Posted by Seth on December 31, 2011 under frequent flyer, points, Trip Reports | 
As 2011 comes to a close it is time once again to look back at all the crazy I’ve managed to experience in such a short period of time. This was once again a banner year for me, with plenty of new experiences. It also had a number of repeats, however, and those were mostly good, too. And so, without further ado, some of the highlights of my 2011 travel numbers.
It was a personal best for me in terms of total miles flown at 217,781. That is more than eight times around the globe (though I only did that as an actual trip once) or 87% of the way to the moon. The miles were spread across 103 segments for an average of over 2100 miles/flight; apparently this was the year of long-haul for me. That said, I also managed to grab some really short flights, like a 93 mile hop from Carlsbad, CA to Los Angeles. Awesome views of sunrise on that one.
It was also the year of one million actual flight miles. I actually know there are many more from other trips as a kid that I cannot properly document so I’m not counting them, but I definitely became a millionaire this year.
Of the 104 segments there were 54 routes I had previously not flown. There were also 54 in coach. That’s right, more than half the flights (though only 47% of the total miles flown) were in coach. It isn’t always champagne and caviar for me, though there is plenty of that, too. Oh, and only 5 of those segments were work-related, making up less than 1% of the total mileage flown. Only 19 of the flights were on regional planes of fewer than 90 seats.
Speaking of airplanes, I flew on 33 different aircraft types, including 7 I had not previously flown on. I finally got to fly on an A380 (though I had been on one a few times prior) and I got to fly the 787 in its first week of commercial service. I also got the A345 and A342, a Dash8-100 and an E35, completing my collection of all the Embraer RJs. That’s something of an ignominious accomplishment, but there it is.
I flew on 17 different carriers, of which 5 were new to me. SriLankan, AirOne, South African, ANA, Austrian and Alaska Airlines were the new ones and all but AirOne were quite pleasant.
As for where I traveled, there weren’t as many new countries for me this year – only 7 – as last. Austria, South Africa, Mauritius, China, Brazil, Argentina and Sri Lanka are the new entries in that collection, bringing my total number over 50. I managed to enter a foreign country 20 times through the year, plus all the returns to the USA. No wonder I needed extra pages in my passport. Again. Two of the trips had 3 countries in them; I’ll best that mark early in 2012 with a six-crossing week in January.
Perhaps the most surprising number to me, however, was the total spend I had in consular fees. I paid for new pages for my passport and for my wife. There were also the visas required for India, China, Brazil and Argentina (though I ended up getting out of that last one). Overall I spent nearly $1,000 on consular fees alone. No regrets there at all, but the numbers can add up in a hurry.
I didn’t count how many nights were in hotels or on airplanes (something to add to my list next year, I suppose) but my best guess count based on my TripIt records is nearly 100 nights spent not at home.
There was a trip derailed by an earthquake (I ended up in Guam/Hong Kong instead of Tokyo) and then two more trips later in the year to Tokyo to make up for it. I had an airline try to charge me more while at the gate and I managed to take a VDB in a foreign language. I got to drive a jet bridge, load baggage, make boarding announcements and walk a plane out on pushback (all appropriately supervised, of course).
I got to join three different couples in celebrating their weddings all over the world and narrowly missed out on crashing a couple more wedding parties here in India towards the end. I got to relive a bit of history with TWA and a ride in a helicopter over the tip of South Africa.
I saw penguins, went diving in the Pacific and pet an elephant in India. There were also giraffes, cheetahs and antelopes. Plenty of wild in my life.
Indeed, it was a good year, maybe even a great year. And 2012 shows no signs of that letting up. Happy new year to all; may your upgrades clear and your flights on time.
Tags: 787, A380, Airbus, Alaska Airlines, ANA, Argentina, Austria, Boeing, Brazil, China, Dreamliner, Embraer, India, Mauritius, South Africa, South African Airways, Sri Lanka, SriLankan
Posted by Seth on December 30, 2011 under Review, Trip Reports |
With the city besieged by a tropical cyclone and some uncertainty about the drivability of the roads we set off early for the airport. The ride didn’t take too long, all things considered, despite the areas of ankle-deep standing water we encountered from time to time. With three hours in the airport prior to our departure, and only a small amount of that taken up figuring out how to get the appropriate credentials to get past the guards there was plenty of time for lounge hopping.
There are two lounges in the international terminal, both of which are accessible via the Priority Pass I received from my American Express Platinum card. The first, the Royal Lounge by Le Royal Meridien was lovely inside.
Alas, they had no food available at that time and the host suggested we try the Clipper Lounge instead. So we did. Probably a mistake.
The Clipper Lounge is actually fine, though a bit darker and less welcoming than the Royal Lounge. It is also larger, however, so it does not surprise me that they wanted to shift the Priority Pass customers over here.
The beer is cold, however, and served in the big bottles, which covers a large number of other issues.
More details on these and nearly 500 other lounges are available at the Wandering Aramean Travel Tools Lounge Guide.
Posted by Seth on December 30, 2011 under News |
Filing a lawsuit against a company for causing you to feel ashamed and distressed is an interesting claim. It seems an especially ridiculous one, however, when the claim is based on having gotten in a fight with a gate agent at the airport following a missed connection. It is doubly so when the basis of demanding better service from the agent was throwing your elite card at them and expecting them to "hop to" and move worlds because of that. And yet even more ridiculous when you cannot even properly do that, instead presenting your debit card to the agent.
The woman demanding $150-300,000 for having spent 15 hours in jail as a result of being such a block-headed, self-absorbed, over-entitled moron doesn’t even deserve the $10-30,000 that Delta supposedly offered in a pre-trial mediation.
I know that it will cost delta more than the settlement cash offered in legal fees to see this one out. Hopefully the plaintiff learns another hard lesson here. What a moron.
There’s also a chance that I’m completely misreading the situation and that she really was maliciously prosecuted by the company for quite calmly asking for help and the debit/Medallion card thing was completely made up by the gate agent. But I’m betting against it.
Posted by Seth on December 29, 2011 under Hotel, Review, Trip Reports |
It generally takes a very special situation for me to consider dropping $300+ per night on a hotel room. I rarely see the value in that high a spend for what is essentially a bed and shower in most cases. And when I do stay at such hotels I certainly have higher expectations of them. After all, for that much more money there must be something more that comes with it, right?
The Vivanta by Taj, Malabar Cochin is generally the most expensive property in Kochi and it was certainly not in my price range for the trip. But when things got screwed up at the hotel I was actually booked at and we ended up there I was certainly willing to give it a look and see how the other half lives.
First impressions were solid. The fact that we arrived on foot certainly confused them a bit but they barely missed a beat, welcoming us in and getting us situated in our room reasonably quickly. The room was, by nearly every measure, quite lovely.
Well appointed and the fainting couch rather than a regular chair was a nice touch. Ditto on it being large enough that the desk could face out the window rather than into the wall.
OK, the view could’ve been a bit better, but someone has to get the lesser sight lines and I cannot really complain too much there.
The window in the bathroom was a little strange, but we lowered the shade and took care of that.
So the room was fine. Probably not 8x better than the room we were in prior, but definitely better. What else should come with the higher rate? Location and service are two bits I definitely expect.
The location and views were top notch, so long as you didn’t want to leave the property. If you wanted to visit Fort Cochin, where the history really is, that’s a ferry ride away and not necessarily an easy one to get to (though we arrived on it just fine). I also heard rumors of a private boat shuttle over to the Fort but I never actually saw it in action so I don’t really know.
Service was mostly good, though there were definitely some holes as well. Being greeted by name from a staff member to whom I hadn’t introduced myself was a nice touch. The pool staff rarely cleaning up the area when guests left, routinely running out of towels and being slow on the beer service was notably less impressive. When it was good it was a solid product. But when it was bad, it was pretty insulting considering the prices being charged.
The other thing that was surprisingly disappointing was the quality of the basic amenities. Things like towels that were more scratchy than soft. Yeah, it is a little thing and I certainly still ended up dry at the end of my shower, but those little things are where a hotel that wants to be a true luxury property should shine.
The food at the couple on-site restaurants we tried was pretty good, though not the best meals we had in town. Not particularly surprising given that there were a couple very good restaurants available. Not sure that I really expected more (or if I should have), but it wasn’t amazing. Some decent flavors at least in most meals.
Oh, and they gave us little gifts at check-out. I got a collection of local spices and my wife a ceramic beaded necklace. Definitely a nice touch and a mark in the plus column.
The Vivanta Malabar was nice. It was even great in some areas. But it definitely didn’t demand the rates they were charging. Neither the location, service nor rooms were that much better than other options in town. Then again, it did have rooms and I needed one, so I suppose there’s something to be said for that level of value.
Posted by Seth on December 29, 2011 under Trip Reports |
Or maybe a rock star. Or some other sort of star. At least in India. Seriously, if you’re ever looking for some attention I highly recommend being a six foot tall and very pale skinned woman in India. The experience is incredibly exciting.
We first had a brush with the phenomenon on our prior trip, where both her and her mother were here. That was nearly chaos as there were two of them. People wanted to touch them, to say hello, to simply be nearby. Babies were pressed up close and school kids smiled and giggled. It was pretty insane.
Fast forward six years and we got to do it all over again. Only one star that I was lucky enough to be with on this trip, but it was still pretty awesome. The kids we ran in to at most of the sites were cute but too shy to say much more than hello. The older women, however, had no such reservations. They were on her in a heartbeat. And as soon as the floodgates opened – that is, she agreed to take one photo – the crowds flowed.
I wanted to be able to send them copies of the photos somehow, either via email or the postal service. Sadly, however, the ability to communicate that was entirely too difficult and it did not come to pass. Most were still quite excited to see their photos on the LCD screen of my camera and that will have to be good enough. They certainly seemed to think it was.
I’m told the paparazzi effect can get tiring at some point. We did eventually have to turn down a few latecomers to the party as we never would have managed to leave the first of many sites had we not. Still, it was rather remarkable just how excited and happy the folks were for the opportunity. Such a fun and easy way to brighten a few folks’ day.
Oh, and we did get a bit of payback at one point. We snuck into the back of a family photo at the Shore Temples of Mamallapuram. There’s going to be one confused group of folks when they finally see that one.
Posted by Seth on December 28, 2011 under Hotel, Review, Trip Reports |
I’ve probably bored just about everyone into submission with the tales of woe involving our hotel arrangements while in Kochi (read here and here if I haven’t). We wanted to be in the Fort Cochin area (the old part of town) and we wanted to not pay a fortune. I tried a few places and struck out. I was leery of the Sonnetta Residency, mostly because it was pitched at a price point (~$45/night, including air conditioning, booked via hotels.com) that could be a great value or a horrible nightmare. Fortunately our stay was mostly the former.
We had arranged in advance to have a car from the hotel meet us at the Cochin airport upon arrival. I didn’t see anyone when we came out so I called. The owner insisted that the driver was there so we waded back through the ranks of drivers and found one with my pseudonym, Manuel Mueller, and the name of the hotel. Well, maybe they misspelled my name, but so long as they got us to the hotel I wasn’t complaining. Turns out there was also a Manuel Mueller checking in that day and we stole his car; I didn’t run in to him during our stay but I hope my driver was there for him when he landed.
The hotel itself is a small property located in the heart of the old Fort Cochin area. It is on a small street between the park at the waterfront and the Basilica. Really a great location for basing explorations of the area. Then again, the neighborhood is pretty small so it would be hard to be there and in a bad location. With only 8 rooms and the owner living and working on-site it is easy to feel at home while at the Sonnetta. They were incredibly friendly and happy to help with arranging tours and such as requested.
The room was nothing special, but it was exactly what I expected at that price point. It was clean, the air conditioning was cold and only slightly too loud, and the bathroom was functional. And pink.
The beds were firm, but still had some cushion to them. My main complaint is that the wifi didn’t reach back to our room from the lobby, and the repeater access point was obviously missing on the wall where it would have worked. The included breakfast was just OK – a fried egg and some toast – but there are plenty of better food options for <$3/person in the area so that wasn’t a huge drawback at all. Plus he offered us up shots of his homemade hooch to celebrate Christmas morning alongside the breakfast.
Oh, and the proprietor screwed up our reservation.
Getting a room in one place for four nights across Christmas was a challenge. I thought we had scored big when the Sonnetta was available and we got it booked. And I was really happy with the room at that price point. But when the owner asked us to pack up and move out on day three of our stay it was quite a surprise. We ended up moving to the Vivanta by Taj, a much fancier hotel thanks to hotels.com taking care of us, but that wasn’t what the owner had originally planned.
As we were headed out to catch the ferry he finally figured out where things had gone wrong. Knowing that he was overbooked for that night he had arranged with another hotel to take us on for the one night, expecting that we would happily move over there and then come back for night number four. Don’t get me wrong, I understand the value of mattress running, but this wasn’t that situation. And the fact that he hadn’t asked if it was okay nor informed us in advance was rather inappropriate in my view.
The room was great, the location was great and the price was certainly right. Sadly, however, the SNAFU with the rooms was a rather noticeable strike against the place. Probably not enough to stop me from booking in again, but it was not as positive an ending to the stay as I’d expected.
Posted by Seth on December 28, 2011 under Trip Reports |
It was about 9:15am on Christmas Eve when the gravity of the situation finally hit me. For thirty-odd years I had been pretty confident that things were working out OK between us. Sure it wasn’t perfect, but it was reasonably useful and fit my face well enough. That relationship – between my nose and me – was rocked on a Friday morning near Kodanad, Kerala, India, not far from Kochi.
It was the elephants’ fault.
We took a day trip out from Kochi to see the elephants and the waterfalls. It is one of the standard offerings from all the tourist agencies and taxi companies so it was not particularly hard to arrange. It leaves around 6:30am, pretty early for a vacation activity, but if you want to see the elephants being bathed that’s when you have to get started. An hour or so later we arrived in Kodanad and walked down to the waterfront to await the arrival of the elephants.
While awaiting their arrival we were treated to the scenes of the river. That mostly meant men taking their morning baths, but there was also some traffic a bit down the river with cargo boats shuttling back and forth between the banks and some construction sites. Quite peaceful and pretty overall.
Not surprisingly, they make quite an entrance. The three we saw were pretty big and they were only 6-10 years old. They came marching down the track to the river with their handlers, moving between the 25 or so tourists gathered to watch the daily ritual. They made it to the water’s edge, took a drink of water and then settled in for their spa treatment.
The baths lasted about 45 minutes; there’s a lot of ground to cover when dealing with animals that size. The handlers scrubbed them down with old coconut husks, offering up an exfoliation treatment along with the wash. There was some rolling of the elephants back and forth and such as well, allowing everyone to get views up close of the animals.
When the bath was done there was also the opportunity to get really close, petting them if desired. I was actually surprised by the bristly hairs more than anything.
Back to the nose thing for a minute though. Watching the elephants and seeing them use their trunks for pretty much anything they wanted induced great jealousy on my part. The prehensile trunks, with a “thumb” on the tip of the trunk was particularly impressive. They could use it to grab sticks to scratch themselves or to pick up food for a snack. It was awesome. Mine can barely breathe or smell most days. It certainly doesn’t have the ability to hold anything or grab on to a snack as I’m walking down the street. Yup, I’ve got trunk envy.
The show is free, though the mahouts expect a tip from you for attending.
There was also a guy who made the trip but who apparently had no interest in the event. Rather he was there to shout at the rest of us, reminding us that we were contributing to the captivity and torture of the animals. I can certainly see where he’s coming from, but I’m not particularly convinced that the situation is as bad as was suggested. The elephants are part of a rescue facility run by the government, not a commercial operation. Yes, they are kept in captivity, but there isn’t really a wild environment for them in the area anymore. This certainly seems better than having them fend for themselves completely in an area where there is insufficient food and land for their needs. I saw elephants in South Africa over the summer and asked similar questions of the guides there. In that case it is a more wild environment, though they are still theoretically fenced in (theoretically because the elephants can usually get through the fence without issue). And it still didn’t seem that bad. Maybe I’m just making up excuses for enjoying the scene, but that’s where I’m at.
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Posted by Seth on December 28, 2011 under frequent flyer, points |
Yeah, I said it. So did Chris Elliott recently, and perhaps for the only time ever I’m going to mostly defend his point of view on this topic. I think he went too far in suggesting that all customers should walk away wholesale from the programs and that the programs are "corrupt and corrupting" (especially without explaining what he means there). And I disagree that there is a problem with only some passengers enjoying all the benefits of the programs. But there is definitely a large group of folks for whom focusing on the points is absolutely not the smart play.
Sure, collect them if you’re making the transaction anyways, but don’t be too disappointed if they expire (or use a service like GoMiles.com to help prevent them from expiring). And certainly don’t let points drive you to irrational spending decisions, like paying markedly more for the exact same product, just to earn a trivial number of points. That’s foolish even for the folks who can actually benefit from the programs and doubly so for folks who don’t benefit from them.
For the vast majority of travelers there are only two things that matter: price and schedule. And for most of those folks it is only price. Yes, there are significant differences in the way the travel experience will play out depending on which carrier you fly on. The difference between flying from New York City to Ft. Lauderdale on JetBlue or Spirit Air could not be more dramatic for a pair of products that are arguably the same thing, 1000 miles in a coach seat. But at the end of the day, if the Spirit flight is notably less expensive they’re going to sell seats to a chunk of customers.
The other thing to remember is that the vast majority of travelers are not actually particularly frequent fliers. The number of folks actually flying 25,000 miles or more annually is a terribly small subset of the total traveling public. For the folks who are actually flying a lot – and 25,000 miles annually is just the tip of that iceberg – there is absolutely value to be had in the programs. And even for some folks looking to rack up crazy amount of points via credit card transactions (hopefully with someone else’s money) there is value in the programs. But, again, that 25,000 annual number seems to be a pretty smart place to start as a threshold considering the fees and opportunity costs of directing spend to different cards.
The most surprising and also internally inconsistent claim made in that column is that the programs, started to help differentiate the airlines in a deregulated environment as the service levels started to rapidly decline, should somehow find a way to provide the same benefits for everyone. The programs are, for the most part, rewarding the folks who provide the most value to the airlines. Just because a passenger thinks they’re being loyal by making sure their once per year trip is on the same airline doesn’t mean they are actually a loyal customer. They certainly are unlikely to be a profitable one to the carriers. By providing incentives – mostly in the form of improved service levels in some form or another – to their most profitable customers the airlines are generating exactly the type of symbiotic relationship that good marketing should build. It isn’t at all clear why this is a bad thing in his view.
Are the programs perfect for everyone? Of course not. The implication that they should be is a pretty ridiculous leap that Elliott makes and one that unfortunately detracts from the very accurate part of his claim: most folks do not benefit from the programs. I certainly do, but I also know which of my friends and family to guide more towards loyalty and which to guide more towards always buying the cheapest fare, based on travel patterns and reward goals. The vast majority of the scenarios tend towards avoiding the loyalty programs, or at least not using them to drive purchasing decisions.
And anyone who says otherwise is either ignorant or lying to you.
Posted by Seth on December 27, 2011 under frequent flyer, Hotel, points, Review, Trip Reports |
Our Lufthansa flight from Frankfurt landed at Chennai’s international airport a few minutes prior to midnight. Our flight the following morning to Kochi was at 6:15am. We needed sleep, we needed it near the airport and, after having been traveling for more than 20 hours by that point, we wanted a good bed. The only regret I have about our stay at the Radisson Blu GRT at the Chennai airport is that we only had 4.5 hours there.
That we even had that much time was somewhat amazing. We cleared immigration in minutes and with no checked bags we were outside at the curb in a flash. The mass of people standing at the barricade, awaiting incoming passengers is always an enjoyable scene for me. Still, I’m quite glad that we had arranged in advance with the hotel to have their complementary shuttle service collect us at the airport. A uniformed agent was standing inside the arrivals barricade and escorted us to the area where the drivers were waiting.
Rather than a shared van service the shuttle is a private car. Cold water available once inside and, much to my surprise, check-in service as well. The driver presented us with our room keys, chits for drinks and breakfast during the stay and a welcome letter from the GM – including his mobile number – as we headed up the highway to the hotel. We still had to stop by the front desk to have our passports copied per federal law, but taking care of the details while in the car definitely saved time. Approximately 35 minutes after we had landed we were in our room.
The room was quite nicely appointed. A comfy bed, nice work area and a chair to lounge in. Typical, but all quite comfortable, too. Plus a plate of fruit awaiting us.
There was an LCD TV that I’m guessing had many channels of satellite service available but we were only interested in a shower and sleeping.
Speaking of a shower, the bathroom was similarly nice. Nothing over the top, to be sure, but it had both a rain shower overhead and a hand-held shower in the tub.
Oh, and slippers bed-side.
Also during the check-in process the gentleman working the counter pulled out an embossed card for Carlson Club, the loyalty program associated with the hotel chain. I was able to provide him with my number as I already had one but this was the first time ever that I had seen the real card handed to a guest upon enrollment while at the property. He had even started to explain the program details to me before I realized what was going on and provided him with my number instead. I was impressed.
Alas, 4:30am came all too soon and we were up, packed and back in the lobby shortly thereafter. It was a quick ride back to the airport and we were off again. We didn’t get to use the breakfast or drink chits. We also missed out on the free 15 minute foot massages at the spa in the basement. And we didn’t get to try the kebab restaurant (really a shish restaurant, but that’s a whole different rant…) that is supposedly quite good. We did, however, get a pretty good night’s sleep and thoroughly enjoyed the service at the property. As it is located near the airport it is not particularly convenient for actually being in town. But should it be an airport property you need, this is near the top of my list. I paid about $130/night including taxes via hotels.com for the room. Between the prompt and excellent shuttle service and the comfy bed it was definitely worth that rate that night. With the other bits that we didn’t get to try it would likely be a tremendous value.
Posted by Seth on December 27, 2011 under Trip Reports |
The first few days of this trip seemed too easy. Yes, there were the typical problems that happen, mostly associated with my being an awful negotiator, but overall the trip was going pretty well. It was a far cry from our first trip to India six years ago when things just seemed a lot harder. Maybe it was because we weren’t taking public transportation. But that trip was only one train ride and the rest basically the same as this one. Maybe it was because India had chilled out in the past 6 years. Or maybe because I’m a better traveler. Neither of those really seemed likely either.
And then we made the hop from Kochi to Chennai and reality came rushing back in a hurry. The two hours of traffic to travel the 43 kilometers from our hotel to the airport in Kochi was just the beginning. The flight was actually fine and the transfer from the airport to the hotel was lovely. Then we tried to get out of the hotel and do some other things. Maybe a trip to the beach, or just to wander around the neighborhood and over to the mall a kilometer away. Not so fast.
Getting a car was either ridiculously expensive or going to take hours, so that was no good. We did end up making the walk over to the mall which had only 3 stores open. Sure, one of them is selling out all the leftover inventory of tulip-liveried United Airlines models in the toys section, but that’s not really going to get me very far. We did head to the bar at the brand new Hyatt in the same building (quite lovely), but even that portion of the trip had its own collection of fun, like all the beggars that apparently are kept out of Fort Cochin were trucked in here. Or the tuk tuk driver who stalked us for a few blocks, waiting for us to give up and hop in. The roads were chaotic and the crowds much crazier. It was the India I remember, the India I love.
I love that it is a harder experience. I love that the ride back on the tuk tuk took us by some less than elegant neighborhoods and that we saw not just the sanitized version but also the real bits of life on the streets here. Those experiences are what make travel so amazing to me. I can get mediocre quality hotel food anywhere in the world; getting out and seeing what’s actually happening on the streets means a few more risks, a few more challenges and tremendously greater reward.
Kerala is relatively easy travel. There’s nothing wrong with that, but it also just isn’t quite the same. I’m happy to get to experience the challenge again. I’ve got two more days of it and I cannot wait. Game on!
Posted by Seth on December 26, 2011 under Trip Reports |
There are miles upon miles of canals and lakes in the Southern Kerala region, mostly centered around the town of Alleppey (or Alleppy or Alappuzha). They form an impressive network that has some calling the area the "Venice of the East." It is certainly no Venice, though that’s both a good thing and a bad thing. The canals provide, among other things, water and transport connectivity for vast rice paddies in the region. Today there is less rice farming (though it definitely still exists) and more tourism in the area. Buildings that used to house farmers now house coolers stocked with ice cream and soda for the visitors. Many of the old cargo boats have been converted to houseboats, plying the waters loaded with tourists out for a day cruise or an overnight stay anchored out on the lakes.
There is still plenty of local life on the canals. We hired a relatively small boat for a 3 hour tour of the backwaters (cue Gilligan’s Island) and headed out to see what there was to see.
We puttered by as folks went about their daily routine, most of which appeared to be doing laundry. And being out on the water was a rather pleasant way to spend a few hours, with a cool breeze blowing through the boat. Still, I cannot help but think we were doing something wrong with our version of the tour. Maybe I’m just not cut out for the slow boat.
And it was incredibly slow. I think that I could have swam faster at points in the cruise, though I certainly wouldn’t be swimming in that water. Maybe that was just our boat. Actually it probably was as we were getting passed by pretty much every other boat out on the water. I suppose the slow is good for taking in the sights but we were only on the boat for a few hours and I’d have rather seen more than seen slow. Alas, it was not meant to be.
The peek into folks’ lives was a bit overly voyeuristic, particularly as they don’t really have much choice in the matter. They were doing laundry, washing dishes or washing themselves in the river. And there we were, motoring by at 3 miles/hour, staring at them from 25-100 feet away. It was a bit strange.
The other bit that disappointed me more on the tour is that we purposefully chose a smaller boat, not one of the 3 bedroom behemoths with satellite and a/c, so that we could sail through some of the smaller canals and see a more intimate version of the life. Yes, I know that doesn’t really jive with the strange mentioned above, but, well, I’ve always had issues with internal consistency. We wanted that slightly different experience. When we booked the boat we discussed this with the proprietor and he agreed that we’d see that aspect of things. Three hours later we returned to the dock having followed the exact same path as all the other boats, large or small. There was apparently no variety to be had on the tour despite the promises made.
It wasn’t a bad day-trip from Kochi. We definitely enjoyed the time on the water and relaxing. But it was a bit of a let-down compared to what I’d read about and what I think it could have been. Probably more our fault than not – I don’t think that it is an experience that should be arranged as a day-trip and also not one that can be easily booked from afar. You have to know what you’re getting, see the boat and make sure it will meet your needs rather than hope for the best upon arrival. And spending only a few hours on the water versus a full day also doesn’t offer up the ability to cruise as far back into the network of canals, though I also didn’t realize we’d be moving so slowly throughout the trip so I thought we’d cover more ground (or water, as it were).
I would almost certainly consider doing it again if we are back in the area. I’d just make sure we did it differently.
