Sorry for the lack of updates, we've not been online since India. We haven't got any photos for you, partly because we haven't taken but mainly because I left the camera in the room.
We landed in Colombo and headed straight to Kandy in the hills, it was a nice little town but not a huge amount going on. We then headed to Ella, an even smaller place in the hills. We went for a walk up a little hill where we were treated to amazing views and bad sun burn. We've been a bit sore since then.
From Ella we headed to the coast. We started in Mirissa where I got to surf a nice little right. Then Midigama, the main attraction here is the surf, a couple of reefs including one called Lazy Lefts which I thought would be right up my street, but I didn't get on too well; I wish I had my fish! We then had a day off from the beach in Galle and got some much needed shade. We then had a night in Unawatuna, a lovely beach but for the fact that they have built all the restaurants literally sticking out into the water so the beach isn't wide enough to walk along.
We're now in Hikaduwa, the Newquay of Sri Lanka, which has a really long wide beach with a couple of reefs, one of which scared the living daylights out of me.
Next stop will be Colombo then it's New Zealand.
Clarkie
Mamalaporum
After a night in Chennai, which is a horrible city don't go there (!), we caught a bus to Mamalaporum about two hours south. It's a fairly touristy village with the dirtiest beaches we've ever seen, the Indians are happy to swim in the water and chuck all their rubbish on the beach, no bins here! Indian women and some men swim/paddle fully clothed, the whole family together.
Clarkie found the one person in the village who rented out a surfboard, the locals seemed to enjoying watching him on the board, which was covered in candle wax, no surf wax round here!
Clarkie and board are the white blob in the top right of the photo.
Hero Jet Gold
Random bolder at Mamalaporum caves
Carving at Mamalaporum caves
Clarkie found the one person in the village who rented out a surfboard, the locals seemed to enjoying watching him on the board, which was covered in candle wax, no surf wax round here!
Clarkie and board are the white blob in the top right of the photo.
Hero Jet Gold
Random bolder at Mamalaporum caves
Carving at Mamalaporum caves
Christmas in Kochi
On 23rd December we caught a bus back to Kochi as a base for Christmas. We stayed at the same homestay we'd visited the week earlier. Christmas started with dinner and a few beers on Christmas eve with a guy from Manchester who is on a cycling trip from Delhi back to the UK via Nepal, China, Vietnam, Thailand and virtually the whole of Europe! We then made our way to the Bascilica for midnight which was packed, there must have been 1500 people there. The service was complete with carols, hundreds of fairy lights and the bishop addressing the congrigation in English, French, German, Spanish, Portugese and an unknown Indian dialect.
On Christmas day we had a meal with the couple we were staying with, mutton (goat) byriani, so no turkey in sight! Lunch started with sparkling pink Indian wine and three different types of cake followed by the byriani. On Boxing day we caught a 15 hour train to Chennai in east India, an uneventful journey mainly made up of eating and sleeping!
Claire xx
Santa hats courtesy of Mum, see we did wear them!
Rengu, owner of the homestay cutting one of the cakes to start the Christmas meal.
On Christmas day we had a meal with the couple we were staying with, mutton (goat) byriani, so no turkey in sight! Lunch started with sparkling pink Indian wine and three different types of cake followed by the byriani. On Boxing day we caught a 15 hour train to Chennai in east India, an uneventful journey mainly made up of eating and sleeping!
Claire xx
Santa hats courtesy of Mum, see we did wear them!
Rengu, owner of the homestay cutting one of the cakes to start the Christmas meal.
Cloudy Munnar
In need of a break from the heat we caught a bus the morning after our night on the houseboat to Munnar, about five hours inland. The views of the forests and tea plantations on the bus journey up into the hills were amazing. We had one day in Munnar and visited a tea factory followed by a really cold four hours in a tuk tuk to visit two dams and the top station. Unfortunately it was so cloudy we only got a really brief glimpse of the surrounding mountains before the cloud set in again.
View of the tea plantation
Clarkie at the top station
The top station and clouds
More tea!
View of the tea plantation
Clarkie at the top station
The top station and clouds
More tea!
We are sailing...
Unfortunately Claire didn't have time to finish the last post otherwise she'd have been locked out of the hotel, a little like The Crystal Maze, so I'll explain the pictures now.
We travelled by bus down to Alleppy and stayed there for a night with a plan of getting a house boat for the next night. All the boats were out for the day when we arrived so we couldn't look at one to see if it was what we were expecting so we had to book one based on photos shown to us by a travel agent. We were a little sceptical but when we got down to the boat in the morning our decision was made, it looked amazing. It had a little bedroom with an ensuite shower and toilet, a small seating area just in front of the bedroom with a recliner-type-area just behind 'The Captain'. There was also a top deck with a couple of chairs and a table and a kitchen out the back.
We were given a coconut by our on-board chef when we boarded and set sail (outboard engine) at 11:30 and had the most relaxing 24 hours of our trip so far. We cruised for about two hours through the lakes and canals of what is known as the Kerala Backwaters before mooring up for lunch. Our chef and captain served lunch on a banana leaf and we relaxed and watched the other boats and canoes go by for a couple of hours. We then cruised until we reached the village in which our Captain lived.
We took a walk round the village which included crossing a couple of 'bridges' made from palm trees, it was just a trunk across some water. It was pretty hairy! We then came back to the boat and had dinner and a couple of Kingfishers. I decided this wasn't enough and asked our chef if we could get any more in the village. Unfortunately they didn't stock any beer but did have some fresh 'Toddy', palm beer, which was really strong. We played cards and drank toddy and then went to bed leaving our chef to sleep on deck.
In the morning we were served breakfast and then headed on back to Alleppy. It was a very expensive treat, thanks Jo, but it was the most amazing and relaxing 24 hours.
We travelled by bus down to Alleppy and stayed there for a night with a plan of getting a house boat for the next night. All the boats were out for the day when we arrived so we couldn't look at one to see if it was what we were expecting so we had to book one based on photos shown to us by a travel agent. We were a little sceptical but when we got down to the boat in the morning our decision was made, it looked amazing. It had a little bedroom with an ensuite shower and toilet, a small seating area just in front of the bedroom with a recliner-type-area just behind 'The Captain'. There was also a top deck with a couple of chairs and a table and a kitchen out the back.
We were given a coconut by our on-board chef when we boarded and set sail (outboard engine) at 11:30 and had the most relaxing 24 hours of our trip so far. We cruised for about two hours through the lakes and canals of what is known as the Kerala Backwaters before mooring up for lunch. Our chef and captain served lunch on a banana leaf and we relaxed and watched the other boats and canoes go by for a couple of hours. We then cruised until we reached the village in which our Captain lived.
We took a walk round the village which included crossing a couple of 'bridges' made from palm trees, it was just a trunk across some water. It was pretty hairy! We then came back to the boat and had dinner and a couple of Kingfishers. I decided this wasn't enough and asked our chef if we could get any more in the village. Unfortunately they didn't stock any beer but did have some fresh 'Toddy', palm beer, which was really strong. We played cards and drank toddy and then went to bed leaving our chef to sleep on deck.
In the morning we were served breakfast and then headed on back to Alleppy. It was a very expensive treat, thanks Jo, but it was the most amazing and relaxing 24 hours.
Kerala- Cochin and house boat at Allepy
After a couple of nights in Kalpetta we made another bus journey, followed by yet another stint on a local train to get to Kochi/Cochin, a coastal town further south in Kerala. The Portugese took over the area back in the 1600s so everything is very European, lots of white washed buildings, and a church or shrine on most street corners in the centre of the town. We stayed in Cochin for a couple of nights with a really sweet couple in a homestay, which made a nice change from some of the grottier places places we've stayed in.
The Chinese fishing nets in Kochi, amazing contraptions.
Not our houseboat but a very nice looking one.
Claire with our crew (there were as many of them as us, 2), The Captain in the middle and the chef and Rummie shark on the right.
The first meal on our houseboat, severed on a proper banana leaf chopped from the banana tree on the bank.
Clarkie drinking from a coconut when we'd just got on board our houseboat.
The Chinese fishing nets in Kochi, amazing contraptions.
Not our houseboat but a very nice looking one.
Claire with our crew (there were as many of them as us, 2), The Captain in the middle and the chef and Rummie shark on the right.
The first meal on our houseboat, severed on a proper banana leaf chopped from the banana tree on the bank.
Clarkie drinking from a coconut when we'd just got on board our houseboat.
Kerala
After a couple of days on the beach in Palolem we caught a local train to Mangalore, the journey was fine until it got dark and various bugs started flying into the carriage biting us rather than the Indians who never seem to get bitten! We spent one night in Mangalore before catching another train to Calicut in Kerala and then a bus onto Kalpetta to see the Waynard Wildlife sanctuary. We hired a jeep for the day with some Germans, an English girl and a Polish girl which was a squeeze with eight of us packed into a tiny jeep but we had a great day. We visited a national park area and then the sanctuary itself where it was into another jeep. Apparently the sanctuary is home to a tiger, we didn't see it, but we did get lots of glimpses of elephants, bison, monkeys, and deer. The landscape was amazing and it was much cooler in the mountains than on the coast which suited us just fine!
Tucking into a delicous all you can eat thali meal, served on a banana leaf, at the national park.
A local train, not sure if the window bars are to keep people on or out!
Tucking into a delicous all you can eat thali meal, served on a banana leaf, at the national park.
A local train, not sure if the window bars are to keep people on or out!
