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Published: October 5th 2008
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John's new Wheels
Enfield Bullet Baby!!! Hello all.
I'm writing this from our last destination in India, New Delhi. Funds have finally run out and not wanting to take any part time work around here we are heading back to England. Planning to buy some warm clothes before we touch down.
Goa was interesting, relaxing and everything that we needed after a first month traveling the south. After a couple of weeks we jumped on an overnight train to Kerala and this regions capital, Trivandrum. We were meeting my dad (Ian) there who had come out to spend a couple of weeks with us. He would be with us for 10 days and we planned to see the best of Kerala in this time.
Kerala is a lovely state, very relaxed with picturesque beaches and backwaters along with some pretty impressive mountains in the East of the state. On the first night after meeting dad we were lucky enough to share a special night with the locals. It was the culmination of the week long Onam celebrations and there was a big parade through the city streets. The local families were out in force and we got to see some local dancing along with
some weird and wonderful floats. The next day we moved on top Allepey which is one of the access points to the amazing Keralan Backwaters. Kind of a Norfolk Broads in the sun with Coconut palm lined canals and picturesque villages. We decided to rent a house boat for a couple of nights which came with a resident captain and chef. It was lovely to drift along and relax and we got into the kitchen to get some crash courses on Keralan cooking from the chef.
From Allepey we moved to Chochin which is divided by a huge estuary into two parts, Old/Fort Cochin and Ernakulum/New Cochin. We stayed in the old town which was really pretty with its still functionally Chinese fishing nets and old colonial buildings and churches. There was also a nice Theatre here which held evening Kathakali shows. Kathakali are the Keralan tradition plays and dances. Actors take a couple of hours to don their intricate make-up which we were able to see. Traditionally the shows last for long periods of time around (9 hours) but this place showed a more amateur friendly 2 hour section of one of the plays. There is no dialogue
and the actors communicate with the audience via a series of hand and face gestures. Once you got the hang of the gestures you could more or less tell what was happening...of course the print out in English helped a bit too. Another day we headed north to a beach. We thought that it was a short 6 km bus journey but turned out to be about 36. We just had enough time for a quick dip before we had to head back. When we arrived at the beach me and dad jumped straight in the sea to cool off., This unfortunately left Collette 'unguarded' and literally after about 5 seconds she was surrounded by a group of about 20 blokes wanting to get pictures etc. We rushed to her rescue and took turns to go in for a swim after that.
From Cochin we headed east and up into the mountains. Munnar is a beautiful tea plantation town high up in the mountains. It was mercifully cool at night and we enjoyed nice walks around the hills. We even ventured to a wildlife sanctuary 60km East of Munnar and spent a nigh in a super basic tree house.
Floating Palace
Along with King and Prince (Not the singer) We (Well the guide first then us) spotted wild elephant, Buffalo, Peacock, Spotted Deer, wild Boar and loads of birds. We washed in the river and had a campfire before heading off to bed. In the morning we found leopard tracks under the tree house which made us thankful nobody ventured out for a pee during the night. We retuned back to Munnar the following day and stayed back with our friendly but eccentric Anglophile host, Joseph. He was fountain of local knowledge but at times a little OTT, for example not letting us wander after dark for fear of Wild boar attacks!!
From Munnar it was a mission of a trip back to Trivandrum to meet dad’s flight the next day. It was amazing traveling with dad and he vowed to return to India as soon as he convinces queenie to come with him!!
Coll and me had a few days spare before we came up to Delhi so we went to a beach place called Varkala just to the north of Triv. We ate well, relaxed and prepared ourselves for the mission of a 48 hour train Journey to Delhi.
The time to depart came
as we boarded the train. We had girled out and decided to go 1st class to try and soften the blow of the mammoth journey. It certainly was a long one but having a compartment to yourself made it cool. We arrived in Delhi with Collette’s insides murmuring discontent. Something in the train food had disagreed with her and she had a Delhi belly before we even arrived. As I write this she is cooped up in the room trying to recover. It is the first bout of dodgy guts for either of us during our travels but it’s probably better to happen at the end.
OK so that’s it. We are done and looking forward to catching up with everyone real soon. We fly back on the 9th (Thurs). Thanks for reading this bog and for all your comments. It’s been one hell of a year for us and we have had experiences that we will never forget. I am already reminiscing those special moments of the trip and I guess will continue to do so for a very long time. If anyone ever gets the chance, come and take a look at the world. You certainly won't
regret it.
Over and Out John & Coll
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