On the road again
Trip Start
Jan 08, 2011
1
7
261
Trip End
Dec 20, 2011
Kanyakumari, Tamil Nadu, India
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Up this morning at 4:15 am to check out. Walked down to watch the sunrise by marshmellow temple, guide book recommended it but we must have been unlucky - it was cloudy and didn't see much, still good fun.
We got talking to a group of Indian lads who had been out all night drinking by the smell of it, very drunk but friendly, nearly cleared us out of baccy, rolling them all cigarettes but in return one of them went of and came back with a necklace for claire, very sweet. Talking about everything we got onto where we were going next, they wanted to tell us not to take packages or tours and they would take us, talk of forests.....like I said very drunk! They were almost dragging us at 5 in the morning on some random mission they had got in their heads!!
Kanyakumari was a strange place meant to be some kind of pilgrimage crossed with a holiday town for Indians, lots of groups of men wearing black clothing, the tribal people of India.
Also saw the first tattooist in the street using a hand built machine run off of tiny batteries with all the wooden carved blocks for stencils.
We've decided that India never sleeps, hundreds of people around at any time you are there, shops and stools selling tchai, coffee snacks and anything you might want open all night, rickshaws and hotels 24/7 - bizzare.
Walked a loooooog way up a hill to catch the bus, turned out we hadn't needed to walk all that way (but we won't tell Claire ay) and with the bag on your back you know about it...
Leaving Tamil nadu and heading for Kerala - gods own country apparently.. and the beachside town of Kovalam. Took our two and a half hour bus journey northwest to Thiruvananthaparum (Trivandrum) Kerala's capital.
Today had to be the...er... most interesting bus ride yet, 90 degree bends at speeds we didn't even know buses could corner let alone overtaking whilst doing it... a triple overtake of two buses and a lorry at fifty, sixty miles an hour, towards oncoming bus... and our driver trying to race every bus on the road, all made top gears attempt at bus rallying and caravan Derby look pretty tame, I think we had India's Nigel mansell in charge,we thought it was game over!!! Even the Indians looked scared!!
Anyways thats for our memories,
We got to trivandrum, walked another 2miles, not funny! Caught our bus to kovalam and it was all worth it, heading out of the city it all changes so quickly. kind of like driving into what we imagine a tropical forest to be like, beautiful, and very laid back. Got a rickshaw down to the beach, and bartered with the man who found us, two nights for 1100 rps - three pounds ninety each per night.
We are pretty sure, we have found paradise, a cheap room...we may never leave...time to eat well and hopefully get a tan.
Lots of love Clara and Phil (claires new Indian name, no matter how hard she tries they stare blankly and say Clara Clara......hehehe)
