Abad Atrium Kochi

... with them. You can take a turn pulling up the net with the other guys while one of them takes photos with your camera. Of course I couldn't resist that. My catch included about a dozen small, round silver-colored fish; a few small prawns; a tiny glass fish (you can see the skeleton), and a foot long cat fish. <br><br>Our next mission was to find an ATM so we hoped in one of the many auto rickshaws that circle. There are many ...

... wandering along the streets which seemed very odd, they didn't seem to belong to anyone. There were some lovely silk and woollen items, carpets, jewellery and handmade things on sale - some quite expensive but nowhere near as expensive as back home. I would imagine this is how people have lived for many many years and presumable the new town is more modern as we could see skyscrapers from the ship. We went on a tour of the old town ...

... yet found no Hindu temples. Is this an indication that this is not the "real India"? According to some regular visitors to India this is indeed the case. The "real India", they assert, lives in the village. However Gandhian this romanticisation of village life as being quintessentially Indian may be, India's lasting legacy to the world is its fluidity and its receptivity. Not only have the persecuted sought refuge in the embrace of India, but they have also contributed greatly ...

Feeling quite confident we decided to go off the beaten track slightly to the small town of Kalpetta in the rainforest state of Kerala to visit a wildlife sanctuary. The only accommodation in town was a lifeless grey government guesthouse and we met some fellow safarees, a couple from Bristol, Keith and Lucy, who we teamed up with to save some money.<br><br>The jeep arrived the next morning at 5:30am and passing dense vegetation, quite enormous houses and a number ...

... a few seconds, suspended in time. The light returns and I find we have just experienced a power cut. This is a normal occurrence around this time of night and perhaps only normal in India for a major train station to experience this daily. Power saving is mandatory at certain times of the day in Kerala. I hope our train isn't electric. Our train arrives 5 minutes late and we hop into our 2 berth compartment for another slog through the night. Tomorrow we're somewhere new again.

... quiet day in Kochi, it's really easy to spend time at the Bastian homestay, all you're cooking is done for you and you don't have to think about anything, its far to comfortable. I think I'm going to leave Kochi tomorrow and go to Alleppey to experience a day and a night on a houseboat, it's one of those things you have do when you visit the beautiful backwaters of Kerala. It's not cheap in terms of Indian prices, but it will be my one piece of indulgence while I'm in the country.

... creatures along the way. It was such a joyful and refreshing experience after the busyness of Ernakulam the day before (which we thoroughly enjoyed) and the blah of Fort Cochin. (To quote a Scotsman we met this moring - " ... not impressed with Fort Cochin after what everryboddy tells yar.") Nevertheless, the backwater trip was excellent so it was worth coming this way. Okay next entry will be about today.

... decided to go and see the famous Keralan dance called Kathakali. This is a dance/play about some story i.e. Girl wants boy, she is evil, he kills her, kind of crack. Anyway its not really about the story, it is the flamboyant make up, costume and strange facial expressions that are used to portray the story. So there we were packed into a sweaty theatre house with all the other culture vultures. The actors demonstrated the application of the make-up for about an hour (we went for ...

... to the seaside where giant Chinese fishing nets fill the skyline. These nets are manually operated by about 4 or 5 men, and you need ideally 2 more men to scoop up the fish from the nets. They even invited me to help them catch some fish (by operating the counterweights), but we weren't very lucky. Some small catfish was all we could manage. The fishermen said it was due to the Monsoon rains which scared away the fish towards the deeper sea ...

... more in a don't let a chance go by, not a moment, where you don't seek awareness and understanding. Let everything be a teacher, lend an impulse toward evolution. Its the highest tribute we can pay for this precious opportunity to be alive. So gloriously and painfully and absolutely alive. And this I have come to believe is how true healing happens. Through the inspiration of friends and family and lovers. Through the guidance of healers who come from a place of great love ...