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Hi all
Felt that I should have a go at doing a blog instead of Mark. After leaving Goa we caught a flight down to Kerala which is the state that runs down the southwest of India almost to the bottom. It is similar to Goa and the state mantra is 'gods own country' which compared to the rest of india I can see why they say it.
We first went to Varkala which is a beachy town set on cliffs. The beach was clean, a lot less crowded than those in Goa and water was crystal clear. We stayed there for 3 days pretty much just bumming around. We then headed up to Alleppey where we organised a houseboat in the Keralan backwaters for 2 nights. Very picturesque with coconut laden palm trees everywhere and villages running along the canals and fisherman in their canoes. Our houseboat was quite nice and was fully staffed with a chef, servant and driver! Very relaxing on the backwaters and not much to do but take in the scenery and read a book.
We then caught a bus to Fort Cochin which again was 1.5 hours of bouncing around and holding your breath everytime we would overtake on blind corners and sometimes double overtake, ie. overtake the car that is already overtaking another car! We have only had two accidents so far, both our drivers were at fault where we went up the back of someone. The first time our driver actually had the audacity to yell at driver he hit as if it was his fault!
We are currently enjoying the luxury of soft beds, hot shower and a television with reception (always a bonus), of course there are still the powercuts. Plan tomorrow is to do a cooking course.
Next day we fly up to Mumbai and then on to London where we are very much looking forward to 'western food', that's not to say the food we've had here hasn't been fantastic, it's just spicy curries for 6 weeks tends to do unpleasant things to the digestive system....I don't think India would be a good choice for honeymooners!
Only 4 days in London and then off to Buenos Aires and the next leg of our trip.
Have enjoyed our time in India but am happy to be leaving. In the larger towns and cities the garbage and pollution is overwhelming. Also, the constant honking of horns to say 'i'm coming up on your inside' or 'i am beside you' or 'i'm going passed you' or just holding the horn down for the hell of it gets on your nerves. They must have a separate battery for the horn for the amount it gets used!
Having said that we've seen some amazing things, like the five legged cow - it was more like a growth coming out of its back which was about 2 feet long with 6 inch fingernails, very freaky. In the village we were in the cow was considered even more holy than normal. We drank opium in another town which tasted like dirty tea but was traditionally used as a welcome drink. Think we got the legalised less potent version. The colours and styles of the woman's saris' are amazing. Also, the cultural differences - our guide (who is 24) on our tour through Rajasthan is about to get engaged, arranged marriage and he won't meet the bride until the wedding day! Apparantly 85% of the marriages in India are still arranged. Furthermore, he found the concept of dating strange and couldn't believe that we would ever disobey our parents. What society and family think guides behaviour rather than what the individual wants.
Well that's all for now. Pick up again in South America.
P.S. Mark finally shaved off his beard and is still coming to terms with the loss, he is trying to work on growing another one.
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