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April 6th 2013

Published: April 6th 2013

Where to start. The food. Ahh the food. Definitely the highlight of the trip so far. It is out of this world-we are all definitely going to be very chapatti-fatty when we return. Getting very into curry for breakfast and perfecting the art of eating with no hands-is all in the thumb flick. Now to the country. India is the biggest contrast of a country I have ever experienced-it is hot, busy, crowded, dirty, stressful and frustrating. However it is also friendly, diverse, interesting and in many places, properly beautiful. And not sure if I have mentioned the food…? I feel like I have already learnt and seen so much and we haven't even been here two weeks. My brain is going to explode by the time I return! We started out trip with a week bumbling around Kerala, one of the Southern Indian states which is pretty progressive compared to others in terms of infrastructure and education. After saying farewell to the Heathrow snow we had an uneventful journey (sitting down after the moving out experience was very welcome!) to Delhi. Where we became quickly very grateful for our three hour stopover as the bus ride was our terminal was basically on the other side of India. Luckily our pathetic faces got us a free ride as we did not yet have any money! We pretty quickly got hold of some though as we needed to buy a print out of our flight details before they would even let us in the terminal. After much faff we finally landed in Trivandrum. This is the state capital of Kerala and is, as far as we can tell, a typical Indian city. Cars, buses, people, goats, bikes, shops and tuktuks all jostle for space in a very dusty road with an indeterminate number of lanes. Many of the stalls line a small river which is quite simply full of the city’s rubbish which also collects in heaps at the end of most roads. It is such a shame as a lot of the buildings and streets are otherwise lovely. At the station we found the most incredible list of concessions I have ever seen-including 'girl scouts in uniform’, ‘bona-fide circus artists travelling in parties no less than three’, ‘dead bodies’ and ‘orthopaedically handicapped or paraplegic without an escort’. The following day we took the train to Varkala Beach-we did not at this point realise we can get into any carriage with our ticket so simply got into the standard second class carriage much to the amusement of the locals, many of whom were nearly decapitated with our various bags. Was also given the helpful piece of advice that the reason I am not yet married is because ‘I am not trying hard enough’. Good to know. The beach is simply paradise-lined by red cliffs (naturally dusted = with a healthy sprinkling of rubbish), white sand, bamboo huts (complete with resident frog), very chilled cafes and restaurants along the cliff top path. A world away from the city experience! We spent a couple of days just battery recharging, saintly resisting alcohol, eating some incredible muesli and achieving some (look away now mother) rather impressively patchy sunburning-which now looks like I have some kind of skin disease as I decided to only apply my aftersun to the patchy areas so I didn’t waste it. Was only after about a week I figured out it is a self-tanning/aftersun combo. I blame the heat-brain. Anyway, next we headed to Aleppey, the apparent ‘Venice of India’. Rather exciting experience as the train started moving with Emilie still on the platform. Luckily the woman behind was VERY keen to get on so gave her a good shove. Think Venice is a minor stretch of the imagination but away from the main street it is very leafy with canals filled variously with water, sludge and forest. This is a far more touristy zone-every step is soundtracked with one repeating loop of ‘you want hotel? Houseboat? Taxi? Dinner?’ And my personal favourite, ‘yes?’. You can imagine my imaginative reply. We ducked off the street into a local restaurant for some peace and a fan and decided to try some new things. Word to the wise-salted lime soda is a no-go. We spent the following day and night on a houseboat which meanders down the Keralan backwaters past villages that live off and within the river-washing clothes, fishing, chatting. Would be slightly more authentic if it weren’t for the gazillion other boats but is still very tranquil as we have a boat and personal chef to ourselves. All for the grand price of £30! After defrosting from the arctic-temperature-only air conditioning we reluctantly returned to dry land the next morning and, after a ride in the tuktuk of the Worst Driver in the History of Time ™ (seriously, not convinced he was actually not entirely blind) we miraculously made it to the station to get a train to Cochin, which we loved. We stayed in Fort Cochin which is the older part of town-a medley of British, Portugese and Indian architecture and churches. After an authentic Indian Thali meal (grand price of 30p for all you can eat mystery delicious items) we sat by the lake watching sunset over fishermen reeling in their Chinese Fishing Nets-huge crescent shaped nets attached to wooden structures and pulleys. Is absolutely gorgeous. Stayed in a guesthouse with a very friendly manager who seemed to take a bit of a liking to me. After memorising my name ‘from the passport-hello Jennifer Mary Dodds’-offered everything from bananas to whisky to use of his toilet just as we were about to leave, followed by a rather distressed hug. Fell hard and fast that one. We treated ourselves to an AMAZING breakfast in an art gallery for our last day of travel pre-placement-doorstep toast, honey, masses of fruit and ‘breakfast cake’ which I will definitely be trying to recreate. The 6 hour journey to Ashwini was pretty luxurious in our chauffeured car, though mildly terror inducing as we wound up the very hairpin bends in the dark (still not convinced by either Indian road safety or simply awareness that there are other vehicles on the road)! We made it in one piece and I am so glad-this place is incredible.

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