Monday 4th March - R debuts at the Biennale


Breakfast at the Saj place works on a four day cycle so we are back to puttu today, served with curried chickpeas and delicious fresh papaya. Divine. We have to clear our room by 10 am but we can leave our bags until our taxi picks us up at 3 pm. Monday is Free Day at the Biennale venues so that will do nicely. We see some of the stuff at Aspinwall House that we didn't have time for on Wednesday. One exhibit is a cross between a loom and a harpsichord, with taut wires, that can be played with shaped sticks

Out in the big courtyard there is a circular glass construction, designed so that the inside mists up with condensation. Visitors are encouraged to create images which last for a minute or so before steaming up again. R makes her Biennale debut with a picture entitled "Can U Paddle". Not sure when the judging takes place. We celebrate with ginger mint lemonade.

We move round the island checking out some of the lesser venues but don't find anything nearly as exciting. A couple of last minute purchases are made and then it is time to collect our bags. We bid farewell to Saj and settle into the taxi. The driver is a bit concerned about major disruption that is happening on the highway out to the airport as a result of the Maha Shivaratri festival, that is being celebrated by Hindus today. Judging by the adornments on his dashboard our chap is some variety of Christian. He has distinctly un-Christian views about people who park chaotically and wander around on the roads outside temples.

The route to our airport handy hotel is a circuitous one, designed to avoid chaotic parking and temple bound jay walkers. If this ride had taken place when we started this trip we would probably be in deep shock now, but six weeks of subcontinental traffic mayhem has deadened our senses. The Hotel Airlink Castle makes a good impression. The lobby facilities are spotless and our room is spacious and well appointed. There is a swimming pool on the roof which seems like too good a chance to miss and we take a dip. 

We return to the roof for cocktails and fall into conversation with an Australian lady, originally from Bradford in God's Own County ( as opposed to Kerala which claims to be God's Own Country). She is in India, by herself, attending a colleague's wedding that has taken her from Chennai, south to Trichy and then north to somewhere outside Hyderabad. Her schedule brings her here, then two days in Munnar and a houseboat cruise out of Alleppey. We thought that we were quite adventurous. In the course of conversation it turns out that she was a student at Ackworth School at the time when we moved to live in the village. It's a small world. We have one last fish moilee with really good coconut rice as our last supper.


Comments

  1. Vaibhav Arora5 March 2019 at 03:15

    You should've put the circular building on auction on an as is-where is basis. You already have photos for the listing....see how I'm helping you fund your next trip!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Unknown5 March 2019 at 07:13

    Small world as my brother in law was also 'confined' to Ackworth school and hated it. Have a good journey back to the snow!

    ReplyDelete

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