Varkala

We arrived in Varkala after a rather stressful bus journey and a further stressful scamming tuk tuk driver. We decided to head to a hostel in our bibles only to find that it was closed. Luckily the one across the road was open, and for a mere £1.75 each we headed to our fanned rooms to relax.

Varkela was the time we had been looking forward to. Sun, sea and endless stretches of quiet sand made for a lovely 10 day retreat from the hustle and bustle of India. Most of our days were spent lazing on the beach, getting through lots of books and draining our iPods listening to our (now very dated) music. Varkala is a beautiful town in Kerala and has a chilled out vibe, it was a hippy hotspot. Imagine the seasoned travellers with their dreadlocks, guitars, baggy clothes and endless time and your there. Along the way we did have some experiences to mention. Morgane being asked to take part in a yoga class to make her immortal.....the guy who asked was apparently a doctor......I questioned this. Eating excellent BBQ fresh red snapper for £3 while watching the beautiful sunset across the sea. Heading to the 'Chill Out Bar' to watch the live music was something we were looking forward to. That was until we arrived and heard the sounds of a pack of injured cats wailing through the air....the cheap beer helped. While sitting on the beach one day, I was asked to take part in an interview for Kerala Radio asking for my opinions on India, ever the professional I answered courteously and politely explaining that India is an incredible place and a wonder to experience, but the scams let it down somewhat.

Our chill out time and holiday in a holiday had to end somewhere and we were forced to get the famous 'Tatkal' train ticket again. This meant rising at 5.30am to get to the train station to apply for the emergency ticket as trains seem to fill up years in advance here. We managed to get our ticket and our next stop was Palolem in Goa.......the famous Goa.

Palolem, Goa

So, this one is a story to tell. We were on the train after the 18 hours, making sure we had set an alarm to wake up at 4.15 for our stop Canacona. 4.15 came and went and with us now wide awake and thinking we may have missed our stop, we checked on Google maps to see where we were. According to the god that is google, we still had an hour to go, our train had been delayed....or so we thought. Relaxing slightly and lying back in our beds we felt the train come to a holt. Right then, where were we?! Morgane hopped off her bed to ask where we were. I, being the laid back person I am, starting dozing, only to be awoken by shouts of 'THIS IS OUR STOP' bellowing down the carriage. Morgane scrambled back and we quickly grabbed our bags and sprinted to the nearest door. I had my big backpack on my back with our day bags in either hand, while Morgane was dragging her backpack down the carriage. As we got to the door we saw the train had started moving. The train attendant looked at us and shouted 'GO' at which point I took that as my que to jump off the train.....the moving train.....yes Dad I know, it won't happen again. Anyway, off I jumped and managed to stay on my feet with 3 bags covering my body and running so the momentum carried me. As I turned round I saw a large backpack being thrown off the train....where was Morgane?! Next thing I know, Morgane has managed to do some form of Angelina Jolie jump off the train, but instead of ending in the famous Tomb Raider position, ended up tripping on her flip flop and falling over like what can only be described as a comical, slow motion lump. I wish it had been filmed, I honestly nearly wet my pants!! That was until she never got up, so I dumped the bags and sprinted over to the laughs, along with moans and groans of our Morgane flat out on the ground. Lets just say it ended with a trip to the local a and e for a quick X-ray (don't worry, all is fine folks!) and a few beers and giggles about it later that evening.

Palolem was much the same as Varkela, only a bit more lively. We moved from our first wood shack to a beautiful cottage on the sea front. We spend our few days here recovering from the drama of the train escape and having a few cocktails on the beach. This part of Goa is truly beautiful. We have started to notice many more tourists here as Goa is now an up and coming holiday choice due to the cheap accommodation and beer (it's tax free!!). Our next destination is further in land, called Hampi. We have opted for a night bus and this will be our first in India......