ALLEPPEY

"The Venice of the East" is kind of a sty. There are two fairly clean scenic canals in the middle of town and the rest is a cacophony of horns and diesel and dirty shops. The road to our guest house has been piled with heaps of dirt we have to haul our bags over which does not improve our mood. By 11 am it is too hot to be outside. This is winter? God save me from a Keralan summer.

We go looking for an internet cafe one morning, but our guidebook mixes up the street names and we head off in the wrong direction. After general confusion and grumpiness we find an internet cafe at last up a flight of dirty stairs. We are the only customers. "Yes, please sit," the lady says. But there is no internet connection. She pokes around. She makes a cellphone call. Half an hour later the whole family (we suppose that's who it is) of 5 or 6 is gathered around trying to figure out how to get online. Well, we are out of the sun and the fans are cool.

While walking down a back-alley we see a skinny tomcat prowling atop a wall. Then a crow swoops down and tries to pick him up by the spine. The cat howls, the bird lets go. Even the animals here obey different laws.