One Life ...

A very relaxed special breakfast of Masala dosa washed down with milky, sweet chai! The cute dog wanted to come with us but after following us for a while, we took him home. Our journey to the centre took 20 minutes. We then diverted to find a special church. It was quite big and very white. Inside was beautiful with large paintings on the walls and the ceiling was spectacular. Next stop was a palace. It was closed. However, we did get to go to the state museum. It was real old school India. Stuffed animals and some weird old stuff! There was a huge elephant skeleton and odd unnamed items. Quite interesting in a strange way. Next stop was a palace. It was closed. After this we found another palace - also closed. Time to drink tea. We found a small shop, sat and drank. We had no luck at the temples, so we tried the famous Hindu temple right in the centre of Thrissur. Closed and if it were open non Hindus are not allowed inside anyway! We decided drinking tea was our best bet. We found t...

We woke early as we had a spot of cleaning to do for our friend and also a 40 minute walk up and down dale with our bags. We left the cute cottage behind, head to the main road and jumped on the first bus that passed. We switched buses at Adimali and then again at  Perumbavoor. The journeys were reasonable short, the driving was the usual, fast and furious! We stopped for brunch in Perumbavoor (pronounced perrymbauer) and ate a huge crispy gee rost in the KSRTC cafe and drank tea in a small cafe around the corner. Eventually, we arrived in Thissur where we ate a meal each, followed by tea. We were waiting for our friend so we killed time next to the KSRTC bus stand drinking tea and eating sweet paratha in air conditioning luxury. Now it is hot at sea level. Once our friend arrived, we picked up fish from the market and walked 2km to our accomodation. His dog is adorable. We went to purchase milk from the local shop and the dog accompanied us. He saw another dog and ran off. When we ret...

What do people do when they are staying in a pretty little cottage nestled amongst the tea plantations of Anachal? Nothing. And we did nothing, except eat papaya fresh from the trees, made chai ... relaxed. We did some research and went out for lunch and dinner but that was it! Tomorrow we move.

We tried to leave relatively early but breakfast took a while to prepare - bananas and curd with copious amounts of cardamon tea! We walked the 2km to the main road. We chatted to a security guard about the buses to our next destination and then hopped on the bus to Munnar. Darryl sat next to a little old local man and they discussed tea and different foods. In fact between them they listed all the Indian foods they knew! We left the bus behind and made a decision to take early lunch before our planned walk. We went to a restaurant we had visited before that served tasty Kerala meals. We both had a meal with all the chutneys and different gravys. They tend to call any sauces gravys in India! After eating we hit the slopes. The clouds were beginning to blacken but we decided to go anyway. We crossed a river and started our walk on the quiet side away from the traffic. There was plenty of tea, cute tea workers cottages and hardly any cars, buses and lorries on this side. As we continued ...

A lazy start to the day. We begin our day washing sheets, exploring the new house being built next door and eating fruit from the trees. A little chipmonk was banging around on the roof but soon got bored and ran away! Breakfast was a 10 minute uphill walk but worth it. Parathas served by a super friendly young man. After eating we started to walk to find the waterfalls behind where we are staying. The route was uphill, downhill and then uphill again. However that didn't matter, the sun was shining and it was a beautiful day.  We took a wrong turn along the way which, in the end, turned out in our favour. Had we taken the route we thought we were following we would have arrived at the top of the falls, rather thank the bottom, where the best view is.  This we found out from a friendly chap on a motorbike who stopped when he saw we were looking a little lost.  Having explained this to us, he then said hop on, I'll take you to the road you need to follow.  So on we both jumped an...

This morning the caretaker at our accommodation showed us the spice garden. He gave us some fresh cardamon and some fresh ginger, which we will make into tea. On our walk to the bus stop we we saw cloves being dried in the sun and various beautiful flowers including jasmine, poinsettia and roses. We heard a noise and looked up, there was a hot air balloon going up. We walked a little further to take a look and discovered it was tethered so only went up and down, however with the backdrop of the tea plantations it made a beautiful sight. Once in the town we headed to the chocolate museum where we watched a short video and then saw the small production line, before sampling some very nice chocolate. Surprisingly the sugar free one was one of the best.  Next we caught the bus from Anachal to Munnar. The scenery along the way was just beautiful, as the winding road took us through various tea plantations. Munnar itself is a hectic little hill station where you wouldn't really wan...

We started our day with a delicious egg masala with appa. Some cooked by our friend and a few cooked by chef Christine! Very delicious. We chatted to the lovely, smiley neighbour who had her English exam today before leaving for a day of adventure. We walked for about 1km to the bus stop. Here we caught a bus to the main Allepey jetty. This is where the local ferries head on to the Kerala backwaters. Instead of paying a huge fee for a house boat, we took a local ferry to explore the waterways. The beautiful 1.5 hour journey was less that 30p. Eventually, we arrived at our stop and clambered onto the shore. We then caught a local bus and an auto to a famous restaurant. Here was a sunken boat with snakehead fish and eels swimming around inside. There was a huge variety of dishes but we chose a duck curry with paratha, yam and casava to take away (packet). A short walk along the banks of the backwater and we arrived at a nice shady picnic spot. A cool breeze was blowing off the water whic...

We are just amazed by the kindness we are receiving from the people in India. Thank you! We skipped breakfast to get an earlier train and we were able to get a lift to the station, which made everything a lot simpler. No walking and no crowded bus at rush hour (s) with the bags. The train left 15 mins late but that was ok. It gave us time for chai! A very quiet train and a beautiful journey through Kerala, God's own country. We jumped off in Allepy, now Allepuzha and searched for food. Easy to find. A small restaurant provided 2 delicious veggie meals. And, the benefit of meals is, they just keep topping them up until you burst! Very full we left for our 4km walk to our next accomodation. It was now HOT but a lot of our path was under the shade of the new dual carriage way along the beach. The map showed a stream leading to the ocean with no bridge so we did a quick detour to avoid a swim! A warm welcome with cool water and water melon was delightful. We spent some time chatting ab...

We had an interesting breakfast today made from a brown, wheat like powder. It was mixed with water to produce a cake when heated. It was quite nice, even though we can't remember the name of the powder. Our friend didn't feel so good today. Apparently, the Dr has diagnosed tonsilitis! It was a good excuse for him to rest and for us to visit the nearest beach. Coffee and savory cake followed whilst we sat in the shade. When we got back we made and ate jacket potatoes an coleslaw for our lunch. Next, we  were going to go kayaking amongst the back waters of Kerela.  However, our friend went to bed to nurse his man flu. It was now evening and we went out to a funky restaurant for dinner. It was right on the river and there was a live Indian band. The band was really good and the restaurant packet out. We went for half a chicken in piri piri sauce with butter Naan. After dinner, homewardbound to sleep.

Peanut butter always helps you start your day on a good footing. Today was no exception and we certainly needed the energy. We took a 5km walk to Kollam beach. We stopped at the sewing shop to see how the holey trousers could be fixed. The answer was - buy a new pair! We stopped for tea and a sweet, fried, spicey ball thing! We also stopped at the Michael Jackson School of Dance to peek inside. We ended up being invited to join in, so we did! We followed the dance teacher's moves closely or at least we tried. They were pretty tricky! Luckily after 10 minutes, the power died and the room went silent. This was a good time to stop and take photos! Hot and rather sweaty we said our goodbyes and left, continuing our walk to the beach. We passed a big black crow and next to him we spotted his little friend. His friend was a little white frilled lizard of some kind. Very cute. The scenery changed as we approached the main Kollam beach. It became a land fill site that went on for miles, li...

A lazy day of R&R. Research on future plans and a quick trip out to grab food - oats, milk, fruit bread and papaya.  In Kerala it is now very hot and humid, so better to stay inside for most of the day! In the evening we walked to the beach. We had company for part of the way from a drunk or drugged young man. He followed us and wanted 1000 rupees to guide us the few minutes to the beach. After a while he got quite annoying, though not agressive and the locals could see that. We passed an old lady, who gave us a signal as we immediately turned into her drive. We took shelter near her house and she came in to see us. No English was spoken but her quick thinking and kindness was warmly welcome. The man didn't follow ... He went away and we continued our journey. We walked near the beach along a short boulevard which we nick named lovers walk as it was full of young groups looking for romance. We stopped and drank chai at a small shack.There was a temple nearby celebrating with 3 ...

Early start today as it is a travel day. Luckily our hotel is only a 10 minute walk to the train station so there was time for a cuppa on the way. We also stopped at our favourite Italian cake shop and picked up a couple of cakes for the journey. When we arrived there was a station canteen open serving breakfast so we ordered a plate of idly. When it was time to pay it was far more than we had expected. They seemed to say the prices on the menu were wrong and also we had been served an extra portion (which we didn't ask for). Another couple paying at the same time were also disputing their bill. Eventually we paid more than we expected but less than they were asking as we then had to make a dash to catch our train. We had a whole compartment to ourselves so we made ourselves comfortable. A man came round selling coffee so we had a coffee. The scenery was beautiful, as we left Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu there were hills in the backdrop. As we crossed over into Kerala there wer...

Kanyakamari is a quaint little town. Life is slow and there is no need to rush. We left the hotel for breakfast at a small street stall. 3 paratha each and we were done. Tea is another of our regular stops and through out the day we drink a lot! We walked straight past the street where the boats to the small island begin. We backtracked and joined the queue. It went fairly quickly but boarding the boat was rather more interesting. Men and ladies were seperated in seperate queues. A big box full of life jackets was waiting ... Basically, after a count of 3 everyone ran to grab a life jacket and dived on to the boat. Some crammed through the door, some dived through the window. Pushing and shoving was the way the locals caught the small ferry. We haven't witnessed this kind of behaviour in India for about 20 years. Even some of the locals were shocked. We put this bizarre behaviour down to holiday (pilgrimage ) excitement and the fear of husband and wife being seperated. We stood at ...

A lazy day today. It was hot outside so neither of us were in a hurry to leave the coolness of the hotel. Darryl ventured out to grab brunch which was a mixture of paratha, bananas and Pepsi! We arranged our onward train and a place to stay before exploring the opposite side of town. It was fairly deserted apart from lots of fishing boats and they were heading out to sea. Today is actually quite windy and the fisherman can be assured of a rough ride. We found 3 churches. A huge white one, a cute little white one and a brown helta skelta one. We returned to central Kalamari (in joke) and visited the tsunami monument before leaning over the wall at the sea front and people watching. A group of motorcycle riders were posing with their bikes in front of the huge statue. We watched the ferries rocking around in the rough water. We drank tea and relaxed! Next, we walked to sunset point. It was a few km away and we ate curried rice krispies on the way. Sunset point was packed with Indian tour...

We were up early to say our goodbyes and head to the train station. As we walked we were aware of how clean the streets looked, as there were people everywhere sweeping and clearing the rubbish. It is a shame that by mid morning it will look as if this hadn't happened as sadly people still throw all their rubbish into the street. We were early getting to the station so stopped for a chai. When we arrived we found some seats and had some railway breakfast, which was cheap and tasty. The guard came to tell us we needed to go to platform 2 so we headed over the bridge and waited. Just before the train was due, a change of platform announcement was made, so back over the bridge we went. The train was a little late and when it arrived we found our seats. We were sitting with a lady from Germany and we shared travel stories and chai until it was time for us to get off. We had to change trains at Nagercoil to get to Kanyakumari., the southern most tip off India. We detrained and hea...