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Published: February 13th 2009
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Kathakali
Odd! now can you see what we mean? Hello everyone! Glad to hear from so many of you, its great to hear that you are all enjoying the blog so much, we will try and update it as much as possible but sometimes its hard to find internet cafes.
Since leaving Kanniyakumari we headed to Kovalum only a hour or so away, Kovalam is a beach resort which is extremely touristic, it has been hit big time by the package holiday crew and is full of middle age whites from england. The actual place is nice with four beautiful beaches, it just gets a bit much with all the touts! especially the fruit sellers on the beach "hello pineapple...mango...papaya.......coconut!", but it was our first taste of beach life so we enjoyed it staying three nights as we manged to blag our way into a realy nice resort with a pool and terrace areas to our room for the grand total of 500 rupees per night between us (7 pound), unlike our neighbours who were paying the high package holiday prices! We love a bargain!
Whilst here we had a meal on the clifftop which was a stunning setting, just a shame about the meal itself......Ami ordered this kebab
No anchors here!
Think how many jobs would be lost if someone produced an anchor! dinner which she was told was chicken...spelt Chein on the menu...by the time it arrived it was dark so we didnt notice so much that it was raw.... i ate alot of the meat Ami didnt like, i didnt really like it either but we had splashed out so i didnt want to see it go to waste!!.....on the way home we discussed that fact that it tasted odd and the texture was not right...long and short of it was...... we ate dog! (chein french for dog).
Also we have a funny beach story where Ami lost her rag at an indian male who was taking pictures of us in our bikinis whilst sunbathing....this resulted in her chasing him down the beach throwing water over him and his camera....dont think he will be doing that again in a hurry! He cetainely got more than he bargained for!
After Kovalum we headed to Varkala, another beach resort which has been hit by the tourist boom, but not so much, we stayed in a hotel for 250 rs (3.50 per night) and again stayed for 3 nights. It was in Varkala i suffered big time from the dog eating experience!!! so
alot of my time was spent in the Toilet!...or looking for one!
We watched a live band in a restaurant which were awful...Indians certainely cannot Rock! The highlight was some odd ball, white man playing the harmonica, which words just cant describe!
We then moved on to Kollum, Not alot to say about here...it was back to having three heads and being stared at constantly!!! Prodigy's song "im transending from outta space to find another race" was very apt so it was sung alot by us when we felt the need!
we only stayed a night which was enough, seeing as we were booked in to a goverment guest house which was more like a haunted house!!!! Moving on quickly we found paradise..... We took a 8 hour boat down Kerala's backwaters, which was pretty amazing! Lots of really cool houseboats which cost a fortune to rent so we took the cheaper option and shared the cost with 23 others on a standard boat, after a walk, Tuk Tuk ride a motorised rowing boat we found our highlight so far.....
Bamboostix island resort in Alleppey, Kerala, this is a man made island which is 5 star resort only
Coolest Coffee house!
Our very own tree house! and can only be reached by boat, therefore no pollution and no noise. Bamboostix resort make all their own furniture and complete construction from bamboo, it is especially designed for backpackers by an Australian guy, and we loved it! it cost us 600rs (8.40 between us) a night to stay in bamboo bunk beds (this is very cheap for the quality of the place, but because you share the room you also share the price), we got recommended it along our journey and felt very honoured to have heard about it as it was like we knew about Kerela's best kept secret! Both feeling like we were on shipwrecked...waiting for new arrivals.... of which there were 4, 2 of them being south african's who we got to quiz about S.Africa in perparation for our final destination.
We did a cooking course whilst we were there, learning how to cook south indian dishes, which was good fun....watch out everyone when we get home!!!!
We then moved on reluctantly.... to Kochi, which is a big place spread over islands, whilst here we saw the strangest art form EVER! It's called Kathakali, and is massive over here, the performers spend 10 years
Smile!
Actually we were laughing at the awful band playing! mastering their art... we were totally gob smacked! It consisted of grown men, some dressed as women...wearing very elaberate clothing, prancing around the stage, not speaking....but only using gestures, all to the sounds of drums and some poor guy whailing like he was in pain! Odd to say the least!
We also saw the Chinese fishing nets which are operated by about 6 or so men...... looks like hard work, especially when they only get one fish for their troubles!
We are now in a place called Thrissur, still in Kerela, but not by the beach.... only arrived late last night after a epic train journey as we got told the wrong platform by the information centre and ended up going back towards Alleppey, we did get off as soon as possible but had to wait for another train which put on about 3 hours to our journey.
We are still having a great time, but are slowely realisingthat youdont get anything or anywhere here if you are polite... so phrase of the week.....
FIRST PUSH, FIRST SERVED!
Until next time, take care of yourselves and each other! x
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Shani
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This is the plan!!
Right me and 2 shoes..lol..are still doing the lottery every week but no luck yet..when we win were coming to join you..lol..but for now i guess ill live the experience through your pictures and tales. Take care both of you x x x