Even though we are already in Malaysia, here is a recount of our adventures in the very south of India... Our train ride from Varkala to Kanniyakumari was supposed to be uneventful. However... we get onto the wrong train that stops half an hour later at it's final destination. We search frantically for our train (which comes a bit later) - there are no signs whatsoever. i guess you are supposed to know. We get helped by a young man who is waiting for the same train. Two hours on a train takes to the India's southern most corner. We get [View Full Entry]

---

---

Merry Christmas! We had a lovely Christmas Eve morning on a Varkala beach, and now we are back at the hotel getting ready for our train ride to Kannyakumari - the Land's End to witness three seas coming together. Varkala is an awesome beach - not so busy, mainly backpackers. We wish we could spend more time here... Enjoy your Christmas! ps: we are only now posting this as it has been troublesome to get a stable enough connection... ---------------------------- Su Sventom Kaledom! Mes praleidom Kaledu ryta Varkalos pliaze. Pavalgem pietus, ir dabar ruosiames vaziuoti i t [View Full Entry]

---

---

Finally, an internet connection that stays up long enough to update our blog! We are in Kottayam at an Ayurvedic resort, having had our bodies oiled and massaged by feet... Highly recommended. (Yes, we paid somebody to step on us) A few days ago we were staying at a lovely family homestay in Moonelave. They have an organic farm of spices, fruit and vegetables. Absolutely lovely people, they took us around to tea plantations that is run by a cooperative, then to his cousin's who farms rubber trees. They showed us the process of tapping and collection of rubber tree milk [View Full Entry]

---

---

Southern India is without a doubt different from the Northern part of India. Southern part is greener and cleaner. The people in general are less aggressive. But something is missing … We were so sure that we will not miss the North but we were terribly wrong. Moments after landing in Kochi we were missing all the hassle the northern part of India has put us through. We definitely will be going back and do it all over the again. :) However, we are in Cochin now. On our first day we went to see waterfalls (and monkeys on the way), [View Full Entry]

---

---

So now we are in Udaipur. There seems to be less and less time to spend at Internet cafes... :) Here is a quick recap: we are liking India more as we move further south. We really like Udaipur as it seems the least hassle to walk around. On the way to Jodhpur we visited Pushkar which has a holy lake with a Hindu temple, after which we decided - no more temples as there are so many "priests" ready to take donations from you that we feel trapped! We stop for a night at Bishnoi Village before entering Jodhpur which [View Full Entry]

---

---

Taking a train from Agra to Jaipur - capital of Rajasthan (or Rajputhan). Great way to travel India. We meet a young woman with a son, she tells us proudly that she is a Brahmin (one of the highest casts). We have a talk and she is shocked to hear that in Canada we do not have servants. She has three. the casts still play a big role in this part of India. When people ask for your name, they ask for your "good name". Not sure what would be a "bad name". Her "good name" is Sadna. She likes my [View Full Entry]

---

---

So we made it to India... We landed safely in New Delhi. It was all going very well until we realized that our taxi driver was no way to be found. The question was how do you get around India at 10pm? Once outside the airport we were swampped by a sea of hungry taxi drivers. After some intense haggling and arguing we did manage to get a taxi. We did end up at the homestay finally. Although it was pretty scary getting driven on almost empty dark, dirty streets into an unlit residential area. The place we stayed was a [View Full Entry]

---

---

OK. Agra is a bit better. Way less cars, way less chaos (of course, this is all in comparisson to Delhi). The traffic here consists of cars, tractors, auto-rikshaws, bicycle rikshaws, cows, camels, bikes, motorbikes, pedestrians, goats. I am sure I missed some, but that is pretty much what you get in the mix. Taj Mahal is worth every penny (and there is a lot of pennies involved). Most places charge foreigners about twenty times the price of an India ticket. And everybody asks for baksheesh (a tip). We are getting used to carrying a good handful of ten and twenty [View Full Entry]

---

---

Phew... That was a long flight. We started from Calgary at 6:30 am on Friday and got to Ipoh Malaysia at 9pm on Sunday. We are happy that all the bags arrived with us. All family is waiting for us at the parents' house. The first thing we do is go and get some food. Inga is happy to get Ikan Baka. Ikan Baka is a grilled fish with spices. Stingray. David gets his curry noodle soup and we all share chicken sate. Inga decides (again) that she could live in Malaysia just for food. We sleep through the night and [View Full Entry]

---

---

Good question whether we are ready... We got the shots, we got the malaria tabs, we got visas, we got backpacks... We even have flight tickets! Three more sleeps and we are off to Malaysia... I can feel the warmth already :) ------------- Trys naktys belike iki skrydzio. Penktadieni ryte isskrendam i Vankuveri -> Narita (Japonija) -> KL (Malaysia). Sekmadieni busim Malaizijoj. jau dziaugiuos siluma :) -------------- List of places we will be visiting while in India are as follow New Delhi - Agra - Jaipur - Jodhpur - Udaipur - Cochin - Alleppey - Kottayam - Kumlly [View Full Entry]

---

---