8th February, 1993, Cochin, Ernakulam –
Up late morning and back to the Indian Coffee House to create an entire table of dirty dishes. Walked around a bit but it was oppressively hot, so went back to the room to escape the heat “relaxed”. The only notable thing we did do was call our friend Mariita in Hong Kong to sort out our travel arrangements with her. Too hot a day to do anything.
9th February, 1993, Cochin to Alleppey –
Caught a bus to Alleppey after breakfast at the Indian Coffee House, which is further south down the Peninsula. Alleppey is a quiet little town set on the bunch of canals rather like Amsterdam or Venice. The draw here is that is the embarkation point for the boat journey through the backwaters of Kerala. The state of Kerala became the first place in the world to freely elect a communist government of power. As a result, everywhere we went in Alleppey had signs of a communist regime. Cooperatives forms and hammer and sickle flags hung everywhere. There were even large hammer and sickle designs set into the tar of the roads. After a long walk all over Alleppey, we rested during the heat of the day.