Chennai (Madras)

Wednesday, 10th December 2008 (Al)
Today is our last day in India. Chennai isn’t the most exciting place on Earth (which is why we didn't bother taking photos) so we just plan to head to the shop to collect my prescription sunglasses and hopefully Wendy’s bankcard and then after lunch make our way to the cinema again to catch an English flick and chill for the afternoon before heading for the airport. There is a high security alert for a few Indian airports at the moment, Chennai being one of them, so we have to head there a few hours early to avoid the chaotic queues for security.
Its been 6 weeks but we are ready to head to Singapore/Perth. Our laundry is ridiculous and we need to get our clothes out of a backpack for longer than 2 days.

India is one amazing country. Some parts we have loved and others we haven't but its not a place you forget. Wouldn't mind coming back in 10 yrs or so to see what's changed.

Tuesday, 9th December 2008
Departed from the o/n Chennai express and the cockroaches that infested it at 6am. We felt so dirty and desperately wanted to find a hotel to shower and possibly sleep. The auto rickshaw drivers attempted to divert us from the prepaid store and were asking up to 250 rupees for a 20 rupee ride. They’re notorious for bargaining hard in Chennai. We head to Egmore where there are markets and budget hotels but most are full or not the least bit pleasant. The auto rickshaw drivers are relentless with their hassle and we are getting agitated with lack of sleep and the need to feel clean. Rain starts to come down and after deciding against the one decent expensive hotel, we decide to head to a different area (Triplicane) to try some other places. We finally find a budget hotel (Paradise Guesthouse….which is far from paradise, but its clean and cheap) and drop our bags and shower. We later find out there is a Muslim festival on today and tomorrow which is why a lot of the budget hotels/guesthouses are full.
There isn’t much to see in Chennai, in fact its dead boring. The streets are ugly and there isn’t the liveliness of other big Indian cities. We decide to go shopping for the last time in India. One thing Chennai does have which we didn’t see in Delhi/Mumbai was big shopping plazas with department stores in the one area. Not exciting I know, but when you are feeling lazy it’s a lot easier than haggling all day for textiles you don’t actually want in the markets. I find a place selling contact lenses which I’ve been looking for a while as they’re cheaper here than Australia. I get my contact lenses but somehow end up purchasing a pair of prescription sunnies as well. Will need to remember to pick them up tomorrow.
Pizza hut for lunch. Normally wouldn’t touch it, but 6 weeks of Indian food sees us craving western rubbish fast food. Wend orders a meal deal that includes ‘masala’ lemonade. Sounds like it could be different and nice. It was different but it certainly wasn’t nice.
The department stores aren’t any cheaper than at home and after a few items bought we head back to the hotel for a rest and to read the paper. We went out to the Sathyam cinema to catch a 7pm movie - Quantum of Solace (the new Bond movie). Our tickets cost 120 rupees each (A$3.60), a big bucket of caramel popcorn is about A$1.80. This is what going to the movies should cost (and its still more expensive than Jaipur). The seats are split into Elite and standard and are allocated so you have to sit in the seat given. We get the back row. The seats are new large leather padded chairs that recline if needed and leg room for a basketballl player. It is the comfiest movie chair ever and it makes sense that this place is popular in Chennai….a boring city with great cinemas. We were so impressed we decided we would do it again tomorrow before heading to the airport.
After the movie we went o get some money out only to realise Wend has lost her card…..or at least left it at the optomologist store. Need to make that a priority tomorrow morning.

Kochi

Monday, 8th December 2008 (Al)
A day of shopping in Kochi. Managed to pick up a few clothes etc. Left it all a little late and then ended up running for our o/n train to Chennai. Managed to make it but discovered our train was infested with roaches. It was the first time we had caught an unclean train and the passengers weren’t happy…..particularly as we were sleeping on it. There was no catering either (another first). When Wend decided to jump off at a station to get some dinner, a man told her it was too risky and she may miss getting back on, so he took her money and ran down the long platform and grabbed her two take away biryanis. Lovely gesture. We tipped him in return.

Sunday, 7th December 2008 (Al)
Checked into Maple residency….cheap, spotlessly clean and central. Perfect budget hotel. We head out on the ferry (end of our road) to Fort Cochin, a 2km journey. It should take most boats about 10 min max but it seems to take our overcrowded death trap boat about 25 min. The air was thick with smog and pollution and very humid. Fort Cochin is famous for it colonial past and it is different to the mainland. There are still strong signs of old money and some hotels are outrageously priced. We enjoyed a real espresso (real coffee is hard to find) and great desserts at a European run café across the road from an old Portuguese church and then strolled around. Houses still have the names of the owners at the front gate…typically English names.
Came across a local game of cricket and came to realise that its not just International cricket where the Indians over appeal. Any missed swipe at a ball caught by the wicketkeeper is appealed here. Need to stamp that crap out of the game.
Walked along the seaweed clogged waterfront with the old Chinese Fishing nets and the local fish supplies before heading back on the deathtrap ferry. It was so packed I sweated off about 2 litres. Not comfortable at all. After a shower we headed out to dinner. Found a continental restaurant and decided to try chicken/meat for the first time since day 1. Risky but I couldn’t do another paneer masala. It was ordinary and not convinced it was completely cooked so I left it. Better to be safe than sorry.

Kerala Backwaters/ Kochi

Sunday, 7th December 2008 (Al)
Woke up on the boat (‘God’s Advice’) and enjoyed breakfast made by the onboard cook (‘Chef’). We pulled in the ropes and made our journey back to the boat jetty. The end of a beautiful, relaxing o/n trip on the Kerala backwaters. Highly recommend it….if only for the respite from the hustle and bustle of the cities. Keralan people are generally really nice and the food (I think) is the best in India. There is a much greater use of fresh fruit and vegetables in their cooking…and of course the seafood is second to none.
Took the train to Kochi where we checked into Maple residency.

Saturday, 6th December 2008 (Al)
Checked out of the Palmy Residency after breakfast. Highly recommend that budget hotel. Only 500 rupees (A$16) for a large spotless double room with cable TV and ensuite in a modern boutique hotel, close to town centre and the Kerala backwaters. The two guys that worked there were also very nice and helpful.

Allepeh, Kerala

Friday 5th December 2008 (Wendy)
We had originally planned to catch the 8am train to Allerpey but decided not to set the alarm and catch the later train. We caught the local train which took 2 hours. We love travelling on the local train as its always an experience. I usually sit in the doorway and check out the scenery. No chance of doing that in the Uk or Aus. Health and Safety does not exist in India. When we arrived we headed to the reservation desk to book our last train to Chennai for the evening of the 8th Dec. We had tried to book the tickets several times but been unsuccessful due to no availability. We didn’t believe all the AC beds could be reserved. After queuing for ages we finally found 2 beds!! We were very pleased as we were running out of alternatives and needed to be there for our flight to Singapore. We checked into Palmy residency which was listed in the LP. We headed into town to have some lunch and walked around. Not much in the town, you just stay here before your backwater boat trips. At 4.30pm we borrowed the guest house’s bikes and headed to the jetty to reserve a boat for the next morning. We walked along the path and saw loads of boats. One caught our eye and it was a really good price but it was huge. 3 bedrooms and table settings for 6. Perfect for a group. It soon fell dark so we could not see the interior of the boats so headed back for dinner and decided to return at 9am in the morning.

Varkala

Wednesday 3rd December 2008 (Al)
Arrived late in Varkala, Kerala. It was dark as the town's lights were out due to electricity cuts but we were shown around the gusthouses on the clifftops which overlooked the moonlit beach. Great value for money here. After a number of places we decided on a room with bathroom overlooking the ocean for only 900 rupees for 2 nights (A$14 /night). Settled in quick having a few beers on our balcony before having another seafood dinner at the restaurant owned by the same owners as our guesthouse (Sunrise). Looking forward to another full day on the beach. Looks like there is some surf in this area.

Thursday 4th December 2008 (Wendy)
Had our last day on the beach. Read our books and drank some real coffee. The sea has quite a strong rip here in Varkala hence them having 2 lifeguards on duty. One thing I did notice were local men being told to move down the beach by the security guards. I’m assuming some Indian men have caused some issues by watching western women in their bikinis. Seemed srange though that the locals were asked to move down to the other end. We stayed on the beach till sunset and had a beer on the balcony. Allan had seen squid coconut curry on a restaurant board earlier in the day so we headed out for food. However he couldn’t help himself when he saw the fresh tiger prawns on display. The squid coconut curry turned into a tiger prawn coconut curry. I must admit it was very tasty and it only cost 6 pound. Very happy.
We walked along the cliff past our room (north) and discovered more restaurants, shops and accommodation. India is ready for the masses but they are just not here. It seems such as shame. Some people will be deterred from visiting India after the terrorist attacks in Mumbai.

Karnataka

Monday 1st December 2008 (Al)
Caught the bus for an hour and a half to a little village and dropped our bags with the homestay we would stay the night with. It was a beautiful home nestled amongst lush gardens, coffee and banana trees with a little stream and rice paddies at the back. We grouped up with 3 Swedish guys who had already done a few days trekking. A 6 hour trek through rice fields, forest and to the top of a small mountain (1800m) made for amazing scenery and good exercise. At the top of the summit we had a great home made lunch wrapped in banana leaves. Probably the only place in India we have heard nothing….how’s the serenity? We trekked back down and back to the homestay for a warm bath (bucket of hot water) and dinner. It was divine home cooked Keralan food. The homestay couple were gorgeous. They really made us feel welcome in their house.

Tuesday 2nd November 2008 (Al)
Another bus ride and we were trekking for only 4 hrs today to a magnificent little spot with a waterfall. Again the scenery was stunning and we really enjoyed the trivial questions from our guide Vijay, a lovely man who had been doing trek guides for over 15 years. Karnataka is a slice of heaven on Earth. it’s a world away from the craziness on Indian cities. Loved it.

We decided to endure a bus ride and jeep taxi all the way to Kannur along the worst stretch of potholed road I've been on in a long time. The locals were laughing at us as we got in the jeep knowing exactly what the road was like. We eventually made it covered in dust and a little tired. No trains left to catch down the coast so we resigned ourselves to a night in a hotel next to the station until the early train the next day.

Agonda Beach, Goa

Thursday 27th November 2008 (Al)
Awoke this morning to the shocking news in Mumbai. It really spooked us at first to realise we should have been waiting in Victoria Terminus for that 11 pm train when the terrorists walked in and started shooting people. Thank God we changed the ticket. We also spent the night at Leopolds only 2 days earlier. 14 people reported dead at Leopolds. Wonder if that nice waiter was one of them. The Metro cinema was also targeted, but the main damage was being done at the Taj and Oberoi. A taxi was blown up at Vile Parle. We have been in 5 of the 10 locations targeted only 2 days earlier. Crazy.
We headed to Agonda Beach 9km north of Pallolem, to spend the next two nights in a beach hut owned by the same owners as the guesthouse we stayed in in Pallolem. We were the first people in the hut as they has opened that week. Very nice to have a clean place. It is just like a postcard…water, sand, palm trees, hut. We are sharing the beach with about 10 other western tourists. Agonda is a cute little village with old thatch huts and the odd colonial house. Remnants of the Portuguese influence still remain in the churches and school. The kids can all speak English and are budding tourism entrepreneurs, selling dolphin tours one day, fruit stalls the next, and newspapers at inflated prices the day after. They are far from shy and after spending another lazy day on the beach, we enjoy a game of beach cricket with the kids as the sun settles. There’s a few Tendulkars amongst them but no bowlers. They all throw the ball instead of bowling. Great way to end the day….and a world away from the horror in Mumbai.

Friday 28th November 2008 (Wendy)
Got up quite early today to walk along the beach before breakfast. Had a lazy few hours on the beach which exhausted us and we needed an afternoon nap. This is the life!! Walked through the village Wendy called home and sat listening to the singing in the village church. Before we knew it the sun had set and we were eaten alive by the mosquito’s. Brought a couple of beers and chilled on the porch of the hut. Had another late dinner 10.30pm.
Saturday 29th November 2008
Another lazy morning, breakfast on the beach and back to pack. We are heading south today on a local train. Got a rickshaw to Pallolem for one last coffee and some shopping. Allan was interested in buying a hammock style chair for the garden. We negotiated a fair price and headed to the parcel man to post it back to Perth. I will cut a long storey short and lets say it would have been cheaper to buy them in Perth. The post cost nearly 4 times the amount we paid for them!!! A little shocked but no choice as we were leaving at 3pm.
Headed to Cancona station for the local train south to Mangalore. Lots of travellers which made us feel a little more relaxed. Local trains are a free for all. No reservations no air con and they locals normally stare. The journey started really well but we had a few delays and arrived 2 hours later than scheduled. Saturday night in Mangalore is dead. We could not believe how quiet it was. Got a rickshaw to 6 hotels which were all full. Apparently there was a big chess competition on in town. Ended up checking into a more expensive hotel and had dinner again at 11pm.