Christmas Holiday - Part II - Alleppey, Kovalam and Goa

Alleppey

Our final few days at the Taj Vivanta in Cochin were fantastic.  The staff couldn’t do enough for us, and Daisy and Ava continued to be mini-celebrities the whole time.  When we finally left the hotel, the whole front office and hotel management, as well as the security guards and door valets, around 12 people, turned out to wave us off...at least that’s what it looked like to us; or maybe they were just making sure we left.  We had planned to visit the Cochin Naval Base, as they were having a Public Visiting Open Weekend.  However, when they discovered that we were Internationals, we were told that the security clearances were not available and we couldn’t attend; even though Neil is at Staff College and would have had a wide range of clearances and a whole lot more than any of the Indian general public who attended.  So we just smiled and accepted the rejection; it’s part of the fun of living in India.

On our holiday

Our next stop on our Christmas Holiday Extravaganza was Alleppey.  It is a small coastal town, some one hour south of Cochin.  Alleppey is famous for a wide range of backwaters that have been described as a mini-Venice; although this is a very loose comparison.  Our accommodation for two nights was a Home Stay, the Indian equivalent of a B&B.  Our hosts for the stay were Zac and Marie, who have a son in the Indian Navy.  In fact it turns out their son is the XO, or second-in-command, of the ship that we took a photo of in our Cochin Blog; it’s a small world.  Zac and Marie looked after us really well, and, as we experienced everywhere, really spoilt Daisy and Ava.  Their house was big and spacious, and we took 2 rooms on the first floor.  We also ate all our meals with Zac and Marie, enjoying the local Keralan cuisine and they looked after Daisy and Ava with a range of bananas, parathas, idli, chicken and fruit.  They also organised a fantastic boat trip for us on the Keralan backwaters.  Normally, you could take a House Boat to cruise around for 24 hours with a night stop included. 

Alleppey House Boats

Daisy on our boat

However, with this being high season, the operators were charging more than a central London hotel to stay on board, so we decided to cruise the backwaters for 3 hours.  This turned out to be a perfect time for the girls, as 3 hours is just the right amount of time to keep them occupied.  It was also a good decision as there seemed to be thousands of house boats on the backwaters, making some of the rest areas look like a water-borne equivalent of a really bad maritime caravan park!  So we cruised around, relaxing, eating a wonderful picnic packed by Marie, and relaxed on our own private little boat as we pushed through the reeds and saw the sights. 

The backwaters of Alleppey

Everything is transported by the river

In the afternoon we headed to Alleppey Beach.  Zac had membership of a club that allowed us to use a relatively quiet part of the beach, although two blonde haired children attract attention wherever you go.  Both girls enjoyed splashing about on the shoreline; the currents were a little too strong to get fully into the water, but they still enjoyed themselves as the water crashed in from the Arabian Sea.  Daisy also got to grips with her first sandcastle making, with Neil overseeing the construction.  Whilst the final castle was limited in design and complexity, Neil was more than happy with it for a first attempt.  Our stay in Alleppey was short, but sweet, made all the more memorable by the great hospitality afforded to us by Zac and Marie.

Queen of the Castle

Kovalam

Our next stop on our holiday was Kovalam and Trivandrum or Thiruvananthapuram as the Indian’s call it.  This was our southern most stay in the whole of India.  The drive from Alleppey was a little longer, taking just over 3 hours, but the girls seem to be getting used to the driving and either slept, ate, or listened to children’s stories the whole way south.  Although Neil can now recite Jack and the Beanstalk, Goldilocks and the Three Bears and Rapunzel in his sleep!  Our hotel resort was a lovely sleepy location right on the coast. It was set back on a small hillside with amazing views of the Arabian Sea and wonderful secluded rooms and villas.  As with everywhere else, the staff were very friendly and the room we had was very spacious with a great view of the sea. 

Our private beach in Kovalam

Our view in Kovalam

There was plenty to do, and Daisy and Ava really enjoyed the pool and paddling in the sea.  The actual resort was an Ayurvedic Therapy resort , where guests normally come to cleanse themselves of worldly impurities,  both in body and mind.  Neil decided to have a massage here, and was a little disappointed and surprised when he was met by two moustachioed men who gave him ‘ the rub down of his life!’  It may be a male fantasy to have two pairs of hands caressing his body, but Neil didn’t think it would come true with two men named Koshi and Sachin!  Having got over the trauma of his massage, we all headed to Trivandarum Zoo, which is the capital of Kerala, the state we were visiting, and some 30 minutes from our hotel,  The Zoo was a good visit, with the cages, pens and animal holding areas seeming to be larger and more spacious than the zoo we visited in Mysore.  It was a very hot day when we visited the zoo, so we didn’t hang around too long as most of the animals were snoozing and Daisy was demanding payment in ice cream for being dragged away from the swimming pool.  That night we visited Ian and Elaine, the British Army couple, who were staying in the centre of Kovalam, which was only 20 minutes from us. 

Daisy about to make a splash

Coming back from the pool

After a couple of G&Ts we headed out for a meal and had the most fantastic sea food platter which included squid, mussels, crab and a selection of lobster.  We all ate far too much and headed back to our hotel to try and sleep off the extra weight we were all gaining on the holiday. 

Our seafood feast

With only one day left at Kovalam, Air India informed us that our flight to Goa had been cancelled and we had been moved to an earlier flight...some 9 hours earlier!!  This meant that we now had to leave the hotel at 0400, as well has have a 10-hour stopover in Chennai as we waited for our connection to Goa.  As you can imagine, the thought of imposing this wonderful travel plan on Daisy and Ava filled us full of joy, but Air India offered us nothing; not even an apology for the major inconvenience.  Luckily, Louise sorted a great day stop at a fantastic hotel in Chennai, so we all had some additional pool time and an afternoon sleep.  But it did cost us an additional day’s hotel bill; again Air India weren’t interested in offering even a part contribution toward the cost caused by their poor planning.  As far as they were concerned, subjecting a 3yr and 18 month old to a 16 hour trip, instead of the original 6 hour planned itinerary is totally acceptable!  My advice would be , if you can, avoid travelling with Air India; they are rubbish in every regard.  When we finally got on board the flight, they gave us our boarding cards and had Daisy sat on her own 3 seats away from Neil and 11 rows away from Louise and they couldn’t see what the issue was with leaving a 3-yr old unsupervised.  Neil was looking forward to handing over the toilet, feeding and colouring book duties over to a random individual, but eventually persuaded the check-in staff that it may be in their interests to sit Daisy next to one of her parents.  Added to this, when we eventually got on the aircraft, they sat us in a seat row that only had 3 oxygen masks and didn’t have an infant lap strap for Ava.  Thankfully, they moved us to a row with enough masks for the 4 of us, but gave the advice ‘to hold on tightly to Ava’ if we hit turbulence!  Thankfully, the Air India experience was over relatively quickly, and after our day stop in Chennai, we finally landed in Goa, and got ourselves ready for the final part of our holiday to spend Christmas in the sun.

Louise and her girls

Goa

Having finally made it to Goa we were not disappointed.  We stayed in the Park Hyatt Resort, which was right on the beach in South Goa and was fantastic.  There was a huge pool, lots of grassy cultivated areas and an amazing white sandy beach that led down to a pale blue sea that always seemed to be at bath temperature.  We met up with Ian and Elaine again and Ashley, the US Army Major who is studying on the course with Neil.  The facilities at the hotel were amazing, with staff everywhere, and lots to do in the day and night.  The hotel had 5 different restaurants with plenty of choice for all tastes.  Daisy really enjoyed the swimming and it was great to see her really get her confidence in the water back, as it has diminished since she arrived in India, due to the lack of swimming opportunities at Wellington. 

Neil tries his hand at pottery, whilst Ava looks on enthralled

Louise enjoys the surf

Ava after a swim

We spent the majority of our time relaxing here, taking nice walks in the grounds, or making sandcastles on the beach.  There was a huge party in the hotel on Christmas Eve, but we decided to head out as a group to one of the local restaurants, known as Martins Corner, which is quite famous in South Goa.  One of the other reasons that we decided to miss the hotel party was the fact that they wanted £120 per person to attend the party, which we thought a little excessive, particularly as we were already paying a nice sum to actually stay in the hotel.  The choice to go out proved to be a good one, as the location, food and entertainment at Martins Corner was excellent, and so we headed back to the hotel very contented and ready to celebrate Christmas Day. 

The sea on Christmas Eve

The big day itself went well, with us all swapping presents, and then going to lie by the pool and beach and enjoy the sunshine.  Daisy and Ava loved the attention and all the gifts they received.  We did manage to eat some turkey on Christmas Day evening, but it didn’t quite seem the same in 25 degree heat!

Christmas morning

Ava unwraps her presents with Ian

The next few days saw Louise visit old Goa, and we were all invited to visit Ian’s sponsor DS’s house, as he was staying in his apartment in South Goa and we bumped into him in Martins Corner.  It was at this stage that we heard some bad news; DSSC had decided to cull the wild dogs at Gorkha Hill during our time away.  But it seems they were a little indiscriminate with the poison they laid out for the wild dogs.  Unfortunately, both Hannah and Wellington, the RAF dog and cat, ate the poison and died.  There’s not much more to say on this crass and unsupervised method of animal regulation and the approach of the College in this regard has left us a little dumbfounded.  Needless to say, both Hannah and Wellington will be sorely missed and are now buried in the back garden of 41/1 Gorkha Hill.  Whilst a sad end to our holiday, we all had a wonderful time and thoroughly enjoyed our travels.  We arrived back in Gorkha Hill on 28 Dec, just in time to have 3 days break before New Year; this will also give Neil the chance to shave off the beard he’s cultivated over the last 3 weeks.  Neil is then off on his travels on the 2^nd Jan for 2 weeks as he travels India on the College Industrial Demonstration Tour.  So he’ll be writing the blog entries from his travels over the next few weeks.  A Happy New Year to you all. xx

Daisy watches the sunset

Evening waves roll in at Goa

Playing in the sand

Christmas Holiday - Part I - Cochin

And so after 6 months in College the Mid-Term break finally arrived.  Unfortunately for the Indian Officers they had to continue studying till the 18^th of December as the course took a classified twist.  However, all the International Students broke for the Christmas holidays on the 8^th of December.  This saw all the International Students bomb-burst away from Wellington; some chose to go home such as the Maldives and USA, some opted to travel within the Indian Ocean Region, such as Singapore and Sri Lanka and some decided to stay to explore India.  We chose the Indian option, partially put off by the mountain of paperwork required to leave the country, but also attracted to the idea of such a wonderful country to explore.  Louise had spent the best part of 4 months planning our adventure and we headed off, via Coimbatore, to the west Coast of India for an 18-day extravaganza in Cochin, Allepey, Kovalam and finally South Goa.  We didn’t set off straight away and spent 3 days relaxing at Wellington.  Neil played as much golf as he could as the course was really quiet with all of the Indian officers still in College.  We were also invited to parties every night before we left; life at Wellington really is becoming a social whirl; we even managed to watch tje new james Bond movie, Skyfall, which was shown in the College cinema. The weather at Wellington is lovely at the moment, with the temperature normally around the 25 Degree mark in the day, with it becoming a little chilly in the evening; just like a UK summers day. 

So we set off on 11 December to the Taj Vivanta in Coimbatore, where we relaxed by the pool and had a nice cosy meal in the evening.  The following day we set course for Cochin, a Portuguese, Dutch and British old haunt that has lots of culture and history.  Our Hotel was another Taj Vivanta, right on the headland of Willingdon Island. 

The hotel is an old 1930s cruise passenger hostel, which is now a fantastic hotel.  The greeting we received on arrival was incredible, with Daisy and Ava, once again being treated as superstars.  In fact the attention they received enabled us to get an upgrade to a Heritage Room with a fabulous sea-view.  From now on we will be deploying Daisy and Ava on a charm offensive to enable us to get upgrades at any opportunity; how’s that for exploiting your kids!  They were showered with gifts and Daisy was enchanted by the huge Christmas Tree in the foyer.  This is the first Christmas decoration we’ve really seen this December, but with the warm temperature and sunshine it still doesn’t feel too Christmassy.

Daisy with the morning catch

A rare moment ashore

Our first full day in Cochin saw us visit the Cochin Fort; it’s not a real fort, but just an area of Old Cochin.  We wandered around the sea front, whilst Anandh looked after Ava snoozing in the car and this allowed us to visit one of the real icons of Cochin; the Chinese fishing nets.  These are huge cantilever contraptions that jut out over the estuary some 20 feet and are raised and lowered by a team of 10 men to catch passing fish. 



Fishing the old fashioned way



The Chinese Fishing Nets

They used to be the mainstay of the Cochin fishing industry but are now mainly a tourist attraction.  There are 10 to 20 of these nets along the shoreline and they are so large they seem to resemble some ancient creature of the past reaching into the sea to gather its daily feed.  We also drove around Old Cochin which was bustling with life and visited the Dutch Palace which had an excellent museum of the old Maharajas’ rein.  After lunch we headed to the pool, where both Daisy and Ava had a great time splashing and swimming.  In fact, Daisy loved it so much we couldn’t get her out of the water; this will be a theme for the duration of the holiday we think. 

Daisy's Second Home

At 5pm we all headed down for the hotel tea and tiffin and watched the ships cruise past the hotel.  The place where they serve the tea has everything.  Waiters, hosts, security guards with catapults to keep away the crows and even a pest control man with an electric tennis racket to zap the flies that dare to fly to close to the sandwiches and cake delights! 

Catapult at the ready for the crows

Ready to zap the any wandering fly

After our tea we went for a cruise around the Cochin headland and had a seaborne view of the Chinese Fishing Nets and watched a very red Indian sun set over the ocean; very pretty although Daisy wasn't too chuffed with the cruise or the life jacket! 

'Do I have to wear this Daddy?'

The nets catch the setting sun!

After all our travelling, touring and swimming we all settled in for a family night on the big bed watching Monsters Inc on the DVD.  However, Daisy, Ava and Neil all fell asleep before the end of the film, leaving Louise to tuck them all in for the night!

Flower Girl

The next day, Neil headed off to the Cochin Naval Base, as one of his colleagues on DSSC had arranged for him to play 18 holes of golf.  In fact it was better than that.  Neil was met by one of the station officers and shown to the course, where the resident professional and a young caddie were waiting to accompany Neil on his 18 holes.  Whilst the weather was much hotter than Wellington, the golf was good and Neil thoroughly enjoyed himself on what is a short, but very narrow and tight course.  Unsurprisingly, there were also a lot of water hazards which Neil did well to avoid; well most of them! 

Teeing off on the 18th.

The Golf Course atthe Naval Base in Cochin

When Neil got back to the hotel, he met with Loluise and the girls, who were enjoying the pool once again.  Today, Daisy managed just the 6 hrs constant swimming, jumping and splashing in the pool.  Anandh babysat in the evening, allowing Neil and Louise to head into Cochin to enjoy some of the local cuisine.  The next few days will be spent lounging around the pool, before head off to Allepey and a cruise around the Backwaters on a House Boats.  Let’s hope Daisy enjoys it more than the harbour cruise!

Sunset over Cochin

Daisy’s Birthday and the Navy Queen.

A very busy November time for all the Joneses saw Daisy celebrate her 3^rd Birthday; a major milestone.  Not only for Daisy, but also for Louise and I, as we celebrated the fact that we’d managed to keep her alive for the last 3 years!  Indian children’s parties are, just like the UK, a mad affair.  So Louise and Neil agreed that to keep their sanity the numbers would be kept relatively low, and so some of Daisy’s kindergarten friends were invited along with those children whom she had grown to know around DSSC.  16 children in all were invited, with some parents arriving and just leaving their children, much to Neil’s surprise.  The party went down very well, and Daisy had a great time playing with her friends. 

In the Midst of the Birthday Chaos

Ava enjoyed herself as well and both sisters’s loved all the attention.  Neil occupied himself with face painting giving each child a butterfly, star, flower or heart painted on their cheek or hand.  In fact, the face-painting went down so well, Neil has been commissioned to appear at another 2 children’s birthday parties; a blossoming second career perhaps.  The highlight of the party was the birthday cake made by Fathima.  Daisy’s current heroine is Peppa Pig, and so a cake in the form of her idol was commissioned and Fathima did a wonderful job creating a lifelike and almost life-size version of Peppa!  Louise feels that no matter what happens next year Daisy will be 'nothing but disappointed' on the cake front.  Daisy had a great time and received lots of cards and presents, and was absolutely exhausted at the end of the day and fell asleep on Louise’s lap a very contented little girl.

Daisy's fantastic Peppa Pig Birthday Cake



A very excited Daisy get ready to blow out Birthday Candles

An exhausted Daisy at the end of her Birthday

College life continues apace for Neil with a 2-week exercise with the Army dominating his time.  Ex GIRI SANGRAM, or ‘War in the Mountains’, took up his time for over 2 weeks, with early starts and late finishes.  The early part of the exercise was quite frustrating due to both Services working independently, despite the exercise being toted as being ‘Joint’.  This is one of the major issues with the Indian Military; their approach seems to mirror that of the UK some 20-30 years ago, when each service worked independently without concern for the other arms.  In the 21^st Century, this approach is a little antiquated and doesn’t seem to fit in the pattern of modern warfare. 

That said, the Indian officers do seem to recognise this and are working toward rectifying their approach.  In fact, by the end of the exercise the Air Force and Army were working much closer together and the message of jointery seemed to be getting through.  The exercise itself was very interesting for Neil, despite there being a few periods of frustration.  The scenario had both Red and Blue Forces fighting at heights of over 16,000 feet; something that the UK has a very limited capability of achieving, so it was certainly something new for Neil.  In the exercise Neil also got to use some of his logistic experience, but was again tasked to act as the Tactical Air Commander, and so spent his time plotting and bombing enemy targets, something that he has not had too much exposure to; so there was a good learning benefit.  Overall, Neil enjoyed the exercise, taking away the main lesson of fighting in the mountains at high altitude…..good luck....it seems too much like hard work!!!

Whilst the Army and Air Force were engaged in their battles in the mountains, the Navy Wing was busy working toward one of the highlights of the course, the Navy Queen Pageant.  It takes on the form of a Summer Ball, Christmas Draw and Beauty Show all in one!!  The whole affair took over 6 weeks to prepare, and at times involved all of the Navy Wing students.  At first, the idea seemed a little strange, with wives being offered the opportunity to enter the Beauty contest, and a series of knockout rounds being held through the month of November, before the final 10 were paraded on the night of 30^th November, in front of the entire student body and DSSC fraternity; a audience of over 1,000 people.  However, the Navy Queen Pageant is a huge event in the Indian Navy calendar, and the show they put on was befitting of the importance they place on it.  All the 10 finalists took the event very seriously, with them being asked a series of questions on stage, in front of a panel of judges; Eric Morley would have been proud. 

One of the contestants in the Navy Queen Pageant

Thankfully no one answered that they sought “world peace and eternal love for the nation” and the judges deliberated, whilst we were treated to a festival of Indian song and dance and a free prize draw.  The winner was finally announced after 2 hours as an international officer’s wife from Nigeria, wonderfully named Blessing!!  This cheered up all the international officers no end as we had beaten the Indian’s in their own backyard at their own game..!!!  The Pageant was then followed by a Ball in the Officers’ Mess, which was started by the Commandant rolling a gold sphere through the middle of the dance floor, so he could literally ‘get the ball rolling’!!  We danced and drank through the night, or till 11:30 pm at least, which is when most of the Indian officers left, and whilst most of the internationals were still a bit in awe of what they had seen throughout the evening they were all in agreement that Indian’s certainly know how to put on a good show, with Louise stating that “she had certainly been entertained”!!

The Winners in the Navy Queen Pageant

Louise has also been kept busy preparing a presentation for her ITOW class on “Communication in Marriage”.  It involved numerous meeting and rehearsals and at times the presentation seemed to be getting bigger than Ben Hur.  It also stopped Louise from attending her normal round of tennis lessons and yoga classes.  But after a number of script re-writes and changes to the presentations, the whole event went off very well and now Louise can get back to her sporting activities. 

Louise poses with her ITOW Group after her presentation

Neil has also been busy getting the students of DSSC to participate in a ‘Gangnam Style” video that he hopes to produce for the end-of-course bash.  This has involved him getting the students to dance at various locations throughout the college and film secretly away from the prying eyes of the Directing Staff.  The whole video is coming together nicely, and should be ready for an unveiling sometime in the New Year.

Both Daisy and Ava are doing well.  Daisy, as well as celebrating her own birthday has received a plethora of invites, so Neil and Louise are taking it in turns to take her to the many parties she needs to attend as a 3yr old socialite.  Ava is now toddling everywhere and can walk at quite a pace, even though she can appear a little unsteady on her feet.  Her walking is getting better and better and she continuously walks the corridors of the flat shouting ‘Daddddeeeeeee…….Daddddeeeeee’; Neil hope’s she learns another word soon!

Sisters giggling together

Ava getting ready to walk off on her own

Louise heard from the Desk Officer this last week and she is being posted to Minhad in the UAE for 6-months from July 13; just 8 weeks after we get back.  It’ll be a little tricky with the girls, particularly as we don’t know where Neil is posted, so it’s challenging to arrange nurseries and childcare, and we won’t find out Neil’s posting till next March.  But, we’ve faced bigger challenges before this, and it just means that as soon as we know where Neil is posted, it’ll be all hands to the pump to get everything sorted before Louise heads off to even warmer climes!

And so 2012 is drawing to close and we are more than half-way through our Indian adventure.  We’re still having a fabulous time out here; Neil says even more so at the moment as England are doing so well in the cricket!  We are now heading off on our South-Indian 18-day holiday adventure; we’ll try to keep the blog updated to let you know how things are going.  In the meantime, we hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and a very Happy New Year.  Lots of love from us all.

A Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from us all