Punt, punt, punt your boat .....

After eating a good hearty breakfast off banana leaves we took a tour in a large canoe through the backwaters of Monroe Island. The whole area is a lush green, and being punted along in the canoe was relaxing and peaceful as we passed under some very low bridges, and by cashew trees, papayas, pineapples (red!) and obviously lots of coconut trees. The locals were just busy getting on with their daily lives, we stopped to watch rope being made from coconut husks and passed by shrimp farms and lots of people enjoying the shade under the trees.
Next stop Alleppey for an extended trip.

Get Cape, Wear Cape, Fly...

We went for a day to the Southern most point of India, taking a boat to an island off the coast where 3 oceans meet (a prize for the first person to name them all!).

The town itself, Kanyikamari, was a little bit of a let down, like a British Seaside resort with lots of shops selling the same junk as each other. We thought we would spend the afternoon with a cool beer looking out to sea, as Tamil Nadu is a 'dry' state this proved more difficult than expected until finally, along with another couple (Clare & Glen - good name!) we found a 'permit' bar in the basement of a hotel where we spent a few hours drinking in the dark air conditioned room before having a street thali and going to bed.

Missing week?

OUr marathon journey took 2 days and involved; jeep, rickshaw, plane, taxi, ric

kshaw, plane, taxi, train and finally an 'ambassador' taxi to arrive in the very humid southy indian evening at Varkala. It was late, so we joined the locals and rickshaw drivers in a little cafe for a meal of idllys and curry before heading to bed - sleeping bags are definitely no longer needed!

Varkala is a coastal town with the 'main drag' along a cliff top looking down on a large beach below, the temperature has barely dropped below 30c (even at night) so we have spent lots of time on the beach and on hammocks in the shade.

We took a walk up the coast along the cliffs, past coconut groves, a black beach and fishermans huts, we shared fresh coconuts with some locals who had taken a break from working in a shrimp farm before finding a nice quiet spot to eat a fresh watermelon.

Our evenings have been spent relaxing (not that different from the days) with the odd beer and a pick of freshly caught seafood from red snappers an butterfish to jumbo shrimps and giant Blue Marlins. We're really not sure where the last week has gone........

First Impressions of Southern India

After spending a huge amount of time and money we have arrived in Kerala, Southern India - It's like being in another country (a more sophisticated one) The roads are quieter and wider and everything is so green, palm trees line every road and the beachfront. The language is different and peoples faces are blacker. The familiar sound of "chai chai chai" has been replaced with "coffee coffee coffee" and chapati and salty dal has been replaced with rice noodles, spicy curry fresh coconuts and fish.

What a beautiful place to be - Incredible India

Darjeeling Express

We took an overnight train to Darjeeling in 'sleeper class' (the lowest reservable) which had apparently been overbooked as i 'slept' the night with an Indian man curled up at my feet.

It seemed that we were never going to get there, as despite there being some beautiful landscapes and Indian transvestites on the train, the mountains were nowhere to be seen until suddenly we were amounst them.
Darjeeling, being in the Himalayas, is a very hilly town so despite the fact that we did no trekking (due to ankle) our legs still got some good exercise! Slightly disappointingly, the weather was very cloudy during our stay so we missed out on the mountain views and the sunrise over Everest, but we were still surrounded by the now familiar friendly Tibetan faces, not to mention the tea plantations - some of them actually grow on cliffs - they must absail to collect them.

Our departure from Darjeeling proved difficult, as the train waiting list didn't go our way and we missed out on a 3 day train down south (we love those trains) and had to take a combination of jeep, rickshaw, plain and train before arriving in what seemed like a different country.

Varanasi

Varanasi is one of the holiest Hindu cities in the world, and the atmosphere of the city is certainly calming - even spiritual.

The city itself, along with the holy river that runs through it, is dirty, smelly and probably full of disease, but watching the city wake up from our rowboat at sunrise was a beautiful experience. Along the 3 miles of ghats (steps down to the river), and alongside each other there were hundreds of people; they were swimming, washing clothes against the rocks, washing themselves, praying, practicing yoga, setting up shade, chanting, burning bodies, preparing fishing nets and washing their buffaloes. Then there were the many people just watching the people and each other. The ghats are full of colour from the sarees and flags and the orange of holy men as the sun reflects off the water, the brass jugs used for washing and the many old temples and palaces that line the river.

We have taken in the atmosphere and spent our time exploring the narrow lanes that spread back from the ghats, and relaxing (and recovering) with new found friends.

Our one experience away from the 'calm' was a further boat trip at sunset. The think fog of mosquitoes had us quickly returning the the sanctuary of the shore.

We're all going on a lion hunt... (i mean tiger)

Another monster of a journey involving auto rickshaws (of which Glen drove one), buses, a train ride in the catering carriage and a sprained ankle to get to our next destination, Bandhavgar national park. We were exceptionally lucky that on our first day we were whisked away to the edge of the park by our new friends to see our first glimpse of a tiger, it was in the distance but we saw its stripped slender body walking through the trees and up the hill.

Over the next couple of days we did three safaris and saw a mix of wildlife; spotted deer, monkeys, samber, storks, lizards wild boar and yes another tiger. It was a 9year old male laid in the shade next to the water. It was looking around with its huge head and resting its shiny orange and white body as the sun went down. It was a fair distance away but we were able to get a good look with binoculars. Unfortunately we didn't meet any close up or see a kill like others we spoke to buts that's nature for you. We were lucky to see the two we did!!

Karma Sutra

It took two days of difficult travel, which involved some underhand dealings with our hotel porter for some hush hush beer and a telling off from a ticket man on the train to get to Khajuraho, home of the famous Karma Sutra temples - and it was well worth the effort. The 1000 year old temples were incredible, so much more than rude statues (and we'd have been happy with that). Our audio guide (on cassette walkman and held together with sellotape) was superb and we left inspired by the designers creativity and with a few ideas for the bedroom (minus the horses!!!)

Holi Elephants!!!

We had been looking forward to Jaipur where we had arranged to meet Rob and Marian (friends we met in Korea) and booked to see attend the annual Elephant festival and celebrate Holi. We were not disappointed as we had a great few days - we thought India was colourful before, this was incredible!!

In the time leading up to the festival we took a Rickshaw tour of some city sights including a great fort and water palace, we visited the home of some Elephants where we were hoisted onto their backs and we were shown the 2kg Chapattios they eat! We visited a monkey temple where we were protected from aggressive monkeys by children with water pistols, and we sat by snake charmers as (angry) cobras lunged towards us - we moved pretty quick!

As it approached the festival and parade we went 'back stage' where we walked amongst the Elephants as they were painted and and dressed with some amazing designs. We then took our seats and enjoyed the parade of elaborately dressed elephants, camels and horses, as well as a multitude of various dancers, drummers and bands - all described by some brilliant commentary ("we appear to have lost discipline so we urge you all to join in with the chaos").

The climax of the festival encouraged some of us to get involved so the 4 of us stepped forward for 'Holi on Elephants' (a prelude to the following days festival of colour), it basically involved being on or amongst elephants with bags full of paint powder and guns trying to cover everyone with as many colours as possible - brilliant!! We were literally covered from head to toe (including teeth) by the finish when we were presented with elephant tropies as mementoes.

As if that wasn't enough, the following day was actually Holi - so we did it all again (without the elephants) - we'll let the photos speak for themselves!! That evening we went to an ethnic 'theme park' where we ate loads, had our palms read (3 kids apparently) and were painted with henna - an amazing 2 days!!

Pushkar

A Lotus flower fell to Earth and Pushkar was created, so they say. We visited the pilgrimage town and the Ghats to the (dry) lake where a Priest (?) blessed me giving me good karma with a series of mantras, tikka on my forehead (not sure if its related to the cooking).

It was an energetic visit, attending daily yoga classes with a yoga master who helped us to acheive some ridiculous positions! (we aim to carry on), and hiking up to some temples in the hot midday sun - plenty of refreshments were taken on board.