Happy Birthday Peter & Katie

Yesterday we celebrated Katie Ranson's (6) and Peter Dobson's (31) birthdays. After a day's snorkelling we went for a meal at the "Spice Village", however, since the restaurant was alcohol free, we had to toast them with Pepsi. Because we are in a dry state (alcohol free) here it is almost impossible to find a restaurant that doesn't serve booze but we managed to last night! It will probably do us some good after all the goodbye drinks in Leamington and London.......time to think about the waistline!

So, anyway, Happy Birthday Peter, we'll soon be with you in OZ where we can celebrate for real.

And Happy Birthday Katie, next year when you're 7, we'll make it extra special!



Hope you both had a wonderful day :-)

Kovalam Blues

I'm not sure I like it here.

Sure its sunny and stuff but it's just so damn touristy.

I saw a holiday rep today... with name badge, uniform and clipboard... that's when I realised that this place is not that far removed from benidorm or costa del what ever... yeah, i'm being elitist I know, but when you come to india you expect to immerse yourself in it's culture not some diluted package deal hotspot. Our fault I suppose for not having planned ahead a little better.

It turns out in Goa there's a festival on at the moment, a kind of 'mardis gras' type thang - it's because of this that we struggled, neigh failed, to get a train to to area... hence why we opted to come here to Kovalum.

Perhaps my melancholy is due to being ill for the last few days... I mean, the setting here IS really nice. Rocky headlands, sandy beaches, clear blue sea, good surf - I can't fault that - it's just that there seems to be no soul to the place, it's missing something that I can't quite put my finger on... which is a shame.

There is some light though.

I got up uber early the other day (by mistake, I thought my watch said 10.20am when in reality it was 7am!) so I figured, hell I'm up I may as well go for a stroll along the beach before the sun rises fully... and I came across a turtle, ambling it
s way back to the sea... which was cute.

Then there's the local fishermen - it's fascinating watching them set to putting their nets out - it's an extraordinary scene - they kind of use these huge nets on ropes that they take out into the bay on boats, but the leave behind a troop of men on the shore who hold each end of the ropes... then they drop the nets in the water a good 500meters out and then a hawl the nets in again... all of this takes a good hour or so to complete... for not many fish - but it was interesting to see nevertheless.

We've decided we're gonna try and walk along the coast tomorrow - get away from all the package holiday crowd. I'm sure it's great for them - but not quite what we had in mind.

...the best laid plans....

Sooooooo, that idea about us heading up the west coast back to mumbai? Stopping off at Cochin and Goa on the way? Well - forget that... we tried today to book trains from Cochin to Margoa (in Goa) and it turns out all trains into Goa are fully booked until the 20th feb... that's ALL trains...

which basically means that we've screwed up... so we're staying in kerela for another week or so... could be worse I guess... we're gonna take another flight back up to mumbai on the 21st... then to chandigarh on the 22nd... (doing our bit for global warming as we think it's not hot enough here...)

More immediatly though... we've decided to head south, bite the bullet, and check out kovalam.... see what all the fuss is about... we're here now having got the train down to thiruvananthapuram... (trivandrum for short [remember...?]) and then a cab the last few k's to kovalam itself... it's pretty built up (compared to Varkala that is) but... there's still sea and surf and sun... so it's not too bad... we're just about to head out for some dinner... having not ate since breakfast... it's now what... 6.43pm and I'm bloody famished...

Ear infection is a definate... got some gubbins to shove in there... some liquid or other... I dunno it's probably rats pee for all I know... lets hope it does the trick... oh and I've got man flu... simon had it before... sarah before that... and I think it's that one that alex and andy had at the pron palace in leamington... cheers guys... mucho appreciated... ;)

any hoo... I'm off for some Khana!!! (that's desi for food!)

Take it easy kids... (DAMN These mossys... just got bit on my tummy...ouch...!)

pete :)

Leaving Varkala tomorrow...

...off to cochin on de train... 4 hours up the coast (northbound) - our first stop over on our way to (back) to mumbai...

 

seems I may have an ear infection... eek... not nice... fingers crossed it'll clear up soon...

 

take its easy kids... we are...! ;)

 

x

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Kerela: Sunny and Hot!

Not wanting to bring a downer on anyone but it is damn hot and pretty sunny here right now... as I write this it's 5.55 in the morning in the UK - it's currently 11.30am here right now. I'm in a beach hut sipping an ice cool lemon soda, the surf's about 10 meters away lapping the sand. Simon was last spotted in the shade of a beach umbrella and sarah was taking a cooling dip in the arabian sea.

So, thats the picture - We're in a small beach resort called Varkala in the southern indian state of kerela - "gods own country" they call it here. A place of palm trees, white sands and red cliffs. The Indian equivalent of cornwall - talk about laid back. A place where many travellers come to get away from the relative hecticness of Goa (a few hundred miles north) or (the now commercialised) Kovalam Beach south from here (about 60 miles).

We arrived here yesterday after a brief flight in from Mumbai and a 40 minute train journey from thiruvananthapurum... or trivandrum for short. The train was done in style... 2nd class... sitting in the metal luggage racks above other travellers who had already taken up all the seats... cheap as chips (about 80 pence) - and to be honest, surprisingly comfortable... having said that I couldn't imagine doing that for more than a few hours, the young chap next to me who I got talking to was heading to Chennai (madras)... 17 hours away! He seemed happy enough though...

Upon arrival in Varkala - we flagged a rickshaw and (unsurprisingly) the driver took us to the wrong place (his brothers) before finally admitting defeat and took us (almost) to the rooms we'd booked the previous day. I say almost because the detour he took us on meant he'd taken us too far off the correct path so we had to walk the remaining distance... which in itself was interesting as we then picked up another local who then tried to take us to HIS sisters place... after some confusion he also admitted defeat (we know how to handle these unruly types :D ) and he guided us to the rooms we'd booked, a short hop, skip and a jump away. After settling in around 5pm yesterday we had a wander down to the beach, then back for a quick freshen up and then headed back to the clifftops (where all the bars and restaurants are) to settle down to a nice meal of tuna, barracuda and prawns... with the obligatory G&T's - accidently blowing our daily budget... oo ps... :S

Just been looking at pictures on the web of the snowfalls in the UK - this may seem strange but I'm rather jealous... I like a bit of snow... I guess we'll be seeing some in july when we get to NZ!

Right then... I'll leave it at that... I'm gonna go take another dip then start thinking about some lunch...

Take care everyone.

X :)

The Eagle has landed

Yes... we're finally here. In India that is.

We arrived, the day before yesterday now and it's taken this long for me to finally making a post.

So what have we been doing then? Well... other than being hosts to countless mozzys (damn those pesky beasties) we've been out and about Mumbai experiencing what the city has to offer.

We have kindly been accommodated by one of Sarah's uncles in the military defense colony on the southern most tip of Mumbai in an area called Colaba... Uncle Bulbul being a retired army officer he has a very nice home in the heart of the army area of the def col - so bearing this in mind we've had to pass through military checkpoints on a number of occasions, going in & out of the area - each time being stopped by stern looking chaps in cool camo - and cross examined and what have you to determine if we are who we say we are and aren't UK spooks sent over by Tony Blair to do some undercover sabotage... :S - I think they recognise us now as they let us through earlier with no questions asked.

It's breakfast time now and we've just got back from a very early expedition to the local docks to pick up some prawns for lunch/dinner... sounds fairly innocuous doesn't it? - well the reality of it was far more pungent than one would anticipate - and talk about busy...! the sun had only just risen when we arrived and it was already heaving with locals... pushing, shoving, shouting, carrying who knows what species of subaqua origin - quite a scene... nevertheless we made it in * out alive, toes intact, somewhat more dirtier than we went in... and with our prize of 1kg of fresh Arabian sea prawns for the princely sum of rs250 (rupees) - about 2quid.

We're showered and less smelly now - the pong of the docks is insidious and seems to pervade all our clothing - needless to say they will be cleaned and pressed ready for our trip south...

Took a trip on a boat yesterday out into Mumbai harbour... over to an island in the middle of the gulf of water between Mumbai and the continental mainland of India... good trip out - Simon's first real day experiencing the Indian hubbub - he's starting to relax into things now - which is good. This island had a load of caves that had been cut and carved centuries ago with images of Shiva andParvati and Brahma and what not... usual fayre - but still fascinatingly impressive.

Boat back and home for tea - well, out for tea actually, Uncle Bulbul and Aunty Meena kindly took us out to dinner to the Mumbai cricket club... all very swish...

anyway... breakfast is calling... plus a mid morning nap is on the cards... take it easy people.

enjoy the snow!

:)
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HEATHROW: T-minus 3 hours and counting...

Well... we've made it to heathrow airport people! and here's our first experience of 'cyber cafes' - i expect this one's rather upmarket but even so, some funny bugger has swapped the G and the V key round on the keyboard making it a tad tricky to type... so excuse any spellinv mistakes... ;)

Anyway... we're here - baggage checked in and we're just gonna head off through security shortly. Flight leaves at 9.45pm - we land in mumbai at 12.30pm Indian Standard Time... that's the afternoon...

Spent the last couple of days with kam at his loverly new flat in london... thanks kam... just trudged across rush hour london on tubes and stuff - should putus in good stead for busy busy bombay streets... :S

So, I gonna sign off... times running out on this here machine so I'm gonna wish you all well... and we'll see you on the other side...

Peace.

P.S. Thanks for your comment winx (I'll vet round to publishing it on the blovspace asap [this bloomin 'cafe' won't allow access to blogger.com?!? something to do with high pr0n content ;P... news to me!])

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