J&P Bungalow Kochi

... the UK who had retired around there who were nice to chat to and give me advise. The best thing was going for a walk along the beach in the morning and not being harrased or stared at or anything.

I think Goa has more bars and alcohol on sale than everywhere else in india. Even though I was in the quiet relaxing area, alcohol was everywhere. I was a bit unlucky with my timing to Goa because there was an unseasonal front that came through so instead of the hot sunny ...

Hello *g*in! So, Munn*r provided few highlights re*lly. It is * very function*l town *nd the surrounding hills, whilst be*utiful, *re just te* pl*nt*tions *t the end of the d*y. So we only st*yed for one night. I did get the finest egg fried rice of my life there though *t * ro*dside rest*ur*nt where the guy cooks it in front of you. He w*s * cullin*ry m*rvel! I could quite h*ppily e*t th*t one me*l for ever more. I *lso w*tched the Osc*r ...

... und Kunstunt**richt bestand, klappte mittl**weile richtig gut und ich konnte **ste Erfolge beobachten. Umso mehr traf es mich, als ich von d** Existenz eines Buches Wind bekam. Ich wusste, dass die Führung des Kind**heims es nicht g**ade begrüßte, wenn ich mit den Kind**n spielte. Sie hatten einen g**egelten Tagesplan, welch** größtenteils aus Arbeiten und L**nen bestand und kein**lei Spiel und Spaß zuließ. Doch dass sie üb**haupt kein V**ständnis für kindliche Bedürfnisse hatte ...

... Periyar Lake. The Lake Cruise is conducted by Forest Department, which is the best way to see the park. Later trips were in hot sun and the rising temperature would push the animals in shade making sighting difficult. Our vehicle was allowed up to the jetty from where the ferry left. We also found the charges, in comparison to other national parks for vevicles and cameras, was much lower. Our boat set sail at 5:30 am. Sun was still under horizon. It ...

... everywhere and no one seems to care. There is a lot of green algae on the beach and we choose not to ask or look to closely why! A final meal is had together, getting emotional now, cant believe the first 3 weeks are over and we will be on our own in 24 hours. The meal was lovely and gets us in the mood for our onward journey, we have Thai food! At 20h00 we say our final goodbyes and head to the airport to leave mum waiting for her flight tomorrow.

... looking at houseboat to try and find a good one for a good price. We settled on one through the government tourist agency and paid them and everything was good to go. The next morning the rickshaw picked us up and drove us to the boat. We got on and then the owner said we needed to pay him $100 rupees. We had been told the pickup was in the price we paid the day before and I even showed him the receipt. He just ...

... way the kind that reverberates throughout your core (spend a couple of weeks being blasted by car horns-you too will welcome drums). The ceremony was really great to watch, but it reminded me once again how much I am an observer and not a participant. There's such a difference between living / working abroad and this. And it feels like there's some hostility / animosity towards the foreigners. The other strange thing is I feel like ...

... visited: Cochin, Allepey, Thekkady, Kumarakom, Munnar, Eravikulam National Park, Periyar, Marari. Stay: 4 nights at Meridien (Cochin), 1 night at Paradisa Plantation Retreat (Thekkady), 1 night at Coconut Lagoon (Kumarakom), 1 night at Windemere Estate (Munnar), 2 nights at Spice Village (Periyar), 1 night at Marari Beach (Marari).

... is lengthy and disciplined. Paint, fantastic costumes, highly decorated headpieces and meditation transform the actors both physically and mentally into the gods, heroes and demons they are about to play. We were lucky to see these preparations, and walked freely around the stage with our cameras. And before the performance the director gave us some explanations and a demonstration of how the Malayam alphabet could be translated into hand movements ...

... warmth is an incredible interest in being hospitable. Books on India (and discussions with Indian friends confirm this) talk about the idea that Indians of all creeds pay homage to three additional gods - Mother, Father, and Guest. Essentially, opening one's life and home to guests is seen as an obvious duty. We have experienced this time and time again - from Mukesh Sen who allowed two unknown Americans to live in his apartment for two and a half months to the Alikhan family who ...