New Outfits

Moving on from Goa to Kerala, we felt a bit of a shift in culture. Goa's pretty touristy, and although i wasn't lazing about in a bikini, it felt ok to be wearing tank tops coupled with either shorts or knee-length skirt on the beach. But once we'd moved on to Cochi in Kerala, I started to feel a lot more self conscious. Even though I was wearing a below-the-knee skirt and a not-very-revealing top, i still felt like everyone was staring at me. More than they were staring at Karl! What's more, 9 out of 10 pedestrians were men - I don't know if the staring was just curiosity, or if it was creepy, but it was definitely making me feel uncomfortable.

So that evening I purchased a two-piece Indian outfit - a loose-fitting pattered & sequined top, paired with some nice loose black trousers. Very comfortable. People continued to stare, but at least now I knew it was just curiosity! Here's me in my outfit with our guide at a spice plantation (more on this in a future post):


One thing I noticed almost instantly in Cochi was that the men don't wear trousers - they wear dhotis instead, which is a long sheet of fabric wrapped around the waist. At first I found this pretty weird - it looked like they'd just got out of the shower and only bothered to get half-dressed. Karl on the other hand found it intriguing, and decided that this would also be his outfit of choice whilst in Kerala.

The next day he purchased a dhoti of his very own for R250 from Fort Cochi, a nice island nearby, reached by ferry. At first I wasn't entirely convinced - it seemed like a novelty purchase, and he'd probably never wear it again. And it looked like a skirt. I soon had to eat my words, and it now seems like quite an inspired purchase! Yeah maybe it did look like a skirt, and we've had a few baffled looks, but on the whole he's had some great feedback from the locals, such as "Vow! You look great!" along with lots of 'thumbs up' and smiles, and suggestions on how to best tie it around the waist:



We're in Bangalore now, which is a lot more modern so the dhoti has been temporarily packed away, but hopefully not for long.