Mar 2008

I didn't bother to go to Goa as I was told there are Beaches in Kerela. So for the next three days I did what all tourists do: go to the beach.

First, I visit Veli tourist village which is like a park with a very strange statue. There a lakeside restaurant that serves food, so I had lunch as one of only two tables occupied - not normally a good sign for a restaurant. The food was fine, if a little hot and spicey. As I walked through the park I saw a hill which seemed to lead up to a sand pit. This turned out to be a huge sandy beach and the ocean - a little bit of a surprise ! After spending another half an hour or so there, I'm taken by my driver to another beach and then to the main tourist beach, Kovalum.

Kovalum beach has cafe's, grey sand, the ocean and tourists.

All this travelling and visiting places can get a little tiring with the heat. It's the end of my first month away from Blighty. Time flies when you're having fun, so they say. It's been an experience already - a lot to take in.

I'm reading a book called 'Starmaker' in which the main character, in the form of a spirit, is mysteriously carried at the speed of light through different universes, galaxies and time in search of a similar planet, truth and god (the Starmaker). In the end I guess he will be able to ask the Starmaker questions. At the end of my journey I don't expect to have answers to anything nearly as weighty or profound as this. Perhaps, I shall see things more in perspective. Perhaps you don't have to travel to see the reality of what is happening in front of your eyes in everyday life or sympathise with people who don't have it so good or otherwise. However, you do get the time to consider these questions.

I take in the sights and sounds of Trivindrum at a slow pace.

The many temples I've visited always ask you to take off your shoes; at the Shishindrum temple, south of Trivindrum, I have to take off my t-shirt too. Not surprisingly, this rule does not apply to ladies. If I looked like Arnold Swazer... what's his face I might have been more enthusiastic about the idea, but I had little choice. Not having done any exercise for a few weeks means my six pack has gone - I jest. The 'Security guard' also took my camera off me as we are not allowed to take pictures inside. Later he would charge me 20 rupees to get it back.

I found myself being escorted by someone who I imagined was a priest, but who turned out to be some kind of unofficial guide. I don't speak very much Hindi, but from what I could follow he seemed to be making some outlandish claims. He showed me three small pillars that went up to the roof, that were, apparently, solid but made different sounds when you tapped them. I was allowed to tap them ... wow! How amazing ??? I could also make sure that nothing bad happened to me or my family if I donated 750 rupees to someone who who pray for me to the god Hunumaan (monkey god). The temple has many figures of Hindu gods in rooms and what seem like caves, of all different sizes, dimly lit with hundreds of followers passing by and showing reverence. At one of these my guide took some coloured powder and made like a dot in the middle of my forehead and a little mark on the top of my arms. It was all getting quite spiritual until the end of our little tour around the temple when he asked me for money. I asked how much. Maybe five or six hundred, whatever I felt I could give. I offered him twenty at which point he lost interest.

It was an interesting day, not for the first or last time. The travel agent who I had booked this excursion with last night assured me that the taxi driver / guide would be able to speak very good English. I asked him a couple of times to be sure. In the event he couldn't, and he couldn't speak Hindi either - marvelous !

I got to Kanniykumari, after having visited another palace, this is the landsend of India, and given how big India is this is a significant place. This was the first time I had seen the sea since arriving in India. A boat trip takes you to 2 small islands. One of then has a tall statue of a poet and the other a shrine.

(ok, I know it's on it's on it's side. I'll know for next time).

It seemed a long day today, because of the heat probably, but it's almost time to leave India.

I'm to miss some sights around Kochin by leaving early, but anything to get away from that air-con smell.

Another first, I'm travelling by train: AC3. In India trains aren't: first class and second class. They're : AC1, AC2, AC3, sleeper, standard. Have a look on the web to see what they mean. I'll give you a clue, 'AC' stands for 'air-con'.

I meet a guy named Hari at the railway station and fortunately, he will be on the same train, but in sleeper class, and agrees to help me find a hotel when I get to Trevindrum. I enter a carriage, after running about a hundred yards down the platform with my stupid suitcase. I end up in a carriage of 3 backpackers from England. Unfortunately, they are to get off at the next stop, but do give me a little advice. E.g. don't bother booking a room in Bangkok, just wait 'till you get there.

After they leave, a businessman, named Sirikantha, joins me on this 6 hour journey and we have an interesting conversation about the differences between India and Europe. For one, in India, you work 6 days a week. By the end of the journey I've learned quite a bit about India.

In Trevindrum Hari meets me on the paltform and we walk out of the railway station in the direction of agroup of hotels. It's nice to meet a friendly local who isn't after anything, but just helping. We even walk to a nearby travel agent and I book a trip for the next day. I thank him for his help.

It's about 7:30pm and I go to the hotel resaurant to have a meal. You don't get a table to yourself here; if it's busy you have to sit where they put you. I'm lucky again, because I sit at a table with a guy named Prajeesh who speaks excellent English. In Kerela they speak a completely different first language to the basic Punjabi I know. We exchange mobile phone numbers and agree to meet at the restaurant again the next day.

My flight arrives at Kochin airport at about 1:30pm in the afternoon. It's hot ! Maybe about 34 degrees. After collecting my suitcase I make my way towards the tourist information counter. I'm ambushed by a hotelier of 'Quality Airport', 3 star, who shows me pictures of his air-conditioned hotel with a swimming pool. I make the mistake of agreeing to spend a night there.

The hotel is clean and presentable. The swimming pool is very small and CLOSED; I've probably spent about 10pounds more than I should have and the air-con has a pungent pine smell coming from it. A little tired, I fall a sleep for a few hours in my room. The pine smell is getting to me now. I read my book and watch tv a little, and make my way downstairs to the restaurant for dinner. The pine smell is getting worse by the minute, it puts me off my food. I resolve to move out asap.

I go to sleep with the fan on but air-con turned off.