Our holiday is just flying by and we are still getting along great, this for all of you who doubted this would work. Today, we left the Tabernacle Home Stay. I must say, all these people who invite us into their home and their lives have left a deep impact on me, and I leave each homestay with a twinge of regret. Our ride arrived at 9:00AM, and within the hour we were on our way to Allapuzha or Alleppey as it is known in English. Our destination is Anaya's Pampathreem Homestay in the village of Kanjippadam. We tried to contact Vinit at Anaya's several time during our trip, but were unsuccessful, while we thought it was a bit strange, we didn't think much more of it. When we finally got to Allapuzha, our driver had some difficulty finding the place, but was pointed in the direction of a very modest house where we were greeted by Vishal who gave us a little spiel on how Anaya's is actually a community of homestays, and let us to a double set of rooms furnished with a bed only. It was impossible to leave the door or window open because of the mosquitoes. The structure was just a wooden one inside and out. There was a bathroom with no hot water. The biggest problem with these two cabins was that they were located beside a pool of stagnant water, a short distance from another small house where we were to have our meals. The thought of spending an evening there was rather discouraging. We would have to retire inside very early because of the mosquitoes, knowing that there was nothing in the room but a bed and even worst, no window.
We all knew that this was not was we reserved. We had confirmation for 2 rooms, one with AC and one without. The pictures we had seen were totally different. We were being duped. Bernie called Anil from the Royal Mist in Munnar, asking him for the phone number of Venice Castle, a place Lynanne had reserved early in the planning. Recently, the owner, Matthew, had been very kind and told us that he had been informed that, at the time of our stay with him, there would be a Hindu Festival at the temple next door. The loud music would start at 5AM and end around midnight. He told us to feel free to cancel, which we did. Well, believe it or not, after talking to Anil, Matthew contacted us and drove about 30 minutes to come and pick us up from this hell hole we found ourselves in. We had two rescuers that day. Thank you Anil and Matthew.
We went back to the person who had sold us the bill of goods to tell him we were leaving and he then admitted that they were overbooked and were going to give us our original rooms the next day. True or not, we will never know. I told him that next time he should be honest and tell the truth and explain the situation. We might have been more inclined to rough it knowing it was only for one night.
We were so relieved to arrive here in this beautiful home and Matthew was such a nice person. We immediately felt the stress leave us and began to breath a sigh of relief. It must be said that he was not lying about the festival, the music is so loud you cannot hear yourself think but it is not unpleasant. This is India after all. The festivities end tomorrow night.
After an ordinary dinner out, we were happy to get into bed since we had planned a boat ride for the next morning.
Good night all of you.
We all knew that this was not was we reserved. We had confirmation for 2 rooms, one with AC and one without. The pictures we had seen were totally different. We were being duped. Bernie called Anil from the Royal Mist in Munnar, asking him for the phone number of Venice Castle, a place Lynanne had reserved early in the planning. Recently, the owner, Matthew, had been very kind and told us that he had been informed that, at the time of our stay with him, there would be a Hindu Festival at the temple next door. The loud music would start at 5AM and end around midnight. He told us to feel free to cancel, which we did. Well, believe it or not, after talking to Anil, Matthew contacted us and drove about 30 minutes to come and pick us up from this hell hole we found ourselves in. We had two rescuers that day. Thank you Anil and Matthew.
We went back to the person who had sold us the bill of goods to tell him we were leaving and he then admitted that they were overbooked and were going to give us our original rooms the next day. True or not, we will never know. I told him that next time he should be honest and tell the truth and explain the situation. We might have been more inclined to rough it knowing it was only for one night.
We were so relieved to arrive here in this beautiful home and Matthew was such a nice person. We immediately felt the stress leave us and began to breath a sigh of relief. It must be said that he was not lying about the festival, the music is so loud you cannot hear yourself think but it is not unpleasant. This is India after all. The festivities end tomorrow night.
After an ordinary dinner out, we were happy to get into bed since we had planned a boat ride for the next morning.
Good night all of you.
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