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Hello reader, and welcome to my first post Africa blog.
Well, I had a bit of a rough time of it on leaving Africa having picked up Tonsilitis on my last few days in Johannesburg. I had a sore throat that was gradually getting worse and was very congested. I spent the first day in Dubai not being able to swallow any food or drink and it being painful to talk and only being able to open my mouth a few millimetres, so i just lulled around the youth hostel for that day.
The next day i decided to go and see a doctor to see what was wrong and was diagnosed with an infection known as quincy where you basically get an abcess on or next to one of your tonsils. As i hadn't eaten or drunk i was fed through a drip for that day and admitted to Dubai hospital where i spent the next five nights being treated with antibiotics through a drip. The painkillers they gave me were good tho so i wasn't in any pain or nothing, it was just super boring and the little food i could manage was the same every day and was the most disgsting food i have ever eaten in my life!!
Suffice to say i did no sightseeing in Dubai and didn't take a single photo although i did see the worlds largest man made island(from my hospital window), The worlds largest building( on the bus to and from the airport) and the worlds largest hotel( on the way to the airport)!! It seems the credit crunch has hit Dubai pretty hard tho as the island has a half built motorway bridge leading to it that they have abandoned and much of the construction work is drying up there.
Anyway i left Dubai feeling much better on route for India. My flight arrived into Trivandrum airport at 3am in the morning so i thought i'd wait in the airport for a few hours for first light. However that didn't turn out to be as when i walked round the corner there were literally 2-3 thousand indians waiting outside for god knows what all cramped in like cattle! So i got a taxi to town and after being shown around 4 or 5 full hotels found a bed for the night and some much needed sleep. My first full day in India was spent wandering around the streets of Trivandrum soaking up the culture of India. I went to a beautiful Hindu Temple and an old palace before going to the zoo as my guidebook said it was the best on the subcontinent, however it was many of the animals i had just seen in the wild in Africa so wasn't so amazing. Altho idid see many animals native to the indian subcontinent and i tell you if i see some of the huge birds, snakes and big cats i saw there, in the wild after soiling yself i would run a country mile!!
Next up was the beach resort of Varkala where i spent 3 days playing in the surf and relaxing on the beach. It was a great little place with lovely red cliffs and a bay about a kilometre long, with lots of shops and restaurants perched on the cliff top. I had the most amazing indian food here, which after the hospital food was all the better!! I aslo bought a book - the autobiography of Mohatma Gandhi which although a bit intense is turning out to be a good read, and i hate reading.
Next up was a train ride to Kollam to catch a boat through the Keralan backwaters to the town of Allepey. The boat left at 10.30am and didn't arrive until 8pm so it was a long day but was so relaxing and the scenery was stunning, i honestly don't think i've ever seen as many cocunut palm trees in my life as i did that day, every space of dry land was covered the entire way. i have some great photos of the waterways as well.
After Allepey was the coatal town of Kochi. After spending the first day on the mainland part i went to an island just of the coast called fort Kochi. Here i witnessed local fishermen catching fish traditionally on chinese fishing nets which was a cool experience, really simple just big nets that they lower and raise and hope fish get stuck in em!! I then strolled along the promonede for a bit before agreeing to go on an autorickshaw tour of the island. My driver was a guy who clearly liked cockney rhyming slang and dubbed himself Charlie as his indian name was Sally which he thought was a bit girly!! He took round many temples and religious buildings of lots of different faiths including Hindu, Catholic, Christian, Brahma, Sikh, Jain and Jew from what i remeber, God knows why there are so many religions on that small island. He also took me to a few shops where he obviously earnt commission if i bought anything but i managed to resist and come away empty handed with my wallet still full.
So that was my first week, spent in the state of Kerala in southern India. Yesterday i crossed into Tamil Nadu state and the hill station of Ooty(cool name i think). It was a long day on the bus but the final few hours were amazing as we climbed up the mountain, hairpin bend after hairpin bend and dozens of lorries and buses transporting thousands of people processing up the mountain. Somehow i made it here alive with the indian driving technique of honking the horn every minute and overtaking everyone corner or no corner wide or narrow road!! Last night there was a bit of a procession in town with this carnival float going down the street with drummers in front and kids throwing amazing fire crackers all down the street that were as loud as gun shots and like fireworks on the floor. Today i have had a bit of an horticultural day visting the thread garden where it proclaims to be a world first as there is a garden of all different flowers made entirely of thread, coppey and canvas (so basically fake). Apparentely it took 50 people 12 years to handmake, i'd rather have the 12 years i think!! I then went to a rose garden which overlooked the town so gave some real good views and then on to the botanical gardens which were designed by the same person as kew gardens but need a bit of money spent i think.
Anyway of to have another lovely curry now before going on to the town of Mysore in the morning
Author: Thomas Phillip Seaman
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