Today we woke at seven thirty all refreshed... Despite our little visitors we had fallen straight to sleep and slept soundly. On waking we noticed they had all retreated outside and the room was clear of bugs and geckos. We got up and sat out on the veranda with a cup of tea while we waited for breakfast to arrive. There were a few guys on the football field getting some training in before work and all dressed for the part in their various English football teams strips, think one may have seen Ronaldo play too much as he dived and rolled around the ground after a guy brushed past him. Ravi explained to us that in India football is regarded as a wealthy mans game and only the middle class play it... This did surprise us as its cheap to buy a ball and make goals out of rolled up jumpers but I suppose its the football kit's that cost a fair bit. It's funny how its the opposite in Britain and cricket is seen as more middle class...

Anyway breakfast arrived at eight o clock and consisted off rice dumplings, chana masala, tea and toast... I passed but Steven tucked in... Even saving some bread for our lunch later. After breakfast we headed out for a trip to the Edakal Caves which were about an hour away. They are situated about eighteen hundred foot above sea level... Most of which you have to walk. We were dropped off in the bus park then walked about a kilometre up a steep hill before reaching the entrance point or the cave... Of which you pay entrance and an extra twenty five rupees for a camera and a twenty rupee deposit for each bottle of water. The idea behind this is that you get a sticker to stick on you water bottle ...when you return from the cave and show your bottle... You get our rupees back, its to eliminate littering in the site. It was so frustrating though as when we paid to take the camera in, the guy had no change so owed us fifty rupees... Steven then suggested that he use the fifty for the water bottle deposit! Can't do that.... Different area!!! The guy was two foot away!!! Lol... So Indian.

After sorting the tickets we climbed a further two hundred and fifty steps up to the caves know as Edakal Caves.... This literally meaning between and rock and represents the many large ricks wedged between the stone walls. The walk up to the cave was pretty steep and quite hairy at times but the view at the top was well worth the walk... You could see for miles and it was stunning. The caves themselves are pretty cool... You can only enter one but it has old drawings from thousands of years ago all over the walls illustrating days gone bye, was really quite something. We spent some time bee taking pics and listening to the history of the caves before heading back down the hill... Some stopped for coconut juice and such things. We then climbed back into the bus and headed off.

We then drove for a while towards a remote village where we were going to explore the local flora and fauna. On route we stopped periodically to take the odd picture of a stunning landscape or a cool animal. One of the stops including a massive lily pond which was beautiful and we all took so many pictures... Was truly stunning.

On reaching the village we stopped and had a bite to eat surrounded by tea plants and the ladies who pick them... was quite a sight. we had a lunch of fruit and nuts and soaked up the rays of the sun for half hour or so before we commenced our hike. We hiked through miles of vegetation stopping to taste or smell various herbs and spices such as pepper, turmeric and cardamom. The smell was amazing.. so fragrant and everything was such a lush green. We saw a few little communities scattered around and went to meet one of the families. They lived in a small mud hut with a straw roof and working on the land. It was so interesting to witness how they use the land for everything and are so self sufficient, they even made steps up to their homes using tree bark and sticks. The kids here were very excitable and would scream "foto" "foto" at us so I took plenty of photos of them.

While hiking through we saw guys in trees cutting off the dried bark for fire wood and the kids running through the farms... It was real India and very cool. Towards the end of the walk we saw a mahoosive spiders web with the spider sitting in the middle of it... And it was horrible! Was like the famous scene in arachnophobia when the guy walks into the web... The walk wasn't so relaxing after that, especially when I saw three more equally huge spiders. Once we were back out in the open we headed back to the bus and breathed a big sigh of relief.

On the way back to the home stay we stopped off a a bamboo factory where local women make anything from bamboo blinds to lampshades and even pens. Was so interesting to watch but by this point we were all pretty pooped so it was a speedy and slightly unenthusiastic visit. We then headed home... Once we were back I had a shower and freshened up before sitting and watching the local kids play footy in the evening sun. I convinced Steven to go and join them and he seemed to really enjoy it... Although I think he missed the challenge of a proper game. These kids were more interested in chatting and just booting the ball... After a while he went in goal and the kids enjoyed this challenge more. Once they were done we took some pics and then Steven came and enjoyed a well deserved beer while watching a stunning sunset.

Dinner tonight was being made by the owners mum and we were all eating together in our flat. We all bought the chairs and tables in and then cracked open the beers while we waited for the food and it was so worth the wait... We were all starving from the lack of carbs and so were happy to tuck into the feast before us. There was local fish that had been marinated... A Kerala fish curry, dal, vegtable curry, home made chapattis, fresh veg and various other delights... Plus the biggest amount of rice I had ever seen! We were pretty stuffed by the time we were done. This was then however followed by home made rice pudding... We then all sat and chatted about home and what were were most missing food wise, mine of course was a full English roast yum! After chatting for a while we all felt a bit carb'd out and headed to bed... Zingy was back in our room and chilling overhead ...we said our good nights and feel promptly to sleep... The time? About nine forty...