A beauty hotspot

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Kerala is a large place so deciding where to venture for our next adventure was difficult. We had been given loads of places to investigate but set on a place called Kochi or Cochin. We arrived by train into a place called Ernakulam and caught a tuc tuc to Fort Kochi which is about an 8km drive away.

Not having booked any accomodation, we were unsure whether we would find anywhere to lay our sleepy heads but fort Kochi is a bustling tourist place with a variety of different types of accomodation. There are several expensive looking hotels to stay at if your budget allows, or you can barter with a homestay and get a decent room from between 300-600 Rs.

We alighted off our tuc tuc and were immediately met by Sabu who insisted that we went with him. We are getting used to recognising who is genuine and who isn't and Sabu was a genuine bloke. He showed us his homestay which was very clean and airy. We accepted his invitation to stay there and set up camp.

The evening was spent sititng on Sabu's roof terrace smoking and drinking vodka which his sidekick, Hussein, had been sent out to buy along with an evening meal off paratha, a flaky roti, roast beef (but not as you know it) and chilli beef. This was well recieved and together we sat eating and drinking until it was past our bedtimes. Evening songs sung by Hussein made the evening more memorable as he had to mime as he sang to help us understand what he was singing. Something about the moon...we think.

About 30km away from Fort Kochi is a beautiful beach called Cherai Beach which has clean yellow sand and a safe sea to swim in. We even saw wild dolphins about 100m off shore from where we were sat. The day was spent relaxing in the sun and swimming which is something you don't get to do often in India so it was a highlight for us.

The journey home was interesting and we were glad that we had taken out ample insurance cover. The bus journey back was a nailbiting experience which has been engrained in my memory. We boarded the tin can (name which buses are known as here) and paid our few rupees. With no where to sit we managed to find a space to lodge ourselves and set off. Within seconds we knew we had boarded the crazy bus!!! The speed limit here is about 70km which is roughly 50mph but we saw little respect for this rule as the driver hurtled impatiently down the narrow streets overtaking cars and buses. After about ten minutes of this the bus was hailed down by the police. Thank god, perhaps the driver will slow down now. But after been given a ticket (to whcih the driver and his crew laughed at) this sense of adrenalin seemed to just spur him on. The journey which had taken about 45 minutes previous, only took half an hour with this guy. Luckily only our nerves were shot after this journey.

The remainder of our stay here in Kochi was spent wondering through the streets and bartering with the stall holders. You can get a good deal if you accept the fact that you won't ever see these people again and that actually Rs100 is a quarter of your homestay budget and a carved wooden elephant really can't be worth more than a pound. Can it?!

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