Kerala Three Bedroom Houseboats Kochi

... die Luftfeuchtigkeit ist so extrem hoch, dass man 3x am Tag duschen muss. Hi** haben wir dann auch einen neuen V**such gestartet, ein Zugticket zu kaufen, mit dem gleichen Ergebnis. Als wir dann Abends einfach zum Spass nochmal nachfragten, sagte und d** Mann vom Touroffice, wir koennten einfach eine Station eh** losfahren, dann wa**e noch was frei (warum auch imm**!)! Auf die Frage mit dem schon vollen Zug, obwohl. man **st 5 Tage vorh** buchen kann ...

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... stores where their over zealousness to help becomes suffocating in the end and you want to scream! One shop assistant asked to have his photo taken with me, for why, I have no idea, he now has it on his phone. A little odd, but we've attracted all kinds of strange attention, so its something I'm started to get used to - almost feel like a celebrity! Taking the backwater trip was pretty cool. Kerala is famed for its waterways and the life ...

... hut and paradise beach where Gerry has been playing beach volleyball and heaven forbid - cricket! Goa was discovered in 1948 by Portuguese explorer, Vasco de Gama, when he landed on the coast in search of spices and in 1510, Goa became a Portuguese colony. Durig the 16th century, the region developed as a commercial center where Portuguese soldiers and adventurers mixed and married the locals, many of whom were converted to Catholics. The Portuguese made ...

... Everyone sat on top on these plastic chairs...there was probably about 30-35 of us on there and we all got settled for the 8 hours it would take us to go 100km. We got 2 breaks during the day...a 20min lunch break, where our meal was served on a banana leaf...and a 10min Chai break and deep fried goodies. The ride was very lazy and we just enjoyed the views....they were quite spectaclur...so green and the water was soo blue...would have been ...

I knew I'd been in a chaotic city when I got to the airport today and enjoyed the calm and quiet. And while it was delux to so quickly progress from one place to the next, it set me up for another bit of culture shock. I'd heard Varkala, Kerala (waaaayyyy down south) was a good bet for some escape / beach time. I got here, found a guest house finally for 7$, and changed for a swim. I don't feel like I'm in India anymore. I'm in some strange little ...

... maybe even better. But in the end the experience was fun and it certainly relaxed my body (but my body also hurt where I got a sun burn yesterday). The experience was finalized with a 15-minute sweat in a steam bath. This was actually a coffin-like box that i had to lie in, exactly like a woman that was going to be cut in half by David Copperfield. I did sweat a bit, but nothing like going to a sauna in Grimbergen. Immediately afterwards we crossed the ...

... and cemeteries still in existence that date back to the 1200's. Sephardi Jews, fleeing the persecutions of the Inquisition, came for refuge here in the mid 1500's. They found a group of "black" or "Malabari" Jews who had already been here for 1500 years. Cochin proved to be a hospitable place for the Jewish community and it grew to 2800 people who mostly served the spice export businesses into the 1960's. When the State of Israel got established over 98 ...

... truly all-a-bliss! Third...we began to meet fun and interesting people-Jeff and Katie from Alaska who had been traveling for 5 months or so-from New Zealand to Vietnam...Margot from Florida (who had traveled with us for 3 or 4 days in Thailand)...Jennifer from Southern California (who just completed Med School in Dominica)...Matt from Chicago (a musician)..."Freya" from Austria (a head-banging dancing machine-even though she is over 60 years old)...Philippa from the ...