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