From Rajasthan to The Warm West Coast

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Hello hello,

We are writing this blog from Kerala, our time in India is going far too quickly and we only have 12 days left here : (

Anyway a round up what we have been doing since the last blog. The 18 hour train from Jaisalmer to Delhi was surprisingly pleasant. We had some dinner of lemon cake and a crisp sandwich (very Indian) on the train then went to bed. We were in 2A which was quite roomy, only 2 bunks in one compartment, and slept for about 12 hours of the journey.....good times.

We felt like old pro's when we got back to Delhi, and also like we had learnt a lot since leaving there a month before.
The next morning we got up early to get to the airport for our flight to Goa. The second we got into the airport we got way over-excited (I think everyone does when they step inside an airport). It was crazy to be inside a building that was very clean and shiny and resembled a Western shopping mall with clean toilets with toilet paper provided and a Costa Coffee.

I broke my vegetarian stint with a snack-box from KFC as I reallllllllllllllly wanted Chicken, it was very good. The flight was quick and we got into Goa at about four. We decided to be lazy and we didn't really know what the buses were like down there so got a taxi from the airport to Palolem, about 60km away.

We used our well honed bartering skills in Palolem to get a beach hut for 500 rupees a night, it was quite funny as the owner told us not to tell the other guests as a family two down from us were paying 800 rupees a night.

Not really much to report from Goa, we stayed for five days and had a well earned (travelling IS tiring okay!!!!) rest. We spent the days on the beach reading or swimming in the very warm sea and the evenings eating really good food.
The best meal we had was from a restaurant on the beach where they cooked us Tandoori whole Tuna and Kingfish infront of us......was good.

We left Goa feeling a little more rested and bronzed and got a 13 hour train to Kochin in Kerala.

The first day was spent wandering around Fort Kochi (it is an island and forms part of Kochin). It is quite small and quaint, very different from Rajasthan. We went to a church service that evening as we stumbled upon the Santa Cruz Basilica and went in just before the service started, needless to say we did not understand much. A lot of the population of Kerala is Christian or Catholic and Kochin reflects the Portugese and Dutch reign here.

We watched sunset over the Chinese Fishing Nets along the shore, which are still used today. We then went to a Kathakali show (a Keralan type of dance where everyone has crazy face paint on ). It got a bit tedious after an hour so we headed back to the hostel and went out for dinner with two guys from England, a couple from England and two Norweigan guys who were all staying at our hostel. We went to a cafe which was really cheap and from the outside looked really pikey but the food was really good.
We stayed up outside our hostel late into the evening playing cards and trying (and failing) to plan ways we could get some alcohol (no where is open past 11pm and not many places sell it).

The last two days have been spent doing the same sort of thing, we visited Jew Town and Mattancheri Island where the Dutch palace is. It had an interesting exhibit on Indian dress and we were surprised to find out that the sari only came into fashion and started being worn in the 1900's. It also explained what the 'skirts' (which look like a wrapped around towel) that the men wear.
We also visited the Synagogue in Jew Town and then got the ferry back to Fort Cochin for another evening of card games and chatter with our new friends. The couple were police officers in Liverpool and sorry Mum but they said The Bill is very UNrealsitic (haha)!!!

We are getting a train to Alleppey at half four and are planning on spending a few days there before doing a backwater trip to Kollam.
Luckily we have no more long journeys in India now, the longest is probably this afternoon and it's only 1 and a half hours!!

Hope alls well at home and it's not too cold, it's VERY warm here : )

Muchos Love,

Luce + Clare

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Comments

[Alexis]

Lemon Cake...eh???
Hey Guys, Sounds like you are having a really good time and you are doing lots of things...one thing caught my eye...Luce, LEMON CAKE...interesting, interesting!! ;) x Love you both xx

[Rach]

Lemon Cake?
Interesting cake choice, I presume chocolate wasn't on offer? Jo and I did a lot of Kathakali at uni, I could show you my moves on your return if you like.. Glad to hear you're enjoying yourselves and very impressed with your napping, like your style. Jew town sounded immense, The Bill being unrealistic has shocked me to my very core... Very jealous of your curry eating, Look after each other Rach x