Janie and I took a wonderful (but at times gruelling) trip to Nepal, Tibet & Kerala in April 2002.
This placeholder and links piece provides links to the full itinerary and photographs from that trip. I kept a good journal and have now uploaded blog pieces for individual days. If you want to start on those from the very beginning, start here or below:
There are three photograph albums (i.e. the photos that made it with labels and comprise a pictorial travelogue in their own right) covering the whole trip, the first being Nepal and Lhasa, the second being the remainder of the Tibet trip and the brief return to Nepal, the third being Kerala:
In addition to those labelled albums, there are the raw negative uploads available to view if you just cannot get enough of such pictures. There is an “album” of those that went through Daisy’s canera and an “album” of those that went through Ged’s. We have been known to take pictures with each other’s camera.
First Daisy:
Then Ged’s:
Some of the raw ones might be sideways and in the wrong sequence unless or until I do some more work ordering them, but they should at least be complete sets by the time you get to them, dear reader.
There is a placeholder with links to the itinerary and all the photos from this trip – click here or below:
Rise early – 5:30, early breakfast 6 o’clock, depart 6:45.
Say goodbye to Lerhic and Sharji, to embark on one of the most bureaucratic check-ins we’ve ever had – business class or no!
Final straw – after being told to go through security before going to the Business Lounge, we were told that we should not have gone through security before the Business Lounge and were stuck.
First world probelm this, i do not need to be told, thank you.
Mr Anonymous-Officious really got my goat by pretending he would help and then obfuscating obstructing.
There is a placeholder with links to the itinerary and all the photos from this trip – click here or below:
Head off for Surya Samudra quite early so rise at six, take early breakfast, saying our goodbyes and paying bills.
Lerhic accompanies us to Kovalum along with Sharji driving (perhaps the namedrop of Purves earlier on the trip triggered this). We chat about Kerala tourism and hotels along the way and the four hours pass quickly.
I also clearly remember discovering that Lerhic and I had a “difficult client” in common; difficulties for Z/Yen were ancient history by 2002 (mid 1990s) whereas Lerhic had just suffered at the hands of this larger-than-life notable woman.
Surya Samudra is beautiful and Lerhic– Mr Fixit – has organised the Octagon for us – the Professor’s former digs and Bertolucci’s favourite room.
Importantly, The Octagon is right by the pool, enabling us quickly to change, lounge, take a club sandwich and chips, read, take shade, lounge, take sun, swim, take sun, read and finally stroll the grounds and dodge the local touts.
Rest, wash and prepare for dinner. We take prawns in creme de la mere (no lobsters today), plus grilled king fish, plus chapatis, carrots, spinach with coconut, coconut rice and lemon rice plus afters is banana and chocolate ice cream.
Meet lovely lady (Hilary) while dining and chat to her while waiting for monsoon like storm to pass before retiring early.
There is a placeholder with links to the itinerary and all the photos from this trip – click here or below:
We took a lovely pool villa at the Marari Beach Resort; we had a walled garden and our own small pool, which was glorious luxury.
We learnt from starstruck staff that Paul McCartney and Heather Mills had spent their honeymoon there a few weeks before our stay.
The Marari Beach Resort also had/has a superb Ayurvedic Centre where we could enjoy therapies galore.
Below is my journal for those few days and a sample of the photos. My entreaties that we were busy and having nightmarish days are very tongue in cheek. It was several days of sheer bliss.
21 April 2002
Busy day at Marari Beach resort.
Up early, played tennis, watched cricket highlights, ate breakfast, lounged around, checked out Ayervedic Centre with afternoon massage – also checked out shop.
Lounged around some more (poor weather now) slept, read, rested.
Had a lovely dinner of jumbo prawns thermidor washed down with a bottle of wine.
22 April 2002
Another busy day. Rose a little later today – Janie checked out the yoga class…
Krishnakurup the master, Anthony and Janie the apprentices
– short game of tennis afterwards – then breakfast – then lounging.
Cashews for lunch – I have Ayervedic massage again – more lounging – meditation class – rest – and then supper of butter chicken masala with butter nan bread washed down with beer.
23 April 2002
Another hectic day. Wake a little later and it is too hot for tennis. We sunbathe instead, take breakfast (I tried bacon and beans but realise that I prefer the Indian stuff– dosas, sambal, coconut chutney, puris etc plus fresh fruit and yoghurt).
Anthony (he was in the yoga class) shows us the organic garden and sewage plant (yes really).
Cashew snack lunch followed by Indian foot massage by [Krishnakurup] the yoga master (who is also the meditation master, foot massage master, formerly a maths master and was a headmaster)! Amazing treatment.
Then we take the late day sun and relax followed by cookery exhibition (fish curry and gourd and coconut).
Rest, then dinner of prawns mouli with coconut milk (aka “Prawn Shmuli”) with lime rice and some of that snake gourd stuff washed down with wine.
Then early massage as Benny (my masseur) has afternoon off.
Then lounge – then snack toasty at beach grill – then lounge – then choose our crustations – then lounge – then try to stroll beach but the sand is much too hot – then lounge until dark – then rest…
…then go to beach grill and eat our lobsters, jumbo prawns and tiger prawns with wine.
25 April 2002
Nightmare of a day!
Play tennis a little later than Daisy would choose – took a little sun before breakfast, more sun, massage at noon, reading in the shade, cashew nuts, more reading (Daisy is rushing to finish The Age Of Kali so that she can give it to Sandeep.
Sandeep was the charming young man who looked after us at the Ayervedic Centre. We had several intertesting chats about ife, the universe and everything.
We take sun, we swim, we take sun, we read – nightmare.
As the sun fades we shower, pack, drop off the age of Kali, say goodbye to Sandeep and have a final stroll along the beach – lovely.
Finish packing and rest before supper – go to beach grill to share a seafood platter (squid, local fish, small prawns, tiger prawns, jumbo prawns) plus the smallest snapper they had which was gluttonously large and delicious grilled, with garlic butter, lemon butter and shrimp cocktail sauce. And wine.
There is a placeholder with links to the itinerary and all the photos from this trip – click here or below:
Late start despite strike warnings yesterday (Lerhic has a cunning plan).
Two cars (one private) pick us up at 10.00 to ensure we can get through any pickets. Get to Alleppey incident free for rice boat on time – amazing boat trip – Alleppey round trip – including super seer fish, daal, cabbage and coconut and green beans lunch.
After lunch stop at Saint Mary’s church Champa Cullum – good look at the snake boat which allegedly wins prizes. Super day out!
At end of day drive circa 30 minutes to Marari Beach resort…
…where we are deposited in our pool villa. Got our bearings. We end of the day at the beach Grill with a seafood platter (tiger prawns, jumbo prawns, small prawns, local fish and squid) and the shellfish platter (the same, minus the local fish and squid but with extra big prawns and rock lobster). Beer to wash it down.
There is a placeholder with links to the itinerary and all the photos from this trip – click here or below:
After breakfast (same except for hot pineapple jam) go into New City (Ernakulam) shopping. Success with shalwar kameez and sandals and skeeter beaters, but not so with cutlery and crockery.
Into Fort Cochin & Jewtown to one or two Emporia. Brought bronze man and silver pillbox for Daisy. Looked at and booked Brunton Boat Yard for dinner.
Returned lunchtime with purchases.
Snacked on beer and cashews – then relaxed on our balcony in the afternoon until the rains came.
Later had Keralan massage (not quite Ayervedic). Two onto one – Daisy in our room, me in the therapy room. Amazing.
One thing I particularly remember about the massage was how incredibly knowledgeable my masseurs were about cricket. When they found out I liked cricket they wanted to discuss England cricket with me, but seemed to know more about it than I did.
Watched sunset again and took took took to Brunton boat yard for a good meal with the first wine of the holiday – £50 price tag high for these parts. Prawns in coconut milk soup (both) plus spicy grilled mullet plus prawns Tandoori style (Daisy).
Returned on foot, dodging savage dogs watched a little more test match [West Indies v India] and slept.
Light lunch – prawns on sticks and mini dosas on hotel terrace.
Delightful Sheila provides us with ideas for shopping and agrees to come in early to advise Sharji.
We rest by pool, swim a little and enjoy late today sun on our terrace.
Then I spot cricketers on the parade ground and watch for a while. Get dressed to go out and play with “the other children”, by which time they were gone.
Consolation dinner – tangy grilled prawns – Daisy – and mixed seafood platter – me. Chocolate roulade – all delightful.
We were serenaded by Antony and Benny while we ate that evening. We still sometimes listen to the CD of their gentle, simple flute and strings music and strangely, at the time of writing, in February 2020, are there to be seen as one of the three images up front on the Malabar House website.
There is a placeholder with links to the itinerary and all the photos from this trip – click here or below:
Rose 4 o’clock-ish because flight has been brought forward 1 1/2 hours. I get irritated when we see the old flight time still on the board but Mangal gets the obsequious and ubiquitous Mr Sharma to explain that we really do have to leave at 7:15, not 8:45.
Mr Sharma pops up everywhere to make sure we are happy – including, hilariously, even on the plane.
That really is not an exaggeration. Mr Sharma came over to ask if we were OK and if we wanted anything so many times. When he disappeared from the boarding lounge, I said to Daisy, as a joke, “I bet he even pops onto the plane to make sure we are OK”…which he did! We had trouble containing our laughter, while telling him that we were still OK and didn’t need anything else.
We arrived at Bangalore and I sniff a chance of accelerating at arrival in Cochin by switching to the Cochin flight, but I’m 10 minutes too late. Dejected, will retire to the dreariest to business class lounge for Pepsis and waiting.
Arrived [Trivandrum] early (20 minutes) and even set off 10 minutes before we were due to land.
Sharji our driver is a pleasure, but the route seems so hazardous we cannot rest. I invent mosques and cricket matches game. From 3- 3 to 8-3 [in favour of] mosques, to 21-11 [in favour of] cricket matches, when we declared the winner.
Arrive [at Malabar House] late and knackered but switch rooms to a better suite and have dinner in room. I had seerfish in a delightful sauce, Daisy had a chicken dish.
There is a placeholder with links to the itinerary and all the photos from this trip – click here or below:
Rose early – breakfasted in Hard Yak style, then driven to airport. Met Tse-Ten’s bosses coincidentally during 2 1/2 hour delay our flight.
Also met unfortunate Matt who was sent home home from Everest trek on account of a dog bite!
Got to Yak And Yeti around lunchtime – we have been upgraded to club which is nice. Yak And Yeti all we had hoped for – sunny and hot but not too sunny and not too hot.
Both had a club sandwich and a beer for lunch around the pool.
Enjoyed the afternoon. Briefly saw Sarah and her kids [friend from home, ex wife of Alan Cohen], then had a hard game of tennis.
Enjoyed the cocktail hour in club while observing Danish embassy party.
Excellent product placement on my part in that picture…Janie also does some product placement – nice toes
Got ready to go out and went to Thamel House restaurant (once taxi driver could find it!) – Amazing mutton, chicken and wild boar – staff very friendly and even more so when we gave them the piece from Traveller through which we had found them.
First found “speak no evil” (starting price 145 down to market price of 26!). Then found the previous merchant who had sold us “bottoms up” but was out of the naughty broken one. However we were only five minutes down the road when she ran up to us with a fist full of monkeys including naughty.
Walked back to Snowlands, bought cake, then decided to seek some turquoise – got lost around Barkhor, got bearings, went back via Tremsikhang Market. Found jewellers, no real joy, finished circuit and found turquoise pillbox but nothing for Daisy.
Took cyclo home – great fun – though junctions felt chancy.
Dinner at Yeti – “char shu, sweet chicken, veg, chicken noodles and rice.
It’s hard to explain how much fun we had that day and how unexpected the fun part was. We had been somewhat dreading our return to Lhasa and looking forward to leaving Tibet, having completed our touring in Shigatse.
But we were better acclimatised now and the weather was much better by the time we returned to Lhasa, so our half day of free time in Lhasa felt liberating – we had no guide with us at last and (as far as we know) were exploring the place unsupervised. The Barkhor was great fun for just walking around, browsing and chatting with the locals. And we found the silly little bits and pieces we wanted, not least the monkeys, which still (February 2020) adorn a shelf in the Clanricarde flat.
