An auto rickshaw ride around Trivanduram, Kerala

Tuk tuks or auto rickshaws are very useful vehicles in places such as India and Sri Lanka because they can scoot around in the most unlikely places, are cheap to run and therefore to hire and there are many hundreds of them just waiting for you to hop in and pay for their keep. Hundreds of them, in just a small area. That's the problem, as, while they are efficient in getting you from place to place, even mounting a footpath it there is one, they seriously clog all the roads. At least the driving behaviour is better here.

Poppin and his tuk tuk

One morning we hired Poppin and his tuk tuk to take us to Trivanduram principally to sort out a sim card problem that was causing Sam some anguish and then to have a look around Trivanduram. After a breakfast of dosa we left early, hoping to  beat the heat. 

Dosa, photo from Teresa

It took some effort zipping here, crawling there, in narrow streets, waiting at traffic lights before we finally found the office. Two minutes in the cool and the problem was fixed - the booth at the airport had neglected to give us the correct code as had the people on the end of all the help seeking calls we had made. At last, a happy man and his ipad!

A women friendly auto rickshaw

As I see it the issue of safety from assault, abuse and more is an issue at varying levels for women almost anywhere in the world and arises from the absence of gender equality. While, tragically, women are most at risk in their own homes, travelling, even short distances brings its own such problems. I was delighted to see a few of these tuk tuks displaying their pink women friendly signs. In other countries I have traveled in women only carriages of commuter trains and I am currently advocating for women and children only buses in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. But that's another story.

Here in Trivanduram the pink rickshaws were started by the City Police a couple of years ago after women made very many complaints of abuse, harassment and fleecing.The drivers are usually male and have been carefully selected and trained in how to behave towards women passengers. Men may also use these tuk tuks however women have priority. There are now at least two other women friendly transport options, one of them a taxi service called SheTaxis. As women make up about half the population [ "about" because of reported gender selection practices in this part of the world] I can see these businesses doing very well! There are now a few women driving rickshaws here and in other parts of India - something unheard of and impossible just a few years ago.

For most part of the trip I was hanging out of the tuk tuk taking pictures, very few of which were useful except as a memory of the day. I was delighted to see the wide variety of colours of the school uniforms - so much more attractive than the universal white of the Sri Lankan ones.

Sometimes the streets were so narrow I had the merchandise displays brush my face as we passed!

Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple, Trivanduram

The Sree Padmanabhswamy Temple is a very important religious site to those of the Hindu faith. Housing  gold and precious stones, it is said to be the wealthiest temple in this part of the world, Lord Vishnu is its principal deity, bringing devotees from far and wide to worship. As we are not of the Hindu faith we were denied entrance. This exclusion of non Hindus is apparently quite usual here in Kerala, although not elsewhere, notably at Hindu temples in Sri Lanka.

As we couldn't go inside, we were left to people watch.
 
I wondered if there was a special ritual taking place because all the males in many family groups went into side rooms and later appeared bare chested, as is a requirement for men entering Hindu temples, and wearing new gold bordered sarongs and shawls. The women then joined them for a family photo. They then entered the temple.

Keralan Lunch

After a lovely Keralan lunch it was nap time in the cool for these two plus aged travellers!

Arrival in God's Own Country, Kerala and Kovalam

Welcome to Kerala, God's Own Country proclaimed the sign! 

What a relief it was to get off that Sri Lankan Airlines hour long flight from Katunayake, Sri Lanka to Trivanduram, India and have our feet firmly planted on solid land! 

Unfortunately for us, the welcome lasted just long enough for me to read the sign as, when I placed my passport on front of the immigration officer, I was left in no doubt that I had already outlived any such welcome. 

The problem was that my racial appearance bore no resemblance to the family name on my passport, so the logic of the Immigration authority was that my passport was fake. When I pulled my husband forward and explained that, on our marriage some forty seven years ago, I had taken his name, the hostility moved directly and squarely in his face. While my visa was examined by three other officers, stamped and orders given to me to "Go Away!' he was kept for ten minutes and haranged for marrying an inferior Western woman instead of one of his own race. We were to find out that this marriage was widely disapproved of in Kerala with Sam being treated as a "bought boy" by restaurant staff and two hotels and one home stay refusing to allow us to share a room until we produced evidence that we were, indeed, married. This had happened to us in Sri Lanka when we were younger but came as a huge shock now.

Devi Kripa Home stay hosts

We finally escaped the airport to be met by our first Keralan home stay hosts, Anil and Lekha, whose warm friendliness quickly overcame any surprise at seeing our unconventional partnership.

Devi Kripa Home Stay, Kovalam

Kerala is a Communist governed State, something we decided had both advantages and disadvantages. One of the advantages is that the tourism sector of the economy is very well organised for do it yourself travellers, something Sri Lanka could well take a look at. I found it easy to find home stay options because every home stay has to be registered, is audited yearly and ranked in a three tier category system. Devi Kripa Home Stay in Kovalam, has a well deserved top Gold Star rating. On arrival we were amazed to see that we had two levels to ourselves. Upstairs was a good sized bedroom complete with aircon and large "wet" kind of bathroom while downstairs we had a kitchen and sitting room. The bedroom was tastefully furnished with a large wardrobe, dressing table and stool as well as in room tea and coffee making equipment. The balconies provided a lovely sit out in the cooler early mornings and evenings.

I was not feeling at all well after eating what I had thought was a home cooked meatball just hours before we left Sri Lanka, so for the first two days I could not enjoy the beautifully cooked Keralan dishes that had been thoughtfully prepared for us. Neither could we put into action our prepared sightseeing plan, instead resting quietly in the aircon and being thankful that our home stay was down a quiet lane away from the main road where smelly rubbish was being swept up and burned roadside.

Our first night coincided with  a religious procession with the Goddess from the local temple being paraded around the narrow streets of the neighourhood. Feeling unwell, I had to give up my plan to join the procession and slept soundly despite the fireworks and music that lasted until first light. In the morning we hopped in an auto rickshaw aka tuk tuk and went around the narrow winding lanes to see the decorations and shrines outside the homes of devotees.

Hindu goddess

The photo does not do justice to this temporary street shrine with its offerings of grapes, apples, pineapples, melons, flowers and garlands. It was a wonderful display of devotion!

After following the procession's route and noting that groups of people were cleaning up the discarded water bottles and food wrappers, we continued to the Kovalam beaches.

Kovalam beach

There are four small beaches, each one separated by a rocky outcrop. As we were there at the end of the tourist season, the many seaside restaurants and shops were having a quiet time. Accommodation here is in the budget range.

Kovalam beach

The Lighthouse Beach seemed to be the most popular one today with quite a few men in the water while the women merely wet their ankles at the edge.

Lighthouse Beach, Kovalam, Kerala

Unlike beaches here in Australia, there were no public change rooms so my lukewarm idea of a sea dip was banished in favour of a very much needed back massage.