Trivandrum: part I

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Leaving Kovalam
After four nights in Kovalam we were relieved to be going to Trivandrum, the capital city of Kerala. First we had to negotiate a price with a rickshaw driver. We had been told that Rs. 150 would be an acceptable price for a drop off in Trivandrum. Also, we realised that we should get a rickshaw driver from Kovalam Junction rather than one from the beach area which would be 50 percent more expensive. So, on the way back from breakfast, we stopped at the rickshaw rank and started to negotiate a fare to Trivandrum. The rickshaw driver got all the help he could have wished for: four other rickshaw drivers grouped around the rickshaw to share their views on the precise directions and the right price for the ride.

Initially, we were quoted Rs. 275 (and remember we only had to pay Rs. 100 to get from Trivandrum to Kovalam) which, obviously, was an unacceptable price. We finally agreed on Rs. 175, that the rickshaw driver would pick us up at Alitalia and that he would deliver us, ideally safely, to Wild Palm Guest House in Trivandrum.

Wild Palm Guest House
There are three different types of accommodation for travellers in Inda: homestays, guest houses and hotels. A homestay is, as the name suggests, when the traveller stays in the home of an Indian family. In the most basic homestays that will be in a room in the house where the family actually lives, and in the more advanced ones, like GK Homestay in Kottayam, it will be in a separate building. A guest house can be divided into similar groupings. The more basic ones will be similar to the second variant of a homestay, but with less integration into family life. The more advanced ones will be closer to a hotel with practically no contact with the family. Typically, a guest house will employ staff to take care of customers' needs. A hotel is, at the basic level, more like a hostel; there is very little staff (like Clafouti in Varkala) and/or no service (like Pookaka in Munnar). The advanced hotel type usually provides everything a customer needs.

Wild Palm Guest House falls in the advanced guest house category and resembles a good quality hotel. There is plenty of staff, the six rooms are cleaned, and the bedding and towels are changed, every day.

From the outside, the building looks very nice and this is matched by the interior; both the communal areas and the rooms themselves. On the first floor, where our room was, there is a nice, large communal balcony where we could relax, read a book or write the blog.
The room was spacious with very high ceilings, had cable TV, good storage facilities and air con if needed.
However, as with most Indian buildings the flaws are easily spotted. First, the big red ants of India had easy access to the communal balcony by using an electrical wire or phone wire that went from the trees to the balcony. Walking around in ants isn't particularly pleasant. Second, the windows, one in particular, were leaking badly. Consequently, during a rain shower, part of our bedroom floor was flooded. Third, even though the bathroom had a very nice granite floor it had absolutely no slant, which resulted in the floors being wet, and slippery, all day (no squeegee!). Fourth, the fan adjuster was faulty; it could only run on maximum speed. This is very inconvenient since this can create unnecessary and unwanted wind and noise in the room, and it is impractical because sometimes a low fan setting is what is needed. The fan issue was, eventually, resolved when an electrician changed the fittings.
Another problem at this guest house was the food. The stay includes breakfast. However, the hotel management hadn't been particularly inventive in their choice of menu. You can choose between Indian and continental breakfast. The continental breakfast will typically be toast and eggs whereas the Indian breakfast will be some variant of bread with a stew. With this you get a fruit juice and coffee or tea. The continental breakfast would have been fine if they had bothered baking their own bread. However, the bread was the worst type of Indian quality toast bread. The Indian breakfast was generally poor. One day the stew was beef; how many people would choose beef stew for breakfast? Further, they knew that we are vegetarian, and since there were only two other guests, they should have prepared something vegetarian; especially because vegetarian food is what is generally eaten for breakfast in India. Finally, the fruit juices were often an obscure sour variant. Most people would prefer an inoffensive orange, moosambi or pineapple juice for breakfast. As a result, we didn't bother eating the, much too expensive, dinner that was served at Wild Palm.

The final problem at Wild Palm Guest House is the driver they have attached, but we'll return to that particular aspect of our stay.

Taking into consideration these issues, we wouldn't stay at Wild Palm Guest House again even though the staff were quite friendly.

Eating in Trivandrum
Trivandrum is a place where quality food is easy to find. The first place we went to, based on Rough Guide's recommendation, was Hotel Aryaniwas, close to the train station. We went for a South Indian lunch meal and, after a week of drivel in Varkala and Kovalam, this was a meal for the Gods. It was extremely tasty and well balanced. The place is, of course, packed with people so the food is very fresh. We ate till we were about to drop for only Rs. 38 each.

The first time we went to Hotel Aryaniwas, the doorman in front of the restaurant showed us towards the upstairs air con restaurant (same food but 10 percent more expensive), but we declined. When we later returned for dinner, and the downstairs restaurant was jam packed, and with people waiting in queue for a table, we were again advised to use the air con restaurant, where there was plenty of space. Reluctantly we decided to try the air con variant of the downstairs restaurant. Big mistake. Not only was it freezing cold, but the waiters were much too attentive; there was always one within reaching distance.

We did try another restaurant, Ananda Bhavan, but one lesson we have learned is that once you have found a place that serves quality food you are better off sticking to that place; it is a waste of time and taste buds to try out other places.

We actually did have lunch in another place. Believe it or not, we went for a pizza. We had seen an advert for connizas and fell for it. A conniza is a small pizza shaped like a cone, i.e. like large ice cream cone, with a choice of five fillings. We had decided to get a fruit conniza, but when we entered the pizza parlour we suddenly got a craving for savoury food. We got a regular pizza without cheese. It wasn't too bad, but extremely expensive at Rs. 265. As a bonus we had to listen to the worst imaginable techno music for the 45 minutes we were there. The hip Indians seemed to enjoy themselves though.

Another foodie aspect of Trivandrum is the many places selling cheap fruit juices. Typically, we had four fruit juices a day, usually from small fruit juice stalls. Many tourists would find it a bit unhygienic to drink these juices. The fruits themselves are not the problem; it is the preparation, the additional content and the glasses in which the juice is served. The stalls will have very few available glasses so these are shared by all customers frequenting the stall during the working day. The glasses aren't cleaned particularly well; just rinsed in some tap water, and tap water should be avoided since the bacteria in the water probably don't agree with foreign stomachs. There will be numerous flies circling around the fruit and you have to keep an eye on the juice making process to make sure that none of the flies are blended into the juice. You also have to emphasise that you don't want ice, which is made from tap water, in your juice. You have to make sure that you get a new straw, i.e. not recycled, with the juice, and finally, you should try to avoid liquid sugar since this often contains tap water. Of course, you can only hope that the juice man/woman has cleaned their hands after their last toilet visit.

We survived the fruit juices, and had some interesting experiences in Trivandrum, and learned quite a few new things along the way.

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This entry was posted by pundabee, on Tuesday, December 12, 2006. You can leave your response.