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Published: March 23rd 2011
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So we are up bright and breezy to leave not so cutie Ooty and head for Kerala. On leaving the hotel I am confronted with five men standing in a line doing their business in the street - lovely!! If I wasn’t looking forward to the Keralan backwaters before, I certainly was now. We just had to conquer a 14 hour bus journey - this consisted of people constantly being sick on the bus (in the sweltering heat!), no air-con or fan, no toilet breaks, 70 people on a 50 seater bus and the conductor stealing some of our cash - Worst. Journey. Ever! We then arrived at a hotel room at around midnight which was swarming with cockroaches. Arrrrrrggggghhhhhh - this was the only day of the trip so far that we both wanted to go home!!
Finally we arrived in Allapey and caught a break when we were sent in the direction of a local family who provide rooms for folk like us (travellers) to stay in. It was amazing and I could have cried with relief when our kind host Matthew rustled us up some food on arrival and showed us to our lovely (air-conned) room in
his home. Now this was the Indian welcome that we were looking for!
The following morning we ventured out to do the done thing in Kerala and hire our own boat to take us through the stunning backwaters! After the utter chaos and madness of inland southern India we were glad to have such a relaxing afternoon with our guide stopping off and showing us the local villages that run alongside the narrow canals. Our guide was quite the character as he hurried James off the boat handed him a fresh coconut and then plonked a massive eagle onto his shoulder, bizarre! He then took us into one of the villages for some local food, where we could see our lunch (a chicken) being gutted at the side of the waters, whilst one of the locals took a bath a few meters away and then there was someone doing the toilet and not so far away from that someone was doing their laundry - It all happens in the backwaters!!
After some well needed rest and relaxation in Allapey we were ready to move to Fort Cochi, a lovely little fishing village up the coast. We were lucky
enough to come across another home stay and were very warmly welcomed into Beena's home, she fed us to the max everyday and would only stop bringing out food when you asked her to stop - amazing! Beena and her husband were soooo lovely and we are glad to have been introduced to 'home stays' whilst in Kerala. Fort Cochi is one of the nicest places we have been to in India so far, it's really peaceful and everything seems to run at a really slow pace. The streets are quaint and filled with fabulous bakeries and quirky tea shops - heaven. While in Cochi Beena had suggested that we go out of town and help to wash some elephants, this was too good an opportunity to miss!! We were up at the crack of dawn the next day and were soon up close and personal with the gentle giants, giving them a good scrub/tickle with a coconut shell. It was amazing being so close to the elephants and they clearly loved the attention as they lay peacefully in the water.
The few days we had in Kerala were an absolute treat. The scenery was lovely, the people so
kind and welcoming and the food was deeelicious. Kerala has introduced us to the real Indian charm, fingers crossed it continues as we head up the coast to Goa!
Lots of love to you all,
Claire & James x x x
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