Blogs from Kovalam, Kerala, India, Asia - page 3

K- We have spent the last 10 days in Kerala, South India. Our first stop was Kochi where we took a day trip in to the beautiful backwaters. The experience was so tranquil that nearly everyone on the trip fell asleep!However, as the tranquility is the whole point I guess they didn’t really waste the trip. From Kochi we took a train down to Varkala, a beach resort set on high cliffs. At least it is at present - my memory has proved a little unreliable on this trip, (much to Marks amusement I have forgotten whole towns!) but I was pretty sure the cliff path is alot closer to the edge than it used to be. this was confirmed by some locals - there is a major erosion problem and I am ... read more

In Kovolam I somehow come to be living in a flat next door to a retired Danish lady and above a (slightly crazy) Norwegian lady whom, if you listen to everything she says, is lucky to not have limbs falling off. She is here to indulge in the Ayurvedic treatments that Kerala is famous for. As far as I can tell this involves filling her sinuses with Ghee and slowly dripping a couple of litres of oil onto her forehead. Both of which I’m sure are Chinese torture methods? The ’doctors’ are incredibly diagnosticians - she went in with blocked sinuses (a side effect of filling them with melted butter?) and comes out with cronic headaches a bad back and a damaged shoulder. Luckily they have cures for them all. Hummm… No, I’m not cynical at ... read more

Hello from Kovalam!! After an odd day in Trivandrum which to be honest doesn't have a great deal to offer, we decided to move on to the lovely beaches of Kerala a day early. After a rather bumpy rickshaw ride in which we managed to cram two adults, two big backpacks, two small backpacks and a carrier bag of food (nothing compared to a family of six), we arrived in this lovely albeit touristy little place. We have been enjoying sunbathing, playing in the waves, eating freshly caught fish (Julia that is, not Katrina) and lazily sipping potent rum cocktails whilst watching the sun set over the Lakshadweep Sea. We are currently escaping the midday sun (and the various sellers - yes your pashminas/sarongs/drums/cigarettes/jewellery/flashy devil horns are great but we don't want them, even at a ... read more

It was a nice train journey down from Kochi to Thiruvananthapuram. The train passed through miles and miles of tropical palm trees, waterways, and lush green fields, while my fellow passengers went out of their way to offer to buy me coffee, share their food, and chat with me. My train pulled into Thiruvananthapuram and I headed for the pre paid auto-rickshaw stand, ignoring the drivers who tried to intercept me on the way to the booth and were quoting well over the odds prices. The drive down to Kovalam was the most entertaining journey yet in India. For a start, the driver was clearly mad as a hatter. In addition to the most daredevil and dangerous driving I have ever seen, he periodically burst into some mad over-enthusiastic song at the top of his voice ... read more

C'est malgre tout avec un certain soulagement que nous avons quitte Pondycherry car meme si l'endroit s'est revele fort agreable, la chaleur extreme le fut un peu moins et nous en avons un peu souffert...decouvrant ce qui semble s'appeler un "coup de chaud", different d'une insolation qui resulte d'une exposition prolongee au soleil, le coup de chaud est de la partie quand notre corps, non habitue a une chaleur pareille, decide simplement de capituler. On se retrouve donc avec temperature (comme s'il ne faisait pas deja assez chaud), crampes et autres joyeusete du style. Apres une bonne nuit sur le train, nous avons decouvert Kanyakomary ou Cape Comarin...mais egalement connu pour etre le point le plus au sud du sous-continent Indien...et chose etonnament surprenante, la chaleur y est largement plus supportable. Nous avons trouve un logement, ... read more