The End of India

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ഹലോ ഫ്രം കേരള (Hello from Kerala in Malayalam...). I'm writing this latest installment overlooking the Arabian Sea as our Indian adventure comes to a close. We've spent the last few weeks travelling around the wealthier states of Karnataka and Kerala in South India, a far more straightforward affair than negotiating the craziness of Rajasthan.



Following our Spicejet flight from Delhi to Bangalore we caught the sleeper train to the stunning ruins of Hampi. The landscape in Hampi is like a scene from Jurassic Park - huge boulders and ancient temples haphazardly scattered around banana plantations and palm trees with monkeys scampering about everywhere. Due to the heat, exploring in the daytime was a bit of a challenge, so the hottest part of the day was generally spent reading in the riverside cafes drinking fresh coconut milk or a mango lassi. To avoid the heat, I found myself waking up at 6 o clock a few times to watch the sun rise from a hilltop temple - a very peaceful way to start the day if you can avoid getting into a fight with a monkey.



Another sleeper train took us back to Bangalore, where we made friends with an Argentinian guy and had a decidedly Western day - breakfast at McDonalds (nowhere else was open as Indians like to have a bit of a lie in...), lunch at Pizza Hut and an afternoon spent watching the Oscar-winning film 'The Artist' in one of Bangalore's glitzy shopping malls. In the evening we payed a visit to a local Indian bar. As drinking is slightly frowned upon in India, the local bars tend to be incredibly seedy and, as the drinkers want to remain anonymous, you find yourself in almost complete darkness. Needless to say there wasn't a woman in sight,apart from a slightly daunted Katherine.



Our final sleeper train journey took us from the modern, commercial Bangalore to the sleepy (in parts) and somewhat European trading port of Kochi. I feel that I'm actually going to miss our overnight train journeys. Ignoring how cramped and sweaty it is, there's something romantic about watching the Indian countryside speed by from the open door of a train,being lulled to sleep by the steady movement o f the carriage and getting woken up at 5 in the morning by a tea seller shouting 'chai!'. It's a great way to get a feel for the country.



From Kochi we made our way down the coast to Alleppey - the gateway to the Keralan backwaters (900 km of mostly man-made waterways that fringe the coast and trickle far inland). Understandably, boat tours are big business here and we spent a relaxing afternoon on a punted canoe discovering the paddy fields and villages that line the amazing backwaters.



The following morning we took the ferry along the backwaters to the seaside town of Varkala, stopping off for a night at the ashram of the famous 'hugging guru' Amma (an interesting experience but all in all a little strange. I did get a hug though).



There isn't much to report from the past few days here in Varkala as it has pretty much been sunbathing, swimming in the sea and playing the odd game of volleyball. Pretty stressful. We did manage to take time out of our busy schedule to take part in a cooking class which was actually really good fun. I can now declare myself an expert at making samosas and fish korma. Although, considering my mostly deserved reputation as an abysmal chef, I think we'll have to wait and see (memories of my famed orange juice pasta still haunt me).



The food in India has been something of a revelation. Hundreds of delectable dishes that I'd never even heard of, for example, raj kachori, masala dosa, uzhunnu vadda, masala poori, jalebis and aloo chaat. We've only visited a tiny part of this vast country so I imagine we've only scratched the surface of the delicacies on offer. It's a must-visit country for vegetarians - a lot of places don't even offer meat, making the vegetarian food particularly inventive and delicious.



We fly to Colombo, Sri Lanka the day after tomorrow to join the Barmy Army (excited is an understatement). India has been an amazing experience and I already want to come back. I honestly think you could spend a lifetime travelling around this incredible country, as it is just so big and varies so dramatically from region to region. A fascinating part of the world.



That's all for now. I will upload more photos when I find internet that's fast enough... Let's hope for a better result in the second test match!



All the best,



Lewys

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