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Published: February 7th 2008
Hello again!
Wel, here I am back in India once more after a month in Sri Lanka. I have to say, sri lanka was fab. What a country, it has everything. Ancient cities and history, beautiful hill countries and tea plantations, amazing culture, beaches, jungle and wildlife parks....oh and plenty of really nice tea! Anything you could want really. It's also really English!! You can realy see the signs of the English colonisation there...from the food in the supermarkets to the architecture! It was really nice in that respect. It's also really green.....probably something to do with all that rain we experienced! And it's clean......really clean after India. People take pride in their homes, everyone's drive is neatly swept every day! I even saw local workers raking the leaves up round the pond in Kandy! I nearly fell over after the few months in india where the whole place is one big dustbin! The people are fab too. Really smiley and will do whatever they can for you. Amazing really when you look at what they've been through recently....first the tsunami and now the political trouble that's going on. Since I came away I heard there's been another couple of bombs there...one in Dambulla where we visited - a bus load of buddhist pilgrims got killed; and then another one in Columbo just after I left. Not sure what cause can justify that. Ayhow, despite all that, or maybe because of all that, the people really live for the day. The western world could learn a lot from them!
Anyhow, now I'm back in India.....Kerala this time....Kovalam is my starting point. Despite loving Sri Lanka, I was looking forward to coming back here. It's very different to Sri Lanka. If I could choose one of the two places to live, I'd pick Sri Lanka out of the two hands down; but to travel in, it would be India. I think its because it's so crazy here. You never know what's around the next corner, who you're going to meet and what it'll lead you to. It makes an amazing unforgetable travelling experience. Sri Lanka in comparison is relatively 'normal' and 'calm'! Good for a break, but it's really nice to be back in India!
I flew into Trivanadrum airport and was greeted with the usual chaos of rickshaw drivers and taxis trying to assure you there were no busses running into the main town! I guess a lot of people fall for it and they get a few extra fares. Anyhow, the bus did turn up and it was an easy journey into East Fort in Trivanandrum and then another bus down to Kovalam.
I have to be honest, I'm not fussed by Kovalam at all. The beach is overcrowded with package tourists, local men getting any cheap thrill possible and sellers like you wouldn't believe. You get sellers on all the beaches in India, but here they're more persistent, almost to the point of aggressiveness which gets right on your nerves when you're trying to sunbathe n read your book! Luckily enough I've found another beach a couple of coves up the coast which is only about 15 minutes walk. You still get the local guys gawping at u, but there's no sellers there so its a lot more peaceful.
The first day I arrived, I got off the bus to start the usual tour of the guest houses trying to find one to stay in. A guy approached me at the bus stop and I wasn't sure which way to go even, so it seemed a good starting point to follow him up to his guest house and check it out. It seemed ok and clean and reasonable so was all set to stay there until he started on about the money. 'you pay now' meaning pay up front, which isn't normal. I was ok with it though as I'd knocked him down 100 rups a night, but I didn't have the cash on me and said I had to go to the cashpoint. He got really funny with me .... all I wanted was half hour to walk to the cashpoint and back. Needless to say he lost a customer, but he had led me down to the main beach road where all the hotels were so that was cool. I walked a little way further and checked out a few more places before coming to the 'Ginger Alley' guesthouse. Guess it's called that coz its painted orange. Its really nice though, built like a lighthouse as in round. I've got the top floor as well which is nice. Bit more than the orginal place, but a whole load nicer. It's even got a fridge and an air cooler which is fab. Still hot though and I have to say the air cooler isnt quite air conditioning as I'd thought when I took the room, but on the whole its pretty good.
Anyhow, made it down to the beach by about 1pm on day one which i thought was pretty impressive having left Sri Lanka at 9.30 that morning! I was on the beach about an hour when a voice said 'sharon'? It was Dan who I'd met in Goa.....part of the group of guys Oli was with. It was good to see him ....small world.
Dan told me about a yoga class he'd been going to. Yoga is something I've tried a handful of times ..some of which I've quite enjoyed, some not so much. I'm more of a 'proper exercise' freak...you know, like running, gym etc. Yogas always seemed a bit slow....something and nothing really. Anyhow, being that I'm in India (.....and the palm reader guy in 'Udaipur said I should take it up may have had something to do with it!) I decided to give it a go. When in Rome as they say! I have to say, I've quite enjoyed it actually. Its first thing in the morning so you have to get up for it (bit of a shock to the system!) but it really sets u up for the day. It also makes me ache a bit so it must be doing something! The guy who takes it is funny. He used to teach at the srivananda yoga ashram here in Trivanandrum, which Siobhan who I met in Dharamsala had been to. He's a pretty good teacher too. The only thing that makes me laugh is he does do a bit of 'chanting' when you're doing the relaxation...which makes it hard coz ur trying to relax and trying not to laugh at the same time! :O) Anyhow, all new experiences, all good!
Its been a bit cloudy since I got here so a coupel of days ago I decided to head down to Kayakurmurai which is the southern most tip of India where the 3 seas meet.....Indian, Arabian and the Bay of Bengal. There was supposed to be a direct bus but by the time I'd done the yoga and finished faffing around in my room, I'd missed what turned out to be one bus a day. Hence I ended up taking 4 busses in all and going via Nagercoil and down to Kayakurmurai. There's not a massive amount there...... there's a Ghandi museam which was pretty good, lands end where you can stick your feet in 3 oceans at once!, and a couple of islands where the wandering monk was supposed to have meditated before realising his life's mission. Sunrise and Sunset were also supposed to be pretty good. Anyhow, it took ages to get there on the round trip I ended up taking...about 4 hours, so didn't arrive until about 3 in the afternoon. When I got off the bus, a guy said there was a bus back direct to Kovalam at 6. Hence I did the Ghandi museum (security guard did the usual accosting when I walked into the place....took me round and then held his hand out! He was quite interesting though and had an interesting tale about the tsunami so I didnt mind giving him 100 rups!) and then went down to Lands end to go for a paddle. Wierd feeling to think you're in 3 different seas all at the same time! Anyhow, all that done, it didnt leave much time to go over to the islands, which was a shame as I quite fancied the boat trip, if nothing else to cool down with the breeze! It's flipping hot over here, even when it's overcast! When I went up to the jetty though, a couple of ladies said their friend had been gone over 2 hours, so I didn't want to risk missing the bus. Instead I went to get something to eat and then headed back up to the bus stop around 5.30, determined not to miss the one direct bus back again! all good plans as they say! 2 hours later I was still standing at the bus stop waiting. An Indian guy had started chatting to me and at 7.30 he said he had to get on the bus as it was the last one going his way! Nice of him to stay with me though! At that point, I decided to find a hotel instead. Sleeping in my clothes wasnt a great prospect, but it was better than changing busses in big towns at night on my own. The only bugger was I hadnt seen an ATM and I only had 500 rups on me so I looked for a 'cheap looking' place. It was a bit of a dive....the windows didn't close as they had scaffolding outside which came in through the window! but it was ok for a night. Having checked in I walked up the street to get something to eat n found a fab local restaurant which did amazing Paneer butter masala....and an ATM! result! The good thing about staying the night was I got to see sunrise.....I'd missed sunset standing at the bus stop!, and I got to go over to the islands in the morning before catching the bus back.
Anyhow, having done everything I wanted, headed back up to the bus stand this time.......I'd stood at the bus stop on the road the previous night and not had a clue what busses were going to turn up when, so the bus stand seemed like a better option! I'd only been there a couple of minutes when a taxi driver came up to me. 500 rups to go back to Trivanandrum. I laughed at him....it was about 50 on the bus! 5 minutes later he came back up to me saying he had an empty car as he had to drive someone from Trivanandrum to Kayakurmurai so if I gave him 300 he'd take me straight home. It was too much temptation to refuse after the 4 bus journey the day before, especially when he said he'd drop me in Kovalam! Hence I got a ride all the way home! Got back about midday .... and it was sunny, so headed to my new found quieter beach for a bit of r&r! :O)
Today was really overcast again so decided to head into Trivandrum to have a look around. Checked out Veli which is another half hour or so by bus, but its quite nice and quiet. It's basically a park on a lagoon just of the seafront with some sculptures by a local artist. The lonely planet had said some of them verged on erotic, and I have to say they did.....bit wierd to see in India! Afterwards, headed back to Trivanandrum to see the palace museum. I have to say the palace was amazing. Only 20 out of 80 rooms were open to the public but they were amazing n gave u a taste of what the whole thing must've been like. A lot of wooden ceilings intricately carved out of rosewood or teak, with incredibly detailed birds, dragons and flowers. Really quite stunning. The only shame was the 'guide' (when you'd paid and got inside they told you you had to go round it as part of a guided group!) rushed you round so quick you'd think another tsunami was on the way! Hence you didn't really get a chance to take everything in. What made me laugh was at the end, she wanted a tip! Needless to say, she got bugger all from me! :O)
Well, I may be off to Varkala tomorrow...it depends on the weather. If it's sunny I may do one more day on the beach, but if it's overcast again I'm heading off. I checked out the bus times today when I was in Trivanandrum and they run regularly through the day, so it shouldn't be too much hassle to get there. Who knows, the beach may be nicer there too! If not, it'll be up to the backwaters pretty soon afterwards.
Anyhow, hope you're all well and happy back home! Keep your news coming....its really good to hear what you're all up to. :O) Take it easy xxxx
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Jackie
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Oooh ello !
Oooh ello ! Have just bought an Atlas..actually its a children's one from the book people ! I can now look up where abouts you are hunny and do some geography too ! Love reading your blogs and glad you are having a great time. Will send an e-mail soon. Lots of love and big hugs Jackie and Geoff xx