Pictures up!!!

Finally, I have got some pictures up for you all!!! Check my old posts, I'll be adding more pictures soon.

Cochin, Cliffs and Colds

Today I am writing from Fort Cochin, my last stop in the state of Kerala. A recap of Varkala won't be to long - there was literally just the one beach and lots of bars dotted along the brick red cliffs. It was really nice for a few days, but there is only so long you can do nothing, and so as of yesterday I moved onto Fort Cochin, a very old trading/fishing town that has been traded in or occupied by chinese, mongols, arabs, portugese, dutch, french and the British. As such, it is a very unusual town with architectural quirks from all over the world. I am staying tonight, then heading up to Delhi tomorrow, a journey which will take 48 hours (and has cost me 549 ruppees aka 8 pounds). As such, I have brought 2 new books, and have made sure that my iPod, guitar, pen and pad are all close by. From Delhi, I intend to explore the north of India, which will mean doing totally different things to the south. Southern India has been a very relaxing place, and most of my time has been spent lazing about somewhere with my book and guitar, or swimming in the sea. North India is bound to be more hectic - I want to cover a much wider area (meaning more long journeys) and will mainly be visiting historical sites. However, I am really looking forward to seing the Taj, Jaisalmer, Udaipur, Amritsar etc etc. One downer is that my cold has returned with a vengeance, but luckily the place I stayed at in Varkala gave away rolls of toilet paper, so I have (almost) unlimited tissues!

V. quick update

OK, so a v. quick note just to say I am at Varkarla not Ooty, due to a last minute craving for beaches. Its awesome, I've met up with three guys from yorkshire on gap years at the dorm I'm staying - one happens to have a eukalele, go figure... We spent today listening to iPods on the beach and bodysurfing HUGE (aka bigger than pont espagnol) waves.

Houseboats, hippies and hill stations

The last few days have been pretty crazy, so I figured an update is in order....
After Palolem we headed to the train station to catch a train to Kerala. The three of us put down our bags next to a pillar to wait for the 2 hour late train and pretty soon almost every non Indian in the train station had done the same (there is a picture that I'll put up sometime of me and Jules on top of a huge pile of backpacks plaing guitar/eukalele). We started talking and soon had arranged to share a houseboat in kerala with three guys - Danny (Canadian), Arie (Australian) and Christian (Chilean). The train journey was comfy enough (we were in the lowest class). We got off the train at Allepy at about midday and immediately went in search of a houseboat. A houseboat is an amazing construct - it is a large wooden boat with a motor, and a proper house complete with bedrooms, bathrooms, a kitchen (which comes with a keralan cook) and a dining room - all made out of bamboo and wood! Ours also had a second floor (not many did) with a balcony so you could sleep under the stars. We set off from Allepy jetty at about 3.00pm having paid about 20 pounds each for two nights on the backwaters complete with meals. The backwaters themselves were amazing - imagine a tropical version of the marshes just near to Blenac, but on a much larger scale and with a lot wider passages (in places). We spent the days listening to music, reading, talking and napping and the evenings drinking and playing cards (the 10 of diamonds has unfortunately met a watery fate). The food was amazing, the boat would pull up to fishermen and the crew would buy stuff freshly caught - it was the best food I've had in India so far (apart from maybe the fried fish in Goa...). On the last night I slept under the stars. I have 40 mosquito bites on my arms and counting.

After 2 nights on the houseboat, it was sadly time for me to part ways with Ellie and Jules, who were flying from Cochi up to Delhi and then onto Bangkok. I stayed with the guys though and we decided to visit an ashram on the backwaters which lonely planet describes as a fascinating place well worth a visit. That would only be if you enjoy staying at the headquarters of what is, effectively, a cult full of seemingly brainwashed hippies. There were pictures of the guru everywhere, and everyone was just so odd, you couldn't have a conversation with them. We left after 6 hours, and found our way to Kollam, which is where I am now. Arie and Danny have now also returned to Delhi to fly back to there respective countries, and Christian has an Iron Maiden concert in Bangalore that he has left to see. I am planning on heading to Ooty, a hill station in Tamil Nadu (the other far south Indian state) which is North of where I am now. I think I have gone as far south as I want, there isn't much of interest that further down, so from now on I will be heading upwards!

On a sidenote, my guitar has been an awesome buy. However I fear I may be turning into Mum - I have been giving a few lessons! Also, most resteraunts we go to want to hear me play something, not always a bad thing - my rendition of Remember Me by the Zutons earned me a free coffee today!!!

Goa + Guitar = Good times!

Theres no point doing a day by day account of Goa - I have lost all sense of time. We took the train down overnight after visiting Elephanta island - Indian trains are certainly an experience! We arrived in Goa the next day and made our way to northerly Arambol. We stayed in a beach hut, which cost 400 rupees (under 6 pounds) for all of us. There was a massive 'hippy' scene there, with jam nights, reggae music and even the occasional poetry reading at night. In the day we chilled on the beach, sometimes venturing as far as the streets just off the sand where ramshackle stalls selling all kind of hippy-ware were dotted around. In the evenings we watched the sun slowly dissapear over the ocean, one time we climbed a hill next to the beach with a kingfisher each, and sat by the palm trees overlooking the whole beach. We ate freshly caught fish and other (sometimes not so local) food at nights, and made the most of the 60 rupees large bottles of kingfishers (650 ml). On wednesday we went to the famous Anjuna flea market - very touristy but worth doing.

Now I'm in palolem, on my last night. We've been here a couple of nights, and although its a more attractive beach then Arambol, its a lot more touristy - not crowded at all, but it feels more set up towards holidays rather than backpackers. We've had fun though, and have visited a wildlife sanctuary, and took a boat today to butterfly beach. I have also got a guitar here, and more recently a strap and capo (the strap and capo negotiated down from 700 rps to 400) and am attempting to learn two songs a day - an idea I got from Jules who is doing that on her eukalele. Tonight we're taking the sleeper train to kerala where the girls have 6 days before they fly to Bangkok. We plan to go to Fort Cochin (where the train arrives) and the Keralan Backwaters, maybe even renting out a houseboat!!!

I'm off to dinner in a minute so I'll leave by saying Namaste!

Bombay, bollywood and beaches

Elephanta Island Cave Statue
Chowpatty Beach Sunset
The two kids who sold us BBQ'd corn on the cob
Chowpatty Beach
Ellie (near) and Jules (far) with Ice Cream
Chowpatty Beach from Malabar Hill
Our meal at Dakshinayan - we paid around 2 pounds each!
The three of us at Banganga Tank
Me and Christina in Bollywood!
Gateway of India
CST (preciously known as Victoria) Terminus at dawn

Hi, just a quick update as to what I've been up to;

Day 1 - Landed at half midnight, went to hotel new bengal, it was basically a glorified box with a bed, fun times :) Checked out at 6.30 (my bodyclock is haywire) and wondered around Mumbai. Saw the famous CST station, and the Gateway to India, then found my way to Red Shield Hostel, where I booked a dorm bed. Got recruited to be a Bollywood extra. Spent the rest of the day wondering around with some people from my dorm, had chicken tikka for lunch (half Indian half British to ease me in ;p )

Day 2 - Bollywood! For 12 hours of filming as a bartender, talking to the main character and eating curry, I got 500 rps (about 7 pounds). I also met loads of people doing the same thing, most seem to be heading to Goa.

Day 3 - Today, I met up with two girls from Manchester called Ellie and Jules, to buy train tickets for Goa. Afterwards, we took a taxi to Banganga Tank, the supposed centre of the universe, which had a dozen temples or so around... We went into those, and a really cool Jain temple. The pics should get up on facebook sometime! We had a really nice lunch, and in the evening headed to CHowpatty beach, where we watched the sunset, went on a death defying fairground ride, and ate lots of food from various stalls.

Day 4 - Went to Elephanta Island today, it was awesome, masses of temples cut into the rock.