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Published: April 16th 2012
On the 15th of March we flew from Kolkata to Chennai (but missed our connecting flight, obviously. This is India after all). After splashing out for the next flight down (with the so-called 'cheap' Indian airlines....) we arrived in Chennai and went straight to Pondicherry. Pondi is an old French town on the southern East shore of India in the state of Tamil Nadu. We saw a different India here: Shops, cafes (with real coffee!), friendly people (finally), less hassling, laid back culture and even rubbish bins on the streets.
We stayed about a week due to being extremely feverish and sick. Our room was in a very nice ashram park guest house by the sea (run by the rudest, most pathetically fundamentally religious rule-abiding morons in the world).
We then moved on to Thrivandrum in the southern most state of India, Kerala. This is the only communist state in India, and funnily enough, by far the richest, cleanest and nicest part of the countrty. It is also the land of tea plantations and spice farms. We ended up in Kovalam, a beautiful beach paradise on the most southern west coast.
We lived in our own rather large
Calcutta airport
Crazy flamethrower guy smoking up whole building at 3am to kill all the insectstop-quality modern flat right by the beach for about four quid a night and got to know most of the locals. And finally, we got to go swimming everyday. There are loads of tourists down there, but the place hasnt been destroyed yet, and we were able to see the real India in near by villages as well.
Next, we traveled up to Varkala beach: much the same, very nice, etc. And a guy selling great coffee in some beach cafe that played loads of Beatles and Zeppelin.
An amazing experience was rowing in the Aleppey's backwaters, this huge water area among rice field and palm trees where people actually live using handmade kayaks to go shopping. The most relaxing day, looking at the boat houses, hosted by the captain's family and eating the local thali meal on the banana leaf.
Then we braved the unimaginably dangerous, twisting and grinding two-meter wide roads up to the mountains in the north of Kerala to the tea plantations. We reached a town at about 2000 meters above sea level. How we survived that trip I do not know.
After visiting an 8'000 year old cave and almost being
trampled to death by hoards of impatient Indian tourists, we headed on....
We took some kind of bus - train - bus -train journey to Goa: India's most notorious party area. Now here's the lowdown: Southern Goa, Palolem beach: We spent a week here in our own little ramshack hut: it was probably our favourite place in India until now: beautiful palm tree beaches, wild as hell with thunderstorms that you never believed you'd survive. Really friendly chilled out people and UNBELIEVEABLY cheap beer: about 40p for a small bottle or 50p for a huuuuge bottle. Needles to say we were wasted non-stop. Just kidding. Highlights: watching wild dolphins from a restaurant while having breakfast, and seeing massive sea eagles dive down to catch fish while on a river cruise with our new German friends.
Now, we are in northern Goa: terrible, awful area totally raped by tourists ( mostly Russians and brits setting up Yorkshire Pudding bars), loud awful music (no Goa Trance by the way- none at all, anywhere!). We are near the Old Goa city however, which being an old Portuguese colony, has been rather interesting.
See photos for more. As I write this,
Street in Pondicherry
Down here in the south people be usin' the voodoo and them devil spells...! Every shop, at least. we are awaiting out next trip up to Pune where my Grandmother was born and will then continue to Udaipur - Delhi. Then our India sojourn will come to an end: sadly, as well as FINALLY.
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