The last time I updated I was in Sri Lanka and we are now in India. Our first stop was Trivandrum. We arrived in Trivandrum, Kerela's capital city on the 19th May 2010. We flew over from Sri Lanka by a short 1 hour flight although both Daniel and I had very little sleep the night before and this made for a tough first day!
We took a Tuk Tuk through the busy, dirty city to the main popular strip called MJ Road, north of the train station. The Tuk Tuk driver as a granted tried to rip us off but we were having non of it. Daniels bank card wasn't working however and luckily at times like that you praise being together as it means you always have a spare. Mine worked without any trouble and we continued to our destination. After arriving we then had to find somewhere to stay so started our walk up an down the street and after about 3 tries we found somewhere with expensive rooms for what they were but in a big city it was to be expected! Daniel and I dumped our bags down and headed out to investigate our new surroundings. I don't know if it was because of the lack of sleep but I remember feeling like a little girl in a very big city, like an unwelcome guest almost. It felt everywhere I turned people were staring and no one spoke to me they just addressed Daniel. I remember feeling like I hated it, hoping that all of India wasn't going to be like this!
The following day after a good nights sleep, the world and India seemed like a much brighter place an all my worries slowly drifted away from there on out. We also soon got accustomed to our new pet cockroach. Most rooms seem to come with one with no extra charge. They don't bother me anymore, after screeching like a little girl and throwing my hands around whilst running in circles for the first few times, I'm now starting to name them and the lizards like they're a new family pet! Oh dear!....
We spent the next 3 days sorting out our travel plans and trying to get a train out of town but with all the will in the world and pain-staking long hours spent in the train station to no avail. Last chance was a AC bus out of town straight to Ernakulam which sits opposite to it's neighbouring tourist island Cochin or Kochi it's more often called.The bus trip was very easy going and the mere 4 hour journey felt like a walk in the park. We arrived at night and Ernakulam is somewhat more high tech than Trivandrum with it's high rise buildings and luminous signs on every shop which lit the streets up with a multi-coloured glow and led the way to our next guest house after another short Tuk Tuk ride. For the first night we treated ourselves to a non cockroach room with soap and toilet roll (big treat). We left the next day to a room at half the price about £4 a night and got some free bed bugs this time. My bum was not a pretty sight for the next few days even though we provided our own bed bug free sheets!
We travelled over to Kochi by ferry and it's very, very touristy. The buildings are Portuguese in style with influence from the English and Dutch. The huge and impressive Chinese fishing nets line the sea front, in front of which stalls tried selling all kinds of rubbish to passing by tourists. I wasn't blown away by Kochi and am somewhat surprised that it is seen as one of the top places to see in India. You can do it in a day.
The Backwaters "Kochi" a very worthwhile experience, we were collected at our hostel by transport that took us an hour away at the starting point of the trip. We got in this huge weaved house boat, it was beautiful. Two men stood either end of the boat steering it with just a long wooden stick! No motor, no extra help..... Amazing. It's truly wonderful meandering through the small backwater passage ways with no sounds other than the odd bird or cricket in the grass. We later stopped off to see women spinning coconut hair to make rope and ate traditional Thali off a banana leaf which was followed by a long peaceful ride back through a large lake. Perfect!
After Kochi we got an over night train to Goa. The trains are not as bad as what you would imagine. They are reasonably comfortable and not as busy as you think they would be as long as you reserve your seat. So a great nights sleep and we arrived in Mangalore the next morning to wait for 5 hours before getting on the next train to stop at Margao, Goa.
We decided to have a look around Mangalore to kill some time and get some food. This was by far my worst place so far. The food we ate made Daniel and I quite ill so we spent the next few days getting well acquainted with Avi and Michelle's toilet. Not to mention the worst moment of my life having to use a toilet in the ground in Mangalore. This is not an exaggeration and for that reason I'm not going to give you all the details of the state in which the toilet was in when I entered it, as I don't want to put you all off eating your lovely Sunday dinners (I miss a good Roast!).
Finally we arrived in Calangute, Goa after a terrifying and long taxi ride from the station at 8pm at night. Going over speed bumps at 40mph is not advised! They wonder why all the suspension on the cars are shot!!!
A few beers and a great catch up was very much appreciated after the day and a half of travelling. Also hello soap and toilet roll it's so great to see you again! Lol. Here we are.
To think there's still so much more to tell you but that will have to be it for now. Stay tuned for more very soon....I promise.
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