Behind the walls
Trip Start
Apr 16, 2011
1
5
6
Trip End
May 01, 2011
Kumarakom, Kerala, India
Friday, April 29, 2011
So from the playgrounds of the poor to the playgrounds of the relatively rich. More than most trips I am never really been sure on this trip what awaited me at the next destination. Afer Dewalokam we arrived at my next destination, the Zuri resort at Kumarakom. High walls, big gates and an uniformed guard greeted me. What would be behind these walls ? Now generally when I am travelling I want to experience local life, see local sights and eat local food. I don't want to just lie by the pool at some resort cut off from the world. But just occasionally, at the end of a tour, its nice to relax for a couple of days. I count myself very fortunate that I can afford at present to go to some very nice places, and the Zuri resort was certainly one such.
Behind the walls was 18 acres of fantastically maintained grounds with a few bigger buildings and a number of cottages surrounding a man made lagoon. I was informed that I had been upgraded to a cottage and taken to my cottage in a golf buggy. This was definitely one of the best places I have ever stayed. I enjoyed a great massage, at the Maya Spa, apparently one of the best in India. After the Ayuverdic massage at Dewalokam I decided to try something different and went for a fusion Swedish/Balinese with Eucalyptos oil. The one at Dewolokam was much more medical and basic, indeed the therapists there came from the local hospital. This was luxury, but also a great massage. Here I had plenty of thick fluffy cotton towels, at Dewalokom I tended to slide around rather with the oils on the plastic massage bed. Here the personal shower room doubled as a personal; steam room. In fairness it cost about five times the price of the previous massage.
The food at the Zuri was also excellent. Regular readers wiill know that I dislike buffets. The main restaurant here was buffet, but it made me realise not all buffets are bad. About 15 dishes plus appetisers and accompaniments were avaialble each meal. Most of the dishes were Indian, especially Keralan, and were not made extra mild for European tastes. .Each dish was clearly labelled both with the Indian name and an English description. In a previous posts I commented on the generally bland soups I had in India. Not the case here, I had two good soups including a dellicious but very spicy Keralan vegetable soup.
This was not a resort just catering for foreigners. In fact I would estimate probably two thirds of the customers when I was there were Indian. It had all the facilities - flat screen tv in the room, good free wi-fi in the room and a large swimming pool.
Since last Saturday it has rained every day, though fortunately mostly at times when it didn't matter to me. Last night I had decided to try the resorts other restaurant, which was not located near the reception were the golf buggys were based, as the main restaurant was. We had 4+ hours of the most torrential rains I have experienced, with continuos thunder and lightning. How nwould I get back to my cottage ? - the buggys had been stopped because of the rain. Eventually I was given a lift in a service buggy! This morning everything seemed normal, it was hot and sunny again. I spent the morning reading byu the pool. I assumed this must be an early monsoon (the monsoon season starts in June) but when I said this to various locals today they just laughed and said that in the monsoon the rain was much harder and lasted much longer !
The biggest single draw for tourists in Kerala are the backwaters, the 900km network of waterways where now hundreds of converted rice barges take tourists past traditional village life and rice paddies at a gentle pace. The mightly Lake Vembanand provides a different view, but the mst common sight you will see are other tourist houseboats. Each of these boats is for private renting, mostly for two people., though there are a few bigger boats and one or two communual options (eg the ferry). Many people choose to stay overnight on a boat and the one I was on was certainly well equipped for this. I toolk only a day trip not staying overnight. Meals are served, on a day cruise like mine this was lunch and afternoon tea. I enjoyed my cruise, particularly when we were crusing through the villages, but probably because we cruised directly from my hotel we spent too long on the Lake (where there is not much to see). It did strike me as a little absurd that I had this boat all to myself (plus crew of three) when I've previously spent a week with three other people in a boat a quarter of the size. The sheer number of these boats is becoming a concern in the area, esepcially given the environmental consequences.
Today (Friday) there is a general strike in Kerala. I have written in previous posts about the communist politics in Kerala. The communists are in power in the regional government currently.
This strike was effectively called by them, in protest against the decision of the central Indian government not to ratify the international ban on Endosulfan, a dangerous pesticide. Although there had been some concern about travel being disrupted by this strike (I was travelling to my next destination) the main consequence to me seemed to be that all the shops were closed. Apparently they would be kicked out of the shopkeepers association if they failed to join the strike, and unable to trade in the future. To me their cause is just, but this seems a bizarre concept of a strike that will harm the strikers but have no effect on the decision of the central Government, which is controlled by the right wing congress party.
Comments
Toddy which you get from Toddy shops are adulterated. Never drink it from the toddy shops of Kerala. It is mixed with many poisons and chemicals. Spread this message..!