Abad Palmshore Beach Resort Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum)

... were ready for a little refreshment. There was a brawny guy right outside the entrance with a big pile of coconuts and a large knife. He would hack of the end of the coconut at just the right place to expose the top of the white coconut meat inside. He then used the knife to make a little hole in the coconut meat where his assistant inserted a straw so you suck out the cool coconut water inside. The coconuts were giant, and ...

... car and out, I try to absorb everything, my eyes greedy. It is all too much and I can say that India at a first impression is...crazy. Crazy but wonderful. You can feel its specialness in the sultry air, the magic of the land and the spirituality of the country and people. You feel it on your skin...the possibilities of where this place will take you. Unknown adventures, new knowledge. Despite the heat, you get goosebumps just by the mere presence of it. "I'm ...

... in the hut Nadsy laughed so hard she fell off a bench seat and nobody got the joke except us. If the hut had of been open all day we never would have gone to class because we just loved talking random **** and eating sesame balls all day long. mmmm......What else? There was some slacklining going on which is much harder to master than it looks but Monkey gave it a nice try. Another highlight came in the form of an Elvish type character musician named Istvan ...

... I've decided it's ok. But the clasp on the rubies started coming apart. I only noticed when I tried to straighten them out before going into his shop. He was gracious but in an irritated and annoyed way. And I have to go back for them. He's almost at the other end of the Varkala Cliff, so maybe I'll take a tuk down there and walk back. There's a cyclone coming in from Sri Lanka. The skies have darkened, the wind is up ...

... you want massage?'. That said there's a constant sea breeze to take the sting out of the beating suns and it's pretty cheap and so we have settled ourselves in for a week of daily yoga, interspersed with many juices, shakes, fruit salads and curries. In fact most days, after our morning yoga class, are filled with ways of killing time before we can justify sitting down for another snack or meal! A couple of days, after arriving here, the cough that had been lingering in my ...

... floor with two hard pillows, one under my head and one under my already bruised hips. I was soaking wet and cold, but getting dry clothes wasn't an option, so I just borrowed a dry shawl from someone to try and keep warm. I slept surprisingly well. The floor was a hell of alot comfier than the camp bed, so maybe the rain did me a favor. Although I am looking forward to a night on the train ...

... was a TO DO in Kerala this is it, yet another tourist must for us to miss! Apparently the system is very ancient, something to do with Hinduism but when one hears that a saint invented it one naturally assumes the Christians have moved in on the act but no, it's the other way around. Apparently the Hindus have saints and not being against alcohol they are quite relaxed ...

... samosa, and - this one's my favourite - I caught you trespassing in Mumbai's fanciest hotel's swimming pool at midnight so give me a bribe or I'm calling the police. When we got to the bus station in Udaipur, we met two Australian sisters who were also going to Mumbai - convenient. Unfortunately, we weren't on the same bus, but we swapped phone numbers and made plans to meet up in Mumbai - awesome. So last night, we went for dinner with them and ...

... now, full of cold and with all the excitement, it can get too much for a birthday girl and she has had ice cream...... Tonight I have a table sorted for us, lots of fuss and an Indian birthday cake... I'll let you know what happens... Last day tomorrow... Oh by the way, for those interested, we didn't have anymore significant rain after the couple of nights and the storm.. its just been cloudy on a couple of occasions and very hot..

... so we spend time on MSN chatting with microphone and webcam. He laughs at Ben now fully grown beard as does my sister and Sarah is hysterical. We stop of for a drink and head back to our room to bed. Next day we take a rikshaw into town to book train tickets and bump into John who jumped of the boat to get his hug from Amma and tells us all about it over a beer or two. Tomorrow we leave for Trivandum our last port of call in India. To be continued. . . . .