Kovalam Tourist Home

During the month of March, I was fortunate to be blessed with not only the presence of my youngest brother, but also my dear friend Rachael. 'Twas short but very sweet (our time together, not you Rachael). She flew into southern Kerala from the bright lights of London town for a 2 week holiday with relaxation, inner battery recharging, ayurvedic detoxing and yoga on the cards. But she had to see her long lost pal for the first 5 days of the trip so ...

... in the Carribean. Sometimes this guy would wear a bright purple, pimp style, purple suit that i think he had made at an indian tailors. We were allocated Karma Yoga (selfless service) duties which are jobs we did daily that helped everything run smoothly in the ashram. Nadine was on food service and i scored the toilets in the dorms. Nice one. The backbone of the yoga vacation was the physical yoga itself and we had two, two hour sessions a day. Our beginners ...

... Also in Hindu culture, the b*ny*n tree is *lso c*lled "k*lp*vriksh*" me*ning 'wish fulfilling divine tree'. We found out *bout * good trib*l vill*ge *rt sp*ce *nd h*d bre*kf*st on the be*ch with some nice, morning, ch*nting tr*cks. We he*rd from the f*ther of the guesthouse th*t there w*s to be *n eleph*nt procession h*ppening *t * sm*ll temple inl*nd from the be*ch in the *fternoon. I w*s very keen to see one of these events th*t *re re*lly just h*ppening in Ker*l ...

... in my head, even though I'd heard it before. Basically, Hindu's believe that God is unknowable. We can't describe him or understand him in full. So instead they break him down into different parts and worship those. Like Saraswati is a God focused on knowledge and wisdom, where as Ganesha is considered the remover of obstacles. Then there are stories made up around each God to help 'illustrate' the philosophical ideals that they stand for. I don't know many of the stories right now ...

... de leerkracht Engels die ik de komende 2 maanden waarschijnlijk mag assisiteren. Morgen ook eens uitzoeken waar ik zal wonen. We logeren nu in een guesthouse vlakbij Lighthouse Beach. 350Rs per nacht. Dat kan dus nog een stuk goedkoper. (1euro = ongeveer 65 Roepies) Ik heb intussen bij een deel van de foto's die ik de vorige keer online heb gezet ook wat uitleg geschreven ...

... in India so arranging a meeting in town on the day the latest European chequebook arrives off the plane is a simple trick which carries the bonus of a free taxi-ride home. Cynic I hear you say, no, I've been here before! Our first night was successful despite the attempts made by this town to thwart our search for beer; it does, after all, take time to discover that what you need to look for is a large illuminated sign saying BAR. We found ...

... take many trips to really get to know it. I am loving every minute while I am here though. The people are so nice and so friendly and helpful. They are laid back and really funny too. The physical beauty of India is seriously incredible. I have seen things here that no photo or postcard could even come close to matching. Wish I could get these photos to upload. I have tried and tried but can't seem to work it here. I will upoad all once I get home. Thanks for checking in!

... rupees, which took no longer than 10 seconds as he just snipped the hair 3 times. It seems ok though! I also got up early one morning at 7am and watched the local fisherman bring in the morning catch. This was interesting and looked hard work. I then bumped into a staff member from camp and we strolled along the beach for a good hour happily conversing in pidgin english/hindi. Sometimes it's really nice not to have to make small ...

... Kovalam and be persecuted by those whose revenue stream we haven't contributed to yet - still a large number despite all our purchases so far. Jon brought his laptop (and a couple of heavy manuals) with him - I know, so romantic - so I've finally seen the DVD of my skydive in New Zealand (and most of my photos) for the first time. Absolutely brilliant. One cool little old blondie!! I did not disgrace myself.

... show up, it needed repairing. So we took a local bus and discovered the beautiful green inland of Kerala. In the middle of the trip it suddenly started raining, it was the first time since Pondicherry that we experienced a real downpour. You would imagine that this is not a big deal when you are on a bus, but buses in India don't have glass windows, just open holes...luckily there were some cloths that you can pull down to stop ...