner here once, with father Shaiju. Dinner consisted of a buffet with a wide choice of vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes. This tends to make us very happy. So, of course, we ate way too much again. That's a real problem for us here. After dinner, we hesitated for a moment whether we wanted to visit the bar, but it looked so deserted that we decided to go to our apartment and read some more. Sitting on the couch and looking around at the space we had rented for one night, I thought that this is actually more than enough of a living space for the two of us. How much more do we actually need? The room we share at St. Albert's fits four times in this apartment; The two of us have been living there for almost 5 months now.
The next morning we found out that the Ayurvedic spa, promised on the website, turned out to be permanently closed. The pool was not very enticing due to a steady drizzle. After a late breakfast, or early brunch, if you will, we got into a rickshaw and drove back to the college. Despite the fact that we missed out on those massages, we felt spoiled these two days. We will still get these massages some other time.
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