Villa Jacaranda

... lobster so it was just as well it rained the other 3 days; secondly, we stayed in a wonderful, chic little house called Villa Jacaranda which we heartily recommend (run by a v friendly and v camp ex-Allen & Overy paralegal called Ajay); and ...

... nbsp; The train was nice, palm trees and waterways along the way.  Once in Varkala we grabbed a taxi to our hotel, Villa Jacaranda.  A beautiful, four room guest house on the Arabian Sea.  After settling, we walked around town, had lunch ...

... , met great people and the sites were outstanding.  We both loved the beach in Varkala, India and the guest house Villa Jacaranda.  The apartment in Paris worked out well, being able to cook our food and have a nice centrally located base ...

...  to get off and on !The best bit is sitting on the verrandah watching Parrots flit in and out of the Jacaranda trees in the garden.     Tonight we fly to  Cochin in Kerala and will continue this from ...

... political prisoners held on Robben island to study for a degree - which some did, Mandella for one. The streets are lined with Jacaranda trees that will bloom in the summer, but for now their leaves and seed pods litter the streets. May is wintertime in ...

... ; orange Maruti Hindu Temple, dedicated to Hanuman (the monkey god). The views of this lush town, full of bougainvilleas and jacaranda (an orange version?), were lovely and the Mandovi River provided relief between the trees and shrubs. I moved on into ...

So far much of the trip has had a pattern: long journey by bus or train; check into basic guest house; see some spectacular world heritage listed sites; and move on again after 1 night, maybe 2 with a another long journey. Wonderful as it has been we ...

Back in the US, we decided to do a day trip to a nearby town called Kollam. In Kollam you can arrange for a backwater canoe tour, shop for spices, visit the fish market and buy freshly harvested cashews.  We booked our tickets in the US for the ...