So we decided to leave Goa behind us and head further South to Kerala to do something other than just sit on the beach being lazy by day and partying by night!! We got the overnight train, boshed a sleeping pill and were out for the count till morning when we arrived in Kochi....the main part of town was just full of noise and traffic, and was generally unpleasant, so we got the ferry over to Fort Kochin which is meant to be rather quiant, where fisherman fish and such!!...the ticket que for the ferry was huoge, but as we were waiting in dismay we realised there was a mens que and a SEPARATE womens que with about 2 people in it....this is the amazing thing about India, us girls always get to jump the que/escape the over crowded trains in the "womens" carriage and get free entry to clubs!! BRILLIANT!! Never have I felt so happy to own a pair of breasts!!
Arriving pretty zonked, we hit a cafe for a coifffee...Angie and Joel took off to find a hotel, whilst Vicky and I waited and waited and waited. In what seemed like hours they returned and had found a relatively cheapy one!! Once showering/brushing teeth and feeling human again, we took a walk around the town which did in fact have a very chilled ambience about it!! I cannot begin to stress the difference between the north and the south of India in this respect....travelling up north keeps u constantly on your toes, whilst travelling in the south the days go by at such a slooww pace, you completely forget what day it is and how long you have even been there. Each day glides peacefully into the next!!
Anyway, one of our main reasons for coming here was to book a houseboat to take us round the backwaters of Kerala. We hit gold, and managed to book an overnight one for the next day at a very good price!! The rest of the day is all but a hazy blur...another typical day in the south!! Oh yeh one important thing that I DID do this day was change my flight....yay, another 3 weeks in India!! The following morning we awoke early to catch a bus to where we needed to catch our boat......
When we got there, a man came to meet us and took us to our boat which was bloody lovely!! It was well equipped with TV and speakers so it wasnt long before we got the Ipod out and wacked out some tunnness. Begining with the chilled out sounds of Jamie Woon and Moby, moving on to Madonna and all the classic singalong bangers which had us all singing and dancing round the boat...even the boat driver was getting involved!! For most of the journey though we all sat at the front of the boat soaking up the beautiful surroundings...palm trees/little villages/calm waters/sunshine and general bliss. A place where worries do not enter the equation!!
We stopped a couple of times, once for lunch which consisted of some of the most amazing food i've had in india. Fresh fish/salads/rice/dhaal and loads of southern indian delights!! We stopped again to swim (if we wanted!)...Joel and Vicky jumped in, I was a little reluctant so climbed in as gracefully as I could before being sure that there was a water snake attaching itself to my foot...so I got out again very quickly!! We sailed for a little longer while we witnessed yet another stunning sunset before setting up for the night in a bay next to what we think was the drivers home. We took a little walk around the area and met some village children etc...before getting back on the boat for din dins!! More lushous grub!!...The crew then left us to it as we played numerous games of shithead, drank beer, got the reggae tunage out and generally got the giggles. Joel performed a burlesque routine for us, and I don't think Vicky/Angie or I moved from our chairs for a very long time...until we started getting paranoid that the moon was talking to us!!
The following day we were taken back to Fort Kochi via boat, and went to stay back at the same hotel we had been at before!! Joel and I took a walk around the area and checked out a number of art galleries/teashops...we had heard rumours that there was somewhere serving CREAM TEAS...but to no avail, we settled for dry chocolate cake and a cuppa earl grey instead. However that evening we decided to splash out a bit on dinner and went to a restaurant that served italien cuisine (was run by an indian/italien couple!)...I had my fave PIZZZA, and profiteroles for dessert!! YUMS!!....Feeling very full and a tad bloated we headed back to the hotel, packed our bags ready to leave in reasonable time in the morning for another beach town (cant seem to stay away from the ocean!)....Varkala here we come!!
The 5 hour bus journey to Varkala flew by, and we arrived there early evening and went in search for a hotel. We found a cheap one which wasnt particulary nice (I think me and Ang only had light in our room for about 2 hours of the day!), and the walls were a vile luminous yellow colour...but it did the job!! We got ready and took a walk to find all the restaurants etc....they were all located on a long stretch on the top of a cliff overlooking the ocean in the most stunning manner. I knew immediately I was going to love this place!! Each restaurant was so inviting, and all sported a table of assorted fish for you to chose from....including absolutely ginormous sword fishes!! We were bloody starving so ate at one of the first restaurants we came across which had a pretty lively atmosphere, it was called "The Rock n Roll Cafe"........After eating my whole body weight in masala poppadoms and curry we got on the cocktails (a pound a drink, who can resist!!)...
Well on our way to being drunk, we decided to check out what else varkala had to offer...we found a place called "The chill out bar" which had been recommended, but it bored the hell out of us!! A nice place to CHILL, but everyone was just sat around getting stoned and drinking ginger/honey/lemons...so we hit the road pretty soon and went back to Rock N Roll bar where we met up with some travellers we had met previousley met in Anjuna...Nathan and Mike!! After dancing the night away, and meeting a variety of odd balls including a man who claimed he was from the moon...Nathan invited us back to his hotel Blue Marine where they apparently kept the bar open till the early hours. We stayed up chatting until sunrise (AGAIN) on the rooftop overlooking the ocean...and I felt very lucky to be in such a beautiful place with such lovely people!!
The next day we spent (you guessed it!) on the beach. In order to get to the beach you had to walk past all the restaurants to some very steep steps down the cliff front...the beach itself was relatively small, half of it populated with westerners, the other half with indians!! The water here had a very very strong current and we had received a lot of warnings about people getting swept away. Me not being the strongest swimmer was a tad worried about going in...which I should have been, almost as soon as I got in there a huggggeee wave which I tryed to run away from broke directly on my head...I got sucked under and nearly lost my bikini bottoms, DID lose my sunglasses and had nipple on showage whilst desperately trying to retrieve my dignity.
On the way back from the beach I stopped at Blue Marine as I had promised the owner Yoshi that I would put a party on for them the following night...so I designed a flyer and then printed a load off for Mike and I to to hand out!! As a desperate measure to make people come I put FREE SNOG AVAILABLE TO ANYONE AWAKE AT SUNRISE at the bottom of the flyer...unfortunately unless ya English a lot of people dont know what a SNOG is, so having to explain what it was to everyone became a bit tiresome!!
The next day before the party Joel went for a full body massage and Vicky and I went for indian head massages!! What a load of turd...we payed a cheap price and got what we paid for, some-one scrubbing my head vigourusley for an hour was not what I'd bargained for!!...In the evening, we all sat at the front of Blue Marine with drinks, put on Vickys ipod and enticed people in to the party!! Before long we had a huge group of us drinking and being merry...and we eventually got everyone on the dancefloor. Whenever anyone walked past the place, some-one would go and grab them and force feed a vodka down their neck. The night was epic.....we played loads of limbo/enjoyed 4 way/5 way/6 way snogs and generally had A LAFFFF!! The only downfall of the night was Joel and I falling out and spitting and shaking that we would NEVER speak to each other again. This was pretty short lived though and just drunken silliness!!....Angie bless her got so "drunk" we had to walk her home...it was a very slow process, but absolutely necessary. There is nothing between the pathway and the cliffface and it would be very easy in that drunken state to topple off onto the rocks!! We had heard of several cases previousley and were not about to let this happen to Ang!!
The next day was Joel, Louisa, Ang and Hayleys last day....boooooo!! We were all hanging so didnt do much. We went for a lovely meal...Vicky, Joel and I shared a tandorri fish...then we all hit the hay, only to wake up at 3am and say our goodbyes. This was a very sad moment, and I shed a wee little tear!! Travelling with these guys there is never a dull moment, and I have had some of the most amazing experiences with them-both in India, and South East Asia!!! Love you allll!!
So it was back to me and Vicky again...we decided to stay in Varkala a tad longer as we had fallen in love with the place...
to be continued
