http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Kerala/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Asia , India , Kerala en-us Wed, 30 Dec 2009 09:20:51 +0000 Wed, 30 Dec 2009 09:20:51 +0000 Christmas Day was a travelling day and we left Madurai at 9 am. Not much time to open presents which was OK because Santa didnrsquot call anyway. Perhaps he was running late or in a hurryOn Thursday evening we had our special inclusive hotel buffet along with some local entertainers. They were a motley looking bunch probably rejected by the local circus. There was very loud music from a bugle http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Kerala/Kumily/blog-462830.html Thursday afternoon now which means itrsquos Christmas Eve. Wersquore in Madurai heading west from the previous stop in Tanjure. Everyone is starting to get temple fatigue now so itrsquos probably a good job that this is our last day of temple visits. To be fair those wersquove seen in the last couple of days have been pretty spectacular. The facts and figures have started to wash over my http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Kerala/Kochi-/blog-462482.html I feel better after the rant on the last blog entry. Back to business i.e holidaying never mind the poor wretches we see so many of A large sign in Kottayam says 'Kottayam round table number 75 offers free antisnake bite serum.' Reassuring or what Yesterday morning we walked through a bird sanctuary at the entrance they tell us 'no birds' hmmm. Actually birds and bird noises are everywher http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Kerala/Kochi-/blog-462461.html Itrsquos proving harder than usual to find an Internet connection so reports from India could be few and far between this timeI think itrsquos Monday evening now Irsquom sure about the evening part so I havenrsquot completely lost it. Still since this is the first report Irsquod better start at the beginning. The flight was early on Friday morning. And I do mean early 5 to 8 take http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Kerala/Kochi-/blog-462006.html I'm here waiting for a train. It's very hot and humid.Just spent 2 days up in the hills at a tea plantation and a day on the backwaters. http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Kerala/Kochi-/blog-461189.html After a long sweaty day on the slowest train in the world we finally arrived in Kochi and got a Jesus blessed rickshaw to Fort Cochin to a nice little homestay called Hannahs Haven. We checked in and dumped our bags and scrubbed up and sent a lot of washing off to be laundered Out to dinner we found a little restaurant where everyone was drinking tea from tea pots what NO BEER are you mad But http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Kerala/Munnar/blog-461140.html Hampi in brief.. Hampi in brief A quick over view of Hampi. Dotted around the hills and valleys are 500 plus monuments. Among them are beautiful temples basement of palaces remains of aquatic structures ancient market streets royal pavilions bastions royal platforms treasury buildings.. the list is practically endless.So armed with our new found friend Harold a sweet but slightly inse http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Kerala/Kochi-/blog-460997.html Kerala IndiaWednesday The first stop on our India trip is the shopping mall called Dubai where we change our from one Emirates airplane to another for the final leg to Thiruvananthapuram which is the capital of Kerala. It is easy to see why Emirates is one of the best airlines in the world. Apart from the service the entertainment system the leg room and the staff when they dim the cabin light http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Kerala/blog-460784.html Hi all..This is one of the last blog entries from me here in India as it is soon time for us to move further south and down under SydneyThat is is about time winter has arrived in Dehli and it is absolutely freezing this may sound strange coming from a norwegian viking however I am a climate migrant. Our apartment is not build for temperatures below 20 C and it get down to 8 C at night n http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Kerala/Kovalam/blog-460522.html Friday Dec 4th On the train to TrivandrumCanrsquot believe how fast the last three days went byhellip Great times though. It was soo good to hang out with Ellie and Darius againhellip We really enjoyed the time in our prisoncelllike room. Ok find the logic the bathroom didnrsquot have a sink but we had one bigass TVhellip Well thatrsquos gonna help when you wanna wash your h http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Kerala/Trivandrum-/blog-458139.html Welcome.Palakkad a place with lots of ancicent structures and old temples.My trip started by train from Hyderabad in Saberi Express. The train left at around at 12 noon. I reached Palakkad at around 6 AM next morning. The weather was quite pleasant at that time since it was winters at that particular time.I checked in at a hotel close to the station which was really fancy. For a rate of Rs 500 http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Kerala/Palakkad/blog-456369.html KINGFISHER BEACH PARTY Party for the season to kick off this saturday the 28th at Baywatch beach resorts Cherai Beach from 6pm till 2 am. Various Dj'sA Buzzing beach barmunchesgood music n dance floor....Doors BackpackersCouples n ladies only enterPick up n drop available on sharing basis....Info9746469400 http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Kerala/Kochi-/blog-455823.html Wednesday 18 to Friday 20 NovemberHow can I best describe our experience here on Keralarsquos backwaters Umm well itrsquos rather like a cross between a luxury cruise on the Nile and a pleasure boat on the Norfolk Broads. For readers whorsquove never done either perhaps I should explain... On Egyptrsquos River Nile large luxurious airconditioned cruise boats glide from temple to to http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Kerala/Kollam/blog-454619.html Monday Nov 16th AlappuzhaToday was the first day in forever it didnrsquot rain. The trekking tour on Saturday pretty much didnrsquot take place cause it was literally down poring. I checked the weather forecast that night and there was rain predicted for the next couple of days all over India. So I changed my plans and instead of going to the Peryar Wildlife Sanctuary I went back to Koch http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/blog-453801.html The Leela Kovalam hotel is the largest beach resort in Kerala. Sandwiched between two sandy beaches Leela Kovalam is perched high up on a rocky cliff thereby offering panoramic views of the Kovalam beach . There are three different categories of elegant and tastefully done up rooms in this Kovalam hotel . The Garden View Pavilion Room ensures the ultimate privacy you could ask for. Done up i http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Kerala/Kovalam/blog-453613.html Saturday 14 to Wednesday 18 NovemberIt rained almost nonstop during our 3 hour journey from Kanyakumari but it eased shortly before we reached Varkala. Little did we know that this was merely a lull before the stormHaving struggled to find a way by road into the Varkala Marine Palace and eventually coming to a halt at the foot of a steep incline by their tradesmenrsquos entrance we were met http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Kerala/Varkala/blog-453328.html Friday Nov 13th MunnarToday was my second day in Munnar well sort of. I arrived yesterday night at 6 pm after a beautiful but tiring 5 hour bus ride. As I mentioned before I like the buses but especially the first two hours where pretty awful. Getting on the bus I thought lsquowow such a nice and spacious bus with comfy cushioned seatsrsquo got in a row sat my backpack next to me a http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Kerala/Munnar/blog-452894.html Wednesday Nov 11th Ford Cochin KeralaThe train ride was pretty OK. I slept most of the time so the twelve hours went by fast. As I arrived in Ernakulum I was lucky to catch a local bus to Ford Cochin. Standing at the local bus station obviously looking pretty lost I got picked up by a guy who took me to his guest house. The room was very decent clean and the owners very friendly. So I st http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Kerala/Kochi-/blog-452889.html Munnar Friday 6 Saturday 7 Sunday 8 NovemberThe patter of raindrops on Hornbillrsquos thatched roof the croaking of a thousand frogs and the growing stuffiness in the tent caused by a lack of electricity to power our overhead fan woke us up before 7.00a.m. As night turned into day the rain eased and the gardening boy gathered up leaves and some coconuts that had fallen in the night. Two p http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Kerala/Munnar/blog-451873.html Thattekkad Wednesday 4 Thursday 5 NovemberOur driver with his airconditioned Tata Indigo car arrived promptly at 9.00a.m. Wersquod already had another enjoyable breakfast on the terrace at the Fort House Hotel and paid our bill so left straight away for our 100kms drive to Thattekkad. It took almost an hour to leave the city of Kochi and emerge onto the lessbusy country road. There gre http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Kerala/Salim-Ali-Bird-Sanctuary/blog-451342.html