Anthraper Garden Alappuzha

... and shouting as we floated by, some ran alongside the boat for as long as the banks would allow. Fishermen covered the dark green surface with their wooden canoes, transporting back and forth sand and crushed shells to build up a new piece of land amongst the water highways. The beauty of this area was all around us, enclosing our eyes and hearts in a warm, peaceful blanket of greens and blues, playing a lullaby of bird song and rocking us gently into bliss.<br ...

... had been. But here too, the sea was rough, and when I tried to go for a swim, big waves kept knocking me over and made me think it would be a better idea to just use the pool. This place also was not in high tourism season yet, as there were very few people around the hotel and the beach grill and bar were both not open. <br><br>That afternoon, we got Ayurvedic massages. I had gotten one of these in Goa, but this place was much more official, and the ...

... canoe man was shouting back, and there was an ear destroying set-to between them as we cowered in the front of the canoe. Once we had finally got away from the village and the mad old bag, it felt safe to ask our man what had happened. His response was simply: "It is mother-in-law". Lowlights of the trip: 1. Gondala-wallah scams us. As we glided to the quayside and disembarked, our canoe man tells us "Here we finish". Perplexed, we ...

... was the typical keralan breakfast of iddlis (steamed rice cakes) with sambar (potato and lentil type broth). Bacon sarnies still rule. Kerala has been an interesting experience but 3 days was definitely more than enough and we are now desperate for some action. We are now heading to Rajasthan the long route via Mumbai and Delhi to soak up some culture, eat some meat and if we are lucky, maybe spot a tiger or two - raaaaaaah!

... below the horizon, the sky turned a beautiful shade of peach, the light was very unusual, never really seen this type of light in the northern latitudes, must be connected to the atmospheric conditions in this region of the world. Travelling through the backwaters is extremely hypnotic, it's similar to watching a log fire burning, you can't seem to take your eyes away from the water or fire, it's mesmerising. Rather than staying in ...

... enamoured with white people and just seemed totally fascinated with us. (I think the dad even tried to give his little baby son away to me). And for breakfast that morning our hotel kitchen was closed so to gain the energy and strength we needed for the day ventured out into the real world to look for a restaurant (Lonely Planet didn't list any close by to us so we were on our own!). Luckily we found a placed call ...

... for 1 year as part of her degree for an NGO in Tamil Nadu. Twas yet again good to chat in French but by the end of the day I was exhausted. And now I keep finding myself translating everything I think into French and have to make a real effort not to. It's great that my brain can do that, but it is so tiring and a bit annoying when I don't even have to speak French - ie. I have started speaking French to Indian people now because I'm speaking it so much here! I know some ...

... is vomitting. The conductor swiftly sends them to the back of the vehicle - perhaps part punishment and partially to prevent everyone else from getting sick. Several noisy busses later we arrive at Bekal, along the Kerala coast. We stay with a generous and friendly family - four generations living together - in the heart of a small Muslim fishing community. Over the next few days we are visited/greeted by what seems to be a high percentage of the neighborhood. At one point, our travel ...

Yeeeeeeeeees this is it paradise, ill upload some photos soon its awesum here Im going to hit the beach which seems to be full of hot people and not many hawkers, I got a room on the cliffs above the beack for 400 rupees which is about 14 dollars a nite , with my own bathroom and double bed yada yad , it kicks koh samui and koh pagnans ass so far but weell c. awesum

... of no sleep. Although, it is unbelievably hot. 35 degrees in Mumbai on Monday and we're on the same coast just a bit further down. Sorry if it's still lashing down at home. Heard there was a bit of snow and ice in Lancs - unlucky Ged, John & Irene. Unlucky everyone else. We did realise when we sat down for our first ruby of the day yesterday in Bangalore - or Bang-a-***** as Richie renamed it after the amount of men ...