Company: Jana and Martin

Planned route: Tallinn-Helsinki-Mumbai-Trivandrum-Kovalam-Varkala-Alleppey-Cochin-Vypeen Island-Goa-Mumbai-Helsinki-Tallinn

Our journey began in Tallinn airport where we took the Finncomm Airlines flight to Helsinki. After waiting there for few hours we sat down in a comfy Finnair plane and headed towards Mumbai. The flight went by with absolutely no problems. The landing was a bit suspicious and harsh and we could hear some unknown noise. But after landing safely we were waiting to get out of the plane but at that moment one of the stewardesses realized that her purse was missing and announced that nobody is going to be let off the plane until her purse is found. We waited in the plane for about an hour until the told us that they will let the men out and search them one by one. The women still had to wait a bit as they had not found a female security guard yet. But then suddenly it was announced that her purse was found and afterwards we heard that she herself had just misplace it. I would say that it was not the best kind of advertisement to Finnair service. Then we headed off to Mumbai airport where we spent about 6 hours to wait for our flight to Trivandrum. For that we used Jet Airways and the flight lasted for about 3 hours. Once we had arrived in Trivandrum airport, we took a tuk- tuk and were taken to south to Kovalam Beach. Just before the beach we found a hotel called mini House and from their second storage window one could see a million dollar view to the ocean. The hotel itself was located on high bank so you could hear the ocean waves down below. Once we got settled in the hotel and put our things away we decided to take a scooter and go exploring. We drove down to Kovalam beach where we had our first Indian meal. I have to say that I like Indian cuisine much more than Chinese or Thai cooking. Then we drove on to smaller places surrounding Kovalam and just wondered around in the neighborhood. The Kovalam Beach itself was rather dirty and with dark sand and really overcrowded and noisy.

The next morning we took a scooter and headed south hoping to find a beach less overcrowded. On our way we passed many small villages where it was obvious that a white man was not seen very often. As soon as we passed it looked like life stopped and everybody were just looking at us with surprise. Then finally we found a beach that we thought was perfects as there were no people around there, but as soon as we took our clothes off suddenly from every direction a lot of men appeared. The reason was that in India these men are called “peepers” who basically walk around on the beach all day long hoping to see a white woman in bikini. So basically as then there we were and went swimming under the watchful eye of many Indian men.

The living situation in all of those villages was below any kind of poverty line and people were working and living in really inhumane conditions.

The next morning, on the 11^th of November we packed our back bags and had a tuk- tuk take us to the train station. After purchasing the tickets we finally got to sit down in a train with air-conditioning that took us to our next destination- Varkala. Varkala is one of the best preserved hippie- like villages that is located on a high bank and under the bank was located an extremely beautiful paradise beach. So, once again we took a tuk- tuk from the train station to Varkala Beach where we found an extremely cheap hotel (6USD/a night). The first thing we noticed that the beach was patrolled by local police that kept the peepers far away. Of course it did not work all of the time and suddenly you could realize that about 5 meters from you a gang of ten men were looking and drooling at you. Actually in the long run you got used to it and did not even notice it. We also tried the local manicure and pedicure which was extremely cheap but also with very low quality. In the evening after walking around we found our future favorite restaurant- the Coffee House. It was rather hippie- like and set a very free and relaxed atmosphere. The food offered there was truly amazing.

Next day we headed straight to the beach but unfortunately we could not be there for very long. The reason was that Jana was burnt by a jelly fish and it started to swell up pretty badly so we had to go and look for help. From the local “doctor” we got some powder that you had to mix with local sour cream. That we found from one restaurant’s kitchen. So we stirred up the mix and started to heal Jana’s leg. Swimming and sun tanning was allegedly forbidden while treatment was implemented but as Jana did not want to stay inside with such beautiful weather we just tied up the leg and had a tuk- tuk take us few dozen kilometers further to the elephant safari. One of the elephants that we saw there was the biggest one that I have ever seen. In the end we also got the chance to sit on an elephant but without the special chair and then we were also taken along the road on the elephant. It felt rather majestic to sit there and all the people we passed by looked at us like we were kings. Afterwards we sat again in our favorite place the Coffee House and we also tried out the Blue Marlin (fish with long sharp nose) which was 3 meters long but tasted deliciously.

On the morning of the 13^th of November we had a very early morning at 5.30 am and then we took a tuk- tuk to the train station where we moved on towards Alleppey. The train ride took 1.5 hours and then we went on a 22 hour boathouse cruise on the Keralan Backwaters. We were taking to the harbor that was in the beginning of the river and then we were given a big bamboo boat with a captain and a persona chef to our command. At one point the captain let me drive the boat and the whole ride involved larger and smaller canals on the backwater where we could see amazing views to nearby villages. All around us where rice fields and banana plantations. In the mean time the chef prepared us a luxurious meal that consisted out of 4-5 different courses. There was also a stop in a village where we were supposed to get a sense of the real village life but it felt more like a commercial stop so that we could buy some expensive merchandise. At 5.30 pm all the houses were anchored and so were we. The dinner was again exceptional and I and Jana spent a nice evening on the boat deck playing cards and trying to fight off the bugs. During the night Jana was struck down with a strange illness and her fever rose up to 40 degrees. In the morning everything was fine again but it was probably due to the jelly fish sting. The breakfast was again top notch but as Jana was not feeling very well I was forced to eat for two.  

We landed at 8.45 am and had a tuk- tuk take us to the bus station to go on to Coch. The trip lasted almost 2 hours and was pretty extreme. The road conditions in India are terrible and there were occasions when we were literally jumping off our seats. From Coch bus station we took a tuk- tuk to the Vypeen Island’s Cherai Beach that was about 35 kilometers away from downtown. I would say that once we got there the disappointment was pretty big as we did not find anything special to make the long drive worth while. As that place was lacking any proper housing opportunities we were forced to stay in the 5 star Cherai Beach Resort that was made out of 10 bungalows with different styles and rivers and lakes. It was a really nice place but considering that we were in India it was extremely expensive as we paid for that one night basically 100 USD. The beach was once again filled with peepers but we did not let that get us down. In the evening we tried out the famous Indian Ayurveda massage and had fried huge shrimps in the open air restaurant. As we had planned to stay in the Vypeen Island for two nights we changed that plan and I started to look for possibilities to change our plane tickets from Coch to Goa for one day earlier. Luckily it was possible to make that change and the next day we felt at ease once we were going to the airport.  

At the airport we found out that the guy who told us yesterday that he booked the tickets actually did not do it and it turned out that the flight was full. Of course we were rather devastated and started looking for other possibilities. Finally we found out that we could take the Kingfisher Airlines on the same day with two connections but we had to pay about 140 USD for the two of us. But as we did not have any other choice we just had to take that deal. The plane was a really small propeller airplane but luckily brand new. In addition to that after every lift off we were given a warm meal, but as we had two landings, one in Ghennais and the other one in Mangalores, we were fed 3 times during a 3 hour flight. Finally we made it to Goa which was one of the main destinations of our trip where we just wanted to rest and not wonder around that much. In the airport we bargained a fake- taxi which we got much cheaper than the official one and it took us to the Palolem Beach in the southern part of Goa which was about 80 kilometers away from the airport. The drive was about 2 hours and the speed felt like we were on a rollercoaster. As soon as we got off the taxi in Palolem we were surrounded by a bunch of men offering their accommodation opportunities to us. We still decided to take our chances and look for it ourselves to find a place that we would like. In the end we found a suitable bamboo hut (in Palolemis all the accommodation is in bamboo huts placed on blocks) and we paid about 9 USD per night. Our hut was few dozen meters away from the see and we had an amazing view to the Indian ocean.

Paloma was one of the best preserved hippie- like beach in Goa where the philosophy of life was just to relax. Nobody was in a hurry and everybody just took it easy. The beach was 1.5 kilometers long and with nice white sand. The locals said that there were not a lot of tourists as the main tourist season only starts in December. Some of the huts were still being built which showed that they were expecting huge crowds of tourists.

We found out that in our neighbor hut lived a Swedish married couple with whom we had been on the same flight from Helsinki to Mumbai and we were also going to share a plane back to Helsinki. They were a very nice couple and for example together we went on a boat trip on the bay to see some dolphins. The boat engine broke down on our way back from seeing the dolphins and then both of the boat drivers took out their oars and the road back passed by slowly paddling.

A very nice Chinese restaurant was located in front of our huts where the food was simply delicious. Every night we tried out different restaurant down the beach and met different people. It was very interesting to hear about the traditions and order in India and what twists of faith had brought different people to Goa and so on. For example, one night a bunch of waiters from a restaurant were all taken to spend the night in jail as they had put up a counter with fresh fish in their bar so that the clients could choose their fish, but as it was on state land it was forbidden. We also found out that it was forbidden by the state to do any kind of water sport on the bay which seemed a bit odd.

One day we hiked around on foot and explored some southern beaches like Colomb Beach and Patnem Beach. There was nothing special, but people who love peace could find a more hippie- like and quieter atmosphere than in Palolem. It was funny to see how white people had made permanent residence there and you could see small blonde children running around and playing with chicken in mud puddles.

We woke up at around 8 am in the morning and after that had a nice run and a swim in the ocean. After the breakfast we were sun tanning, swimming and just wondering around. Actually just lying on the beach chairs was not very easy as about every minute people with all different kind of merchandise were trying to sell you textiles, jewelry, small statues, CDs, maps and so on. The water was above 30 degrees and so was the temperature.

After 5 nights and 6 days in Goa, we finally left paradise and had a taxi take us back to Goa airport where it took Spicejet plane an hour to flight us back to Mumbai.

In the Mumbai airport we found a taxi right away that took us through huge traffic jams back to our hotel. As I had booked the hotel by phone there were some problems in finding the place, but after looking around and asking for information we finally found the dump that they called a hotel. Actually the hostel was directly in the center, but it looked more like a dormitory than a hotel, but as the price was good for Mumbai we still decided to stay there. The room was glazed with tiles and it was about the size of a ship cabin.

That night we walked around Mumbai shopping streets and looked with sadness all of the craziness that was going on all around us. There were so many beggars and crippled people. There are supposed to be about 17 million people in Mumbai out of whom about 55% are living on the streets or in the slums.  

The next morning we had breakfast at the famous Leopold café located below our hotel (which was attached by terrorist only a few days later) and then headed towards the close by Taj Mahal hotel and to the Gateway of India. Then we took an hour long boat ride to the Elephant Island which was a temple ruins located on top of a cliff. The most authentically preserved ancient Indian culture with cave paintings and statues was in that place. We also found a lot of monkeys who were just going on with their business between the humans. On our way back to mainland we walked by a movie theatre and decided to go in. To our lucky a showing of the new James Bond movie “Quantum of Solace” was about to being and we decided to go and see it. To our surprise the movie showing started with playing the anthem and all the people stood up. Another interesting thing about the movie was that half way through they turned on the lights and said that it was a break.

After the movie we took a taxi and made an agreement that it would take us all around the city while showing us all the mayor sights. The first visit was to the Mahatma Gandhi house museum, which was a very spiritual visit as it still felt like the spirit of Gandhi was still in the house. Then we went on to see the Victoria Station, Kamala Nehru Park, Chopatty Beach and Marine Drive, Jain temple and so on. Basically within three hours we got a pretty good overview of whole Mumbai. We spent the evening shopping around in different street shops and then headed back to the hotel to pack our things.

At 6 am in the morning taxi took us straight to the airport. After security checks and with no problems we were let on the Finnair plane and soon were headed off towards Helsinki. Landing in Helsinki was a whole other story as there was a huge snow storm going on. Luckily only after some shaking we happily landed in Helsinki. But that was not the end to our problems. At the airport all the flights to Tallinn were being cancelled one after another. So we decided not to wait until our flight was cancelled and cancelled it ourselves to make it to the 5.30 pm ship. We took a taxi to the Helsinki harbor from the airport and got tickets to a ship called Star. Then we found out that the ship’s departure had been postponed for two hours as the Tallinn harbor could not take in flights due to the storm. So we sat in the Swedish smorgasbord, ate and drank, until we finally reached Tallinn at 11.30 pm while being almost very seasick. Of course there were no taxies available as the storm situation was even worse in Estonia. As the harbor was also being closed at that time we were basically pushed out in our summer clothes to wait until we managed to squeeze ourselves in a taxi with some other people so we could get to the airport to get our car.

To sum up, I can say that India is a very exotic country but it is not for the fainthearted. Women are definitely outnumbered by men there and it seems that the men do not work much. While going around we could see a lot of women carrying heavy rock and gravel while men were just sitting around there and doing nothing. Also people can be bothered by all the filth that one could see especially in the cities. But if you would go to Kerala then the local nature and atmosphere makes you forget everything else as it is just that beautiful. India is a very large country and there is so much more to explore. But that we can do during the next trip there.