South India

---

---

First Stop - Trivandrum

After a slighty squiffy and emotional afternoon sendoff from Durban airport, eager and anxious in equal measures, we boarded the first of our two flights, to Dubai.
Arriving at 5am and not continuing on until 9pm meant that we had plenty of time to be welcomed, entertained, fed & watered, and completely bored by Dubai Airport's endless sparkly corridors of shops, foreign exchange, and overpriced cafes. Flight two and at last India seems possible...
3AM We arrive at a small bustling, dusty airport, and with great relief we retrieve our backpacks from the world's creakiest baggage carousel. A short taxi ride took us to our first hotel in India...A/C, hot water and clean sheets....we have arrived!!!
Although somewhat tired and slightly shell-shocked, we launched ourselves straight into explorer mode and set off to explore our first Indian Town, Trivandrum:
Hot, dusty,noisy, smokey and crowded were certainly my first impressions of Kerala's inland capital. But, as we ambled further through the streets, the smells began to identify themselves one by one:incense, paan, beedies, masala chai, coconut oil, fresh pineapples and diesel....soon the town became far less chaotic, and far more intriguing.
Naturally every town in India has a variety of temples on offer, and Trivandrum didn't disappoint...we found the massive "Sri Padmanabhaswamy" Temple, built over 260yrs ago with stones brought on elephants all the way from Nepal. As non-Hindus we weren't allowed inside this holy spot, so we found ourselves sneaking around the perimeter hoping for a peak inside, at what looked so promising from the outside. Instead we found a fabulous chap in a shack carving the most amazing sandalwood statues, all of a religious nature... Ganesh, Shiva, and Parvatti being favorites.
The 300yr old Palace next door offered cool rooms, more beautiful carvings, thrones from pure crystal and ivory and a glimpse into another regal era.
With Trivandrum's top two attractions neatly ticked off the list we head for the beach.

---