East Eats West

May you recover quickly, Christchurch!

One month ago I was myself in the now earthquake-ravaged city of Christchurch in New Zealand. Devastation and despair entered the city in-expectantly. May the citizens of Christchurch find their strengths in trying times! My heart is with you!

A close shave

When I was a teenager Italian Wild West movies were among my favorites films. I dreamt of being a cowboy (I owned cowboy boots and a hat), looking for villains while looking extremely cool. Among my favorite movies were the ones with the Italian actors Terence Hill and Bud Spencer. I still vividly remember a scene in which Terence Hill, ever-looking cool in his dirty clothes and blazing deep blue eyes, got a shave by a sleazy barber in a even sleazier Western town. While getting shaved Terence Hill aimed a big revolver at the barber's groin, just to make the barber was reminded of the delicacy of his job! Ever since watching this movie getting a shave looked too dangerous to me. Until recently. A good friend and travel-companion of mine, had a rule that he would always get a haircut at a local barber shop, wherever we travelled. The results varied but he has survived. So while staying in Cochin (Kerala) I decided to try my luck and get a shave. I asked my Indian tuk-tuk-driver for a good barber and he brought me to a man, probably in his late fifties, who had a small but clean shop five minutes away from my hotel. The barber could not speak English so he worked diligently in silence while my driver watched. It took him about ten minutes to give me a really thorough shave and applied lots of ointment and creams to my skin. However, the shave was only half of the story. As I wanted to get up he firmly pressed me back into the tiny chair and started to give me a vigorous facial massage with his well-trained fingers. So I got pinched, rubbed, stretched and patted all over for five minutes. The facial massage was then followed by a scalp massage and last but not least, a neck massage. I was in heaven! I guess the shave took him about ten minutes and I got another ten minutes of massage. The tourist price for the whole treatment: one USD, about double the local price. I can't wait to grow my facial hair!

The big Indian heart

Before going back to India I read the book “Shantaram” by Gregory David Roberts. It was a wonderful preparation for my first visit to Cochin in Kerala. In the autobiographical book Roberts, an Australian escapee, talks about his experience in India, Bombay to be more precise. While I was sightseeing in the former colonial town of Cochin a few of Roberts' observations of India and its people resounded in my head. The most striking thing about India, according to Roberts, is the big heart of its people: if someone smiles, and smile they do often, they smile with their whole heart. They send out beams that light about any room. Like Sukesh, an employee at a local hotel I stayed at, who beamed his Colgate-smile, amplified through his snowy white teeth and dark complexion, at anyone within range. Whoever talked to him got a few minutes of pure, unfiltered happiness, delivered instantly through his smile. Or Edgar, the suave hotel owner from Goa-descent (henceforth his name) who had calming eyes that paid rested on anyone talking to him. And the cook in a local restaurant who couldn't stop smiling after I told him that his Kerala-style shrimp Masala was the best I had so far. And it is this very smile that so often is missing in my hometown.

Fort Cochin, port of the ancient spice trade

Picture: There is still some wholesale spice trading going on in Fort Cochin.

Most tourists have heard of Kerala in India because of its scenic back-water boat tours. However, the former colonial port town of Cochin, further north, is much less known despite a rich history that dates about hundreds of years. Cochin used to be an important trading port for spices, ranging from cardamon to pepper. Next to the local royal rulers the Portuguese, Dutch and English made the town their base. Cochin also saw Chinese and Jewish traders doing business. Cochin has been able to combine the various influences peacefully, being home to Jews, Catholics, Hindus and Muslims. Today historical buildings and a very laid-back atmosphere are the trade-marks of Fort Cochin and staying at one of the many historical hotels is a must. My favorite is Old Harbour Hotel followed by Malabar Hotel, both historical properties that serve a fresh watermelon juice to die for! Old Harbour Hotel even offers a complimentary early morning yoga session.

Picture: According to TripAdvisor the best Indian hotel, I agree!  

A Nano experience

The Nano, the first new cheap Indian family car made by the Tata group, was launched with much fanfare. However, the cheap and very small car has been affected by technical problems and Tata had to recall thousands of them. Today, despite zero interest and down-payment, Indians opt for foreign brand cars and shun the Nano.

Weather vagaries in New Zealand

Picture: Driving on the west coast of the South Island. 

At the foot of Franz Josef Glacier is a wonderfully lush rainforest. On a rainy day, which happens quite often on the West Coast (or wet-coast) of New Zealand, the rain forest is shrouded in a thick mist. I left Franz Josef on exactly such a very wet day and made my way east in order to escape the rain. There is a saying about the Southern Island: if it rains on one side, the sun will shine on the other side. On that very day I drove across the mighty Arthur's Pass that connects Greymouth with Christchurch, this was true. Up to the peak raindrops were my constant companions. As soon as I reached the peak the weather changed with the scenery: the land became more arid and the sun started to shine.

I experienced a similar pattern when I drove from the normally very sunny northern tip of the South Island, Nelson, to Kaikoura on the east coast. Nelson is touted as the sun-shine capital of New Zealand, unfortunately not when I visited. So I drove a small mountain pass to the east coast. Immediately the sun smiled on me again. A few weeks later I learned that the area north of Nelson experienced heavy flooding, the worst in hundred years! Visiting New Zealand therefore means having enough flexibility for abrupt weather changes!

Picture: Arriving on the east coast of the same island. 

The sound that is a fjord

Romantic Milford sound on the South Island of New Zealand.

The last sock-making machine

Picture: A collection of historical hand-operated sock-making machines. 

New Zealand's television commercials are perfect for red-necks: power tools, fishing kits, car repair machinery and other “real-men” toys are advertised. No wonder Kiwis are experts in fixing cars, boats and other machinery. It is not unusual to come across cars that sport more than 300'000kms on the clock! In Hokitika on the Southern Island I came across another skilled craftsman, or more craftswoman: Jacky. Jacky has been collecting sock knitting machines for decades and her shop-cum-museum sports a dazzling variety of vintage machines, some dating back 250 years. There are also a fully functional vintage textile machine and antique sock knitting machines. I can highly recommend Jacky's possum-merino-blend socks! Jacky is also the last person in the world that still manufactures a hand-operated sock knitting machine that is sold for NZD 2'000. The New Zealanders continue to amaze me with their inventiveness and persistency!

Sock World & Sock Knitting Machine Museum, 75 Revell Street, Hokitika, Southern Island, New Zealand (open 7 days).

Asian tourists going individual

Picture: An Indian group of school children visiting a palace. 

 Traveling in New Zealand is a small world tour and gives a good insight into the new dawn of Asian tourism. Having dinner in a Queenstown restaurant can be a truly international experience: the cook is Kiwi, the waiters are French, Belgian or Spanish and the guests German, Dutch, Israeli or Indian and Chinese. However, the biggest growth in New Zealand tourism nowadays hails from China and India. With increasing wealth after the war Europeans started to travel, so do Asians today. Tourists in Auckland, Queenstown and Taupo hail from a new and affluent middle-class. Take the Chinese for example. According to an article “A new grand tour” by The Economist they love to visit the Château Lafite Rothschild, Paris and Nice in France, Lucerne in Switzerland, Trier and Metzingen in Germany because of the Karl-Marx-Haus and the Hugo Boss outlet and Monaco for gambling. Shopping is also very high up on the list as luxury goods in Europe are cheaper and certainly not fake. Apparently Chinese tourist reserve a third of their budget for shopping. This also explains why New Zealand cities are planning to expand their shopping big time. Asian tourists in New Zealand prove that the next natural step after herded group tourism is individual tourism. So better get prepared, Museum Europe!

http://www.economist.com/node/17722582?story_id=17722582