Blogs from Kochi, Kerala, India, Asia - page 13

It's been fairly quiet here at team Chris and Alice. We made our way from the heat of Mysore, the traditional home of one of the most powerful rulers of Southern India (and the Indian Food science and technology college, they wouldn't let me in on the weekend!) to Ooty. In the Nilligiri Hills to the south. This was a welcome release from the heat as Ooty is a little over 2000m above sea level, not really enough to make you gasp for air, but enough to take the kick out of the heat. On the first day, celebrating the mid twenties temperature we walked the 6km or so around the local lake, sitting in the sun on a deserted pathway reading and enjoying being outside without frying. After a walk past our hostel (the Young ... read more

It was like walking into a convection oven. Our destination within the Kerala region is considered the spice hub of India, with domestic exports going to all corners of the country. We wasted no time getting into the lovely air conditioned airport bus which we rode for 1.5hrs to the final stop Fort Kochi. It was about 6.30pm, getting dark, and my scribbled directions eventually guided us to our elusive accommodation named Tantraa Homestay. Our host was a short dark plump man named Ragesh. Whilst he was 100% indian, I could imagine him fitting straight into the Sri Lankan cricket team, as I would come to learn, southern indians have different physical characteristics to their counterparts in the north. He showed us to our abode, a ground floor flat with living room, bedroom and bathroom. We ... read more

...if you want to participate in indian traffic you need to learn a few rules. First off: forget about anything you may have learned in the western world. Rule no. 1: act as chaotic as you can to outsmart other traffic members and to get as much fun out of it as possible!!! The rulebook: no 1: the bigger your vehicle, the more say you get on the road (cyclists are really to be pittied!) no 2: the road may be partet into 2 lanes for each direction, but as you go along you will find that there is an invisible 3rd lane in the middle for any type of very risky overtaking manouvers. The middle lane will be used by both sides, there is no fun otherwise. If you dare to play the game - ... read more

Hello hello! It has been a little while since we last updated this so here goes! It will probably be in several installments as we are running out of internet time but just stay tuned. We arrived in Kochi to find that a lot of places were booked up and it turned out to be a lot more touristy than either of us expected. Very pretty though, almost a Mediterranean feel to it. After discovering that most places were fully booked, we finally ended up staying in a cute little "home stay". The room was tiny but clean and gave out on a nice little courtyard and despite his many rules and regulations, the owner was terribly helpful. We got up early early in the morning and headed out to the Kodunadu elephant training camp about ... read more

Right, so I know I haven't updated my blog for ages, but I have written most of it. I use my small HP netbook to type blog entries in my spare time... the thing is, I haven't really had any spare time lately. I've been sharing a room with Kelly for three weeks now, so whilst before, when I was alone I could write my blog before going to bed, now, Kelly and I chat and I don't really get my own quiet time as much. I've decided not to write day by day anymore, as it's unrealistic at the moment. Maybe when I'm travelling on my own again, I'll spend the time doing it, but at the moment, there's too much going on. I'm either on the move on buses, trains or rickshaws, or staring ... read more