Park Central Kochi

... Its funny how many people seemed to be hungry after we went in&#8230;. we had quite an audience, by the end and they were all desperate to engage with us but only the lads outside managed to as we were leaving, bless them. I don&#8217;t know how Winehouse puts up with it. Oh yeah. Crack. And money. <br>We were a bit worried about running out of juice before further exploration so we carried on to a petrol station (on a main highway.. Eek!) and we were ...

... the desserts are from the buffet where we eat twice a day at the hotel- the selection of sweets here is bigger than it is for real entrees. Last evening, we toured the waters surrounding the island city of Kochi on a lovely and very relaxing cruise (weather was perfect). Sure, there aren't any sandy beaches to be found, but the breeze was a treat and it was fascinating to watch the local fishermen and their big nets at work.

... film being filmed and for the second time this trip we were filmed albeit in the background. I also filmed the action and of course beautiful heroine who turned out to be not just any old actress but none other than Aisha Jakaia - well this chap was very impressed when I showed him my photo of her and told me she was the most famous actress in India - I always did have a good eye, I told myself! Time to quit Cochin and cool off in the hills.

... by the Portuguese, and so there was a very Mediterranean feel about it. We lost happy days in beautiful little alleyways, in white washed churches and stylish little coffee shops. We walked to the water and chatted to the fisherman sat proudly around their Chinese fishing nets. On an arranged day trip, we went on a punting boat along the backwaters of Kerala, and found ourselves under a luminous green arch of foliage mirrored on the clear water ...

... antiga, de agachar, podem pois imaginar como e divertido usalas com o comboio em andamento! O Nuno andava a conseguir evitalas ja ha bastante tempo, mas 16 horas foram demais para ele!... no final correu tudo bem. No comboio conhecemos um Padre catolico de Kerala, um estado 100% alfabetizado, que nos falou do papel da Igreja na educacao aqui, e do seu trabalho como missionario em Gujarat. O facto e que uma vez em Kerala, podemos constatar a importancia que a educacao aqui tem ...

... water for cool drinks and fried vegetable yummies (pakodas?) From there Amy took an auto-rickshaw taxi back to the hotel because she was getting very sunburned, leaving me to walk back. I don't know what adventures Amy had on her way back [Amy: I read my email, talked with a guy at the front desk about how to get a bus tomorrow to our next destination, and took a shower (lots of showers because we get damp very quickly here)], but ...

Cochin, much like Pondicherry, is strange for the fact that it is one of the biggest tourist destinations in south India, yet is totally underdeveloped, and really really small. However, don't think I'm complaining - this makes it brilliant, as it means it's not just pandering to the tourists, by providing 5-star everything! We met Patricia (a french ayurvedic masssage student) on the ferry over to Fort ...

... to the Citibank, which, unlike State Bank of India, accepted my debit card. Shopkeeper saved the credit card fees and everyone was happier! Since we were on a role, we asked if they knew where we can buy a carpet without the hefty tourist premium- they pointed us to "Glory &amp; Company" down the road, where we found a great silk-on-silk carpet at about 50% of the price of everything the first 2 crooks were pushing us to. We then took our last few hours here ...

... other highights of Varkala was the giant pool at our hotel and some italian restaurant on the cliff edge. I'm certain some of these establishments will soon end up on the beach below in a pile of stones, this particular restaurant was literally a few yards set back from the edge just enough a room for the narrow path to cross in front. Anyway - sitting up on the wooden balcony with views pretty much restricted to the sea was the perfect place to relax ...

... me or my fashion sense! We got a return taxi to the next major centre, Coimbatore. We didn't know about these before, but they are taxis that do a drop in one centre. Now, if you take a taxi from one centre to another, you have to pay for both the fare there and the fare back. Sometimes, the drivers try and pick up people (and charge them per person). It's a great deal for them... they make money off the books. It's also a great ...