And so we arrived in Kerala. Nowhere to stay, no idea of where we would stay. But at worst we could sleep on the beach, and the beach is so stunningly beautiful it would not have been a bad option. We loaded our packs on our backs, and walked down from the bus stand to the beach; and there we got our first real glimpse of the Arabian Sea in all its glory. And it was so hot, and the sea itself was hotter than I usually have my bath water! And once again, we fell on our feet. Within about 5 minutes, we had found a guesthouse about 50 yards from the beach, and knocked down the owner (not literally!) from 700 rupees to 600 rupees for the first night. A big roon, a big ... read more

The tip of India, that is, though in places India is just one big tip. We went to a travel agent in Madurai on Monday and asked about trains to Kanniyakumari, the Southernmost point of India. "Sorry, the train today is full" "But we want to go tomorrow" Trains only on a Monday". OK, what are the alternatives. "You can get a bus. It runs overnight, about 6 hours. 250 Rupees each" (Thats just over £3). "Where do we get the bus?" "It will pick you up from your hotel about 9:30 pm". So we booked for Tuesday night. Madurai was 'exciting', but if you told a Scot you were planning to go there, he would probably reply "Mad you are; aye". Tuesday night we checked out of TM Lodge, and sat waiting for the bus. ... read more

Our second (and last) day in Madurai. Spent yesterday evening just walking and absorbing. We have booked a night bus to Kanniyakumari on the Southern most tip of India. Leave about 10, get there about 4am tomorrow. in time to see the sunrise over the Bay of Bengal, the Indian Ocean and the Arabian Sea. I must try not to use the word awesome too much! Hope we can find somewhere to stay!... read more

On Wednesday, our 2nd day in Mamma, we were taken to a local restaurant in the Indian quarter, far from the tourist area (in essence if not geography!), and had a real Indian food experience. Masala Dosa cooked on a hot stone, egg poori, which was a mix of egg, tomato, onion and garlic all cooked together on the stone and chopped up. It was all sublime! We were the only Westerners there. We drank mineral water (to be on the safe side!), and with extra dosas and sambar, the bill was just over 1 pound! Why go down the tourist strip? (When we went for breakfast that morning and I asked for something of the 'Indian Breakfast' section of the menu, the waiter told me there was nothing Indian available!) That evening, we bought a ... read more

Actually, we are now back in Malaysia. Hair-raising 6 1/2 hour drive from Solo to Surabaya yesterday, because no trains on Sunday! Flight to KL left about 10pm, and as Malaysia is 1 hour ahead, we landed about 1am local time! We (Me, Baska, Tom and Liz) sat outside Tune hotel (grimsville!) drinking beer until about 4:30. The tried to sleep in a stifling room until 6:30. Got the bus to the international terminal to see if we could change our ticket for Chennai from tomorrow to today, as we didn't think it worthwhiloe to go to KL for such a short time. But today's flight had already left, 2 hours ahead of schedule. Why? we asked. "They are firing rockets in Chennai" came the somewhat enigmatic reply. "Is tomorrow's flight as scheduled?" "yes". We decided ... read more