Trying and getting hooked on new things in Kerala; couch surfing and doing yoga

Back in India, third time around. In one way I feel bad that I keep going back to India, there are so many other places to see in this world. But on the other hand, every state in India is like a different country and there's so much more to explore (once I met a french guy who had traveled for six years in India and still felt like he'd only seen a fraction of this country). Already in the taxi from Cochin airport to the city center, I felt incredibly good about being back in a place where all senses get constant stimulation and where everything seems to be as different than Sweden as it possibly could. Even the two most boring germans I've ever met in my life (and I've met a few) that I shared the taxi with, couldn't change the way I felt.

Being a tourist in India, you often get the question "first time India?" from people you meet. But not in Kerala. There the question is slightly rephrased into: "first time Kerala?". Keralans are very proud of being Keralans and they like to talk about how successful the state is, the literacy is the highest in all of India, the food is the best and the people are the friendliest. It is actually really laid back and calm compared to many other places I've been, nearly everybody speaks perfect english (not just the well educated middle and upper class) and it's rare to see really poor people on the streets. It's probably a very good place to start a trip to India, if you've never been here before.

In Cochin I couch surfed for the first time in my life. For those of you who haven't heard about couch surfing, you have to check it out: www.couchsurfing.org. There are hosts all over the world, in the most random places, who are willing to host you while traveling. In Europe or America this is often a question of money, couch surfing is free and therefor a good way to travel on a budget. In India it's hardly about that (at least not for me), since the guest houses are so cheap (I usually pay around 100 rupies per night = less than 2 euro). But I remember the first time I visited India, seven years ago, that I always dreamed about getting invited to stay with a family. At that time I didn't know about couch surfing and I'm not sure it even existed. But now there's an amazing opportunity to get a whole other insight to everyday life in India, there are couches available at so many different destinations!

The family I stayed with in Cochin are very used to couch surfing, they have hosted over 100 travelers during the past three years. It's a very modern family consisting of architects Monolita, Matthew and their daughter Sanaa. They live outside of the city in a nice house in a gated community. Both Monolita and Matthew are very well educated and knowledgeable in every subject that came up. We had some interesting discussions about politics (as the swedish election was going on when I was there) and women's status in society in India compared to Sweden. I also learned more about Kerala from Monolita. During my stay, I got really nice Keralan food, it's something different eating at home compared to restaurants, especially after traveling for a while.. One day, we went for a swim in a nearby swimming pool where Monolita and Matthew exercise (and I had to wear a swim hat for the first time in my life). It was really cool staying with them, something I could have never done without couch surfing.

After Cochin, I moved on to Alleppey, to explore the backwaters. I chose between taking the public ferry to Kotteyem (east) or the tourist boat to Kollem (south). In the end I chose the tourist boat, with hopes of maybe meeting some other travelers to hang out with during the eight hour trip. The boat was big enough for 50 , but the captain explained to me that I was a VVIP, as I was the only one on the boat that day! The men working on the boat took very good care of me, though, they came up one after the other to talk to me and make sure I wasn't feeling lonely (and asking me if I was married, which of course I am). The captain finally invited me to come stay with his family in Alleppey. He said that his wife would cook my favorite food and that I could stay as long as I wanted. Such a nice offer, but unfortunately I was moving in the wrong direction. The scenery in the backwaters was lush green with palm trees, rice paddies and small villages along the way. A very relaxing and enjoyable day, even though I was VVIP and therefor without company...

After arriving in Kollem, I took the bus to Varkala. On the bus, I met a catholic nun called Sister Dianna, who was very concerned with me traveling by myself at night (even though there are always tons of people everywhere and 99% of those people just want to be helpful and nice, especially to a single traveler). Sister Dianna asked for my phone nr (yes, the nun had a cell phone, it's modern times in India) and I gave it to her, not knowing exactly why she wanted it. Later that same evening, she called me just to make sure that I'd reached my destination. Sweet nun!

The destination this time was Varkala, a small beach town. In Varkala I couch surfed for the second time, at a guest house run by an american woman and her indian husband. Couch surfing at a guest house? Yeah, it's a little bit odd, but Faith usually takes couch surfers in when it's low season and she doesn't have that many guests in the guest house. Skylark guest house is a very nice place to stay, I was so lucky to find it on couch surfing. There is a kitchen where you can cook your own food and Faith is so friendly and welcoming. Other than that there's not much exciting to write about Varkala, I got some time on the beach to read and I met an italian girl (Anna), who I spent my nights with, doing a puzzle of all the countries in Europe and drinking tea and having long talks about spirituality.

Lazy, unplanned days on the beach were followed by 17 very structured and active days at the Sivananda yoga ashram outside of Trivandrum. I had heard about the ashram from a few people on my trip and it had actually been on my travel to do list for six months. In other words, my expectations were high as I stepped inside the ashram and was welcomed to start my "yoga vacation". The yoga vacation is not quite like a regular vacation, as you can see on the schedule below:



5.20 Wake-up bell
6.00-7.30 Satsang (meditation and chanting)
7.30 Tea
8.00-10.00 Yoga
10.00 Brunch
11.00 Karma yoga (=working, in my case cleaning toilets in the dorms)
12.30 Yoga coaching (optional)
13.30 Tea
14.00-15.00 Lecture on yoga philosophy
15.30-17.30 Yoga
18.00 Dinner
20.00-21.30 Satsang (meditation and chanting)
22.30 Lights out

It might not sound like the perfect vacation for some, but for me it was amazing. In the beginning I found it hard to repeat the same chants twice every day about Hare Krishna, Vishnu, Siva and many other hindu gods that don't really mean anything to me (especially while being surrounded by swaying people playing tambourines). But after two-three days I started thinking of it as singing instead of chanting and enjoyed it more. The yoga was great, I had only tried it a few times before (mostly on this trip) and now I had time to get into it in another way. I even bought a yoga mat and will try to do as much yoga as I can during my travels. The food in the ashram was monotonous but delicious, which I find a lot more appealing than varied and terrible (like in the monastery in Chiang Mai). Other things that made the time at the ashram so great were my fellow yoginis, particularly these ones: The dorm girls Emma (England) and Colette (South Africa) that were there from day one and that I'd sneak out and buy coffee with when our caffeine level was too low, Ray (Canada), who has the most contagious laughter ever, Andy (England), who knew all the ashram gossip and was quite a drama queen, Peter (Sweden), who sounds like "Veiron i ottan", Ranata (Germany), the sweetest lady who always speaks her mind and last but certainly not least the ashram dog, probably the friendliest dog in Asia.

The combination of learning a lot, doing something that I really enjoy, spending time with interesting yoga people and having such a strict routine, made time pass too quickly and before I knew it, the 14 days that I had planned to stay at the ashram were up and I decided to stay another few days (although I wished that I'd had a few more weeks). Eventually, it was time to leave both the ashram and the state of Kerala, where I got hooked on two new (very different) things: couch surfing and yoga.