Kollam tour

Day 9 - 12th February 2019

Kollam

Up early again to watch the night's catch being landed on the beach outside our room.  Again it was too rough for turtles and dolphins, but it was a glorious sunrise and today there was much excitement and happiness as each boat came in.

The anchovies were running, and the race was on to be the first to market.

Carrying anchovies to market	Boats at the main Kollam fish market

After breakfast, Francis, our host, took us in his tuk tuk to a local festival at a temple. Four elephants arrived, and were fed, and then 'the largest elephant in Kerala' made his appearance, and dutifully saluted the gods.  Festivites like Annayottu, or Mass feeding of Elephants, are very typical to Kerala as to celebrate the happiness of Ganapati through elephant worship.

We watched part of a 'poor man's' kathakali performance, and and met several kind people who explained to us all about the festival. Everyone was very accommodating, and we were the only Europeans present.

We opted not to have lunch at our homestay, which was probably a mistake, but returned there for a rest before we were agin taken in the tuk tuk to the main Kollam market.  It was quieter than usual as three boats had capsized that morning in the rough seas. Fortunately, there were no casualties.

Thangassery Light House.	Francis in his tuk tuk	Madonna with Christ St Anthony's Church

We then went on to a British built lighthouse. The Thangassery Light House is the tallest lighthouse in Kerala!  It had a lift, but we opted to climb the 193 steep steps. I was a bit sceptical about this, but it was worth the climb with good views over the town.

We then moved on the Monroe Island.  I asked to stop at St. Anthony's church in Vaddy, Kollam. It has 700-year recorded history and the present structure is 100 years old. The present structure of the Vaddy church is the third one during its 700-year history. The earlier structures had been washed away by the sea.

I could tell that Francis was not keen to linger, and we then had a harem scarem journey weaving in and out of the traffic. Much to his frustration, we arrived just as the ferry was leaving, but this allowed time for a cup of chai.

When it returned, the queue had built up, but we all squeezed on, and on getting off, we continued at a fast pace even though the traffic was light.

We had a date with a boatman who was to take us out on a cruise through the backwaters on a small boat.  The reason for the rush became apparent when we arrived at the appointed place, and arch in the mangroves, through which we were to observe the setting sun.


This was a magical experience.  On our way back, we were dropped off at a temple festival, where the highlight was the young men rolling on the ground around a temple lit by 1,000 candles. Picked up by Francis, he then took us back to the first temple to watch the continuing festivities.  We arrived in time to see a procession of brightly decorated floats, accompanied by dancers and finally highly decorated elephants.  

Sunset in the Mangroes	Festival at xxx

Again, individuals and groups of people were extraordinarily friendly and helpful - and supportive as the crowds were psyched up! Francis returned to pick us up and we went back to the homestay for an evening meal, picking up his wife and daughter en route.

A new couple had arrived, and so we all travelled together in the tuk tuk to the late night kathakali performance.  There were about a dozen of us present when the show started - were they waiting for us?  After an hour or so of nods and winks, finger flicking and pointing, we were no the wiser as to the story being told, so slipped awy at 12:30am knowing there were still another 3-4 hours to go.

An so ended our last day in Kollam - a wonderful few  - too few - days.

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