On Friday, March 22, 2013, Pati and Beebee went to Wonder la to escape the March heat in Fort Cochin. There are two amusement parks in India named Wonder la, one in Kochi (Cochin) and one in Bangalore. Their internet website is http://www.wonderla.com/ and there is a facebook page at /wonderla that seems to feature the park in Bangalore. According to the brochure given to each visitor, they have had "150 lakh happy visitors." (A lakh is a number used in India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and elsewhere in South Asia to mean 100,000, so read the claim as 15 million happy customers.) Wonder la has changed names a few times; it has also been known as Veegaland (still printed on the receipts) and Wonderland.
And speaking of the brochure, every man, woman and child pictured (and every one pictured has typical Indian features) is wearing Western-style clothing. That is to say, jeans and t-shirts. Yet no one in the park on that Friday was wearing jeans and a t-shirt. On the other hand, the brochure did not show anyone in a typical Western bathing suit, and that is quite accurate. Indians dress modestly, even at amusement parks, and enjoy the dry rides and water rides fully clothed in everyday clothing. The only concession Beebee saw to accommodate the rides was that the ladies left their dupattas (long scarves) at home: this is a common-sense compromise for safety. The only bare knees at the park belonged to infants and to Pati, who did wear Western-style swim trunks but with a modest t-shirt. Beebee wore calf-length fast-drying pants and a t-shirt. Photography of the water rides is absolutely forbidden in the park.
Among many hundreds of visitors, Pati and Beebee were the only non-Indians. The park staff and other park visitors seemed genuinely happy to see them. Standard admission is about $10 USD but for twice that you can get a band (the Fastrack: No more Queues!) that lets you go to the front of every line - even the food lines. They bought the front of the line passes for themselves and their driver of several days, Simon (there was no way they could have lived with themselves if they had frolicked in a water park while he sat in a 100 degree parking lot waiting for them). As it turned out, that was a good decision in another way, because Simon had been to the park before with his family and knew where the best rides were and the best order to visit them. He rode a few dry rides with them, but skipped the water rides, probably because he hadn't come prepared with a change of clothes.
The park is fun, but like the people of South India, very gentle. One of the most interesting things Pati noted was how terrified people were on relatively tame rides after arriving via roads whose traffic may be the most terrifying in the world. Most of the rides could be found in the kiddie section of a US park, but the riders screamed as if they were riding the Anaconda at Kings Dominion. On the other hand, Beebee was very happy to get off of the Spinning Coaster, which is, as its name suggests, a roller coaster with cars that spin as they move forward on the track.
After riding quite a few dry rides, they all went to the Vintage Kitchen for lunch. Fortunately, Simon did the ordering for them. Although a restaurant manager came up to them as they waited, saying "this is vegetarian only, " they replied that they did eat vegetarian and soon found themselves seated at one of the communal tables with their trays of food. The meals were like thali, with a large mound of rice and smaller bowls of chutneys. Since there was absolutely no silverware (grab pinch of rice, dip in side dish, stuff in mouth - neatly!), Beebee had a flash of insight into what the manager meant by "vegetarian only." They washed their hands at a large sink, and Simon (at least) dug in to eat. However, it was obvious to the restaurant staff that help was needed, so two large spoons were produced and the meal was consumed. The staff even brought napkins at the end, as well as a user survey, which Pati happily filled out.
After another hand-washing, they headed to the water rides.
Pati and Beebee were surprised to discover that some rides were segregated by gender (which Simon also did not seem to be aware of): at least one "Play Pool" was sign-posted "Gents" with another play pool apparently for women and children only. Of the dry rides, Simon, Pati and Beebee also rode the Dashing Cars (bumper cars) together; Beebee noticed at the time that she was the only female on the track, and afterward noticed another bumper car ride (with only 3 riders) beside the first one for women and children only.
The water rides are a huge part of the park, with many slides and pools for floating. While safety is clearly important in this park (apparently some scarier rides have been closed), the slides seem less safe than in the US because, for many of the slides, the riders are expected (required) to go down them head-first. Beebee opted out of these slides.
While the park is not spectacular on a US scale, the people watching is world class. They are nice, friendly, and having a good time. It is pretty easy for Western visitors to have a good time too in that environment. The best example of this occurred in the Wave Pool where Pati and Beebee stayed for their last 45 minutes in the park. The Wave Pool is divided by a floating line several feet wide into the Gents on the left and the women and children on the right; the Gents side is larger. As the pool filled with people waiting for the waves, Pati was surrounded by a group of young men who engaged him in conversation. They cheerfully encouraged him to cross the line and join Beebee on the ladies side, knowing that that there would be trouble if he did so. Pati refused, but diplomatically. After about 30 minutes, Beebee was surrounded by a group of six curious teenage girls who asked the usual questions: What is your name? How old are you? Is that your husband over there? Do you have any children? And one question new to Beebee: What are your qualifications? (apparently meaning education) The girls were there with a (male) teacher and were celebrating a 15th birthday for one of the six. The girl who first addressed Beebee spoke the best English, and one or two could manage handshakes only.
After the Wave Pool, Pati and Beebee were ready to call it a day. It was a very good day. And even better because Simon was there.
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