Day 5 & 6 - The tale of two chruches - Mattel & Cruz Millagres.

Day 5: Kumarakom - Thaneermukkom, Thavanakadavu, Aroor

NOTE : Pictures courtesy Mathew Vurghese, Jibin Thomas & Murugan Krishnan


It was 3:00AM when we woke up and Mathew's Mother was ready with the Kadunkappi (Black coffee). Black coffee forms the norm of early morning habituate in central Travancore. We all got ready and as the kayaks got rigged, we were ready to move.

Happy birthday to you.....Mathew cutting Birthday cake at Kumarakkom.

The cake for Mathew (remember it’s his birthday) was placed on a Kayak with lighted candles as someone called out to Mathew to say we were good to go! After the birthday celebration, one by one we took the kayak to the waterfront, 50meters from Mathew's house. The first group departed with headlights helping the motorized fishing crafts steer clear of us in the narrow canal that would take us to the Vembanadu Lake, past the boat jetty at Kumarakom. The lake was still, blinkers on the fishing boats and the gill nets markers they had deployed made navigation tough. The only hope was to deploy the compass and use dead reckoning. After many stops to discuss the bearing, keeping the moon on to our left was agreed as the right course to reach the western end of Taneermukkam bund. The backwaters were endless, we had left Mathew's place at 4:00AM and had to paddle 10KM to reach the locks. As we passed 5:30AM, a fisherman gave us the course to follow and there was relief for we were on the right track. For the first time, lack of a GPS device was felt; imagine how not far in our past, navigation was an art of science! We felt humbled for not being able to spot the north star thanks to our ignorance and for light pollution.

The locks opening at Thaneermukkom Bund.

Waiting for locks to open on the other side.

We had left Kumarakom as two groups and the forward party were six of us. It was tiring as Taneermukkam bund came into view and few of us trouped to the local market, seeking a tea to balm the early morning confusion and effort! Tea and breakfast are time consuming affairs and our past experience told us that we should push on. Gopu, the co-ordinator has visited the lock office the day before and hence we had support crossing the locks, manned by six government employees! Kaushiq recalled how locks in the United Kingdom were electrically operated. We waited for the second group to join us and as they were not in sight, we decided to cross the bund. The six of us got into the lock and were released into the saline water on the other side. The Kerala Dredging corporation and tourism offices were on our left and last  year we had pulled over to visit a good local Kappikada(local tea shop), it was 630AM and we decided to push on for Thavanakadavu for the breakfast halt, which was another 10KM ahead. Thavanakadavu is on the other side of the temple town of Vaikom.

Endless kayal, north of Thaneermukkom Bund

A ferry connects Vaikom to Thavanakadavu and is a bustling place.  We paddled on passing fishermen and clam extractors and it was past 8:00AM when we saw the ferry.

Pappu - The youngest member of the kayaking team.

We realized that Pappu (the youngest) had paddled so far off that he would miss the breakfast stop. We were close to Thavanakadavu and were asking the locals for any Kappikada, which was nearby. One of us had to paddle hard to reach Pappu and we did so close to the jetty.

Boat jetty at Thavanakadavu.

Pulling into the boat and bus jetty/stand, we moored the kayaks and headed for some good breakfast at the local Kappikada. Appam, puttu, kadalakari and muttaroast went down with gulps of sweet tea. The newly inaugurated toilet was a blessing. In between we had a call from the second team telling about them losing the bearing for the bund and Dani having dropped an expensive camera into water, which was retrieved! They updated us about having breakfast at the Kappikada next to the bund and told us to keep going.

Mattel Palli (Church), near Thavanakadavu.

It was 9:30AM when we set paddling with the Mattel church as our intermediate waypoint. Mattel church is the places were St. Thomas’s holy cross was found after being lost. Mattel church stands on a Thuruth (Mudflat with overgrowth that is almost flooded during high tide) and had few dogs that sounded ferocious. We took pictures of the place and pushed on with Aroor as our destination. The backwaters here is beautiful and vast, and the low tide made us feel as though we were gliding on a smooth slope with its incline toward Kochi. Fishermen have placed bamboo poles, across the backwater for attaching gill nets and the same poles form hangouts for fish to be reeled in. 

Jankar service, Mekkekadavu Nerekadavu, North of Vaikkom.

The only traffic we saw here were the Jankar service and the occasional speed boat, that we imagined were competing against the chokked roads in Kerala.  The imaginary incline we felt seemed to mesmerize Rakshit, he took off and repeated what Papu did and disappeared from view. It was well past 11:00AM when we made our left at Kaithapuzha Kayal and entered Achanthuruthu shortcut; we paddled on to re-join the backwaters. As we exited the Thuruth, there was no sight of Rakshit. Raj took the time to call the port officials at Cochin and as agreed during his meeting, told about our planned arrival at the Vendhuruthy Bridge, the next day at 7:00AM. Raj had met the port officials and they had agreed to escort us across the shipping channel to Fort Vypeen.  It was another few minutes later that we connected with Rakshit on phone and as he joined, we all decided not to break away from the team. We were told to look for Vaduthala jetty were school kids were waiting to receive us.

Rakshit briefing School kids at Vaduthala Jetty, south of Aroor.

Going past the ferry that crisscross various Thuruth’s here, we reached Vaduthala Jetty with 100’s of kids cheering us, along with Gopu and Anoop. They wanted us to come closer to the bank, braving water hyacinth and the excitement was such that we could not resist. Except for a few of us, we all took the kayaks as close as we could and explained to them what we were doing and kayaks in detail. We promised to meet at their school post lunch and with great struggle broke free of the weed. Our destination was on the other side of the big expanse, on the island of Panangad, 4KM. Past 12, the sun was at its peak, the wind from the west had made the waters choppy, and paddling was getting hard. We had initially planned to be at the Ernakulum Sailing Association campus and had to change plans as the sailing association had moved premises. 

Meridian Homes, the property Ravi is developing in Panangad.

Raj's friend Ravi, who is the MD of Meridian homes, had a villa project at Panangad, which was our new destination. The day was perhaps the longest distance we had paddled, 35KM or more. Raj was leading the way (not sure if it was his familiarity with the property or the fact that his wife was waiting) and he was in constant touch with Ravi to locate the property, we just followed Raj through waves that were looking menacing.  Dani appeared suddenly; he was with the second batch and decided to push himself, we were seven now. The other second batch members were nowhere to be seen, we were getting tired and the school program was planned for 2:00PM.

Welcome banner put up by Raj's friend, Panangad.

With great difficulty we reached the Meridian homes property and were delighted to see the banner Ravi and other friend of Raj had put it "Welcome Green paddles to Panangad"! On landing there was joy and fear, the former for finishing the day's leg and the later out of concern for our other friends. Jibin, had to pull over as his kayak was large and getting blown by the breeze, we were worried about our other batchmates that had all odds against them; the sun, wind and the waves. One by one all of the first batch came in and Jibin decided to give a try of his own after the local shop vendor powered him up with some Sodanarangavellam(Lime soda in short). Jibin made it and so did the other team members some of whom reached at 2:00PM. Gopu and Anoop had come and so were the chain of Raj's friends who came to the property. After the quick lunch three of us, Raj, self and Mathew headed to the school, it was already late! The school function was powered by the Assistant Principal, a lady of amazing confidence. Mathew was picked up by his friend after the function to head home to Kumarakom as his parish was celebrating its festival. We headed back to camp and found that all the team members were just tired and cooling themselves by literally taking over Ravi's office. Ravi was there with family to see us off at Kollam and now, he was doing his best to give us the much needed comfort in all ways possible. Water was pumped up to the external tanks for us to take shower and wash our clothes. The one tank on the ground was leaking and we were helpless to see all 500 litres of it recharging the table. We got fresh near the open tap behind the building and hung the clothes on the line that Dani had tied on the terrace. With wind blowing from the backwaters the expectation was that the clothes would dry fast; the time was past 6:00PM! As the night set in, some of us had a siesta and were fresh to join the mini party that Raj's friends were throwing for us. There was chilled beer and the code of conduct for the expedition meant we had to relish it by seeing others gulping it!  We got to know many of Raj's fiends and also met Shaji, who had challenged Raj with the party if he could kayak from Kollam to Kochi! After the evening dinner were food was of all kinds in plenty we said our goodbyes to Ravi and Raj's friends and went to sleep. It was a tiring day, inspite of all the flying nurses that Kochi is famous for, we slept like rock, and anyplace a body could be stretched at Ravi's office. Flying Nurses....these are the ubiquitous mosquitos that Kochi is famous for!

Day 6: Aroor, Fort Cochin, Vypeen 
The clothes were still wet the next morning, it was 4:00AM(not 3:00AM), when we got up and packed them into plastic liners. The consensus the previous day was that we had done an additional 10KM, stretched ourselves the previous day and hence could have a bit of luxury! The coffee was boiled on the Solo stove; served to all, including the office staff and watchmen, who stayed back to help us pack up and leave. The Solo stove is an amazing thing to carry on expeditions as it provides a great platform to have a cooking fire. It was 5AM, when we were all launched and headed westbound with the Aroor Bridge as the first land mark. We had taken prior permission and the plan was to stay clear of the naval areas around Kochi and take the western side of the backwaters to reach Vendhuruthy Bridge. 

Kaushiq, paddling towards Kochi.

After crossing the Aroor Bridge we stayed to the left of the channel and were too preoccupied to avoid the restricted areas. Kaushiq called us to alert that his compass was showing south and when we crosschecked we realized that we had taken a left and were indeed heading south! Dani took over with his GPS and we pulled back to the main channel with the favourable low tide making us move at amazing speed. At night the horizon can be elusive, situational awareness is challenging and the need for conscious effort was underlined by this incident.

Refresher stop - "Does anyone have dryfruits?"

Some of the stretches we saw was heart wrenching, the floating garbage and foul-smelling water are the leftovers from our modern living. Water front homes and villas in Kochi are gaining prominence; yet, the need to own and protect these waters is low on our priority. We moved on, marvelling at the speed the low tide was giving us and it was close to 7:00AM, when we reached Vendhuruthy Bridge. 

Approaching Vendhuruthy Bridge

Vendhuruthy Bridge, with its span that can open to let vessels pass.

Naval micro lights were taking off to our right and we could only imagine how the ten kayaks, neatly lined up near the bridge would be viewed from the skies. Raj called the port officer and the boat "Water Ways" headed towards us. We followed it and then the lead party moved ahead with the plan to regroup next Aspinwall for the channel crossing.

Kayakers following "Water ways", between Cochin port(Right) & Fort Cochin(left)

Blessing travellers for time immemorial - The statue of Virgin Mary at the Cruz Milagres Church jetty.

We went past the coastguard and customs office to reach Aspinwall; were the Cochin Muziris Biennale is happening this year. I had been to the Biennale few days back and it was great to admire the bell exhibit with a different perspective right behind the Seagulls restaurant that was next to pepper house, another Biennale venue. We all grouped in, took count and at the instruction of the port officer started crossing the channel. Being a low tide (the same that got us here fast) and the water being choppy, paddling was tough. We crossed over to the west of Vallarpadam and said our goodbyes to the port officials. The Taj outdoor adventure facility was a surprise for all of us, it was ill maintained and had heaps of garbage, either dumped or brought by the tides. The next target was Ochanthuruth, we had breakfast in our mind. 
The first stop was the fish market at Fort Vypeen, we could not see any Kappikada and could see the Cruz Milagres Church (Kurishingal Palli), in a bouquet of green. With no hopes of the Kappikada, we decided to head straight to the church, the low tide that got us to the sea opening, was now a challenge. We paddled on to reach the Church and were faced with a unique issue; the low tide had increased the landing jetty’s height by 5 feet and there was no way to access the church compound. Raj took the lead of climbing over the church compound through thickets of bushes, one by one we followed. 

The Little Therese School, next to Cruz Milagres Church(Kurishingal Palli).

The Priest was a bit surprised by the alien invasion and directed us to the Mother Superior, who was our person of contact and Principal at the Little Theres Girls LP School, were the afternoon sessions were planned. He sends along a local parishioner named. Mother Superior was a little taken back that the Priest wasn't informed and managed to make up for the miss.

Lining up Kayaks in front of Cruz Milagres Church(Kurishingal Palli).

We went back to the Church compound and with help from David uncle took over one corner for ourselves kraaled by Kayaks and equipment.

 

David Uncle, far left.

David uncle was similar to Joseph uncle whom we met at Dalavapuram; both were very friendly and caring. David uncle had worked in Dubai all his life and after becoming a widower, spent most of his time volunteering at the Cruz Milagres Church (Kurishingal Palli). 

The majestic Cruz Milagres Church(Kurishingal Palli)

Cruz Milagres Church (Kurishingal Palli), was built by the Portuguese in the16th century and has some amazing architecture and stained glass; depicting travellers with Christ. The Church is one of the oldest in and around Cochin and forms the backdrop to lot many Indian and foreign movies. The local Mathrubhumi reporter and our contact for SEED Vinod joined us to co-ordinate and report on the day.

After the late breakfast at Ochanthuruthu.

We headed to a local Kappikada that had tasty food but not so friendly a person serving it, maybe it was the odd time when we were coming in for breakfast, it was past 10:30AM. We took in all the food they had, few of our friend had to go further to find food. 

Mathew, siesta at Cruz Milagres Church(Kurishingal Palli).

Coming back, we freshened up and had clothes done. A wedding was going on in the Church and the squatters in the compound with their kayaks became a point of gravitation. While some of us took to the scattered benches to siesta, others explained what we were doing to a steady stream of people and helping kids take pictures, sitting in the kayak. 

Jyothi; Raj's wife with the kayking team.

Raj's wife came to visit us and he went along to see his Daughter who was not keeping good health. Gopu and Anoop came around lunch time and after lunch, we headed to the Little Sisters Girls LP School for the session and the kids were all excited to attend the session. Rakshit and Kaushiq explained all about the kayak. The sisters who do an awesome job of helping the society were equally thrilled to see the kayak and we obliged to their demand to see one in the water, later in the day. 

Wow!;Inside, Cruz Milagres Church(Kurishingal Palli)

Stained glass on the eastern wall, Cruz Milagres Church(Kurishingal Palli).

Ceiling at Cruz Milagres Church(Kurishingal Palli).

Stained glass, Cruz Milagres Church(Kurishingal Palli).

We rested post the school session, some of us visited the Cruz Milagres Church (Kurishingal Palli), took pictures and were amazed to see how beautifully it was maintained. It was post 5:00PM, after siestat & tea when the Sisters trouped in and Jibin took a Kayak (remember through the thicket and over the compound wall) for a spin and clarified questions. We showed them the route we took to reach the church premises as Mathew drew their attention to the garbage just beyond the compound. Mother Superior was humble to say it was theirs and she will do the needful to prevent it. Rakshit and Kaushiq went to Fort Cochin to get some dry fruits. We had run out of the stock that Ria (Kaushiq's Daughter) had packed for all of us and the breaks we had while paddling, dryfruits was the big attraction. You lift a pouch of dry fruits and everyone would congregate around it. For Dinner, Sister sent us some amazing Idlis with two kinds of chutney. David uncle came as we had dinner; he shared how things had changed after the road bridge linking Fort Vypeen to Kochi had been commissioned. He echoed of losses than gain; friendship, camaraderie, love  affairs and leisure, travelling on the ferry, had all disappread!

Vallarpadam at night.

Tenting at Curz Milagres Church.

We got permission from the Priest to pitch our tents in front of the Church and were fondly surprised to see the Sisters come to say their goodbyes and see what a tent was. Mosquitos were in plenty, the big ones that visited us at Dusk were now replaced with tiny ones that would squeeze into the tent from any opening we were careless to close.  Thanks to the pre-work done by Raj, the travel around Cochin port was without any hiccups, the day was nearing its end.

Cruz Milagres Church(Kurishingal Palli), at night.

As we were enthralled looking at the illuminated Cruz Milagres Church (Kurishingal Palli) at night, we slipped into siesta.


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