Final Words

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On our last day of our stay in India, we are stranded in the very small Cochin International Airport for 11 hours. There are few amenities and we may not go through until 3 hours before our flight to Singapore - ahhhh India!

India has been fascinating, rich in colour and culture and you get the impression of a country stretching and emerging into the 21st century. The people have been friendly and often more interested in us than we in them. There have been highs and lows on this tour. Accommodation has sometimes been less than expected- fluctuating power often resulted in cold showers, sheets and towels were occasionally missing, the level of cleanliness in some places was low and the food questionable. We all got pretty sick except for the queen of clean, Lois. However, other accommodation was simple but reasonable. We had some nice meals in Dehli, Fort Kochi, Thekkady, Ooty, Mysore and on the houseboat.

Together we have used over a litre of hand sanitiser- we will never again leave home without it. Almost everywhere men urinate publicly and the hoiking and spitting gets pretty gross. We have loved the animals; camels, monkeys, elephants and even a tiger. The journeys through the countryside have been like a privelaged peek into country life and the sights entranced and intrigued as they are so different from in our own country. The saris are a splash of stunning colour and there is always something to see. The traffic is entertaining, the hawkers persistent, the tuktuks plentiful and the shopping pretty interesting though very limited. All in all it has been a wonderful trip, full of laughs and great times together. We covered a lot of miles through the dusty north and the sometimes mountainous, sometimes tropical south. Thank you Lois, Grant, Maddy, Roy, Sue and Pete for a great experience. Over and out!

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