SWAGATH HOLIDAY RESORTS Kovalam

... and positive life as a result'. He then followed this up with 'But I f'ing hate Australians!'. To which we replied 'Have you met one before?' To which he responded 'No! But have you seen the look in their eyes! I f'ing hate Australians!'. This conversation sums up the contradictory nature of Indian spirituality and resulted in us aborting the plan to grow dreadlocks, hole ourselves up in an ashram and induce cannabis psychosis. You ...

... than the constant hassle we used to get from the moment we stepped off the train, nobody tried to rip us off. We're pretty hardened at this stage though, which is a shame because it doesn't allow for those random chats with locals which we would have had in other countries. We've been burned too many times by conversations which invariably led to a sales pitch. Here in Kerala though, it's different, they're just not that desperate. The sadness and sorrow you saw in ...

... stoned. It's very strange having so much spare time and being completely free to do whatever I want. I cant believe this is my life, I haven't been this happy and relaxed in a long time. Don't know if I'll ever be able to sit in an office again. I am loving India. Time is going so fast and I wish I could stay longer. But at the same time I'm really excited about what's round the next corner.

... we looked - shops, restaurants, hotels, in the markets and on the streets - there were only men. Equality of the sexes hasn't quite reached northern India. Women stay at home cooking, washing and cleaning, and treat their husbands as a god. In some places, they eat only after their husbands have finished, and then only if he's left them anything. So wandering around was a weird and often uncomfortable experience. It got worse after we joined up with ...

... three it has cleared up and you buy your own pain-killers, isn't the Free medical care in the UK wonderful. The horrifically expensive treatment here cost £1.15p for antibiotics and painkillers and involved a five minute queue and three minute discussion with the pharmacist. if this has anything to do with the competition form Ayurvedic medicine good on you Saint Aggy.

... beach by Saturday morning. Kovalam is gorgeous. We were really lucky with the weather because Kerala's supposedly in monsoon season right now, and we've only had one 10 minute intense rain session during dinner Saturday night. The beach was black but the sand was as soft as any sand in the Carribean. The water was so warm. The scenery was just gorgeous! Some of the volunteers went swimming in their regular bikinis, and that attracted a pretty crowd of Indian boys. I ...

... umbrellas and beautiful women swimming in their saris! We soon got into the groove of bartering and purchasing sarongs, jewellery etc (great for girls not so good for boys!!) Abi, Imi and Jack seem to now have the knack of securing the best deals! Jack's the best at sending away sellers with "No thanks we've already got one of those!" All in all lovely.

There's a beautiful crescent beach here although it nows seems geared towards middle class Indians, arriving by the busloads. It's conveniently located a mere 15 km from Kerala's capital Trivandrum. It's a pleasant beach with many guesthouses and plenty of tourist friendly places to eat, along with chairs facing the ocean. The beach here attracts more surfers than swimmers.

... is practiced in the tiniest outfit possible : a white loin-cloth, the size of a postage stamp that leaves very little to the imagination. Given the 100 % humidity in the gym and the 35 degrees Celsius, you can see the point of this quasi nudity , but strangely enough women have been admitted to practicing recently and they are expected to remain fully clothed. The training session was fascinating to observe ...

... OK and we ate it and survived. It still counts as the worst meal though.) Swad restaurant in Ram Nagar, New Delhi. (The lime pickle came in a packet. Need we say more?) Uncooked fish in Kochi. (Even after we sent it back the first time because it wasn't cooked. The second time we didn't have the energy) Ranakpur hotel restaurant. Paneer butter masala that was actually more like rubber covered in a whole jar of sun dried tomatoes and gallons of oil Cold thali in a ...