India #3 [Munnar and Palolem]

This is finally the final instalment of my trip to India!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The second half of the trip was quite manic so I have chose a few moments that really stand out for me personally.

1) Staying in a remote camp in the mountains from where we explored the tea plantations and conquered an extremely arduous but rewarding jungle trek through the national park area. We stopped by at cardamom plantations and even a tribal school for some gratefully received sweet tea. However most off putting that our park ranger-come-guide bound ahead effortlessly clad in woolly jumper and flip flops!

Us and the lovely staff from the mountain camp who proved themselves as top card game competition!

2) A visit to a home-stay close to Munnar - the most wonderful family! A very welcoming place worth a visit if you're ever in town, not to mention the excellent home cooking! We also enjoyed the slower pace and cooler climate of mountain life, sloping around the bustly town and local gardens.

3) Getting blessed by an elephant in an unplanned temple visit on a stop over in Coimbatore. Unfortunately I have no pictures from inside but unexpected memories are definitely the best! All of the locals visiting the temple were not at all put off by the arrival of our four white (/slightly reddish) faces gawping at the impressive Hindu deities and beautiful expressions of faith. As we sat peacefully, taking in the scene one man even explained to me how our being there on that day was something sent by God to be thankful of! Their acceptance and kindness was truly humbling to observe.

4) And finally having a well earned rest in the serene Palolem beach huts in Goa.

India #2 [The Journey]

Namaste! Hello!

Today's post is (finally!!!) part two of my Indian adventure - if you didn't catch the first instalment catch up here. This section of the story is fairly brief as it covers just a journey from one location to another but I did not feel I could do the adventures we encountered a disservice by squeezing them into an introduction. So, without further a do, here is my recount of the journey up from port town Kochi, to lush and mountainous Munnar:

To progress further on this Indian pilgrimage we decided to begin travelling early to reach the Periya River in time for the elephants breakfast! We decided against visiting an elephant attraction park with elephant rides etc. as we disagreed with the money-making ethics and unfair treatment of the animals. As a more humane alternative we sought out an organisation that cared for orphaned elephants and trained them to be used in ceremonies and parades. This seems to western ears a cruel idea but the elephants are well looked after in this part of Indian culture steeped in history and tradition. Anyway enough rambling, I'll let the stars of the show do some talking with a few photos:

Keeping cool during a nice foot rub!

Me washing the elephant with a coconut shell.

It was definitely one of the best things I have ever done and I was humbled to be up close and personal with such  calm, majestic and powerful creatures.  Our next adventure was a culinary one: after all the driving and waking up early the family was ravenous. Luckily someone was on hand to help us and we stopped off at a beautiful home-stay not far from the Periya for a beautiful, light coconut curry and some jak-fruit. We devoured the feast hungrily and gratefully as you can see from our scraped-squeaky-clean plates in the picture! The picture below that just shows the front of the house. After thanking our hosts for their hospitality we were off again...

The next cause for a hurried photo shoot was a group of cheeky monkeys we spied sat atop the edge of the mountain road. They all posed willingly as they grabbed for scraps of food offered by outstretched local and foreign hands.

After taking far too many pictures we all scrambled back in the car to escape from the midday sun only to find another group of monkeys round the next few bends! Much to my disappointment we had to end stopping the car for photos as we'd never get to our destination on time. Unfortunately as we were just before the monsoon season all the  dramatic mountain waterfalls had run completely dry however we were kept well entertained by the wildlife for the final stretch of the journey. This last picture just shows a bit of en route shopping - much better than a tesco-express by the side of the motorway in my opinion!

 That's all for now then, let me know what you think in the comments and feel free to share your experiences below too - I love hearing from each and everyone of you!

Enjoy the sun and I shall be back soon with more in this Indian expedition series...



INDIA #1 [Kochi]



So here it is: I have finally got round to uploading some of my India photos! I shall try and keep it as concise as possible - but there is just so much I want to share with you all from this amazing trip I was lucky enough to go on!

The first place we visited was a colonial port town called Kochi (formerly Cochin), in the state of Kerala. It had been colonised by the Portuguese first, then the Dutch and the British and is the most densely populated city in the state. After leaving the UK in the snow the wall of heat that hit us as we disembarked from the plane was most welcome! Our first port of call was a lovely home stay just out of town right next to the back waters (as you can see from the photos below). All tired and slightly bewildered from jet lag we thought we had found paradise (we pretty much had) and all raced to be the first to try out the hammock overlooking the view in the back yard of the spacious, colonial style outhouse. I probably would not have been able to drag myself from said spot if it wasn't for our hosts delicious home cooked feast which us tired travellers devoured. After that meal even my brother was a chickpea convert!

1. Where we stayed! 2. The hammock. 3. Loving the no-roof shower - hear the birds and palm trees as you wash! 4. Colonial style interior. 5. Location making the A level Geography revision just a tad sweeter...

A perfect place to watch a perfect sunset.

On a trip round the main town we visited a women's cooperative - such a lovely place full of smiling and grateful ladies, all very helpful and eager to kit me and my brother out in traditional saris and turbans!

Last ice cream stop in the world?!

We wandered blissfully around the slightly calmer old town on the sea front and visited the Dutch Palace - a gift from the Portuguese to the Keralans, most likely to sweeten trade agreements and controversially named following its Dutch renovation.

One of my personal highlights of our brief stay in Kochi was our private sunset boat ride along the backwaters that were right on our doorstep! I am full of gratitude for our wonderful host Jos who organised this for us, saving us the terrors of a midday scramble to share a boat trip with hoards of other tourists - no thanks! I don't think I really need to attempt how magnificent the sights and sunset were, I'll let the pictures do the talking...

Traditional Chinese fishing nets are still a very popular method of fishing for the Keralans.

Our fisherman friend Nikson - everyone is just so friendly and happy to talk!

Cows, cows everywhere...

As we arrived on Easter Sunday in a primarily Christian settlement, the whole town was adorned in festive decorations and music, singing and partying could be heard at all hours! A chaotic and colourful celebration, yet somehow undoubtedly peaceful. It's amazing how so many religions live happily side by side in one area.

One of the favoured ways to get around!

We ended our stay at Kochi by seeing some traditional dancing and Kathakali. An intriguing performance with wonderfully intricate and ornate costumes!

So that's the first few days of the trip! Sorry that turned into quite a lengthy post, more to come shortly...

All comments welcome - would love to hear your thoughts!

It's time to travel...

A new adventure is on the horizon...

Yup, that's right, the family are off to India! Sandals are dusted off, bags are packed and guide books have been thoroughly scoured. 4 days to go and then I am off up up and away to a mighty fine destination - one more of the bucket list, tick! Words really cannot describe my excitement so I will save them for when I get back when I am sure I shall have many photos and tales to share with you lovely lot.

I hope you all have a lovely Easter and a rest - anyone got any exciting plans? Going somewhere nice?