The Wobblin' Sprocket

Tonite we had our final dinner together at the Caza Maria Restaurant in the old Jewish quarter of Fort Cochin: salad, spinach pie, prawns,chic ken and rice concluding with an apple and ice cream dessert. The building was interesting with high ceilings and artwork.

The food was great, but with everything that has happened during this tour, it was fitting that the power went off for about an hour…..meaning no fans and only candles for light. How the people in the kitchen managed to produce what they did was beyond me. To say it was a hot time in old Fort Cochin is an understatement. Thankfully, we had lots of cold beer and the lack of power did not seem to faze anyone.

The support team on this tour (Raj, Anil, Biji, Sainu, Mr. Mohan and Rajan), whom did a great job, rec’d many thanks.

And I would like to express thanks to the people who participated. A lot of things happened on this tour. None of them individually would have been unusual, but the combination of things that happened…travel challenges, a bad spill, lots or rain and some consequential mechanical challenges….. was extremely unusual and put a premium on one’s ability to make do in some trying circumstances. My sincere wish is that “Ganesh” (for good luck) will work his magic. You would have to have been there to really appreciate the meaning.

Best, Bob

We left the houseboats this morning about 9am. The ride today is flat. It’s about 35k to Raj’s

Island retreat where we rec’d traditional fisherman’s hats and took a boat out to Raj’s small couple of bamboo cottages. We had a traditional Keralan meal which we ate local style with our fingers. We also had a birthday cake for Jim Gantz to celebrate his birthday. It disappeared in about a nano second.

We didn’t leave until about 3:30pm and then transferred by van the short distance to Cochin.

The riding is over.

We have a final rest day in Cochin. The group is in the Ballard Bungalow and Graeme and I are in the Sui House since the Ballard isn’t quite big enough. They are both classic old structures with lots of character. My room really is a suite with a huge sitting room. We plan to have a final dinner here tomorrow night, if possible. I am told there is lots of history to the Sui House. I am sure I will find out more tomorrow nite.

 Best,

 Bob

We left the Thurisangu Haven near Kuttinam early at about 7:30am. Last nite we had a magic show. It exceeded my expectations. IThe best act was when the magician “ate” about 15 colored tissues and then pulled a multicolored ribbon of cloth from his mouth. Graeme tried it ended up with a mouth full of yuck.

We rode out the way we came in on small narrow roads throught tea country. There were many photogenic and friendly ladies “picking” tea leaves. You don’t actually pick leaves these days…..most pickers use something that looks like a hedge clip with a basket underneath to catch the cut leaves when they fall.

We stopped for lunch near Vagamon. After that. the road dropped away in dramatic fashion down to the plains.

Near Kottayam, I put my bike in the van and Raj, our local guide, and I thenvisited Snevi Bhavan which was about 10k off the main road. The surrounding area includes a lot of small rubber plantations and is quite picturesque. Snevi Bhavan is an orphanage that Chantal has recommended to support through the annual on-line auction of the Officer’s Club of the Canadian Embassy in Washington DC.

Snevi Bhavan began in 2000 when a local couple, Sanjini and Mathew came across a couple small kids on the side of the road, both of the kids parents had remarried and basically were abandoned. They took them. Before too long, people got wind of this and started to bring homeless children to them. Right now, in addition to their own son Matthew, they have 13 girls living with them. The girls range in age from 7 to 20.

All the girls took the day off from school, so I had a pretty substantial greeting party. Sanjini and the girls showed me around the place. The building is a two story cement structure, but looks to be one story in front since it is built into the side of the hill. All the girls sleep downstairs in a single concrete floor room. Next to that sleeping room is a kithchen with an open, wood buring fire for cooking. There is no refridgeration.

The girls showed me out back, where there is a great view. It was slippery though and I almost fell on my ass a couple times.

I asked Sanjini what she needed and the girls needed at the orphanage and she said an embroidery machine. I told her that I’d get her one. We all then piled into the cab and went into town to look for one. After stopping by the exchange office so I could get some more cash, we went to an appliance store. No luck they did not have one. We went to a 2^nd store and received the same answer. Finally we went to the a third store, The third store was unlike the others. It was only 5 feet wide, essentially a walkway, but crammed full of nothing but sewing machines and spare parts. It was a repair shop, but they had a brand new Raven embroidery machine. These things are essentially tanks. They come with a stand and huge electric motor mounted underneath the table surface with a cord mechanism used to transfer power. A big foot pedal controls the speed.

For the next hour and ½ or so, we watched Asu (the friendly repair shop guy) assemble the machine. It was no small job and we all watched with interest. He asembled bobbins to hold thread, he assembled the cord to transfer power, he mounted control arms and a bunch of pieces and parts. He clearly knew what he was dong. When he was done, I tried the machine and Sanjini tried it also. It worked great. Ihave to tell you it is not the easiest thing to do. Your knee controls an arm that determines the width of needle strikes. Your foot controls the speed of the needle moving up and down and your hands control the material and therefore the line of the embroidery. It clearly would take some practice. I gave Sanjini and Mathew some rupees so they could hire someone to cart the heavy machine to the orphanage and Raj and I went on our way. Raj and I continued on to Allepey where the group was already cruising on 3 houseboats. One pulled over to pick us up. We have a nite on the boats.

Best, Bob

The girls and I:

The youngest:

Their kitchen:

Painting for Chantal:

The sewing machine shop:

Sanjini and Mathew in the shop: