Africa & India 2006: 15 - Cochin-Agatti, Lakshadweep Islands

Thursday, March 9, 2006

Last night we experienced our first dry dinner in a while. It turned out the Abad Airport Hotel has neither a bar nor a dining room liquor license. An uninspiring dinner was followed by a hot night on very firm beds, as the air conditioning did not work well.

This morning I was up at 6 AM looking forward to a good shower, as I'd avoided the train one for the last couple of days due to both low ceiling and low water pressure, but the water only trickled out and then quit altogether. I phoned reception, and they sent a skinny little fellow from maintenance right away. He turned the taps, pulled the knob that activates the shower, and got the same result I did. He then began to pound on the various controls with his fists, until eventually the knob that directs water to the shower broke off. Now there was water - it shot the length of the tub from the hole where the knob was, hitting the tile wall and then splattering the rest of the bathroom.

The little man fled in panic, leaving the door open in his haste to depart. The water stopped shortly thereafter, so I assume he found the valve to shut off our room, but now there was no water to the toilet or sink either. Reception phoned to say we could shower in another room, which ensured Marilynn was awake - she tried to doze through the early commotion. We said we'd call when we were ready, as our gear was all over the room, but in five minutes two employees were at the door to move us. Marilynn was still in bed, so I shooed them away. Then the desk called again, and another fellow showed up at the door with a key to a room two doors away. He wanted to escort us there, but finally was convinced to just surrender the key.

Marilynn gave up on sleep, got up and went to the other room to use the toilet. Seconds later there was a banging on the door of the alternate room. Two staff were there asking if the shower was working OK. Had she been in the shower I suppose she would have had up to date information to answer the question! Marilynn's comment was, "What can you expect from a place that advertises itself as A-bad Hotel?"

We stored a couple of suitcases at the hotel, as only 10 kg per person are permitted on the plane to Agatti Island, had a mediocre breakfast and were driven to the airport. There were only 9 passengers and 3 crew to be bussed to the old 15 passenger Dornier 128 twin propeller aircraft. The inside of the plane, which had one seat down each side of the isle, was as hot as a sauna, but once we were airborne cool air began to circulate.

The flight was very casual. A sandwich and snack was served by a quite tall steward who had to bend over nearly double to move up the narrow, low isle. To accommodate my legs I sat in the centre of three seats at the front of the cabin, facing the other passengers. The only problem was that the seat had to fold down anytime someone wanted to enter or leave the cockpit.

A Swiss couple had the two seats facing me. He was very interested in the cockpit, so stood looking over the top of my seat. The pilot finally invited him to sit up front, and changed positions with him. This gave me the opportunity to learn about the Lakshadweep Islands from the pilot while the Swiss fellow flew the plane under the watchful eye of the co-pilot..

There are 36 islands in the Lakshadweep group. Only a few are open to non-citizens of India and all require permits to visit, so they are quite pristine. Of the 36 islands 11 are inhabited, 11 not inhabited, 6 are coral reefs and 6 disappear at high tide. The population of the 32 sq. km. of inhabited islands is a surprising 61,000 people

As we approached Agatti Island the pilot moved back into the cockpit and the co-pilot invited the Swiss fellow to sit in his seat, causing his wife to exclaim in alarm, "You are not landing the plane!" However, he did land the plane. It turned out that he owns a twin engine Cessna 310 in Switzerland and was a quite experienced pilot. It added another first to my list, though - the first time in a plane landed by a passenger!

There was a fair amount of paperwork to be checked over in the tiny waiting room of the airport - passports, Indian government permit to visit the Lakshadweep Islands, visas, return ticket and hotel reservations. We then walked the short distance to the hotel, where passports were photocopied, registration form filled and a guest book completed.

We are in a duplex cabin in a grove of palm trees right in front of a dazzling white sand beach. The accommodations are reasonably spacious, basic, but in an unparalleled location. The bathroom is equipped with both western style and hole in the floor type toilets, and the unenclosed shower runs onto the floor beside the seat style toilet. I thought that might be a real time saver, allowing two things to be done at once in the morning, but the shower spray fell just a little short of the toilet. It would work if all you were going to wash were your feet!

Our first move was into the slightly less than body temperature water, then to the hammocks where I am writing. A cold beer would be a great supplement, but these Muslim Islands are dry - the second booze free day in a row. We'll soon be having withdrawal symptoms!

After a good fish lunch, reception made arrangements for a Tuk Tuk (called a motor rickshaw here) tour of the island. Marilynn was told she would have to cover up, so decided against going. The women are covered, except for their faces. The main road is concrete, about the width of a wide sidewalk, and runs the length of the island - I didn't see any cars. The town is on the wider north end of the island, although "town" would give the wrong impression - it is mostly a jumble of palm frond or cement block dwellings. There are only a few scattered shops selling goods in this basically subsistence economy.

We stopped on the two docks, where fish boats unload and small ships hauling away the copra from the coconuts load. There was also a tour of a fish breeding plant, where tropical fish are raised for export to pet shops in Europe. Apparently their breeding fish lay eggs every two weeks!

The people we passed were very friendly, quick to smile and wave. There were no hawkers or beggars, a welcome relief! The island is about 100 meters wide for a lot of its 7 km length, but opens out to about 600 meters wide on the north end. The population is estimated at 7,000, plus a few scrawny cows and some fatter goats. There are three elementary schools and one high school and a lot of garbage lying around. This is typical of most tropical islands - there simply is nowhere to put it. Electricity comes from a diesel generating plant surrounded by mountains of 45-gallon drums, and water is from wells in spite of this being little more than a sand bar. There is an array of solar panels supplementing electrical production. Power outages are common.

Back at the Agatti Island Resort Marilynn & I boarded a boat to go to the outside of the reef for snorkelling. A storm was brewing, and the waves getting higher as the boat navigated through a gap in the reef and then along the outside to a diving spot. Marilynn was over the side first as I was putting on a weight belt with 5 kg of lead to help keep me down when diving.

There were lots of fish and coral, but neither colours nor visibility were what they should be as storm clouds were moving in. A lot of the coral is dead and colourless. We spent about an hour in water that was warm enough so neither of us was slightly cold, but the waves were getting to a point where we needed to head back. It was a good work out, and fun to be out in the boat. Once back we went in for another swim!

Dinner was plentiful and basic, cooked in the western style rather than Indian.. After dinner we walked on the beach to find that there had been a hatch of leatherback turtles. A lot of the little tykes were headed the opposite way from the ocean, so we spent a while picking them up gently by the sides of their shell and putting them nearer to the sea. They all eventually made up their minds to take the plunge and away they went. There are a lot of leatherbacks here. The locals don't disturb them for religious reasons. The beach was also crawling with hermit crabs in their variety of borrowed shells.

Friday, March 10, 2006

The sea was calmer today. After a horrible night in our hot room, on a rock hard bed we got up for a long swim. We retook control of the bathroom from the night's cockroaches, had a shower, and then took our time over breakfast and packing before our 11:30 flight.

Prices here are very reasonable - the island tour cost 250 rupees ($US 5.71) and the snorkelling trip was 500 rupees ($US 11.42) each. It is an ideal destination for someone wanting to "get away from it all" and just relax. Fishing, diving and swimming are about the extent of possible activities.

We walked to the airport at 10:30 and one by one were processed from the first waiting room to the air-conditioned second waiting room. In the end there were 15 passengers, a full flight, and the dozen or so employees were able to justify their existence by inventing tremendously bureaucratic procedures for the one flight per day.

There was a different crew on, but the steward went to lengths to ensure I had a seat with legroom, in the back of the plane this time. Initially I was at the front, but due to crowding was moved back while the plane was taxiing, a difficult trip in the low plane down a narrow isle full of carry on luggage. It gave me a great appreciation for the steward, who made this trip regularly with the in flight food and beverage service.

We arrived at Cochin half an hour behind schedule, where a driver arranged by Travelmasti through their local agent was waiting for us. He did not speak English, but had been instructed by Mr. George, the owner of the local agency, that we were to stop at the hotel to pick up our luggage. With the translation help of a guard at the airport we were also able to get him to stop at the airport post office in the international terminal.

Our poor driver was in trouble from the beginning. He could not find his way out of the airport parking lot, had no idea where the hotel was (after he headed off in the opposite directions we guided him back to the hotel), and he was a terrible driver. Marilynn picked up the baggage while I popped into a currency exchange office next door to the hotel to "quickly" change $US 200 into rupees. Even though I was the only person in the place the incredibly bureaucratic procedure took half an hour. As you can imagine, I was hopping up and down and about to threaten bodily harm by the end of it!

Marilynn, a nervous passenger and accomplished back seat driver at the best of times, was letting the driver know her feelings on his technique fairly early into the journey. When he pulled our to pass a truck by using a right turn lane off a four lane divided highway and found himself on the wrong side of the divider, on a bridge, facing two lanes of oncoming, determined traffic Marilynn went to hysterical, certain we were all to be killed.

It took some doing to get turned around, as the traffic was heavy and the two lanes were not wide enough for a 'U' turn, but eventually we drove some kilometres back the way we came until we were once more able to get on the side of the highway going our direction.

We left the divided highway and turned into a town, where he promptly piled into the back of a stopped bus. There was some drama as the bus driver and our driver sorted things out, but it ended much more quickly than I had expected. Likely because the bus was a badly battered beast to begin with, and the principal damage was to our car, instead of losing half day's fares to go through the bureaucracy that an accident report would entail, the bus driver decided to forget it.

Marilynn now wanted to get our gear out of the car, find a phone and demand another driver, however after looking at the situation from a practical point of view she agreed we would carry on after instructing the driver not to pass anyone again. The driver had only the vaguest idea of where we were going, so for the next long while a terrified Marilynn had to put up with driving on one road, stopping for directions, backtracking and repeating the process on another route. We finally made it to where our houseboat was docked, some hours late, after hitting only one more vehicle - a parked truck that was bashed by our left hand mirror.

Our uncertain route took us south of Cochin, to the area of Kottayam. The drive was through beautiful, hilly tropical forest, and as we neared our destination there were miles of huge mansions. This is obviously a very wealthy area, however I have been unable to find out why as neither our driver nor the crew of our houseboat speak English well enough to understand the question.

The houseboat was quite a surprise! It is 18 meters long, and covered by a curved roof of woven palm fronds, sampan style, which are fashioned into dormers over the windows. The two cabins have attached bathrooms with sink and a shower that does flow directly onto the toilet. The stern area is kitchen, and on the very bow is a plastic chair with a classic wooden spoked ship's wheel and the engine controls. Behind this is an open area with table and four armchairs for passengers. There was some difficulty getting out into the choppy lake due to a strong wind on the large broadside of the boat, but once underway it was a great ride.

We pulled into a bay where two other houseboats were moored to a stone walled dyke that separates the lake from a fish farm. Our captain hit the throttle to power through a line of water hyacinths as he headed for the dyke. When he cut the wheel to the left to come alongside, a loud thump indicated that the steering cable had parted. He got the boat into reverse while an older, obviously very experienced, crewmember leapt to the bow with a bamboo pole that he wedged against the boat in such a way as to prevent us from crashing into the stone.

Once tied up some of our 4-member crew set to repairing the steering while the others concentrated on pampering us. The service was excellent and we settled in to relax. Mr. George had come through with the promised cold beer and wine, and plates of delicious snacks appeared regularly. He phoned to ensure all was well, agreed to another driver for tomorrow, and said he would extend the boat tour as we arrived so late, but said we might have to give up the Cochin city tour. The phone kept cutting out, so I was unable to discuss this, as I really would like to see the city.

We had a front seat view of a beautiful sunset, before more drinks and a delicious dinner were served in the light of oil lamps. A breeze kept the air temperature perfect. A bright, almost full moon rose just to make the mood perfect.

Electricity on board is available only when the engine is running, however not in our cabin. The cabin is equipped with what appears to be a new, remote control air conditioning unit, and also a fan. We tried to get across the message that we'd like to have the room cooled down while the engine was running, as it was at bake-oven temperatures. Either our communications or the air-conditioning were not working, but it didn't happened. The beds were comfortable, but sleep impossible - everything was soaked in sweat before long. I finally gave up and went to sit on the toilet seat with my computer. My preference would have been to sit on the front deck, but when I ventured out the sleeping crew occupied it.

Saturday, March 11, 2006

At around 6:30 there was a stirring outside, so I dressed and went to sit in the welcome freshness of the front deck. The sky was lightening with pinks and gold as the sun moved over the horizon. Instantly I was offered a cup of tea, and shortly we were under way to explore the area, stopping first at a collection point for fisherman, where they had brought in a quantity of giant, and I mean giant, fresh water prawns. The large ones were the size of lobsters!

A great breakfast was served on board; the first time in a long while my eggs were cooked exactly as I like them. The only problem is electricity - there is none in our cabin, so the bathroom is dark (no windows), and in spite of having wall plugs none have power, so there is no place to charge spent camera batteries. As best as I can understand it is an electrical/battery problem that is to be fixed. It is why there was no fan or air conditioning last night as well.

There are very few roads penetrating this area of lakes, canals and rivers. The economy is based on rice, grown in fields well below the water level of the canal, and fish farming. There is a lot of fishing with nets, as well. We passed a fisherman in a canoe dragging a net, with four men walking behind in water up to their necks, splashing to scare fish into the nets. We frequently passed ferries, which are the buses of the area, stopping at docks to pick up or drop off passengers.

Marilynn burned through card after card on her camera as life on the waterways unfolded in this photographer's paradise. Most houses are built on the dyke alongside the river, above the height of the flooded rice fields, making it easy to see how people live. Some residents supplement their diet with a few of the thousands of ducks that gather in the fields as rice is being harvested.

A major event in the area is the snake boat races, held in August. We stopped to look at one of the boats - they are huge. A crew of 109 races it, one in charge and 108 paddlers.

The houseboat trip is one not to be missed. I didn't know about it until Manan of Travelmasti recommended the trip, but it has been one of the highlights. If I were to do it again we would stay on board two nights, ensuring that there was electricity and some way to cool the bedroom, of course. I can see why people travel to this area solely to spend time on one of the houseboats.

We covered a lot of miles of canals and lakes today, stopping in a beautiful shaded area for an excellent lunch before returning to the same place we boarded the boat to meet up with the driver who took us back to Cochin. This fellow spoke some English, and was able to point out some sights. He drove well, Marilynn didn't have a single bad moment, and he knew the route, getting us back to the Abad Airport Hotel in Cochin in less than half the time it took to go the other way yesterday. Tomorrow we head for Sri Lanka.