...we arrived in Fort Cochin after 24 hours of being on a very bumpy overnight bus AND a train, it was pouring down with rain solidly for about 2 days, so it was a bit dull and tiring but eventually we arrived at 2.30 in the morning, found a room and woke up on easter day and had the BIGGEST breakfast ever. Fort Cochin was quite snazzy, with lots of expensive hotels and restaurants, we decided to treat ourselves as it was easter day and there are no easter eggs in India so we had a very nice meal at a hotel, I had chicken which was exciting as I haven't had meat for a while! We cruised around Fort Cochin, saw a Kathakali performance in the evening which was HILARIOUS, performed by a group of chubby Indian men, the story was about a man who forced himself upon a girl and then he got murdered by the young girls father...very original!!
Then onto Kumli to see some wildlife...we rented a house that slept about 10 people, just the two of us, and it only cost 1.50 each, it even had a loo, that you could sit on, which was very exciting, felt a bit weird at first though. We woke bright and early, went on an Elephant, which was amazing, she was massive, and we got to feed her afterwards and watch her have a bath, then we rented bycicles to cycle around the national park, mine had no breaks which I only discovered after flying down a very steep hill, having to swerve past wild bore and monkeys, and nearly being knocked off by a crazy bus driver coming up the hill, it was quite scary...we then went on a boat ride, to spot some tigers, but no such luck..all we saw was a deer type thing...it was quite boring. Friday night was spent in a posh hotel where we had a glass of wine, which was terribly exciting because alcohol is strictly prohibited in Kerala because it's "Gods own counrty!"
Onto Allapay, we got on a local bus with our massive rucksacks which was deffinatley an experience, the locals taking photos of us with thier phones, alot of people just staring at us! We felt we were on a rollercoaster as we flew past the western ghats and tea plantations which was very beautiful.
When we got to Allapay we decided to get a small rowing boat to do the backwaters, rather than a big motor boat, this allowed us to go down the tiny little canals and stop off at villages...this was the best day in India so far, our rowing man/guide was called Thankachan, he was very weedy and spoke no English and had loads of teeth missing but he was very very sweet and took us to his home, gave us coconut milk then showed us his village where little children ran up to us giving us flowers, people invited us into thier little houses, people flung chai at us form all directions, we saw people harvesting the rice, this was real India, no cars or electricty, the people just living off the land.
I was helping Thankachan row through the backwaters all day whilst Jessie sat back and relaxed so I had very achey arms the next day!!
We are now in Varkala which is our last stop in India...I can't believe it!!
Varkala is very beachy and sunny and lovely...I'm going to get all my clothes washed before thailand which is so exciting!
Lots of love EVERYONEE!! I miss you all alot.xxxx
