Tuesday 20th - First Train Ride (With photos)

Today has been planned as a fairly light workout to get us back into the swing. A mid morning train ride for a couple of hours followed by a gentle stroll to see the sights of Kollam and pick out an eatery for supper.

The execution of this started well as we hit breakfast just as it opened, made the all important call to Airtel to activate the SIM card and got to the station 30 minutes before travel time. The Kannur -Trivandrum Jan Shatabdi arrived on time and we found our seats in AC Chair Car coach C1. We were facing forward with an exceptionally clean window to see out of. The third seat in our row was vacant. There were vendors aplenty as long as you wanted idlis, cutlets or biriyani. The chai wallah made one pass while we were settling in and then vanished for the rest of the journey. 

Much of the trip is on a single line section that is being upgraded to double track although not a lot of work is happening today. There are a couple of extended halts while we wait for northbound trains to pass. The scenery is lush and dominated by palm trees with lots of feathered friends to look at. At one spot we see a whole flock of Brahminy kites, and there are plenty of egrets of different varieties in the fields. As we get closer to Kollam the trees part to give us views of a large stretch of open water- part of the famous Backwaters. 

We arrive 45 minutes late into Kollam, a bit surprising for a favoured train such as this. We soon find an auto driven by an enthusiastic young man who knows no fear. We make up for this in spades. On the map our hotel is quite close to the station but there is an overpass under construction which forces a lengthy detour. Given the heat it was Rs 50 well spent. 

The Hotel Nani is quite modern and our room, though smallish, is pleasant enough with super efficient AC. Once installed we decide upon a short snooze. This is a mistake as we wake 4 hours later. We quickly get organised and head off to check out the Boat Jetty, where we plan to get a ferry tomorrow for the eight hour sail to Alleppey. Kollam is quite a busy town but we have relearned our road crossing skills and make it unscathed to the Jetty.

There is a Kerala Department of Tourism information office so we enquire abouttomorrow's Government Ferry. "Here sir. 10.30" . Great! Sorted!  We stroll along said jetty to admire the view and are approached by a young man rigged out as a tout. "Boat trip? Houseboat? Sight seeing?" . We decline politely.  "Tomorrow?" "We are leaving tomorrow" When pressed we mention Alleppey and he announces that we must buy our tickets from him. We tell him that we will be taking the Government boat. "Private ferry only tomorrow"

We decide that enough is enough and retrace our steps.  As we leave the jetty a man in a Kerala State Transport uniform hands us a leaflet about ferries. When asked about the Government boat tomorrow he tells us that it will be a private ferry. A great man (Montgomery?) once said that time spent in reconnaissance is seldom wasted. He had not been to Kollam Boat Jetty.

We do a little exploration on the return to the hotel, failing to find either an ATM tast would work or a dinner option but we do find a bright modern cafe where we have black teas followed by lime teas. Delicious, most refreshing and best of all a total bill of only Rs 28 (around 30p). Eventually an ATM that wants to do business is found and we head home for showers and supper.

The restaurant at the Hotel is a recommended in LP and we are not disappointed. We have Tempura Vegetables followed by Malabar Meen Fish Curry and Garlic Chilli Prawns with Vegetable Pulav. Very good.

And so to bed.