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Published: November 24th 2006
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Hello everyone, heres the latest........
Spent 4 nights on Palolem Beach, Goa and had great time just reading swimming and sunbathing (and maybe drinking some beer!). Left a bit earlier than planned, Mike was getting restless and so was i, to my surprise! Maybe after too many days on the road i was finding it had to relax! Not too sure, or maybe i was just eager to get to the next destination.....Kerala.
It was a 16 hr overnight train to Cochin in Kerala, and it was not to the usual standard of trains we have travelled in the past. Delayed by 3 hrs, we didn't get on it till 2am, a grumpy Katie needed her sleep, only to find a smelly sweaty man in her assigned 'bed' or 'shelf'! Anyway, the man shifted, but his aroma didn't, so i attempted to sleep till the morning which was only a few hours away by this point. We were in what felt like the 'cattle class' so no air con, i think i was probably as honking as the previous man by the end of it! Slowly we meandered to Kerala, stopping at every stop. This seemed to go on forever and
wasn't helped by the grotesquely (Sp?) copulating German couple sitting opposite, i thought it was gross, so i can't imagine what the indians thought. Its not the done thing for men and women to show affection in public here. But apparently fine for men on men action! Its amazing to see the most masculine of indian men (of straight persuasion) walking along with interlinked hands, sat on each others knees and cuddling......its just not right!
We arrived in Cochin and had to get a ferry over to the old Portuguese part of town, known as Fort Cochin. Found a great place to stay called Waltons Guest House, which was an old Portguese Buliding. We were in the 'Garden Villa' which isn't as plush as it sounds, but was a palace compared to the damp room we had in Goa!
We filled the next few days by visiting some of the old religious buildings, going on a boat tour of the backwaters (which was rubbish -will explain later)....and shopping! Lucy Summers you would have been in heaven. The shops weren't that different from the usual tourist crap you get everywhere in India, but the difference was i allowed myself to shop,
and the excuse, Christmas presents (and maybe i threw in a few for me too)! This was dangerous because once i started i couldn't stop! Lets just say the post office made a small fortune that day when i sent it all home. Still, it probably all only came to a fraction of the price i would have paid for it back home.
So.... the back waters......paid 5 pounds for a 'authentic' 6 hr trip around the backwaters of Kerala! Authentic probably wasn't the word i would use, maybe 'waste of time' would be more apt! The people that organised this trip couldn't arrange a piss up in a brewery! It was pouring with rain....and yet they wanted us to sit in open canoes for 3 hrs.......finally we got umbrellas......i was happy......... i was already soaked, a bit more wet wouldn't hurt......Then another tourist refused to get in boat till she had plastic sheet to wrap around her.....what a palava (Sp?)! While she waited for her precious little sheet we just sat sat in the rain. i found it quite amusing but this point.... it was a laugh or cry sceanario, i chose the previous. However, the prospect of another
6 more hrs of this wasn't too appealing! The day didn't get much better, we were punted down the canal for 1 hr, he did a u turn, then went back up same canal for another hour, not very inspiring. Didn't really depict the images i had in my mind from the book 'god of all small things' that was set here. The promised 'Lunch on an island', couldn't commence untill the previous tour group had vacated the tables. Then the afternoon boat ride, in a covered boat (it had stopped raining by this point, typical), was just as rubbish and made me fall asleep for 2 hrs, mmm! So lesson learmt: never do an organised trip like this again, especially if its raining! Nevermind, Box ticked, Kerala backwaters, done!
Next stop Varkala Beach, Kerala, this time only about 3 hrs by train, a doddle! Just spent a night here, due to spending too much time in Fort Cochin. But we didn't really miss much. Weather wasn't great and the sea so rough, it wasn't really suitable for swimming!
Two chicken buses later and we are at the most southerly point of India, where the Indian Ocean and
culture in fort cochin, kerala
oldest church in india apparently Arabian Sea meets the Bay of Bengal. Kanukamari. Just enought time here to get the 'snap' then we get another overnight train to Pondicherry (setting for book 'Life of Pi' if any of you have read it-thanks bazza for that little nugget) . Arrived stupidly early in the morning, and had to try and swap train. Turns out we missed the connection, so got another chicken bus for the hour into town. Thankfully we were guided by the family in the picture below. They were on holiday from Calcutta, but seemed to know their way around. Their language skills were of no use though, they spoke english to all the local people, because they speak Bengali in Calcutta and down here Tamil is the local lingo. Never the less, they showed us the way, and helped us find place to stay. We ended up spending most of our time here with these guys and their 8 yr old hyperactive child. We went out to dinner and 'gossiped' with them, as they liked to call it. Think the child was happy to have the company of people the same mental ages as her. Mike learned to love playeing paper-scissor-stone none stop
for 3 hrs. Never the less they were lovely and have invited us to stay for as long as we like if/ when we go to Calcutta. Can't really imaging that kind of hospitality in England.
Visited a international community in Pondicherry called 'Auroville'. it was very interesting, its been running for 30 yrs, is well organised, very modern, set over 2000 acres, and has 2000 permanent residents. They seem to live a very peaceful and unmaterialistic lifestyle, which sounds lovely, don't really think its for me though! Oh how shallow i am!
Pondicherry wasn't really the shabby french chic i had been expecting, so whistle stop tour then off to the next detination...... (don't worry i've nearly finished).
Which is where i am now (phew i hear you all say)! Another hour up the coast and we are in Mamalloporam, try saying that without your teeth in! Its just a quiet seaside town, not a lot going on though. It was hit by the tsunami pretty badly, but seems to have recovered ok. Its quite evident that the aid organisations have been here. On the beach there are about 100 unused fishing boats that were apparently so
stop bloody raining!
our first experence of rain.....the day we decided to take a open boat tour around the back waters of Kerala! needed by the local population, even though there was only 10 fishing boats in the community before. don't think they really thought about that one!
I am thinking of coming back here in a few weeks. Mike and i bumped into a brummie guy we met at the beginning of the trip, that has lived here for 15 yrs. He put me in touch with some foreign aid workers that are helping out the local villages with various projects. i was hoping to get stuck into something like this (if i can remember some of my tropical diseases course) and hopefully i can be of service to them in one way or another. i'll find out tomorrow, exciting stuff.
Once again, gone on and on. i'm hungry now, so i'll leave you be.
Take care, miss you all.
Love Katie xxx
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Mrs Jones
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You're wicked
You seem to be having the most amazing time, Mother teresa, Life of Pi and the god of Small things are all responsible for my images of India and yuo are actually there. A Becket Babe at work in the world!!! Lots of Love