ONE WEEK IN KOCHI/COCHIN
DEC 1- DEC 7 2025 • Follow the videos for narration from top to bottom and left to right.
The process of obtaining this "Executive Chair"/first class tkt for an 8-hour express train that left and arrived precisely on time was RIDICULOUS. Especially the part about not knowing until 1:30am that the seat was actually CONFIRMED for a 5:10 departure. It was nice to board early and be given a newspaper and the food was really not good and that's how it came and it wasn't worth showing, trust me. :) Otherwise, it was comfortable, made something like 8 or 10 quick stops (no off-boarding), and I'd travel that way again for sure -- if someone else (friend, travel agent) would secure the tickets. Meanwhile, $33.
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I expected tons of scenery like this and, clearly there was some. Apparently I wasn't the only one who wanted to grasp a glimpse...from my aisle seat.
Is that me doing a full-on 90-minute private Spiritual Workout session in one of the hostel's common spaces with someone who went to Kochi on a spiritual quest, eager to connect with all of THAT? Well, yes, when I wasn't taking the picture, that's exactly what was happening.
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Also, cats happen here. It's just, well, a lot. They're everywhere on the property. And most of them are TINY. Thankfully, witnessed this apparent feeding time only once.​
Almost-empty café but best coffee I'd had in India, best and ONLY carbo-free meal I'd had, period, yum, freshly-cooked tuna w/greens and an ultra-light dressing for a warm and belly-warming salad AND...it doesn't take much in that empty space to spot another founder and, bonus, make a meaningful connection. We're always in the right place at the right time, even when it doesn't seem that way.
You won't be able to really hear what I'm saying here, esp w/out headphones, but just showing the contrast between the empty outside place I'd been on my quest for a beer because it's just so hot and humid and then, POW! I found, I think, one of one or two other places where beer even happens. And people, too! I stayed for one and an appetizer of sauteed mushrooms served in a skillet, then just couldn't be inside anymore. But ahhhh when it comes to actual people where I am, conversing. Then again, these folks are all on vacation so...that vibe...not mine.
FORGOT ONE THING! Many of you know it is my annual desire to be outside the United States for the precise months I'm away right now for the practical purpose of avoiding Christmas and all that goes with it in my native country...as someone who doesn't celebrate it and isn't so much into retail anything. Alas, Christmas is a thing in India. You see a few snaps of people setting up decorations and you'll see them in some of the backgrounds. Christians long ago settled in the southern part of India and there are many in Bangalore in a way that I've not sensed before in Delhi, though I'm no historian. Not to mention, most every Hindu I've met celebrates it to some degree. Yet with my strong aversion at home, I sense a sweetness about it here, a sharing of another culture in a very nice way. Sure, there's some retail component -- especially in Bangalore, but it doesn't feel like that's the main thing and, to date, I'm not offended.
SUNDAY, DEC 7, 2025 - BUS FROM KOCHI TO BANGALORE
OK! So, of course, I hadn't snapped a photo of the bus when I boarded -- I was just so freaking happy to be on it and to see that it was on time. I think my vids and pics below will portray the journey, but this is what the sleeper bus looks like on the outside and there are many like this. (There are also many that are delapidated, not air-conditioned, and not at all appealing.) I specifically had NOT booked a sleeper with my friendly travel agent but, again, after a pain-in-the-ass 4am-noon day, I would have hopped on the back of a two-wheeler to get myself to Bangalore and live the life I wanted to live. Fare: $22 incl all fees and such.
Unlike the mish-mash of my week in Kochi, these pics and vids are in order. :)
Upon boarding and getting situated, I realized that there were exactly zero restrooms in this vehicle. I asked my downstairs friends and they said, "roadside." As a prolific water and coffee drinker, I was realizing that never having found ANY of that in my long wait to depart was now, of course, quite a benefit. At one point the bus just stopped -- as it did repeatedly picking up more passengers along the way, naturally -- and that's when I noticed our bus driver using the outdoor facilities.
I leaped at the opportunity and sidled up to the left of the owl. There were some women on the bus and I suppose they were waiting for what was a legit stop. See vid below rt.
In the end, once we were on what is the equivalent of an interstate in the U.S., there were pit stops for restroom and one official one for lunch and one official one for dinner. The stops were BASIC and lasted about 20 minutes.
The place I'd booked to land in Bangalore was quite accommodating for what ended up being a midnight arrival. I was so happy to be back.
AT HOME IN BANGALORE/BENGALURU • DEC 7-14, 2025
