Continuing Through Kerala

Places visited: Trivandrum, Kollam, Amritapuri, Allappuzha, Fort Kochi/Ernakulam.

After a fantastic 2 weeks in Poovar over New Years with my family, it was time for me to head back to reality. I enquired at the resort about a taxi to Trivandrum and the price they quoted was 1600 Rupees (£21), this was too much. Instead I managed to bag a free lift to Poovar Bus Station, a 5 minute drive after getting off the boat from the resort, with the bus to Trivandrum costing 22 Rupees (£0.28) and taking just over an hour. I was not originally planning on spending a night in Trivandrum but a friend had an issue with her 12 Month Working Holiday Visa application for New Zealand. Because she had been in countries that were not classified as ‘Low Risk TB’ for a combined total of over 3 months, she had to provide a chest X-ray in order to prove she didn’t have TB. As you can imagine this was great fun to sort out in the middle of India… but she managed to do it. There are only certain hospitals which are approved by the New Zealand government (you can find the list on the NZ Visa website) and one of these was in Trivandrum, The Kerala Institute of Medical Science. She had rung up 2 days previous and booked her an appointment. The appointment was at 10:00 in the Visa Medical section of the hospital on the 9th Floor. We turned up at 09:00 and she was called in at 09:30 and we were out by 11:15. If you just need a chest X-Ray it costs 1200 Rupees (£15) and for the full body medical scan it costs around 5400 Rupees (£68), a lot cheaper then having it completed in England. In fact if you need a full body medical scan I think its cheaper to obtain an Indian Visa, book a return flight and have the scan done, then it is to have it done in England. When I was 18 I applied for a working visa before I went to New Zealand, and needed a full body medical as I was diabetic and I seem to remember them trying to charge me £800. I could be wrong, it was a long time ago. India is part of the e-medical scheme so the X-ray and form were both sent electronically by the hospital, meaning she didn’t have to visit the embassy to submit the forms herself. The Visa cost £113 + £15 for the X-ray, not too bad for a year’s Visa and to follow her dream, anyway I digress.

From Trivandrum, the bus to Kollam costs 62 Rupees (£0.78) and takes around an hour and a half. I headed to a hostel that was recommended in the Lonely Planet books, Karuna Residency and it was disgusting. It was very cheap and I could see why, there was no way we were going to stay there. I proceeded to walk around for an hour, as every hostel/hotel I visited was full. I eventually found Hotel Zodiac Regency, which costs 1200 Rupees for the night, quite a bit more than I was expecting to pay. The hotel however was lovely, with fantastic food in the adjoining restaurant and only a 5 minute walk from the dock where I was planning to catch a boat the following morning. I ventured down to the dock to enquire about the boat to Alappuzha (Alleppey), with the intention of stopping in Amritapuri first for a 2 day stay in an Ashram. Five different people told me that the government boat wasn’t running and was under repair, including three in the ticket office and the man in the Tourist Centre. I didn’t believe them, I think they were all I’m cahoots with each other. The government boat was due to leave at 10:30, costing 170 Rupees to Amritapuri and 400 Rupees to Alleppey. I arrived at the dock at 10:10 the following morning to see if the government boat turned up and were told by another 3 people that it wasn’t running. I was offered a place on a private, 30 person boat for 300 Rupees to Amritapuri but was told I had to get on and leave straight away. I didn’t know what to do. It seemed weird that they wanted to get away before 10:30, the time the government boat was meant to turn up, but I really wanted to get the boat. For me it wasn’t worth the risk to see if they were lying when 8 different people told me the same thing, and it was only £1.60 more. The boat journey was brilliant, sailing down the backwaters with palm trees either side and it is definitely something you should do if in the area. I arrived at Amritapuri at 13:00, after a 30 minute break for lunch in a hotel on the river. The lunch was a very nice all you can eat buffet costing 125 Rupees and I would definitely recommend eating there, mainly because if you are heading to the Ashram, lunch would have finished by the time you arrive. To read about my time in the Ashram take a look at my Amritapuri Ashram – The Hugging Mother post.

From the Ashram I decided to take a bus the rest of the way to Allappuzha as it is quicker and cheaper than the boat. I had already had 3 backwater boat experiences so opted for the bus. There are 2 options from the Ashram, catching a rickshaw to Kayamkulam Bus Station, 14km north for 250 Rupees, or 10km south to Karungapally Bus Station for 200 Rupees. I chose to pay the 50 Rupees more as I was heading north and didn’t want to go back on myself. The bus ticket cost 42 Rupees and arrived in Allappuzha after an hour and a half. When I boarded the bus there weren’t any seats available, and I ended up standing at the front next to the fantastically dangerous driver. He spent more time on the wrong side of the road, he’s speedometer didn’t work and his rev counter was stuck on 1500 revs, no matter how fast he went… he went faaaaaasssst. Once in Allappuzha a Rickshaw from the bus station to the beach costs 70 Rupees. I asked around for a bus to the beach but everyone said it didn’t exist. Allappuzha itself was quite disappointing. The area down by the beach is a big building site, I imagine it used to be nice but it looks like they are building a bridge, which has ruined the area. I rented a bicycle for 100 Rupees for the day and cycled along the canals which was quite nice but I wouldn’t recommend going unless you are starting or ending your backwater experience. There is nothing much to the temples and not an awful lot to do.

From Allappuzha I caught a bus to Ernakulam, the last stop in Kerala before a night train to Goa. I caught a Rickshaw to the bus station and found a bus that looked like a city bus from England. It had comfortable seats and an electronic board displaying Ernakulam, a lot different from the beat up old buses I had been on before. I decided to go for it. The journey was very pleasant, however it was double the price of the beat up old buses, costing a whopping 119 Rupees (£1.48) for the 1 hour and 45 minute journey. I decided to stay in Ernakulam, in John’s Residency, a nice little hotel a 5 minute walk from the dock (to catch a boat to Fort Kochi) and only a 30 Rupee Rickshaw ride from Ernakulam Central Train Station, where I was boarding a night train to Goa. The boat to Fort Kochi costs 4 Rupees and leaves every 15 minutes or so. There is a ladies queue and a gentleman’s queue and each person can buy up to 3 tickets. Fort Kochi is a lovely area, a mixture of France, Portugal and England, with lots of nice cafes, art galleries and shops to fill your day. My favorite café was called The Teapot Café, which served over 18 varieties of tea in a lovely building resembling Yorkshire. Another lovely place was Kashi Art Café which serves a fantastic Granola with fresh yoghurt and fruits, and the portion is massive. Of course Fort Kochi is not all about the cafes, it’s a lovely little town to walk around, see some Chinese fishing nets in action and just relax in the quiet, yet bustling seaside town. It was a lovely ending to my time in Kerala and I am now heading North to Goa, to see what else this amazing country has to offer.

Amritapuri Ashram – The Hugging Mother

Arriving in Amritapuri I had no idea what to expect. I had signed up online for 2 nights in an Ashram, the famous Ashram of one of India’s few female gurus, Amrithanandamayi, also known as Amma (meaning Mother in many Indian languages) or ‘The Hugging Mother’. This is in reference to the “Darshan” she offers, hugging thousands of people in one day. It is estimated she has hugged 34 million people in her life and I am now one of them! I’m still not sure I fully understand what happened in the 2 days I was there, why I was there, or why people stay for a prolonged period of time, but then again I’m not a spiritual person in the slightest. I’m going to try and answer some questions I had before I arrived. You weren’t really allowed to take any photos so I only took 4!

I arrived via boat from Kollam (there is information on this in my ‘Continuing Through Kerala‘ post) and crossed the bridge via foot, arriving at the Ashram 5 minutes after docking. There is an entrance up on the left a short walk from the foot of the bridge. Once entering the Ashram the International Office is on the right hand side, where you check in and can find out some more information. There are signs on the wall informing you at which times each day there are orientation tours in your preferred language. You will be given a form to fill out, including entering your passport and visa details, then given a key to your room and are sent to pick up your bed sheets. This is in the same building as the International Office, just round the corner. It’s worth noting they keep your passport for the duration of your stay, in a “safe safe”. I found my own way to the room, floor 13, room 13, on Friday 13th, its lucky I’m not superstitious hey! The rooms are incredibly simple but nicer then some of the places I have stayed. There was one single bed with 4 mattresses piled up. There were pillows provided in the room, along with a toilet, a shower with lukewarm water, a sink tucked round the corner and a stunning view overlooking the beach, sea and the forest of palm trees surrounding the Ashram.

I set out to explore the Ashram, trying to gain a basic understanding of what it was all about. From what I understand it’s a spiritual place, where people come to find themselves with meditation, yoga and taking long vows of silence, extraordinary austerities or unusual spiritual practices, with Amma being the spiritual leader/guru. Everyone staying for a long time is looking for something, even if they don’t know what themselves. You can tell the long term residents from the short term residents by the way they dress. They wear white, baggy clothes, with big scarves and hippie style bags, some people with bandanas, some with dreadlocks. There are a lot of older residents, some women with short hair, some men with long hair, all here for the same reason, to find something new in their lives and possibly to try and put right what has gone wrong.

At 17:00 I went to the front of the temple for the orientation tour, where I was shown round the Ashram and had everything explained. The big hall serves 3 meals a day: Breakfast 09:00-10:00, Lunch 13:00-14:00 and Dinner 20:00-21:00. These are simple meals which are all included in the price of the stay, 500 Rupees per room, 250 Rupees per person. There is also a Juice Stall, a Coffee Bar, an Indian Café and a Western Café which offer alternative food throughout the day, for a small price. The main temple is where Darshan takes place (more on this later) and there are lots of places to meditate, including a section of the beach owned by the Ashram. Along with the different food outlets, there is a shop, a bank, a photocopying service, laundry service, internet area and a few different souvenir shops. If you decide to stay a long time and immerse yourself in the Ashram’s ways, there is no reason to leave the premises. The orientation tour takes you down to the beach, where you can choose to stay or head back with the guide to watch a short video on what Amma has achieved. I decided to stay at the beach and see what the meditation was all about, I didn’t last very long. Walking up to the beach I didn’t see a big rock sticking out the sand and managed to take a big chunk of flesh off the underside of my big toe. I have a rule whilst travelling, if I haven’t used something in 3 weeks get rid of it, its taking up space in your bag and you don’t need it. Well I hadn’t used my first aid kit for over 6 months but luckily I hadn’t thrown that out. I hobbled back to the room, trying to prevent sand and dirt getting in my open wound, whilst trying to stop the blood going everywhere. I made it up to the 13th floor, washed out the wound, applied some Germolene to stop infection and bandaged up my big toe, looking like something out of a cartoon! Protecting your feet is very important for a diabetic as if you have bad control it is often your extremities that suffer first. I’ve always tried to look after them, minus breaking a few toes playing football and the last thing I wanted to do was to get an infection in the middle of India. 

After my toe incident it was time for me to participate in Darshan. This isn’t something you have to do, however Amma isn’t in the Ashram that often so we were ‘lucky’ she was here. You pick up a token from outside the temple. There are 4 letters and you are allowed to enter when your letter is displayed. I had a W, which was displayed in the evening, after the orientation tour. I hobbled over to the temple, removed my flip-flops, carefully guiding them round my bandaged big toe and took a seat inside. It was quite confusing at first as to what was going on. I took a seat on the right hand side and a lady in orange was directing people around. I was right at the back but from what I could work out they were taking 10 Indians, then 10 Westerners and so on. I waited about 20 minutes before being guided near the front, standing up every few minutes to move chairs. I had to wipe my face with a cloth as I didn’t have a scarf, I have no idea why, and was shown a sign saying I had to pray or chant mantras once on stage. I wasn’t allowed to touch Amma and I had to support my own weight on the arms off her chair. Once through the doors, level with the stage things started to become quite frantic. There were people pushing, shoving and directing me in all kinds of directions. When you can’t put any pressure on your big toe this isn’t the best experience. Somehow I found myself on the stage, was forced down onto my knees, more toe pain, and was pushed forward towards Amma. I didn’t have time to chant any of the mantras I knew… none, or say any prayers I knew… none, before my arms were on the arms of her chair. She grasped me round the neck, pulled me into her chest and chanted into my ear like someone possessed. I was then given a sweet and some ash, forced back onto my feet, more toe pain and exited the stage via the same side.

I took a seat as I didn’t know what else to do and was told I wasn’t a woman so I had to go to the other side. All I really wanted to do was get out. Once round the other side, the men’s section, I had every intention of leaving, but this is when Amma decided to leave the stage. People around me were crying, holding their arms out to touch her and there was nowhere for me to go. I was stuck for what felt like a lifetime before more tears, cries of Amma, and arms in every direction trying to touch their Guru as she re-entered. It turns out the side of the stage, after the hug, is for you to sit for 45 minutes and meditate close to Amma. The ash is for you to put on your head and the sweet I believe is for you to eat, both of mine ended up in the bin. 

Another thing to do is Seva (selfless service), where you sign up to participate in the life of the community for a few hours a day. The whole Ashram has only a few paid staff and everything else is run voluntarily. If I was staying for a long time I would have participated, but with 2 nights and only 1 full day I didn’t. Amma does put her life and soul into the Ashram, never appearing to have a moment’s rest, with daily events such as Darshan, group meditation and evening singing sessions. I enjoyed my time at the Ashram but I still don’t think I fully understand what went on. I think I can understand why people do it, but to get so involved and to cry when Amma walks past is beyond me. In the book Eat, Pray, Love she spends 4 months in an Ashram trying to find herself, so if you are interested read the Pray part of the book. The Ashram isn’t for me I don’t think, but that’s not to say I didn’t enjoy the experience, perhaps one day I will return with dreadlocks looking to find myself. I will now continue North through Kerala.