Bus down to Cherthala

Life in Ezhupunna is slow, and I don't know why I am so attracted by this sleepy little village with its mosque, its church and its temple. There is nothing much apart from Mattindia: a handful of simple stores, mostly selling similar products – cheap toys, toothpaste, agricultural tools and general hardware. There is also a very basic tea-shop and an ultra-modern dentist, where Chippy Thrideep sorted out my loose crown and polished my smile back in mid-December. 

Kochi / Cochin airport is off the map to the north

One great attraction of the area is the backwaters, as is clear from the map. There is a small-scale fishing industry in most villages, where women sit cross-legged on the ground in thatched sheds, peeling tiny shrimps, ready for packing and freezing. If you're on the beach when the fishermen are coming or going, you can help to haul the boats up or down over log rollers.

As you can imagine, the sunsets can be spectacular from the west-facing beach.
Unfortunately, my new treatment schedule leaves no time for much in the way of excursions. I have massages in the morning - rough, tough, gasp and scream type massages - and then in the afternoon I have leeches on my leg to reduce the thrombosis. Add to that "purgation" tomorrow, which means I won't want to be far from the loo, and you can see that my mobility is limited. You must be wondering what the effect of all this is, and I can only say that I am impressed by the steady improvement in my general health. It is a tough discipline, and there are some weird treatments (they rub half a teaspoonful of powder into the scalp on the crown of my head, after my massages) but I can only judge by the way that I feel. One woman did the 3-week detox and is now doing 20 days in solitary - shut in her room, windows curtained off with blankets, alone in isolation with just a stack of books.

I did manage to arrange a couple of hours free time earlier in the week and headed off to the little town of Cherthala, 17km to the south. There is no sign for the bus-stop, in Ezhupunna, but you can usually see two or three people loitering opposite the tea-shop while they wait for the regular buses that run down from Ernakulam. The fare is 13p to 15p depending on the bus operator, and it’s an enjoyable 20-30 minute ride with plenty to see along the way.

Cherthala has both bus and railway stations, a few banks and a wide variety of little shops and general stores. As always in India, there is a really good textiles shop with fabrics in every imaginable colour and pattern, and several tailors in the immediate vicinity who will transform a length of cotton into whatever garment you choose.

I dropped my watch when I was in Madurai, and the glass was smashed. I was relieved to find a little clock and watch shop in Cherthala, and asked the owner if he could replace the glass. He took great care in doing so, and took at least a quarter of an hour before he was satisfied with the job. The total cost: thirty pence.

I continued to search for artisan knives made by local blacksmiths and sold by street pedlars, but increasingly now household items are shiny stainless steel and brightly coloured plastic. I found a couple of nice primitive kitchen knives, and I'll look around  at the weekend, when I have to head out and find an ATM: I'll need to withdraw cash to settle my bill next week.

Ah, here's the man with the leeches!