December 20th

Awoke and around by 08, with breakfast at 09. We had parotta with creamy coconut gravy with diced veggies; and a type of bean (similar to a black-eyed pea),coconut and veggie dish, they call a stew, served over rice with coconut flakes. Jeff liked the first dish, I liked the second one. Both were very good. We also had some boiled, unpeeled bananas, so sweet and nice way to end the meal with our hostess made masala tea. Yum! It was so filling. Our hostess told us about a festival/carnival (it is part of the Chirap festival) at a couple of Hindu temples tonight, and they can book us a tuk-tuk if we were interested. Well, YES!

Right after we ate we went to the beach, but this time we had on our bathing suits!! This is the first time we actually swim in the water! We are fully swimming in the Arabian Sea/Indian Ocean… and it is very nice. The temperature of the water is very comfortable/tolerable. The sun is not as pleasant though. We only did about 15 minutes in the water. But, wow, what a fabulous 15 minutes. We have decided we need to go out before breakfast. We went back to our homestay to rinse off. 

After we relaxed a bit, we went back out. We needed to find an ATM. India does not seem to accept credit cards much. They do accept a scanner system, like Paypal. It is a great/fast system, but does have a 4% transaction charge. Anyway, we got some steps in. We walked back and stopped at another restaurant, Ocean Shack. We had chicken and veggie momos. I ordered two each, thinking it would be two chicken and two veggie. But it was like 12 each! Thankfully, they are smallish and it was after two o’clock. We also had a green apple mojito (if I drop the ‘mojito’ in my mind it is good); and a lime mint drink. We went back to our place and stopped again to get some cold water. Now siesta time!

Around 430 pm we readied for our tuk-tuk (pickup time 445). Our driver is a neighbor of our homestay hosts. It is always fun to ride in one of these at least once! But it is loud, from the engine and all the “meep-meeps” (horn-honking) that they constantly do. In about 15 minutes we were at the first temple, Kidangamparabu Sree Bhuvaneswari Temple. It was still light out – the sun had not set. The decorations in the temple were still being put out/set up; shopkeepers were still setting up stalls; and the lights were not on yet. But it will be great to see the contrast – day vs. night. after we walked through the temple, and saw the fascinating carvings of various scenes/depictions of Hindu gods. After we saw it all in the day, we walked around the area. We went to a hypermart we had seen from the tuk-tuk. Well, it called itself a hypermart, but not really the case. We did not find anything and went out. We walked about more and bought a bag of just popped popcorn. Then we had a small soda each. Around 620 pm the big road entrance decoration lit up; took some photos; then walked back to the temple. It was much busier. All the shops were set up, playing loud music, and hawking their goods: from jewelry to clothes; spices to kitchen goods; food to toys, even a pet show. There was also sea of people. The lights were all lit. It was overwhelming to the senses of one’s eyes, ears, and nose. We went back into the temple to compare. It was still not very full. 

Next we went to the next temple, Mullakkal Rajarajeswari Temple. There was the same big road entrance decoration, all lit up, but it had a bigger light display on the road thereafter to the temple. (Reminded Jeff and I both of Los Vegas’ strip!) The temple itself was also lit up with streamers of light. There were more people in this temple and they were actually worshipping. So we did not stay too long. Right next to the temple was a actual carnival, complete with more stalls,but of games, not goods; cotton candy hawkers; food stands; but most of all rides – for kids of all ages. There were little trains and merry-go-rounds to a ferris wheel; a large swinging boat; and even a motorcycle motordrome! Again having our three senses overwhelmed! We headed out. It is always fun to see people enjoying themselves.

We called our homestay host to arrange our tuk-tuk to come and get us. We had a great time. Back at our place I wrote this out and then readied for bed. Another celebration, fun day in India.