Day 18 - A day at the beach

Our last day in Kochi began with a breakfast at 8:00am. Just Kerry and me and none of our friends. Today we’re going to follow in the footsteps of Tracy and Mark and take ferry over to Vypeen Island and then a bus to Cherai Beach.

Straight after brekky we grabbed our backpack and camera, flagged down a passing tuk-tuk outside the hotel and headed for the Fort Kochi district from where the ferry leaves. It was really quiet on the roads. I reckon we passed more parked tuk-tuks than mobile ones. Saturday morning sleep-in, I guess. Fear not, however, there was a big crowd at the ferry – made up almost entirely of scooters and motorcycles. The ferry runs continuously. As soon as it’s full, it steams off. Fills up on the other side and then comes back to do the same all over again. There were a few cars on board and a couple of dozen foot passengers like us. A chap in a concrete hut sold the tickets for the crossing. For the outrageous price of 6 rupees (AUD$0.12, yeah 12 Australian cents!) I bought two one-way tickets for the <1km journey.

While waiting the just-departed ferry to return we got talking to a gentleman and his wife who were just lovely. They wanted to provide as much help to us as they could to ensure our journey out to Cherai Beach would be a good one.

So, a brief word about the people we’ve met. The random people we’ve met in the street have all been lovely and helpful and interested in us and keen to help. I think you might have got the gist of that from yesterday’s tales. Our ferry friends were no exception – they were the norm. I took a photo of them and Kerry while crossing and they reciprocated with a couple of “selfies”. Then they made sure that we got in the right bus. They gave us such a cheery wave goodbye when they alighted further down the road to Cherai. The conductor on the bus out to Cherai made sure we got off at the right stop for the Beach. The conductor of the bus back to the ferry later in the day called out to us while the bus was pulling up at our stop to confirm that we were headed for the ferry. Kerry scraped her knee again while at the beach and from nowhere came three people to make sure she was OK. Almost everyone you wave or smile at returns the compliment. We could not be more impressed by the local people.

We jumped in the bus bound for Cherai, about an hour away. Two one-way tickets cost 56 rupees (AUD$1.12). At Cherai we quickly found a tuk-tuk and for 50 rupees rode the 4kms out across the broad lagoon to the beach-side. There were surprisingly very few people around. Some families were splashing in the little waves on the waters edge. No one was in the water swimming, although it was inviting. The water beyond the shore was almost dead flat with just a small swell happening. A couple of hundred metres off-shore a couple of fishing boats were hauling in their netted catch. Weren’t the sea-birds enjoying that! The Laccadive Sea was grey and the sky was grey so off on the horizon it was very difficult to see where the sea ended and the sky began. A couple of busloads of school children came down to the beach and had a delightful time in the small waves. One teacher stood waist deep in the water facing the shore to make sure the children stayed safe.

After about 45 minutes we walked up the beach for a little way and happened upon a hotel with an open bar and a seat overlooking the sea. Here we stayed for 30 minutes enjoying a beer and a cold soft drink. Refreshed, we hailed another tuk-tuk back to the Cherai bus stop. A bus arrived soon after so we boarded as it took off towards Vypin. A young man soon advised us that the bus was indeed not going to Vypin. It was turning off somewhere, so we alighted. A woman who had also just alighted understood our error and pointed us in the right direction (figuratively speaking,  because the next bus on this road was the one we wanted). There you go again – two more examples of the locals looking after the tourists.

Back at the Vypin ferry terminal we boarded and were soon off back across the water. From here we grabbed a tuk-tuk to the Mattancherry district. Despite my hard bargaining I could not get the prices below 100 rupees (AUD$2.00). Must be the special week-end tourist rate we reasoned. At Mattancherry we visited a cafe we’ve been to a couple of times for a couple of sandwiches and coffee and then walked back to the hotel to rest after what was a pretty tiring day. A simple tea tonight of chips, cashews, oranges and coffee will see us through until we rise at 4:45am for our transfer out to Kochi airport and on to Delhi!