Day 116 (Tues 31 Oct) - Goa Majorda Beach

Had brekky as usual at Shangrila's.

We met up with Ruth and Keith and took a cab down to Colva Beach. I went off to the internet cafe whilst the rest wandered off to a nearby beach.

Jo, Ruth and Keith continued on to Benaulim. Had a look around Manthan House, an old portuguese house where we were beseiged by a gang of eager shop assistants keen to sell us everything in the house.

Wandered back through the village and onto the beach. After stopping for a quick drink we walked along the beach to meet Sarb in Colva.

We met up at the beach front restaurant Kentuckee's at lunchtime. Had a few drinks and then got a rickshaw back to Majorda.

Went to the beach for a good old paddle and general splash around.

Keith and Sarb played their usual snooker.

Went to the Pentagon for dinner. Excellent as usual. Sarb decided to try a typical Goan dish of pork vindaloo. To say it was hot would be a serious understatement.

Walked back with Ruth and Keith to their hotel and said goodnight.

Day 115 (Mon 30 Oct) - Goa Majorda Beach

Up early to meet Ruth and Keith.

Today we planned to go to the Sahakari spice farm and also have a look at some Hindu temples.

We piled into Francisco's van and headed off to a couple of Hindu shrines. After the Meenakshi temples Jo and Sarb felt that they were a little lucklustre but Keith and Ruth seemed to enjoy pottering round them ( [1], [2], [3] ).

Very, very hot by early afternoon so were thankful when we headed off to the Sahakari spice farm. It is surrounded by lovely cool trees!

As we waited for a guide we were served some ginger and lemon tea. Very nice. Our guide soon appeared and together with a family of Swedish tourists we wandered round the farm. It was like walking through a lush forest!

As we walked the excellent guide pointed out the various spice plants. We saw coffee, peppers, ginger, vanilla pods, etc.

On the way we passed a tethered elephant. It's quite amazing how big and intimidating these creatures really are when you are up close to them. We wandered around a little more before we passed over a small footbridge over a deep stream. The elephant we had seen before was now having the most immense fun dousing itself with water. Great sight.

Just as we finished the walk the guide suggested that we cool down. This involved pouring cold water down your back! Keith found it especially invigorating.

Had lunch in the spice farm open air canteen. Very tasty.

As a small gift we were also each given a small pack of spices. Ruth and Keith have kindly taken ours home with them.

Whilst Ruth and Keith shopped round for other spices Jo decided to live up to her name and gorge herself on some bananas.

Headed back with Francisco to Majorda Beach.

We were soon sunning ourselves on the beach and then headed off to the Pentagon for dinner. Whilst there Ruth decided to give Sarb one of his birthday pressies early. It turned out to be a pair of binocs from Rae and Seal (Jo's sister and brother in law). An ace pressie as Sarb's pair had been nicked in Agra.

Ruth obviously felt in a generous mood as she also gave Sarb and Jo their Christmas stockings early. We've decided to not open these until Christmas Day.

Day 114 (Sun 29 Oct) - Goa Majorda Beach

As usual walked down to Shangrila for breakfast. Sad really, they even know what we are going to order, and now just say "the usual?".

Had a leisurely start to the day - well it is so hot.

Sarb, finally realising that he looks more ape than human, went off to have his hair cut. Unfortunately for the rest of us, the hairdresser was closed - maybe they saw Sarb coming and they thought it was a task too big.

We joined Ruth and Keith in the gardens of their resort. Sarb joined by his newly appointed apprentice, Keith, headed for the bushes to do their best David Bailey impressions. Seriously - the flowers were stunning ( [1], [2], [3] )!

We moved onto the beach and spent the rest of the day chilling. It was too nice to doing anything.

As we sat there we saw a fighting bull being walked up the beach. Apparently these bulls are trained to, er, fight one another. Quite big business in Goa.

Later we sat at the beach cafe and ate fish fingers whilst we watched the sun set.

After we had showered and freshened up we took a taxi to Martin's Corner restaurant. The Lonely Planet had raved about this place but we weren't that impressed, we all agreed we preferred the Pentagon!

Headed back to Majorda where Sarb and Keith had a game of snooker before we all headed off to bed.

Day 113 (Sat 28 Oct) - Goa Panaji

We went to Shangrila's as usual for breakfast and then met up with Ruth and Keith.

Took a taxi to the bus station at Margao - after surviving the autorickshaw experience, we thought Ruth and Keith should have a go on Indian buses!

We clambered on a waiting bus and bumped along the road towards Panaji. What we hadn't realised was that we would need to change buses three times, and the total journey was only less than an hour.

Throughout the trip, surprisingly Ruth and Keith kept smiling and seemed to enjoy their first Indian bus experience.

On reaching Panaji, we headed for the Quaterdeck restaurant / bar which overlooked the estary. As we had a drink we planned the day ahead. Jo had spotted a walking tour in their trusted Lonely Planet so decided to take on the role of tour guide and proceeded to lead the tour.

We walked through the busy town past the statute of Abbe Faria, the Secretariat buildings, the municipal gardens and the town's famous landmark, the Church of our Lady of the Immaculate Conception. Then Jo had cleverly steered the tour along the main shopping street which meant that Ruth and Jo had to pop into a shop. They returned to the street satisified with the modest purchases and we continued the tour.

For lunch we went to Satkar's, where Ruth and Keith experienced their first thali.

After lunch Jo's tour guide skills went a bit haywire and she finally admitted they were lost. We grabbed two autorickshaws and headed off to Campal Gardens. Wandered around the gardens and even some saw dolphins in the river.

We walked on and throught the busy markets of Panaji finally heading back to the Quarterdeck for a few well earned drinks.

We decided that going back to Majorda beach by bus would be too much so got a taxi back. Stopped off at the Pentagon for an excellent dinner before turning in.

Day 112 (Fri 27 Oct) - Goa Palolem Beach

Had brekky at our usual place and we all piled into a cab to Palolem, a beach a about an hour and a half's drive away South.

En route to the beach we were astounded to see a flat bed lorry trundle past with a live elephant strapped on it. Only in India!

The beach is quite crowded but absolutely beautiful. Small islands offshore were festooned with palm trees and the whole of the surrounding hills were a lush green.

We walked around a bit and then decided to sit somewhere on the beach. Unfortunately there was very little shade.

Ruth and Keith settled into a shady beach front shack whilst Jo and I went off to search for some shade. We eventually found some loungers complete with parasols at the far end of the beach.

Whilst Jo sorted out how much it would cost to laze around on them for the day Sarb traipsed back up the beach to get Ruth and Keith.

As Sarb was happily wandering up the beach, lost in his own world, a man walking past exclaimed that he had something in his ear (Sarb's not his). Sarb froze and thanked his lucky stars that a kindly man had offered to extract from his ear some fearsome insect that was just about to tie on its napkin and settle down to a (small) but nourishing meal of Sarb's brain. Whilst the man busied himself with a long metal implement in extracting whatever was in Sarb's ear, Sarb suddenly twigged that maybe this chappy was a little too well prepared for insect extraction. As the man busied himself Sarb jerked away and asked the man what the hell he was up to. To be fair the chap came clean and proffered a grubby card that read something like 'Sunil, Ayurvedic Ear Cleaner, No job too big or too small etc.'. Astonished that he had been had and not without some admiration for cheekiness Sarb gave the chap 50 rupees (although whilst he was digging around in his wallet the chap was shoving his metal implement down his other ear stating 'That there's a blockage here and I can get it for you!').

After disentangling himself from the Ear Cleaner Sarb found Keith and Ruth sitting quite serenely sipping some drinks. Sarb related the incident of the ear cleaner to them in a state of some confusion, not quite believing what had happened.

Anyway we trooped up and met Jo lounging on a lounger. We settled ourselves and were soon basking in the sun, drinking beers, having a dip in the quite powerful ocean and generally doing what comes naturally. Nothing.

Watched a lovely sunset and the amusing spectacle of a cow harassing a group of people nearby.

Had a massive red snapper for dinner right on the beach front.

Drove back to Majorda in a quite content with the day.

Day 111 (Thu 26 Oct) - Goa Majorda Beach

Sarb got up quite early and got a cab to Colva Beach so that he could have his keyboard fix.

Colva was absolutely heaving with people in their Sunday finest on account of it being a feast day. The market stalls were absolutely loaded with all manner of Indian sweets.

Jo met up with Ruth and Keith and spent the day on the beach. Keith, as usual headed straight for the sea, however this time he didn't have his fellow swimming buddy so came a cropper by a mini tidal wave. Jo and Ruth decided he wasn't safe to be left alone and took it in turns to keep an eye on him in the sea. Being in the sea was no hardship, it felt like soaking in a big bath tub - and as Jo hadn't been in a bath for some months she certainly made the most of it!

We all met up again at the Kentucke restaurant on the beachfront at about 6pm. Sarb had been on the beach taking photos of the sunset ( [1], [2], [3], [4] ).Had a drink and then went to Williams where English pies were being served by and English chef!!

Sarb ordered a beef and onion pie whilst the others stayed with less risky options. When Sarb's plate came out he was pleasantly surprised to see a big pie and real Heinz baked beans! It turned out that Jo had asked the chef to cook one of the Heinz baked bean tins Ruth had brought out with her from the UK. The pie was ace!!

We loaded up into two rickshaws and headed back to Pentagon's for a few drinks before walking Ruth and Keith back up the road to the entrance to their hotel.

Day 110 (Wed 25 Oct) - Goa Majorda Beach

Up early and spoke to the hotelier saying that we were checking out to go to Majorda Beach.

He immediately thought it was because of the noise from the nightclub which was sort of true. Went for brekky and returned to our hotel to pack our gear.

Just as we had finished checking out we bumped into the hotelier who was talking frantically into a mobile phone. He beckoned to Sarb and asked him to please speak to the person on the other end of the line. Bemused Sarb took the call and was somewhat surprised to find himself speaking to a police inspector. Sarb told him that the reason we were checking out was because of the noise from the nightclub. The inspector assured Sarb that he would be looking into the matter and was quite apologetic. The hotelier was well pleased at this turn of events as the nightclub was illegal and he was itching for an excuse to get the rozzers round.

Got a taxi to our new home; the Sefra hotel just down the road from Ruth and Keith.
Unpacked our gear and headed off to their hotel where we found Ruth and Keith sitting in the gardens.

We all sat around until 1.30ish when we all felt a little thirsty and headed off to the Pentagon restaurant, situated between our hotel and theirs, for drinks.

Our hotel driver, Francisco, took us to nearby Chandor and to the Braganza House. Braganza House looks rather plain from the outside but there is no denying it's size; its massive.

The house is split into two wings. The East was being renovated and was unlived in while the West was still a family home to the Braganza's. We walked through the East Wing with our guide, Igor (Sarb's name for him), marveling at the beautiful furniture, fixtures and fittings and the elegant ball room. The chandelier's in this room were enormous.

As we left and thanked the guide he insisted that we should make a donation of 400 rupees (100 each). We were quite taken aback by this as no mention was made of any money changing hands. Anyway we payed up and thought that for our 400 we would also like to see the West Wing. Our guide led us to the West Wing, handed us over to an elderly Braganza descendant and no doubt trousering 400 rupees.

The West Wing was full of incredible furniture, books, Ming vases, silver, rare porcelain etc. etc. It is still a real house so as we pottered round we met a very old lady sitting doing crochet; the head of the family it turned out.

At the end of our tour we thanked the lady who politely but very firmly stated that we should make a donation of 400 rupees. We protested stating that we had been duly fleeced by Igor next door and if any further donations were to be made Igor was her man. She then came up with an ingenious explanation stating that the East and West Wings were owned by different members of the family and as such our 400 had gone East and we still had to pay up for the West. Well, we were all a little bamboozled by this but paid up just so we could get out.

Sarb was not happy with parting with such a princely sum especially since any family that has Ming vases and hoards of silver lying around is not likely to be too short of the green stuff. Francisco, on being told how much we had contributed to the Braganza's fortune, was quite surprised saying that that this was the first time he had heard that tourists were charged so much. Not half as bloody surprised as we were!

We made our back to the hotel with a thoroughly depleted kitty. Keith and Sarb played a couple of restorative frames of snooker whilst Ruth and Jo went off to phone Rae (Jo's sister).

We all met up again and had a fabulous dinner at the Pentagon aided with muchos vino and beerskis.

Day 109 (Tues 24 Oct) - Colva Beach, Goa

Went to Goodmans for breakfast - both had baked beans on toast!

Sarb, on a mission to sort out paying for the Sunderbans trip, spent the morning experiencing the delights of the Indian banking system.

Sarb found the bank and foolishly thinking that he could use a card to pay for the demand draft was told in no uncertain terms to return with cash. This he duly did.

A very rude woman then helped Sarb fill out an incomprehensible form. Once done the rude woman signed the document and said that it must be counter signed. So Sarb went to another desk where rude woman number 2 sat and waited whilst she brushed crumbs from her mouth and took a large slurp of tea. She signed the form and then told Sarb that he had to go to the cashier to pay. Sarb then went and queued and paid the rude woman number 3 at the cashiers desk.

After all this he was told that he'd have to come back in a few hours to pick up the demand draft. Sarb left the bank seething!

Meanwhile Jo chilled in the room as it was already too hot to do much else. A rather sweaty and irrate Sarb returned with news that the banking saga would continue as we needed to return to the bank pick up the demand draft. Finally collected the draft and posted it off to the tour company who are organising our Sunderbans trip.

Got a taxi to Majorda Beach Resort to see Jo's mum (Ruth) and Keith. We found them relaxing in the beautiful gardens and we all walked on to the beach. The resort has security guards on the beach who proceeded to turf people off sun loungers so we could sit down. Keith and Sarb wasted no time and went straight into the sea whilst Jo and her mum lazed and gossiped on the sun loungers. Keith was flattened by a particularly strong wave; a common theme we were to find when Keith takes to the water. The beach is gorgeous, several kms of virtually deserted white sandy beach. It was fairly quiet apart from the odd group of gawpers.

On the way through Majorda we had noticed a few guest houses near the gates of Ruth and Keith's resort. We decided it would be better if we could stay in Majorda rather than travelling up from Colva every day. Whilst Ruth and Keith freshened up, Jo and Sarb checked out Sefra Guest house. The rooms were fine. They even had a fridge and for Rs500 a night with hot water we were sold. An added bonus was that it had a shop called "Tesco's" underneath (NB not to be mistaken for the chain of UK supermarkets).

Met up with Ruth and Keith and shared the good news that Jo and her mum would be staying even closer - how will Keith and Sarb cope? Had a "drink" to celebrate.

Hope you noticed the common theme once Ruth and Keith arrived in India!!

Walked along the beach to Colva for dinner. As we walked gently along the sun set over the sea. It was stunning. By the time we reached Colva, some 5kms later, it was dark so we had to use our torches to clamber off the beach.

Colva is a busy, and slightly tacky, seaside town. We desperately scanned the many restaurants surrounding the busy beach car park. Settling for a restaurant called Kentuckee we started with delicious fish tikka and then the four of us shared a large snapper, aloo gobi and vegetable curry washed down with wine and beer. Whilst we were eating a band started setting up on a stage near to where we were sitting.

We had already fended off a rather cheeky, tone deaf mexican chap playing a guitar and were a bit concerned about what the band would produce. However we were pleasantly surprised. The singer had a good voice, and soon enough after a few vinos, we were singing along to his renditions of Robbie Williams and Red Hot Chilli Peppers tracks.

After we were all well and truly sozzled we left the restaurant. We only had a short walk back to our hotel bit we persuaded Ruth and Keith to take their first autorickshaw back to Majorda. They weren't too keen at first but we soon bundled them in and waved them off.

Day 108 (Mon 23 Oct) - Hubli / Goa Colva Beach

Got into Hubli about 4 ish in the morning.

Bleary eyed we got a rickshaw to take us to the bus station some kms away.

Waited around for about half an hour before we spotted our bus that would take us to Margoa. Sarb felt confident that we would be sitting in our hotel by mid morning as he thought the journey would only take 4 hours. Wrong!!!

We sat on the bus and traveled on and on and on. Went up the Western Ghats and back down again. To be fair the journey was incredibly beautiful; traveling on winding roads through lush forests. At certain points during the journey we were afforded amazing views of valleys below us carpeted in green!

About 11ish we hit a patch of the road that can only be described as Kenyan i.e. bumpy and dusty. We had to travel on this road for a number of hours and were covered in dust and not a few bruises by the end of it.

We finally pulled into Margoa about 1ish. We got a rickshaw to our hotel on Colva Beach. Quite a neat hotel but vastly overpriced. Sarb was absolutely shattered so slept whilst Jo feeling hungry went off to get a bite to eat.

She soon returned with some excellent news. On her travels she had spotted a hotel advertising that its restaurant had English pies made by an English chef. Sarb was most pleased as he does like the occasional pie. We both had a sleep until about 5ish.

Today was a very special day as Jo's mum and Keith had flown out from the UK to meet us.

We got changed and headed off to the Majorda Beach hotel, some 5kms away, where Jo's mum and Keith were staying. They had just arrived in from London.

Really great to see them both! They looked pretty sprightly after their long flight. We had a few drinks and then had a buffet dinner in the beautifully lit gardens.

After dinner we returned to the comfort of the air conditioned bar where we polished off a few more bevvies; Jo was most pleased as she could actually drink the wine. In true colonial style Keith and Sarb rounded off the evening with a relaxing game of snooker.

We left the both of them and got a taxi back to our hotel.

Had a terrible nights sleep owing to a racket caused by a nearby nightclub.

Day 107 (Sun 22 Oct) - Mysore / Hubli

Up quite late and packed up our gear.

Had breakfast in the hotel restaurant and then checked out, leaving our main rucksacks at the hotel. As we walked to the internet cafe we spotted a cow doing some impulsive shopping.

Blogged until about 3ish and then went back to our favorite rooftop restaurant, stopping briefly for Jo to get her bag mended, where we met a European couple, Gary and Isobel, we had seen the previous day.

They lived in Prague although Gary was well acquainted with East London having been brought up in Ilford and having a brother living in Walthamstow! Had a good old chat and a few beers and then walked off to the Palace to see if they would switch the famous lights on!

There was a massive crowd all headed towards the palace. We luckily managed to find a good and uncrowded vantage point.

At 7pm the lights were switched on and what a sight ( [1], [2], [3] )! The whole palace was lit up with thousands of white light bulbs and looked like Harrods on steroids. Magnificent.

Walked back to the hotel where we picked up our rucksacks and headed off to Mysore station to catch our train to Hubli.

Day 106 (Sat 21 Oct) - Mysore

Headed off early to the Mysore Palace. The Maharaja's Palace is relatively new, it was only completed in 1912 after the original palace burnt down. We left our shoes and cameras at the gate and ventured into the palace. Our first impression of the palace was that it was simply stunning.

With it's ornate ceilings, gold pillars and archways, polished shiny marble floors and walls full of paintings and artifacts. But it soon appeared more and more ostentatious and garish. The inconceivable amount of money that would have been required to construct such a whimsical building angered us, especially bearing in mind the standard of living of many of the people outside the palace walls.

We walked around the palace museum which was quite interesting although looked more like a place where the present owners store their old junk. It started getting busy so we left the palace.

Sarb really wanted to walk up to Chamundi Hill. Jo's legs were still aching from the previous Saturday's jaunt and she couldn't face climbing up the 1000 steps to the 1062 metre summit.

We agreed that we would meet at the top; Sarb would walk and Jo would lazily take an autorickshaw to the top. The autorickshaw dropped Sarb at the bottom of the stairs and then headed off to climb the hill.

It didn't get very far and the driver decided his elderly rickshaw would not make the journey so popped Jo back into town to persuade one of his colleagues to take Jo up the hill.

Meanwhile Sarb was steadily climbing the 1000 steps, whilst dodging dinner plate sized spiders. We finally met up at the top and walked around the outside of Sri Chamundeswari Temple.

We both walked back down the 1000 steps and Jo saw the spiders Sarb had braved on the way up. On the way we passed a massive bull which had been carved out of one piece of rock back in 1659. The locals were decorating it with flowers to celebrate Diwali.

The views looking back at the Palace were pretty incredible.

Later, when we got back to our hotel, Sarb suggested we go to one of Mysore's posh hotels to relax in their gardens. We ended up going to the Green Hotel where Jo polished off two glasses of white wine and Sarb had a couple of beers.

Day 105 (Fri 20 Oct) - Mysore

Skipped breakfast as we thought we would head back to the hotel for a big lunch instead.

Walked to the tourist office that was unhelpfully closed. The train station was nearby so we headed off there and booked our tickets to Goa and also tickets to take us from Mumbai to Kolkata. The queuing system employed at the station office was quite odd. Basically rows of chairs were layed out on which people sat until a space became available at the ticket counter. When this happened all the people sitting got up and moved one seat up to take the place just vacated. This line snaked up and down the rows. Seemed to work quite well.

Headed off in the baking heat to Mysore Palace ( [1], [2], [3] ). It is absolutely enormous! Walked round the beautifully kept grounds complete with colourful flower beds. Decided that we would actually go into the Palace another day as it was getting rather late.

Just as we were leaving we were lucky to see the Palace elephants going for a walk.

As this was the first day of Diwali there were firecrackers and fireworks going off all over the place. Quite disconcerting walking round the streets.

Sarb phoned his folks to wish them a Happy Diwali.

Sadly it really chucked it down during the night so didn't get to see any great fireworks!

Day 104 (Thurs 19 Oct) - Mysore

Got up and went back to the roof top restaurant for breakfast. Food not great but nice to have breakfast overlooking the city.

Walked to the internet cafe passing a couple of monuments en route ( [1], [2] ). Spent most of the day in the cafe - Sarb uploaded photos whilst Jo chose photos for the blog.

After a busy day on the computer popped into the roof top restaurant for a drink and watch the sun set over the city before heading back to our hotel.

In the evening we walked down to busy Sayyai Road which boasts an array of colourful shops, to Jo's delight. Headed for the Indra Cafe's Para which was full of Indian locals, which is always a good sign. We decided to splash out and have the special North Indian Thali which was a staggering Rs75 (under a quid!). It was very tasty but just too much food and they just kept bringing us more - it got embarrassing.

Waddled back to our room and went to bed.

Day 103 (Wed 18 Oct) - Kalpetta / Mysore

Up nice and early at 6.30am.

Walked to the bus station and waited around with a half dozen locals for the Mysore bus.

It soon turned up and we managed to bag the back seats. As we traveled a man decided that he wanted to talk to Sarb even though Sarb could not understand a word the man was saying.

Passed through the very busy town of Sultan Battery, east of Kalpetta and past the Muthanga wild life sanctuary. As the bus chugged along through the lush forests we some wild elephants busy having breakfast i.e. demolishing a tree.

Got to Mysore about 10.30am. Rickshaw to the Dasprakash hotel. It is a very large rambling hotel set around a central courtyard and has quite a colonial feel to it.

Our room is large and comfy and most importantly has a very hot and powerful shower! Bliss!

Feeling a bit peckish so went downstairs to the restaurant. This is a very utilitarian place, reminiscent of an old school hall. We ordered some thalis (vegetarian) that were excellent and very cheap too.

Rested for a while and then went to the internet cafe to blog and upload some photos. On the way there we were pestered by an extremely persistent woman beggar. Finished on the internet and as we headed back to the hotel decided to stop off at a nearby rooftop restaurant where we had some bevvies whilst watching the bustling streets below.

We both felt that Mysore has a really friendly feel to it.

Changed and headed out to a local restaurant. Good local music although the food wasn't exactly great.

Day 102 (Tue 17 Oct) - Kalpetta

Up quite late for breakfast.

Went to the internet cafe to do some blogging.

About 2ish we stopped and arranged to get a rickshaw to take us round the tea plantations. This may sound easy but it was a right trial. We had about 5 rickshaw men all round us, bickering, as we tried to explain that we simply wanted a tour of the tea plantations. ( [1], [2], [3], [4],
[5], [6] )

After many discussions en route we managed to get to Meppadi where we got our photos. Drove back past the magnificent houses and back to Kalpetta.

Walked to the Woodlands restaurant for dinner. Thought it might offer something different from our usual restaurant's fair but were sorely disappointed. The menus were identical!

Walked through the dark town back to our room.

Whilst we read we could hear a group of men doing the Indian equivalent of an 18-30 holiday. The noise was horrendous; doors being banged, raucous laughter, general boorishness and most alarmingly piercing screams. One can only imagine what the hell they were up to (although Sarb's warped mind did recall the time when a group of men in London were arrested for nailing their bits to bits of wood).

Anyway Sarb went out to speak to the hotelier who said that the chaps were a little merry and that they would pipe down by 11pm. Luckily they did just that so that we could lay awake on the uncomfortable beds in peace!

Day 101 (Mon 16 Oct) - Kalpetta

Had a tasty breakfast at the hotel restaurant, after which we headed off to the internet cafe. There were security problems with the computers and the owners didn't seem bothered that porn kept flashing up on our screens. They must have got a batch of knock off computers from some British firm. We didn't stay long, instead headed back to the hotel.

Later we decided to head off to Pookote Lake. After our experience of India's idea of promoting nature the day before, we had no idea what to expect. We were very pleasantly surprised.

The quiet lake ( [1], [2], [3] )was surrounded by a lush evergreen forest, it was beautiful and unspoilt apart from a couple of brightly coloured pedalos. As we leisurely walked around the lake we soaked in the smells and the sounds of the forest and watched large butterflies as they danced in front of us and almost trod on a small snail. We had nearly walked around the lake when it started to rain. It quickly became pretty heavy and luckily we were able to dive into the cafe for a cup of chai. Whilst we waited for the rain to ease off we watched naughty monkeys successfully steal food from the cafe. It was quite a downpour and there was no sign that the rain was easing off but an Indian family must have thought differently as they decided to take a pedalo into the middle of the lake. Needless to say they were soaked to the skin and came back to shore shortly afterwards.

It was getting late so we headed back to Kalpetta. Tonight we decided to follow Suresh's recommendation and try out Haritagiri Ecotel (no idea what an ecotel is!) as he said they served pasta and wine!! Jo got very excited at the prospect of a glass of wine and even dressed up for the occasion. We should have known better!

When we arrived we scanned the menu and there was no sign of pasta although they did serve wine. Well only one type of wine to be fair. We both ordered veggie biriyani and a glass of wine. The wine tasted more like port but Sarb reminded Jo that they soon would be in Goa where he assured her there would be (drinkable) wine!

Day 100 (Sun 15 Oct) - Kalpetta (Tholpetty)

Got up at 5.30am after another nights restless sleep.

Met our driver and we drove for about 40mins to a village where we picked up Suresh. Got to the main gates of Tholpetty at 7am. There were a few other carloads of people milling about.

Suresh tried to buy some tickets but was told that because the Governer of Kerala had decided to pay a surprise visit we would have to wait. We hung around thinking that the Governer would pitch up, whizz round the park and be on his merry way. And we waited. Anyway about 10ish the Governer appeared complete with attending ambulance, fire truck and a host of other lesser vehicles. Resisting the urge to lob a brick at the elderly gent we had a huddle and decided that the park might remain closed for most of the day so best to head off and return later.

Decided to go to Kuruva Island, a large evergreen forest reserve. Walked through the forest past massive bamboo trees.

For some reason Suresh decided that we ought to go on a raft across the fast flowing river. We got on and the raftman, using a rope strung across the banks of the river, pulled us across to the other bank. From there we floundered around before making our way back across the river to our starting point. We were a little bemused as to the whole point of this jolly.

During this journey we were sitting on the raft when Sarb spotted a whacking great spider (spanning about 3.5 inches) making its way straight towards him. Without having a regrettable toilet accident or throwing himself into the river Sarb told Jo that there was a rather big spider heading his way and calmly stood up on the raft. The spider by this time had made his way to the edge of the raft and as we looked round for a suitable implement to shove it off, it simply leapt from the side of the raft and skittered away across the fast water. Quite amazing, although we were glad to see the end of him.

Walked on through the forest listening to the burble of the river and birdsong. Very difficult to actually see the birds though.

We passed through a small carpet of plants whose small leaves would actually contract when you touched them. Quite uncanny.

Suresh had organised a local family to provide us with lunch. Jo and I sat outside where we were served a bewildering variety of food on banana leaf plates. Great food and a really friendly family.

After lunch we drove back to Tholpetty hoping that we could get in. Luckily the governer had shoved off so we paid for our tickets and a forest guide. Jo quite rightly then pointed out that our jeep was not very good for spotting wildlife. The back of the jeep was completely covered offering absolutely no visability. So the only visability we had was out the windscreen or from the back of the jeep. Not very good. Sarb sat at the front and Jo, Suresh and the guide were in the back.

(However as we drove round we passed similar vehicles where there must have been at least 10 people crammed in.)

From the start the driver seemed to think that we wanted to see the reserve at about 40 km/h. We asked him to slow down. It turns out that a trip to the reserve actually means that you get to drive round a circular road that should take about 1.5 hours ie. you are not encouraged to stop at a promising spot to wait for wildlife. Bonkers!

Saw some animals though including a bison, monkeys leaping through the trees, wild boar, squirrels and deer.

Drove back to Kalpetta and had dinner in the restaurant downstairs. Everything we ordered seemed to be drenched in the same white sauce. Very odd.

Again it was a very stormy tonight.

Day 99 (Sat 14 Oct) - Kalpetta

A knock on the door at 8 am signaled that our 'sleep' was over.

Sarb answered the door to a smartly dressed Indian who turned out to be our guide, Suresh. We said we'd meet him an hour downstairs.

Got ourselves sorted then had breakfast with Suresh. He was actually an artist but done a little guide work to supplement his income. Got some packed lunches from the restaurant and headed off to the bus station.

Todays plan was to head to the Meenmutty falls. A local bus took us through Kalpetta and then into the hills passing beautiful tea plantations. We also passed huge, grand mansions being built with, according to Suresh, Gulf money. Got to a small but busy town called Meppadi where we took a rickshaw to the start of the trail leading to the waterfalls.

Walked down a brick red path cut through smallholdings where coffee, ginger, pepper and tea were grown. Even saw a plantation where rubber trees were cultivated. Quite beautiful.

We both thought that if this was what the path was like to the falls it would be a breeze. How wrong we were! The path soon turned very thin, steep and slippery. At one point the path ran alongside the wall of the valley where a 4 foot stretch of it had broken away. We had to side climb over this gap to get to the other side. Doesn't sound like much but when you are knackered, its blazing hot, the rocks were slippery with cascading water and there's a 30 foot drop below you onto rocks it gets interesting.

The route to the falls took us through really dense forest. Very peaceful. Got to the falls which were quite magnificent.

Jo was not looking forward to the journey back up and out of the valley. However we had a rest, drank some water, said a prayer or 10, took a few photos and then started to make our way back. We managed the climb ok, although there were some interesting moments where you kind of had to scramble up by wedging yourself between rocks.

Got to the top and sat in a small shack where we had our packed lunches.

Whilst we sat there Sarb heard the sound of foliage being pushed aside and was startled to see some 5 yards away a snake fall onto the path. Luckily Suresh told us not to panic as it was a rat snake and not dangerous. It certainly looked dangerous. It was about 5 feet long, with a polished brown upper and a creamy lower. Suresh took Sarb's camera and went looking round for it in the undergrowth whilst we stood at a respectful distance.

We got a shared taxi back. In Kalpetta the taxis are all small jeeps and we bundled in amongst our fellow passengers. As we traveled other passengers got on but as there were no seats had to make do with clinging onto the back of the jeep.

Got back to Kalpetta abut 4 ish. Sarb went for a beer in the hotel bar. Quite annoying really but women were either not allowed or encouraged to enter.

About 6 ish a huge rainstorm kicked in. Very, very heavy rain with plenty of lightning and thunder thrown in. Sarb loved it.

Had another not too comfortable nights sleep.

Day 98 (Fri 13 Oct) - Calicut / Kalpetta

Left our hotel about 9ish and walked to the nearby bus station.

Got a bus to Kalpetta with no probs. We're getting pretty good at this bus thing!

Very, very hot as we travelled up and over the Western Ghats. The views of the forested valley's were simply awesome.

Got to Kalpetta about 5.30pm and headed for the PPS Tourist Home hotel where we checked in. Had a great lunch in their resteraunt and then went off to the DPTC Tourist Office to sort out some jollies. The chap at the Tourist Office was very helpful. We arranged for a guide to meet us at our hotel t'row morning at 9am.

Got back to our hotel and bunged our clothes into get laundered.

Sarb was feeling a little restless so went off to have a beer and find an internet cafe. Whilst checking the email he found a mail from British Gas stating that there was a problem with the flat's boiler system. Foolishly we had forgotten that the regulations for installing boilers had changed since leaving the UK and consequently we now had to install a 'Multi-Bonded Electrification Subsystem'. Considering that we are already paying BG monthly for insuring the boiler and that it has had countless inspections deeming it safe this mail had Sarb fuming. Anyway he got back to the hotel and told Jo about the mail. Decided that we really should find out what the hell BG was on about so trooped back to the cafe. Life however springs some surprises however. As soon as we logged on we found a new email stating the boiler at the house was handing in its dinner pail.

At this point Sarb decided he'd had enough of flaming British Gas, boilers, and Multi-Bonded Coaxial Sub Electrification units so Jo thought it wise to head back to the safety of the hotel where restorative beer could be purchased.

Had a bland meal at the hotel and turned in.

The beds in the hotel can best be described as bed shaped. Features normally associated with a bed were completely lacking, principally comfort. It seemed that putting a 1 inch thick bit of material on a solid wooden base was enough to give the impression that there was indeed a bed there.

Needless to say we both slept badly!

Day 97 (Thurs 12 Oct) - Fort Cochin / Calicut

Sarb got up with a stinking hangover. Jo felt fine so she pottered off to the Kashi Art cafe for breakfast. Jo had delicious warm fruit cake and fresh fruit but Sarb could only just manage a glass of water.

We couldn't face the ferry back to Ernakulam so we persuaded an autorickhsaw to take us via the bridges. Over an hour later we arrived at Ernakulam bus station. After two packets of tangy tomato crisps, Sarb was feeling slightly better and we boarded the busy bus to Calicut.

Nearly five hours later we arrived in Calicut.

It was getting dark so we had to quickly find somewhere to stay. We wanted to stay near the bus station as we were only staying for the night and then heading off to Kalpetta the next morning. We checked into the Metro Tourist Home - they "said" they only had deluxe rooms left. By deluxe we think they mean "you are a tourist so you can pay double the normal rate". Dumped our bags and headed off to find some dinner.

Even though we were walking through the centre of Calicut it was pitch dark, we had to be careful we didn't fall down any open manholes or step on any rats we saw scurrying around. We had a lovely meal in the Dawn Restaurant, Hotel Malabar Palace and returned to our hotel. Since it was so dark we decided to get a rickshaw back but for the first time since we arrived in India we couldn't find one. We ended up walking back.

When we got back to our room Sarb thought he spotted a few mozzies. Armed with Morten, a locally made insect killer, he sprayed the room. As we got ready for bed we were amazed to see mozzies literally falling out of the air, dead. In one small 1m square patch of the room we counted about 30 of the little blighters getting ready for their final journey. We don't know what is in Morten, and to be honest we don't want to considering the fumes, but if you want to get rid of mozzies this stuff is top drawer.

Day 96 (Wed 11 Oct) - Fort Cochin

As we'd had such a great breakfast the day before we headed back to the Kashi Art Gallery Cafe. We scoffed a healthy farmhouse omelet with fresh fruit.

Had a lazy day, Jo spent most of the time chilling in our room whilst Sarb alternated between the bar and the internet cafe.

Later we walked down by the Chinese nets, spotting a guy working really hard, and having selected a good cafe where our fish would be cooked; we got one of the chaps to help us choose some fish from the stalls.

Selected some tiger prawns for lunch and a red snapper for dinner which our man took away to be cooked and stored respectively.

Sat down in the open air 'cafe', chatting to the waiters and drinking beer. Soon our prawns arrived. Very, very nice indeed!

As we ate we got chatting to a chap called Mark from Handsworth in Birmingham sitting nearby. He was thinking of opening another restaurant in B'ham and was planning to hire some of the staff from the Cafe and get them over to the UK. Really nice bloke.

We all had loads of beers and watched the sun go down. Our red snapper arrived in an unusual but very tasty 'pakora' style.

During the evening we had been drinking loads of beers in mugs. This is of course illegal as we were in a public place. The next thing we knew was that the local plod (having nothing better to do) had descended on the cafe and arrested three people for serving alcohol. Suddenly there seemed to be policemen and cars everywhere. A stern looking officer came over to Mark and Sarb (Jo wasn't drinking) and told them off for drinking; he allowed them to finish their beers but hinted that if he came back and we had fresh drinks we might find ourselves sharing a bunk in the police station. During this tense exchange Mark lit up a fag. Not so bad you may think but smoking in public is also illegal. Luckily the policeman was feeling lenient and ignored it. From the waiters we learned that these busts were quite common and were always forgotten once an amount of money changed hands.

After this bust the mood in the cafe was decidedly sour so we decamped and went off to another nearby restaurant for more beer. By this time our merry group was augmented by a Canadian girl and the four of us were having a jolly old time.

Soon two smartly dressed Indian men sitting at a nearby table asked if they could join us. By this time of course we would have had a drink with anyone!

These two chaps turned out to be helicopter pilots. Whilst Sarb chatted drunken aero speak to one (Aside: Sarb is a closet plane spotter), the other pilot was still quite clearly looking for a place to land. The guy was so stoned it was unreal!

By now it was a pretty merry group. Jo left about 1 ish to our hotel literally opposite. Sarb stayed and discussed the relative merits of the Eurofighter against the French Rafale.

Eventually Sarb decided he'd had enough and wobbled back to the hotel, well and truly wasted.

Day 95 (Tue 10 Oct) - Fort Cochin

Got up around mid morning and headed over to the Kashi Gallery for breakfast.

This is a small art gallery championing local artists and towards the back a really nice small leafy garden where they serve breakfast.

Had a really good French toast and fresh fruit brekky!

Went to the nearby tourist office to get a local map and then had a potter around. Right next door to the tourist office we saw a tame fish eagle sitting amongst the chairs and tables of a restaurant!

The weather was beautiful. Blue skies with puffy white clouds and not too hot.

Walked past men working the Chinese fishing nets pulling in their catches ( [1], [2], [3], [4] ), closely watched by a number of very interested cats! We also went past the fresh fish stalls and restaurants literally next door to the nets where the same fisherman would sell their catches. Doesn't get much fresher than that. Interesting thing about the restaurants is that the owners will quite happily help you choose your fish and then cook it there and then!

Wandered on and through the small streets of Cochin that were lined with small pretty cottages ( [1], [2] ). Reminded us a little of where Jo's mum lives in Thame, Oxfordshire!

Stopped just by the parade ground; an open area not unlike an English village green where children were playing cricket. Consulted our map and found that a posh restaurant was nearby called Malabar. Deciding that we needed a drink we headed over and were soon sitting in a shady courtyard by a small pool.

Had a couple of glasses of very nice wine and fresh fish fingers.

From the Malabar we walked back past the harbour where Sarb stopped outside a fish stall. What had caught his eye was the small hammerhead shark that had been laid out as part of the catch of the day. (Sarb assumed it was a hammerhead although he is no fishologist).

Later we popped over to the restaurant opposite our digs. As they are not legally allowed to sell alcohol, they sell their "special brew" in large tea pots and you have to drink out of mugs! Had a tasty meal and retired to our rooms, knackered and Sarb being slightly merry on special brew.

Day 94 (Mon 9 Oct) - Quillon / Fort Cochin

Got up early and took a rickshaw to the train station to catch our train to Ernakulam.

Sat opposite a middle aged couple from Kolkata on holiday. As we traveled we all marveled and remarked on the beauty of the scenery. Considering what we were commenting on, we were left rather stunned when the woman unselfconsciously starting throwing loads of litter out of the window. As we may have mentioned, throughout India we have seen an incredible amount of litter; people just don't seem to notice that they are making the surroundings unattractive.

Arrived at Ernakulam and hired a rickshaw to Fort Cochin. Traveled for about an hour, over a bridge and crossing a river by ferry.

We stopped at the Princes Inn. Not mentioned in our guide book, but Helen and Julie (travelers from Canada we met previously) rated it.

Lovely small hotel with really friendly staff. Got into our large clean room that had a very high ceiling.

Showered and then pottered around Fort Cochin for the afternoon. It has a real village feel to it, quite European.

Had dinner at the posh hotel, the Old Courthouse, nearly opposite the Princes Inn. Dinner was okay but should have been alot better considering how expensive it was.

Day 93 (Sun 8 Oct) - Quillon

Got up whilst the crew bustled around the boat getting it ready.

Traveled back via the same route. Thankfully the weather had brightened up from the previous day! As there were so many birds around Sarb decided to take a few photos of them ( [1], [2], [3], [4], [5] ). [ We are not birdyologist's so those of you that are please identify these birds for us by replying to this post! ]

Got back to the jetty, passing some small ferries, where we disembarked and went back to our lodgings. Freshened up, done some blogging and then had some beer at Hotel Sudarsan's.

Walked back to the jetty for our afternoon punt about 2.30ish. Met a mother and daughter, Helen and Julie from Vancouver, with whom we would be sharing the punt. They turned out to be a great companions to spend the afternoon with.

We were all bundled into car for the 45 minute drive to the punt. We were soon all on board and traveling through the most beautiful and serene waterways we'd ever been on ( [1], [2], [3], [4], [5], [5] ).

Every now and then we all had to duck under very low foot bridges built across the waterways and push low hanging vegetation away. During the course of our journey, Helen who was sitting behind Sarb, politely coughed and said that 'He might have a little spider on the back'. Sarb froze and quietly weighed up his options. Luckily during his mental breakdown Jo simply flicked the spider off. Sarb didn't see it although Jo and Helen assured him that it was big (ie a couple of inches across type big).

Visited a smallholding that used coconuts for a variety of purposes. Were shown small coconuts drying so that they could be used for oil. Also had some coconut milk! The owners also kindly showed us their garden in which all manner of herbs and plants were growing, including a pineapple.

Traveled back through the peaceful waters until we neared the main channel where we first started. There was a right commotion as Snake boats hurtled by us practising for the coming boat race. Quite a sight.

Left the punt reluctantly and got the car back and we all wandered off to Hotel Sudarsans for a beer. On the way we pointed out to Helen and Julie the very large fruit bats flying overhead. They peered up and were amazed. These bats are HUGE! Easily 2/3 feet across. Anyway a passing local woman, for some unknown reason, took offence that we were watching the bats and insisted that they were in fact crows. Sarb admits to not being a batologist, but having watched numerous Batman films would swear that they were bats. However he is aggrieved that he has not managed to capture one on camera.

After our drink we wandered back to our hotel to change and then returned to the Hotel Sudarsans for dinner. Met up briefly with Julie and Helen again.

Dinner was ordinary after which we ambled through the strangely deserted streets back to our lodgings.

Day 92 (Sat 7 Oct) - Quillon

The morning brought us a steady downpour.

Took a rickshaw down to the boat jetty and rearranged our trips so that we would do the morning punt t'row morning because of the rain.

We went off to Hotel Sudarsan's for a nice breakfast and then hit an internet cafe. Whilst we were there, the rain which had not really let up, really let fly. Absolutely chucked it down.

Walked back to the jetty for 2.30ish. We bundled into a rickshaw, with our tour guide, to where the boat was some 10 minutes away.

Our boat looked pretty good; complete with a double bedroom with en suite etc. We were the only punters on this trip.

We were introduced to the crew; a captain, a cook and two helpers, were dutifully garlanded, bought a bottle of homemade wine (that was awful) and then set off.

We traveled through the wide waterways bordered by beautiful trees and many fishing nets. We saw loads of birds. The weather was slowly trying to brighten although we went through a number
of small showers.

As we passed under a bridge we saw a number of snake boats coming towards us. These boats are used in an annual 'regatta' the Nehru Trophy Snake Boat Race that was to be held in about 2 week’s time.

We turned into narrower channels ( [1], [2], [3] ); passing through small villages, complete with churches and waving children ( [1], [2], [3] ).

The boat was moored in the middle of a placid wide expanse of water fringed by coconut palms and a few houses. While we waited for dinner we were forced to listen to the incredibly loud music coming from the houses; it was a right racket.

Had a fab dinner; looking out through the open sides of the boat at the dark waters and the inky blue/black sky. Beautiful.

We both had a good nights sleep, even though the wind picked up and we could hear tarpaulin flapping loudly.

Day 91 (Fri 6 Oct) - Kanyakumari / Quillon

Up bright and early and headed off to the train station.

It seems like a lot of Indian holidaymakers had concluded their holidays as they sat miserably in the station waiting for the train their luggage piled round.

As soon as the train arrived we fought our way on and settled down for the 2/3 hour journey. And what beautiful scenery running alongside the Western Ghats ( [1], [2], [3]).

We soon realised that we had sat with a rather vocal Indian family in the berth next door, not that they were speaking! In fact, all over Indian we have experienced people spitting everywhere. To make matters worse this family all seemed to have very bad chest infections as they constantly made real loud noises as they cleared their throats and then proceeded to spit out the window. At one point Sarb thought it was raining; Jo had to inform him that it was actually this family gobbing out of the window.

To distract us, Sarb spent a good hour trying to perfect his Indian head shake, which was hilarious. To help him he even managed to take a video of himself to see how good he was - very sad. Jo joined in but decided she just didn't have the waggle.

Finally arrived in Quillon (also known as Kollam) and got an auto rickshaw, as Jo was feeling lazy, to the Tourist Guest Home. The room is really basic but it only costs Rs 200 per night (cheapest place to date!) with a proper toilet. We were only intending to use it as a base as we hoped to organise a house boat.

We went to the government Tourist office and told them that we wanted a house boat to take us up to Alleppey, further up the coast. They thrust a newspaper at us and told us we couldn't go to Alleppey because there had been an outbreak of chickgenze and already 80 people had died. Well that certainly put us off going.

Instead the chap suggested that we could go on a boat around the backwaters returning to Quillon. This sounded like a plan but we were a bit taken back when he said it would cost us Rs7000 (nearly 100 quid) for one night on a boat. Jo asked if they could check out the boat before they booked. Bearing in mind we are used to paying no more that 5 quid per night we were expecting the boat to be pretty luxurious. It wasn't.

We decided to skip the government Tourist Office and risk going with the numerous private companies. Booked a small riverboat punt for the next morning together with an overnight stay on a house boat starting that afternoon.

Wandered off to the Hotel Sudarsan for a beer and then back to our lodgings, passing through town en route ( [1], [2] ).

For dinner we hit a pizza place called, All Spice. Nice place.

During the night it rained very, very heavily indeed.

Day 90 (Thu 5 Oct) - Kanyakumari

Had brekky and whilst Jo relaxed and watched tv while Sarb headed off to the train station and the internet cafe.

Not a very successful trip. Sarb was told at the train station that we could not book tickets for Quillon, even though the train we wanted to catch was the next morning. We would have to get the tickets in the morning. Sarb then went to the internet cafe but this was closed. Headed back to the hotel.

Lazed around until 12'ish and then we headed out of town and walked to Baywatch!

Baywatch is Kanyakumari's answer to Disneyworld so were pretty excited. It is also touted as having a wax museum so good that one should not bother to go to London.

When we arrived we were met at the entrance by a young chap who shook both our hands, wished us a fab day, showed us around and generally treated us like dignitaries. We paid for our tickets and were led by a woman for a free tour of the waxworks.

The museum is quite small and, as expected, filled with waxwork models of famous Indians some of whom we did not recognise. Anyway they were very, very good. There were only some 10 exhibits but more were planned.

We headed into Baywatch proper and changed into our swimming clothes. In the interests of modesty Jo kept her T shirt and shorts on over her swimming cossie.

Baywatch can best be described as a little like the funfair that appears on an episode of Father Ted. (If you haven't seen it watch it; it's hilarious).

We went on a ride that was supposed to take us round the whole park. We sat patiently in a colourful car at the top of a low rollercoaster like structure. And sat. Waited for 10 mins at which point a passing worker noticed us sitting there, scuttled up the stairs and pushed the big red button that started the machinery. We crawled off as the car slowly wound its way on its rails. Afforded good views of the surrounding forests and the sea.

We returned to our starting point and wandered off to find other amusements. The bumper cars were not in action for at least an hour because of the workers lunch break. Jo decided to go on a machine where you sit on a chair and then the whole thing spins around. Again we had to wait until someone noticed us and pushed a button.

Decided we couldn't handle any more of the white knuckle stuff and headed over to the water slide. When we got to the top we were told that it would be better if we went to the pool on the far side as the wave machine was about to start up. Fair enough.

We wandered over and into a pool ( about 25 metres by 15) that had been segregated by a rope such that women thrill seekers were on the left and male fun lovers on the right. The pool was full of children aged about 12/13 years old. The boys all had their shirts and trousers on and the girls were in their Indian outfits.

Sarb was duly mobbed by the boys whilst Jo endured a similar fate. We lost count the number of times we repeated our names, where we were from etc.

The kids eventually wandered off leaving us in the pool relaxing.

Headed off to the water slide where we got on a ring thing. Jo was not impressed with Sarb's attempts of trying to get the ring to do a full circle in the water pipe. We shot out at the end, shouting hysterically, nearly decapitating an unwary Indian tourist.

Left Baywatch and wandered away from town through a small village to a beach. Watched powerful looking breakers come in.

Walked back to town in the bright afternoon sunshine, past loads of smiling, waving schoolchildren.

For dinner we went to two restaurants. The first is where we had the best fish tikka and the second the best fish curry. Very nice.

Day 89 (Wed 4 Oct) - Kanyakumari

Had a fine breakfast at the hotel we had dinner in last night.

Sarb was missing his Indian breakfasts so was delighted to see poori bhaji on the menu. Not as good as the North Indians make it was his verdict.

Tried to find an internet cafe which we eventually found some miles away. Sorted out some emails then walked back in the heat, stopping at a small restaurant for a fizzy drink.

Headed back to the hotel where we picked up our cameras and took the ferry over to the rocky island where there is a Hindu temple and a monument to the wandering monk Vivekanada.

The ferry took all of 5 minutes to cross to the rocky island. The views from the temple, looking back at the town were amazing. The waves crashing in on the rocks were quite splendid. Surprisingly it was very windy.

Got the ferry again to take us the 100 yards or so to the memorial, a towering sculpture. You can walk inside and up into the memorial where fine views were to be had of Kanyakumari and the nearby temple.

As it was about 5ish we took the ferry back to the mainland and headed to the watchtower hoping for a spectacular sunset. We were not disappointed ( [1], [2], [3], [4], [5], [6] ).

Went to the restaurant with the dark bar for dinner. Sat outside and had a great fish curry although the fish tikka wasn't quite as good as the other restaurants.

Pottered back to our hotel where we watched a little telly before turning in.

Day 88 (Tues 3 Oct) - Madurai / Kanyakumari

Got up uber early in order to catch sunrise on the temples ( [1], [2], [3] ).

Packed and skipping breakfast we got an auto over the river, to the bus stand.

A helpful chap offered to help us find our bus. We followed him around only for him to lead us directly to the more expensive deluxe buses. Should have known!

Found the state bus and got on. This bus was clearly the fiefdom of the bus conductor. We sat together on the right hand side of the bus, but he asked Sarb to move as the right hand side was for ladies only. Refraining from putting on a falsetto voice and declaring 'But I am a ladeee!', Sarb moved to the back of the bus.

This shuffling round of people, as the bus stopped and passengers came and went, was a recurring theme of the journey.

Uneventful journey although the in bus entertainment was a bit much. A small tv screen at the front of the bus played an Indian movie, and our fellow passengers were riveted to it. Jo observed that the women in the movie were either crying, being smacked about by men, singing beautiful songs or screeching at the tops of their voices. And when they screech, they SCREEEEEECH!. Needless to say the volume of the tv was loud. Very loud.

We could see that we had arrived at Kanyakumari town but weren't too sure when to get off. The bus stopped and most of our fellow passengers looked just as confused as we were. The bus conductor turfed us all off and we found ourselves not at the bus station but just down the road from the main town. Quite a bonus.

Kanyakumari is the most southernmost point of India and is where the Arabian Sea, the Bay of Bengal and the Indian Ocean meet.

Found a nice hotel from which we had a nice view of the temple and monument out to sea on one side and the houses and huts of the fishermen for the remainder.

Went for a drink in a dark bar and went for a walk round the small town full on Indian tourists. Went through the small fisherman’s village and passed the harbour and a magnificent church. Met a chap who was on the bus with us carrying his baby daughter.

We walked to the sea front and near to a watchtower witnessed a great sunset.

Went for dinner at the next door hotel. Had an excellent fish tikka and fish curry. The vegetable pakoras were also fab.

Day 87 (Mon 2 Oct) - Madurai

Got up at mid morning and walked back on the busy roads ( [1] ) to the place we had lunch yesterday for brunch.

On the way back to our hotel we popped into an internet cafe to do some blogging for a few hours. It was simply too hot to do anything else!

Back to our rooms for a nap and let the heat cool off. At about 5ish we emerged and after studying the incredible detail on the temples ( [1], [2], [3] ) decided we would try and get into the temple complex. Unfortunately, as it was a public holiday today it was very, very crowded. Took a quick piccy of the sunset and set off.

We tried to get into the North Tower. We took our shoes off and seeing nowhere to store them Jo put them into her bag. However a guard said that we could not take shoes into the temple at all and we had to deposit them in a hitherto hidden shack some 20 yards away. He was very rude about it to say the least.

We both decided we did not want to walk on the filthy pavement in bare feet and after Sarb mentioned to the guard that politeness does not cost anything decided to move on. We reckoned that because of the mad rush of pilgrims that they probably were not too keen on having tourists about.

We stumbled onto a covered market. The roof and supporting pillars were intricately carved in stone. The market was a bustling place full of small stalls selling everything from fine silk cloth, sparkling jewellery, incense sticks to stalls where tailors worked away.

Headed back to the hotel, past small processions, where we changed and then got a rickshaw to the Sangam restaurant over the river.

We both had a curious meal, interrupted by bothersome young children of neighbouring diners who seemed indifferent as to how their offspring behaved. Sarb had an insipid chicken dish; some of the chicken was quite pink. Jo meanwhile had a main course that consisted mainly of fruit although the menu pointed out that it consisted of the finest vegetables coated in the chef’s secret sauce. Jo decided to have a fruit salad for afters. She commented that it tasted like the main course only that the chef’s special sauce had been washed off.

Very expensive and disappointing meal especially as we had traveled a fair way to get there.

Sarb had a very restless nights sleep for some reason.

Day 86 (Sun 1 Oct) - Trichy / Madurai

Up early and got our bus to Madurai with no problems. The 2 hour journey itself passed by in a flash.

The bus station in Madurai was located quite a distance from our hotel. A rickshaw ride took us over the Vaigai river and to the hotel Sree Devi.

The outside of the hotel didn't look too great. Whilst Sarb waited at reception, Jo checked the rooms upstairs and came down and announced we should take the more expensive of the two rooms (450 rupees per night) she'd looked at.

When we got upstairs Sarb could see why. Our 'rooms' were on the roof of the hotel and comprise of a small lounge, bedroom and bathroom. It's like a small apartment. However, it also had a large verandah from which we were practically on top of the Meenakshi temple complex. It was such an awe inspiring sight ( [1], [2], [3] ).

The complex is a huge square with large pyramid shaped towers set at the cardinal points. Within the square are set smaller towers. The detailing on all the towers is simply breathtaking.

Relaxed on the rooftop watching the towers.

Felt a little hungry so set off through the busy Town Hall road to Jaryam restaurant. It was very, very hot. Sarb had an egg burger and Jo a pizza. Quite nice.

The train station was nearby so we decided to book our tickets to take us to Kanyakumari. Unfortunately the only train we could get would be for this Tuesday leaving Madurai at 2 am. Bought the tickets anyway.

Got a rickshaw to the Gandhi museum. On the way our rickshaw had a near miss with a cyclist. It had to brake so hard that its hydraulics failed. The rickshaw man flagged down a passing cycle rickshaw and we relocated.

The museum was well laid out detailing the rise of the Independence movement of India from the days of foreign power rule, the partition of India and more modern times. Woven into this tale was the incredible contribution made by Gandhi.

Back to the hotel where we watched the temples from the rooftop as the sun set ( [1], [2] ). As we watched we could see fireworks being let off around the darkening city.

Went for dinner at the Surya restaurant. It touts as having a fine view of the temples. It certainly has a view but it is somewhat distant. But maybe we are a little spoiled since our lodgings are practically on top of the complex!

We both had dhosas. Very, very (chilli) hot. Luckily Jo realised that the heat was due to small black peppercorns embedded in the dhosas. We picked these out and finished our meal without having to fan our open mouths.

Walked back to our hotel, through the still very busy streets.