Day 26: Water water everywhere

Trip Start Mar 01, 2008
1
26
32
Trip End Ongoing


Loading Map
Map your own trip!
Map Options
Show trip route
Hide lines
shadow

Flag of India  ,
Monday, April 7, 2008

We decided to visit the famous umbrella shops of Alleppey and only belatedly worked out that, as it was a Sunday, most places were closed. Fortunately, even though the umbrella shops were shut, we managed not to return empty handed. Vernee went on a splurge in shop full of colourful bracelets run and walked out with a decent sized box for a couple of quid. No haggling required.

With the temperatures racing ever upwards, the pool again provided some welcome relief. The main tourist season rapidly comes to a close in April and it seemed we had the whole hotel to ourselves. Given that Cameron has taken to jumping into the pool on his own (with float jacket) and demanding to leap from Rob's shoulders, this is probably just as well. Afterwards,  Rob and Cameron took themselves off for a well earned nap while Vernee had another Ayurvedic massage - purely for comparative purposes of course. It was a far superior affair and not just because the therapist, Agada, liked to chat The boys just messin'
The boys just messin'
 . In her experience, the Americans and Irish like a very 'soft' massage (Agada's nose wrinkled at this point) while the North Indians like it really hard (she was clearly much more impressed). 

This time, we were more prepared this time for the beach with Rob and Cameron fully kitted out in swimming shorts, uv-resistant t-shirts and beach shoes. They wouldn't have looked out of place on any Antipodean beach - but, this being an Indian beach, everyone else was dressed in their everyday clothes, so the boys received even more attention than before. As it was a Sunday evening, there were hundreds of families out enjoying themselves, but not one single other person in swimwear. Everyone just walked into the waves in their shorts, jeans, lungis, saris or salwar kameez  (watching the women laughing and shrieking in the water it was easy to see why the wet sari scene is such a staple of Bollywood movies).

Cameron and Rob joined the big boys in the surf and with three foot high rollers and a strong current, Rob didn't let go off Cameron for a moment. After an hour they were utterly exhausted but exhilarated and returned to the hotel accompanied by loads more astonished stares and friendly greetings.
Slideshow Print this entry