Blogs from Kovalam, Kerala, India, Asia - page 7

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 ... read more

So to quickly update on the last post, we ended up getting the semi-sleeper bus, so the seats didn't recline quite as much, but it was good enough for us. Now we're in Kovalam (or Kovallam), and the relaxation has truly set in! The beach is wonderful, and the water is very warm, the sun is also unfortunately too hot! For those who know me, they are probably already saying: "Ha! You got burned!! And you're as red as a lobster!" And you would be correcto! I did well the first day, no sunburn, and got only a small burn yesterday, which really wasn't much to worry about. Then this morning, coated with waterproof SPF 50, the really good stuff, I went out and hit the waves with a body board for a couple hours, and ... read more

Today is my last day in Kerala. I am leaving early tomorrow morning to fly to Bangalore to meet Jane for a few days, then heading back to Delhi on Saturday and have 4 weeks left of my visa in which to try to see some of the more northern cities - weather permitting. It's a strange strange feeling. Timewise I am just over halfway through my time here - but this week feels really like the breakpoint - I am about to start a totally different type of holiday - back to northern india, cold weather (which I am quite looking forward to), and back to being on the road as well.. in short, I cant wait - but there is a sadness to it as well. I am currently in Kovallam which is really ... read more

INDIA Apparently, the entire country of India exists in a reality completely different than our own. There are no certainties or guarantees. There are no schedules or guidelines. India really is the twilight zone. But not necessarily in a bad way. For instance, in India honking the horn is a language and art in and of itself, with infinite meanings and subtleties. And this language is all important due to the complete void of any and all traffic laws. In a world where lanes are invisible and traffic lights are suggestions, a single honk of the horn could mean any and/or all of the following: "Hello Rajesh-I will come to visit you soon." or "You just cut me off you bastard-may Vishnu curse your family!" or "I'm about to pass you doing 50 kmph around ... read more

The mission here from Varkala was probably one of the most hectic yet. Two rickshaws at either end and three buses in between. I could've waited for the easier train option, but having gotten up a little late, the next one was too far off. The first two buses on the way to the state capital Trivandrum were ok, but the third one to Kovalam was a nightmare. It took three attempts to actually get on a bus - the first two offerred no hope of making it through the scrum of Indian locals (from children to old ladies) fighting and pushing their way on. The third bus however, myself and a friend making the mission with me, just put our heads down and went for it. We managed not only to get on, but ... read more