Blogs from Kerala, India, Asia - page 2

It may be a self-proclaimed title to lure in the tourists, but I think it's deserved. We had flown into the Indian state of Kerala, otherwise known as 'God's Own Country'. The literal meaning of the word Kerala is ‘The Land of Coconut Trees’ - which is pretty much spot on. Arriving late at night into Kochi airport, we decided to kip at a local hotel before getting the bus into the old colonial town of Fort Kochi the next morning. The first things we discovered were that: a) it was beyond hot (we had come in the hottest and most humid month of May, just before the monsoon hit); b) good accommodation was not expensive at all; and c) public transport was, from our point of view, so inexpensive it was almost free. Great for ... read more

Its finally here. The last day. We woke up to a gorgeous day and back to the sweltering pre-rain heat. We were all determined to make the most of this final day and set about getting down to breakfast to then finish off last chapters of books, soak up some final sunshine and get some last swims in. We had games of backgammon - Dad and Lucas followed by Dad and Phoebe. Mum actually went into the pool - a moment of great excitement for everyone! Dad spent ages getting slow mo pictures of Chloe and Lucas doing silly jumps into the pool. Phoebe was also keen to get a photo with the geese, but ended up getting chased by them instead - which was very funny.... The last day was filled with a mix of ... read more

Chloe, Lucas and Dad got up for an early morning swim in the pool this morning and enjoyed it before there was anyone else around. So we all ended up having an early breakfast before settling in for a day of leisure. It was another stinking hot day and we were all sweltering by 10am, so desperately trying to find shade by the pool or in the house. Mum still wasn't feeling 100% and so was taking it easy and we all spent much of the morning and early afternoon reading, playing spite and malice or swimming. We had lunch at the hotel and before we knew it, it was mid-afternoon. The ducks were back at the house and chased dad for a bit which was funny before we went to the market with Anoop. The ... read more

Waking up to our first proper rest day and we all had a lie in. Just making it in time for the final call for breakfast the kids stuffed into as many cinnamon rolls as they could get their hands on - very healthy, but we deserve it! After breakfast we all made our way to the beach which was quite a sight - white beaches and palm tress for as far as the eye could see and hardly a soul on it. The temperature was fast rising so we found some shade and settled in for the morning. Chloe, dad and Phoebe headed to the sea for a swim which was like getting nto a bath it was so warm. However, the waves were fairly rough as there was a steep drop off into the ... read more

Time to leave Forest Canopy...very sad. It has been a really fabulous hotel, looking after everyone really well especially at meal times where the appetites have varied enormously. So it was an early start, and they opened up early for a special breakfast for us and then we were off. Bit of a trek in the A team bus this time round, it was about a 5 hour journey. We were better prepared this time round though, Mum, Phoebe and Chloe all took travel sickness pills and they were ready to go to sleep the moment they sat down! There were no 'accidents' on the way down to sea level therefore and everyone felt relatively fresh still when we got there. Anoop even managed to get some rubber bands for Phoebe's braces on the way down ... read more