I'm just SO yogic right now

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Hey hi everyone,

This is our last blog from India (sob sob). We depart this magical country tomorrow morning heading for the bright lights of Bangkok. Our last blog was from Kochin and since then we have has the most relaxing couple of weeks unwinding in Kerala. It really is a world away from the busy streets of Rajasthan, especially Delhi. Things down here seem a lot more touristy and the weather is MUCH warmer, just to our liking.

We left Kochin on the 2nd February and took a short train journey (thank god) south along the coast to Alleppey. We arrived and headed to a hostel recommended in the Lonely Planet. It was HIDEOUS. There was a dirty shared bathroom and the room was akin to a jail cell, except a jail cell in England is probably nicer as they have health and safety rules and all that. The beds were metal with a 'matress' which was actually a thick blanket. After a three second discussion we decided to move elsewhere, which was lovely and had a courtyard with fairy lights and a restaurant....perfect.

Alleppey was a small town, made up of lots of little canals running through it, it reminded us of Amsterdam, I think the Lonely Planet's description of the Venice of the East was a bit over the top though, Venice is much nicer. We didn't stay in Alleppey long, just long enough to look around and book an overnight trip on one of Kerala's famous houseboats.
While in Alleppey we went for a wander along the beach and saw some Dolphins very close to shore. It was amazing and we watched them for a long time until they swam further out into the big wide ocean.


We left for the backwaters on our very own houseboat, equipped with a very nice captain and a chef. It had an upper deck which was bliss, we spent the day lounging up there looking out over the other boats slowly winding there way around the backwater canals. All of the local villages are on the banks of the backwaters and we saw many children running home from school and the general way of life there.

We had lunch, dinner and breakfast on the houseboat and it was all amazing, we are most definately going to miss Indian cuisine, however looking forward to trying the new food from new places.

After Alleppey we got another short train further south along the coast to Kollam. Kollam was pretty simialar to Alleppey in size, however we did notice it had a rather large amount of hospitals, and even a hospital road. The Ambulance's outside the hospital didn't reassure us much, they were just white minivans with a red cross painted on the side and a stretcher in them, there was no sign of any electronic equipment.

We only spent a night in Kollam and after wandering around seeing the town (and finding the local bakery) we decided to go on a canoe boat tour of some of the narrower backwaters for the afternoon. This was really good fun, we were with two British couples (EVERYONE travels in couples) and along the way went to see Cashew trees, Pineapple plants, canoe boat making, a fish farm and other wildlife.

We decided to treat ourselves (and be lazy) and got a taxi from Kollam to Varkala 42km further south along the coast. We have been in Varkala for 8 days now, it is very pretty with amazing red cliffs looming up over the beach. These cliffs are home to a strip of lively restaurants, bars, shops and bakeries......marvellous.

From our time in Varkala we have sadly not yet 'found ourselves', however we have found out what we are not. We are most definately NOT yogic in any way. We did not realise before we came here that Varkala is a spiritual hotspot for those interested in 'finding themselves, the bigger picture and the meaning of life etc etc etc'.
Everyday hundreds of people wander around with their yoga mats, waving their palms to the sun and hugging each other. Lucy and I have sadly been excluded from this community in Varkala,having not done any yoga before. We attempted to integrate on the first day by attending a free session of Reiki in the Chillout Lounge opposite our apartment. Brushing our cynasism aside we got quite into the Reiki and at the end of the session were mildly interested in doing some more during our week here. However after the nice lady told us it was 6000 Rupees for a two day course, which would apparantly attune us to Reiki and take us to the second level?????, we decided our money was better spend on the shallower pleasures of life, such as food, drink and some shopping.

We have made an impression here in Varkala though. There are a few shops right outside our apartment which we visit at least five times a day to buy water, chocolate, sweets and anything else that we fancy. I have developed a love for this peanut brittle type stuff which the nice man told me was called 'Chitty' and Milkybar eclairs.....he now doesn;t need to ask what we want when we appear at his shop.

We have realised we really do not look yogic as everytime we walk past any bakery the owners start shouting at us "Cake....Cake....Any type of cake...Carrot Cake....Chocolate Cake.....Apple Cake....Croissant" etc. This has naturally dented our bikini body confidence as we clearly look like we enjoy too much cake, we may try to cut down in South East Asia...maybe not.

So our next blog shall be from Thailand....eeeeks how exciting.

Missing you all loads,
Keep it real and remember, in the words of a yogic sage, release your inner energy and connect with your Chakra (third eye) and all negativity will leave your being.

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Comments

[pat4998]

Made me laugh
Well it did. The Beatles managed to find their inner selves and still enjoy food and drink, and they had only just started out in life! Love Mum and Dad