Kochi

Through university Nicole had managed to make a contact through a tutor whose parents lived in Ernakulam a short drive away from the main centre of Kochi. We decided this would be a good place to stay for a few days to relax and regather ourselves especially considering I hadn't been feeling too well. They turned out to be very nice people and welcomed us into there home. I felt a little bit restricted though as we had been on our own for so long and suddenly we had the presence of a surrogate mother and father looming over us. You can just never quite feel at ease when your in someone else's home. The feeling of freedom I had been experiencing was not there. Anyway George the father had been a professional criminal photographer and was able to take some great shots of us as we explored Kochin. The second day after we had recovered a bit we were taken to see the elephants being bathed, which Nicole was not so fond of as the elephants were held in captivity. After this we headed to a "nearby waterfall" which was actually about 3 hours away. Not so good when both of us were still feeling a bit queasy. On the way we also had a minor crash into two people on a motorbike. They went flying, but there was no damage to the motorbike only to the car. The car happened to be one George had borrowed from his friend for the day, which was unfortunate. Anyway all it took was the the slip of 200 rupees into the mans pocket and the problem miraculously disappeared. If only you could do this in NZ. The waterfall turned out to be very cool and we got some great shots. The monkeys were also highly entertaining.

Varkala beach

After departing the serenity of Kovalam beach we took our chances and headed up the coast to Varkala beach. Supposedly it was meant to be less touristy, but what we found was the exact opposite. The prices were triple what we had seen in other places and more expensive than Kovalam beach. However, we did manage to find some cheap accommodation at a place slightly further back from the beach for about 150 rupees a night. The beach itself was nice, but the current was very strong and it was not the best for swimming, not bad for sunbathing though. The town itself was more interesting perched along the top of a cliff overlooking the Arabian sea. This provided some great views of the sunset, but we found it to be quite windy. Atop the cliff we sat and enjoyed some drinks at a quite reasonable 150 rupees each. For dinner I ordered a sizzler which is basically a selection of vegetables, chips and a veg pattie covered in sauce which comes out served in cabbage leaves on a steaming hot plate. Anyone who travels to India must order this at least once!

Kovalam Beach

Need I say more. Beach and seafood lovers paradise. We stayed at a homestay about 5 mins walk away from the beach at a cheaper rate and with nice home cooked breakfasts. Although we had to endure the beggars on the way to the beach everyday which wasn't so nice. There were options to stay on the beach though which were pretty reasonably priced i thought. We later found out that there is a syndicate of beggars who come over from other states such as utter Pradesh. It's kind of like the mafia. The beggars are sent out to different areas to beg and then return at the end of the day with any money they have earned which is pooled up and then split between them. I guess the one clueless tourist who forks out big money pays for them all. Anyway the beach was fantastic and we had a nice swim and caught some waves. For a brief moment it felt like bliss, until the fat foreign tourists sunbathing and numerous irritating salespeople brought us back down to earth. However, I really enjoyed this beach and I will definitely be returning at some point in the future. On day two we booked in for a massage, I made the mistake of getting a deep relaxation. I think it was a bit too deep for me. The guy lathered me up with oil, I felt like I was about to be deep fried. He then pressed so hard I think I had bruises the next day. The relaxing foot massage though was incredible, I recommend this. For the rest of the time we sat and drank super strong piña coladas and mojitos on the beach for 200 rupees.

Kanyakumari

After leaving Sadanah forest we caught the overnight express train from Villapuram to Kanyakumari. It was an easy 10 hours and when we woke up in the morning we had arrived. I instantly liked Kanyakumari, it had a very laid back feel. A little seaside fishing town. There were huge numbers of pilgrims visiting the holy temple of the virgin sea godess and the place where Ghandi's ashes were scattered into the sea (Ghandi is quite literally a god in India and rightly so). We spent 2 nights here enjoying the scenery and numerous bazaars. The beggars were a little much at times, but there's not a lot you can do. If you give money to one you kind of feel as though you are discriminating by choosing one person over another. It's a really terrible feeling. How are you meant to decide whether one person needs it more than another? So I just employed the general rule of if I happened to have small change in my pocket they were in luck. Putting this aside there were some cool items you could buy such as shells that had messages etched into them. Overall I thought this town was well worth the visit.

Masala doses