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Sorry it's been a while since our last update. We had Christmas in Namibia and New Year in South Africa then on to Cape Town for a few days where our Africa trip officially ended. Said goodbye to some fond new friends. Cape Town was great and we hired a car to drive up the Cape Peninsula to Cape of Good Hope. Lots of groovy little towns along the way up the Cape - felt like driving around Newquay! very westernised after the rest of Africa. We stayed on the truck to transit up to Jo'berg, then flew from there to Dubai to catch up with the Harts for a few days.
We flew from Dubai to Kerala, SW India on 14th January and have been touring around Southern India since then. We have mixed feelings about India so far.
Fort Cochin was our frist stop - a sleepy little fort town, former portuguese colony, famous for it's giant chinese fishing nets and oldest european cathedral in India - loved it, people were friendly, welcoming and food was delish and very cheap, as was hotel accomodation - approx 4 pounds for an evening meal for both of us, and a room at a clean but basic ensuite room about 7 pounds - happy days.
After Fort Cochin we got a 5 hour bus (grim) to Kollam which is the start of the Keralan backwaters. We arranged to do an overnight trip on a converted rice barge from Alleppey to Kollam which is the highlight of that area. The trip was fantastic - very relaxing cruising along with an onboard chef, engineer and pilot to look after the boat and feed us. The boats are fully kitted out with ensuite double bedrooms, open deck lounge and dining area so it made for a really nice time.
Our next stop was Varkala beach, also in Kerala - a strip of hotels, restaurants and tat shops strung along a cliff top above a beautiful sandy beach. We had a very relaxing and cheap few days topping up our tans, though didn't quite make it to any of the ayurvedic yoga classes on offer - the area is famous for yoga / spas / retreats etc.
From the beach we had our first taste of India Railways- one of the biggest employers in the world running the rail network that spans the country. The train was pretty grubby, rusty and buggy (2nd class AC carriage) and the toilet a delight - basically a grill over a hole which opened straight onto the tracks! From Ernakulam (where the train stopped) we got a 5 hour bus up into the tea hills of Munnar - quite a contrast to the towns. Munnar is lush and green and hilly and at altitude so got quite cold once the sun went down. We did a day tour of the tea plantations and it was really a lovely day in a beautiful environment - we wished we could have stayed longer.
From Munnar we took a 10 hour bus (!!) to Mysore, out of Kerala into Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. Mysore is famous for it's palace and the opulence of the Maharajahs. We spent 2 days seeing the palace and spent some time in the silk bazaars. Then took another 10 hour bus ride to Hampi - famous for ancient temples and ruins strung around a boulder clad landscape. The locals live right in amongst the ruins so it's a very odd mix of old and new mingling together. Unknown to us the town was about to start 6 days of celebrations to commemorate the 500 year anniversary of the Vijangar ruins so the little town was rammed with people and accomodation and rickshaw prices went up to 3 times the normal price. I got my first taste of Indian male harrasment - constant staring, groups of lads and men pointing, taking pictures of us, giggling, making pervy comments (unfortunately not lost in translation!) asking to shake our hands (in Indian culture men never touch a woman except their wife, so offering their hands for us to shake is considered to be v naughty), etc etc. More than once I had men 'accidentally' brush up against me, touch my hand and ask me which country I was from - I hated it!! Add that to a minging head cold and Hampi just felt like a prison - I didn't want to leave the room. Call me over-sensitive, but until you've been here you just wouldn't believe it.
So we were very glad to leave Hampi and arrive in Goa on 30th January after quite an intense itinerary. We are at Palolem Beach, Goa until Saturday and enjoying some very chilled out time sitting on the beach, sleeping in, trying out the restaurants and having easy access to beer (most of the places we have stayed are purely vegetarian and ban alcohol). So loving it, though it is a bit like Margate with the plethora of white, sunburned Brits everywhere and tourist tat en masse - we don't care. After Hampi it feels like heaven as there is plenty of other flesh for the locals to look at!
After Goa we leave southern India and head north to Rajasthan to spend 2 weeks visiting the desert Fort towns, plus Agra for the Taj Mahal. Lots of train and bus journeys again to get from place to place in 2 weeks; then to Nepal for some trekking in the Himalayas.
Well it's time to go off for a beer now (5.30pm here) so I'll sign off and will update you again soon!
hugs,
Steve and Kathryn xx
- comments
Alex Thomas Wow!! What an experience! All those amazingly different buses, trains, places, beaches, beers (or lack of) - a real adventure! Sorry to hear about the overly-attentive locals. Hopefully a few days in GOa will help the grim memories recede... sounds like the trip of a lifetime! Hope you're both doing ok xxx
Victoria Jones Hi Katy and Steve, Your trip sounds awesome, it's great being updated on how it's all going, I feel like I have experienced a little bit of it myself. Reading your blog is like a little oasis in a busy day!!
Prawn Tidmarsh Hello both, lovely to hear from you. It all sounds lovely, truely, but ................... I'm much happier hear in sunny Hertfordshire watching the night garden!!!! Look forward to seeing you both in March. LOL Dawnie & Co