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Published: September 12th 2009
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Namaste! Our adventure begun after setting down at Delhi airport with swine flu screening. Passengers had to fill in health declaration forms before being monitored with a thermal imaging camera. Anyone with a temperature above normal was escorted away for tests. Welcome! After collecting our bags, we followed signs for the domestic terminal and were shuffled on to the oldest bus in the world and driven 5km across the air field (stopping at various points to give way to jumbo jets). We saw monkeys playing in the trees and exotic birds on top of buildings. Definitely not home! At the domestic terminal, we were again greeted by armed guards and had to show our passport and tickets in order to be let in.
Inside the terminal we exchanged £20 for some rupees as they cannot be bought outside of India. The four hour domestic flight was with Kingfisher Air and was fairly uneventful, except for the amusement of a cheesy Indian Stellious equivalent who broadcast a welcome message on the monitors. The plane landed briefly in Bangalore to exchange passengers and took off again headed for Trivandrum, our first destination. Arriving there, we noticed that India has a distinct smell
which we are unable to place: sort of like hot machine oil. We took a taxi to our hotel, the “Greenland Lodgings” at a cost of 210 rupees (about £2.80). The ride was manic, with beeping of horns, swerving to avoid pedestrians and overtaking in the path of oncoming traffic. Driving through the streets, it was apparent that this is a world away from what we are used to in England and it dawned on us what we were letting ourselves in for.
The accommodation was basic, but clean although with no lock on the windows but luckily I had a chain to lock it shut. We had a shower and collapsed, too tired to go in search of food or water. Stacey hung up the mosquito net while I filled up a plastic bottle with water from the tap and popped in a purification tablet- Yum, just like swimming pool water! We attempted to sleep but the combination of jet-lag and traffic noise (honking horns and revving engines) made this impossible.
We lay awake for most of the night, occasionally getting up to fix the mosquito net which kept falling down, catching a few hours sleep sometime
in the morning. Waking up tired and with a headache, we set off in search of food! Our guide book recommended the vegetable thali at a restaurant just up the road. For about £2.50, we got a thali each along with lime juice and a bottle of water. A thali is about 8 or 9 small pots of curry along with a japate, rice and a popodom. Eating in India is a whole new experience, using no cutlery and only our right hands. The helpful waiter did his best to keep us right as the meal went on.
Trivandrum is the capital of Kerala but unfortunately does not have much for tourists to see/do. Later that day we walked a couple of miles to a park. It was interested to see the city, lots of small shops and the people are everywhere! The traffic is chaos and heat is intense. Upon reaching the park, we were thirsty enough to chance buying a glass of apple juice which contains the local water; thankfully with no ill effects- at last something was going right! We took an auto-rickshaw back to the hotel (a three wheeled contraption with a 2-stroke engine) which
turned out to be more intense than any theme park ride. Overtaking against oncoming traffic, and undertaking on the mud at the side of the road we made it back to the hotel unscathed for only 30 rupees (40p ish). Bargain! It seems that drivers must think beeping the horn is a game where you see how many times a minute you can do it, rather than actually serving a useful purpose.
Too tired to go out and find food, we had half a breakfast bar each and went to bed at around 7pm to catch up on sleep. This of course was not to be as we only caught a couple of hours each. Our plan to get over jet lag before moving on had failed miserably. Staying in Trivandrum was definitely being thrown in at the deep end In the morning we had to figure out the Indian rail system and catch a train to Varkala, which proved to be an unforgettable experience...
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valda blewitt
non-member comment
going well
apart from lack of sleep all looks to be going well. Photos are really good and am envious (except for heat and noise). Nice weather in Whitley Bay also.