Kerela's Capital

the town hall
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I arrived in Trivandrum (shortened) around lunchtime and walked from the bus station to the the road parellel to MG Rd to look for a hotel. I got lucky at the 5th one. The receptionist was really friendly and spoke hindi. It was a really nice place so I was really surprised when she told me the price, as I expected it to be more. I didn't hesitate to take the room. I freshened up, unpacked and went in search of food. I ordered channa dhal & 2 chapattis, but I didn't realise the chapattis would be made of wheat flour. So I didn't enjoy my meal much. The curry was nice, but it was weird eating chapattis not made of chapatti flour.

cathedral
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After lunch I went for a wander to see some sights. I headed up towards MG Rd. I saw a few British type buildings including the Town Hall, a Cathedral, the Secretariat building & a church. I stopped to take pics and on the way back I had a gander in the Connemara Market, which sells fish, spices, fruit n veg & accessories. I took my time walking about and by the time I got back to the hotel it was almost dark. I had some tea and went to find out if anything was happening for Diwali. The receptionist told me that most people celebrate in their homes and there wasn't anything organised by the city. I was disappointed as I was hoping to see some grand fireworks display and maybe visit a mandir. I heard a lot of firecrackers. She said I could take a walk to the temple nearby to see if anything was happening. So off I went.

spices in Connemara Market
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Unfortunately it started raining really heavily and eveyone was rushing for shelter except me. I was enjoying the rain (madness!), but it got too much so I ran back to the hotel. There was lots of thunder and lighthining that evening and it rained for ages. Boy was I in the wrong place for Diwali. So I just watched a bit of TV. On TV they were showing the celebrations in Goa where effigies of Ravana were being burned on bonfires.

The next day after breakfast I decided to take the local bus to Kovalam beach, which was 15km away. I just wanted to go for the day and chill on the beach for a bit. The beach was lovely although there was some black sand as well. I saw lots of tourists there as well as a lot of Indians. The beach front was built up of hotels, restaurants and shops aimed at tourists. But I liked the atmosphere. I went for a dip in the sea and just chilled out. The sea was lovely and I can see how easy it is to just relax here, even with the touts annoying you.

in Connemara Market
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I saw fishermen on the beach who were all dragging in a huge net from 2 sides, which can take upto 3 hours. They go and drop the net in the sea quite a way out but the end of the net on 2 sides has very long ropes, which they drag back to the beach and then pull on to drag the fish to shore. There were loads of them pulling the rope.

I went to get some lunch and had some nice fish curry in one of the beachfront restaurants. I watched families playing in the sea and it made me a little broody, watching the children. What's wrong with me! Anyway it was nice just sitting there, watching the world go by. A while after lunch I decided to head back to Trivandrum. I had to walk up a hill to the bus station. Luckily a bus was waiting and set off soon after I got on.

Kovalam beach
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Back in Trivandrum I went to see the Sri Padmanabhawamy Temple & the Puthe Maliga Palace Museum. The temple is 260 years old an has a 30m gopuram (gateway tower) with carved idols. I only took pics from the outside. I didn't go in. The museum was very interesting We got a guided tour. The palace is 200 years old and was built for the Travancore Maharajas. It took 4 years & 5000 workmen to build it. After all that the Maharaja only resided it in for a year. We weren't allowed to take any pics unfortunately. The architecture was Kerelan, the outside of the palace looked like a huge long coattage to me. The exhibits were mainly to do with the spice trade in China. There were a lot of dragon type statues inside as well as Buddha and Hindu god statues. There was a huge painting of the Maharaja in one of the rooms and no matter where you stood in the room, the eyes of the Maharaja would be looking at you. It was freaky. Outside the palace was adorned with horses and elephants made from wood.

Fishermen at Kovalam beach
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After the sightseeing I went back to the hotel, had some tea and chilled.  One of the greatest Indian films of all time was going to be on the TV that evening - Sholay (Embers). An Indian classic. I couldn't miss that! The film has been known to launch the angry young man persona of Amitabh Bachan (a well known Bollywood actor). He now has a waxwork in Madame Tussauds in London. I went to get some dinner, but didn't fancy much after my big lunch so just got some nibbles and a drink to have during the film. It was great to watch the film again after such a long time. It was made in the 70's. I remember watching it as a child.

Me at Kovalam beach
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The next morning I was meant to be leaving, but I felt really tired for some reason, so decided to stay another day. I went out to get some breakfast, but came back to the hotel afterwards. I didn't do much at all, just avoided the sun and stayed in my room watching repeats of Friends. I was content doing that. In the afternoon I ventured out to stretch the legs and find the internet. I also found that a new Bollywood film was opening that evening and the cinema was near the train station. So I went along at 5.30 to queue up for a ticket. I wasn't sure if I would get one, but managed it. The film being shown was Saawariya (Beloved). It was directed by a famous director called Sanjay Leela Bhansali, who had also re-made Devdas. I didn't get either of these films and wasn't sure of the point of them. I didn't enjoy the film at all. I found it boring. There was a lot of hype surrounding the film as it was the debut of a new actor and actress (Randbir Kapoor and Sonam Kapoor - no relation) who both have actor parents (Rishi Kapoor & Anil Kapoor). Another thing that was a big deal was that it was going head to head with another film with it's date of release Om Shanti Om. And the infamous Shah Rukh Khan (King of Bollywood) was starring in that. So the Indian media turned it into a frenzy.

Sri Padmanabhaswamy Temple
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After the film I went to the Indian Coffee House for a cuppa. Whilst there I met an American couple and we got chatting. I ended up staying there chatting for almost 2 hours. They were lovely people and we were just telling each other where we have been and whatr's good to do and see. They were moving north to south and me in the opposite direction. So it was good to get tips. We left the place at 10.30pm. I walked back to the hotel as it was only round the corner. I did my packing and went to bed. I was defo leaving tomorrow. I was heading to the beach at Varkala. Not as commercial as Kovalam.