Tuesday 19th February

The wedding party have photos taken on the beach

This is the beach upon which the wedding and reception will take place

Not a lot to report today. I think most of the group decided to have a quiet day. We got up at 8 a.m. and went for an early morning swim in the pool, then moved on to breakfast on the café terrace. 

We grabbed a couple of sun loungers and established a base by the pool for the morning and the early afternoon. It was warm but there was a breeze and it kept within comfortable temperatures. Others came to join us and we swam every now and then just to keep cool. A very pleasant and relaxing time washed down with a nice glass of iced tea.

Today was the day of the wedding which was taking place on the beach of the hotel. There were many guests and the ‘stage’ which was established on the beach was used for the ceremony. Western and Indian music was played.

I was amused by the overheard conversation of some of pour fellow hotel guests, tow of whom had lived in Spain for over 30 years but were moving back to U.K. Shortly although they said this had not relation to BREXIT. Their conversation with another Brit couple dwelt on the fact that their parents had collected furniture and artifacts which they did not want and they, in their turn, had acquired effects which their children did not want, either. What is to become of all these possessions which we and our forebears have assembled over the years? They discussed the perennial questions about pensions,
savings and retirement and their children and grandchildren. Is this what comes with advancing age? 

The rest of the day consisted of napping and high tea. A very restful day.

Then at 6 p.m. we boarded a bus to take us into Kovalem for dinner. The festival of Attukal  Pongala was getting under way and the roads were crowded with buses which had taken the estimated 1.5 million women to the city to celebrate and worship. As we got closer to the city, colored lights were everywhere and more and more throngs of women filled the streets. Piles of bricks, used to make the hearths for the fires that will cook the Pongala offerings were everywhere. Pots to cook the rice dish in were also in plentiful supply. Once prepared the offerings of Pongala are made to the god at the Attukal Devi Temple. Quite some arrangements have been made to accommodate the large number of women who invade this city but the newspapers seem to understate the event. I would expect that the advent of 1.5 million people in most countries would be a big deal but not in India!! 

The streets were very crowded and this made progress to the restaurant called Maya, one of the 50 best in India, rather slow as our driver deliberately took us through the city center so we could witness the Pongala crowds and sights. Women in groups, dressed in colorful saris were everywhere and waved at us as we passed. There was quite an air of excitement in the city.

Scenes from the crowded streets taken from the bus

We made it to the restaurant and after disembarking from the bus, we had to run the gantlet of crossing the busy street to the restaurant.’ Don’t ever stop’ is the key mantra for this exercise!! 

Dinner was in a water-garden setting with some tables set on a small raised platform above the water. The food which was very good indeed, was mainly Indian with some European selections thrown in. At the end of the meal, the chef came out to meet us and told us he had been trained in US and had also learned under a chef from the C.I.A. (Culinary Institute of America).

After dinner we re-boarded the bus and the driver took us the shorter way back to the hotel where we retired to bed but not before observing the 'super moon' which was high in the sky.

The 'super moon'