ScrewYouGuys!

Hopefully the problems with the website have been resolved and now it is Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger. I’m currently testing the site to make sure everything is working before…

if you have any issues, and the website starts acting funny email me and I’ll investigate.

tim

Hello everyone

Just a quick note to let you all know that something has gone very very wrong with this website. Earlier this week the server was hacked and the site has been corrupted. I’m working hard to fix it but the site might be unavailable quite a bit over the coming weekend. The design might also go a little bit funky as well as I try to isolate the problem.

I’ll let you know when its fixed

tim

Not quite as smooth a journey, got our phones sorted in the morning with local sims (for those I told my number to the other day as I was emailing you to give out the number I was so preoccupied adding pics to the site I walked out of the internet cafe with my phone on charge, sure its charged by now but unfortunately I no longer have it!) Got the ferry then had a few hours wait at the train station so we had quite a nice Thali with egg not sure what all the other stuff you get are yet! We met our Indian vet friends who were on the same train too, small place India. It took 5 hours to get to Calicut and from here we decided to push on and try and get closer to the sanctuary so we could be there early doors. We got a bus from Calicut to Kalpetta which was the scariest bus ride of our lives some are funny but this was far from it. He was a nutter released from some local asylum surely and not only that they let his friend out too who was driving the bus behind. It was 3 god awful hours on this bus luckily in the dark so we couldn’t see quite how drastic the drops on either side of the road were but they were racing each other! The nutcase behind was constantly side by side with ours both with horns on full pelt and often with another bus coming the other way. But we’re still alive I’m glad to report and never taking that route again!

We arrived in a place called Kalpetta about 10pm so didn’t see much but don’t think there was much to see and the people we met were the only really unfriendly ones we’ve met so far. Found some crappy lodgings not sure of the name of it but at 440Rs it was pretty steep for what it was!

Next morning we were woken at about 3am with the call to pray from the local mosque after our long day travelling the day before not what we had hoped for! We headed out for a bus and were glad when it arrived not a good vibe at this place and we were right to assume we hadn’t missed anything by daylight. We got a bus to the sanctuary, no one else was there, we hired a jeep driver and guide for 700Rs and head off with tails of wild elephants, tigers and bears…it was a fun bumpy jeep ride and a great morning but sadly all we saw were termites, deer, lots of deer, bees and a few monkeys…

Mon... key! Mon... key!

we saw elephants as we were on the bus leaving the place so at least we can say we saw them!

We had a seamless journey here we jumped straight on a rickshaw to the train station where our train was already waiting 11Rs each for a 3hr journey brilliant! Really enjoying the sleeper class they have its better than British rail and even cleaner!

off the train into another rickshaw and straight onto a ferry to Fort Cochin.

I’m not sure quite what we were expecting, we had been told there wasn’t much there but with its Portguese houses and varied colonial past we reckoned it was worth a visit. As we were told there wasn’t much there but it was nice enough at least it was clean something we’re treasuring where we can! After getting a room at Spice Holidays Homestay 350Rs we wandered around, alot of nicer restaurants here but out of our price range so we settled for a street side restaurant and drank warm beer poured from a teapot, saw quite a few guys from the boat trip mulling around here too but the Catholic Church is about one of the only main things to see so we planned to head on the next day to try and get to Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary a bit further north, we were a bit disappointed that we had missed Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary which is one of the main ones but it was quite far out and worked out quite expensive for us to get there so we went for this smaller one..

..So we happily board the boat for the trip to Alleppey and its full of other tourists from all over, we got taking to a group of about 8 Indian vets who were on a conference trip, lovely bunch and they fed the whole boat lunch with a sort of bombay mix and sweet dumplings very nice indeed. The boat was a bargain we only paid 400Rs each and we had such a lovely day just cruising through the palm fringed backwaters and past fishermen and local villages would definitely recommend this as a way to spend a leisurely day in India.

Sam found this coconut and was very impressed he got a free drink/meal!

We see some not so nice bits such as the bloated goats intestines which occasionally floated past but the rest of the scenery more than covered it.

never get out of the boat!

After 8 lovely hours we arrive in Alleppey at night and as soon as I step of the boat I’m surrounded by indian men trying to offer rooms and rickshaws so much so that I couldn’t even walk forward or cross the street, a harsh smack back down to reality, Sam pulled me outta there and we wandered off to find that nights place to stay.

After unsuccessfully finding a place to stay even with the unwanted help of everyman in Alleppey who’s brother has a ‘lovely place to stay’ and they all know someone with a boat to do the backwaters we jump in a rickshaw and end up at the Vrindavanam Hertitage Home, now this place is massively under rated in the book a little beautiful clean safe haven from the bustling streets. The price was only about 350 Rs the room was lovely made from bamboo and thatch and they were all set around a courtyard garden. When we arrived other travellers were sat out on the communal balcony or in hammocks, they serve really good food and semi cold beer in the garden too and then a guy started playing guitar and singing, this was so chilled out and one of our favourite days so far.

Vrindavanam Hertitage Home - garden

Next day we laze around, drink chai and read papers in the garden, had a little look at the beach and then we headed off for another backwater tour this time on a canoe just for us with the promise of seeing far more than the previous days trip which we loved. 

Our Canoe

We had had thoughts of taking a few bottles of red wine with us but luckily didn’t find any, now its not like me to say luckily but the boat wasn’t quite like the picture, very small and carrying many other passengers to which my legs are still carrying the bites! It was a lovely day though we stopped off and tried the local toddy which is the homebrew tapped from coconut palms. best word s to describe it are swamp waters, looked tasted and smelt like it, I gave it a few goes but it started to make me gag, Sam on the other hand got a take out! Thankfully he decided better of it later on otherwise he’d have been a very poorly man. The canoe was more expensive than the boat and to be honest we didn’t see anything different just lovely backwater scenery and we got to stand in a rice paddy field, the boat man was quite keen on keep getting us to go in these but after more nibbles on my legs I was good for seeing rice to be honest especially after the ravaging they had just got when he took us down the murkiest swamp bit, we though to look for bats as we had mentioned, the bats here are enormous! still trying to get a picture..anyway it was one bit after another second after second, turned out he was just nipping home to get his phone charger off the missus!! That night we got back just in time for a fantastic down pour and lightening which was great to watch with a semi cold beer

Well I’ll keep this brief what a dump! Whoever wrote the section on this place in the lonely planet has a vivid imagination! I’ll give you s few examples… “Kollam Beach you can stroll past Keralan fishing hamlets where fishermen mend their nets and fishingboats colour the shoreline…” now, to an extent that is true lots of fishermen and boats but certainly not a place to stroll, the beach is full of litter and little holes dug out everywhere full of poo, judging by the footprints at either side of the holes it didn’t take long to guess who the culprits where!

poo man of kollam?

The whole place was pretty awful, dirty and full of poo!! We stayed in quiet a nice place though called the Government Guest House at about 350Rs shame though lovely old building and rooms but its just being left to rot away no care is being taken of it at all but still a nice room tyo stay in. The next day we couldn’t wait to get away from the delights of Kollam so we head off early, walked past the stinking shore of Ashtamundi Lake and booked ourselves on an 8hr boat trip through the Kerelan backwaters to Alleppey..

Hello all,

Decided to spend another two nights in Kovalam, still getting over the jetlag and very much enjoying the cold beer. We wandered about the beach but after all the hassle from the fruit and sarong sellers we decided to move on to Varkala.

Day 5 was a 05:30 getup to get to the bus stop at the top of the very steep hill at 06:30, not good with a thick head first thing in the morning! We caught the bus just in time and made it to Trivandrum where we caught the second bus to Varkala. We both stood out at the bus stop and got lots of attention from rickshaw drivers wanting to charge us 400 Rupees when the bus fare was 34. We arrived with sore arses then caught a rickshaw to Rubybleu Guesthouse which was run by a really tall fella with wonky legs and his wife a raki master, they also kept a geezer that slept under the stairs but we didn’t ask.

We got the last room in the place, very nice and only cost 350 rupees so about 5 quid for a room, see the pics nice and clean like wilsons and still with an english toilet, we keep taking pics of the toilets not through some strange fetish but just so you guys can see the standards..english stylee thank god!

Varkala is not what we expected, I don’t think we expected much to be honest but it’s absolutely beautiful, the cliff top is stunning. First day we dropped our stuff off and walked a few miles across the cliff tops great for our tans you may want to know Jo & Jen (my feet are coming on particularly well Jen haha! look at my holiday feet..you will rue the day). Tried swimming in the sea but the current is ridiculously strong, no way you can just swim out and if you try the guards have something to say quite rightly. On our trek we found a really nice guest house, quite a way out but right on the sea front called Dream waves checked out the room and got the best one there the guy had just opened for the season that day so we were only charged 300 rupees so 4 quid ish…we’re getting better at this!

So this is where we are right now, woke up this morning to the sound of the sea, sat out on the balcony eating red bananas and watching a near kick off between some locals as one threw a coconut which nearly hit the other on the head, shouldn’t laugh but it was funny! We walked into town slowly as its just so chuffing hot here, then went to the local temple sorry can’t remember the name, had a wander around need to find out why they hang plastic dolls from trees quite scary really, we’ve also seen them throwing them in the sea? Set off some fire crackers and headed across the way to the temple restaurant which is a traditional Indian restaurant..aka a dirty garage complete with rats, cats, crows you name it, traditional toilet and no soap in sight with everyone eating with their hands including us. We had the local Thali which was really nice a combination of about 6/7 different veg sauces, rice, poppadom and chappati washed down with a few cups of chai and it came to less than 2 quid!! The locals were bathing and washing their clothes in the water which wasn’t particularly clean, saw them making a film by the waters edge but decided not to hang around in the background as 2 westerners just might spoil the movie!

So here we are, trying to stay out of the afternoon sun, plans for the evening not really sure seafood, which is amazing by the way and maybe an early one as we’re up early tomorrow to try and catch a train to Kollam so we’ll let you know what we find there, so keep posted for the next installment, hope everyone is well at home and before we leave I have a short horry story to tell, Mark even you wouldn’t have liked this!

Sat in a bar one day and go to the toilet where there was a beautiful butterfly fluttering around..very nice. Later on in another bar (we don’t spend all our time in bars by the way), go to the toilet and see a shadow of something fly over, a butterfly I think, then it lands in my hair, as I flick it off to my horror it was an enormous cockroach! At that moment i look up and they all start climbing over the walls loads of them it was horrendous, as I pegged it out pretty traumatized I realize that next door to the toilet is the kitchen and even worse this is where we had just had our tea! On that note I bid you farewell xx

Day two of Kelly & Sam in India….

We woke up at 1am feeling great, head out about 5am when it was still dark, a safer time to travel around the city trust me, when you cross an India road its a leap of faith and you do best to just not look and hope they stop. We headed to the Sri Padmanabhaswamy temple got there when it was still dark so wandered around some really cool streets around it where we met more lovely people and had a delicious cup of chai and onion bhaji doughnut for breakie which cost pennies whilst wtaching the sun come up and enourmous bats fly over us tres cool! We’d had a fantastic morning and walked around sightseeing for a few hours and then expertly negotiated a rickshaw to Kovalam arriving at about 7:30am, as we hit the town a man stopped us and offered us a room which is where we are staying now, its lovely really clean air con and a pool all for 4 quid a room per night. after agreeing on the room we head out again (for beer) and were delighted to find I was no longer an embarassment and didn’t need to pay to go in a side room…did you check out the bed in the picture of that room, I dread to think! Anyway so we sat with cold beer and watched the fishmen painstakingly haul in their catch, brilliant to watch and when we get vids sorted got a full video of it.

A lot of jellyfish but mainly small fry. We spent the day dosing in bars, had an early night and so here we are today. Got up early watched the fishmen again but this time more respectfully with a cup of chai, the weather is incredibly hot so spent quite a bit of time in the sea then though we’d better make contact.

Not decided if we’re going to stay another day or head off to our next place which we think is going to be Varkala, will keep you guys posted on our whereabouts and as soon as we get the phones sorted we’ll let you know. But we’re happy and we’re safe and its amazing here is all you need to know, already completely forgotten about the world of work hahaha..sorry couldn’t help myself. Lots of love to you all xx

Well hello there!

We’ve arrived safe and sound, really good flights, apologies to everyone but we’re both having trouble with our phones which is why we’ve not been in touch, going to try and sort that out today though hopefully.

Well what to say, India is a crazy crazy place! Our first day was a bit random. We arrived at 3:40 and headed straight down to the beach, had a cigarette, watched the sun come up and let it sink in what we’d just done! Met a nice guy called George our first India person to talk to, turned out he was a tourist guide and so very helpful. We then headed down the beach past all the fishmen who lived beach side in a kind of shanty town where we got very strange looks and were chased off by the local dogs.

Puffer Fish Abuse

Headed into town to try and negotiate our first tuk-tuk when who should turn up but George… Sorted us out and told our driver where to go to get accommodation, unfortunately he was pretty useless and got completely lost several times!

Finally found a place to stay at the extortinate price of 4 quid a room per night, it was basic but clean(ish).

We headed out into the mad streets of Trivandrum where we were stared at by pretty much everyone by this time it was about 8am, by this time we thought we had waited long enough and went on the search for beer!

The heat was stiffling and we were wandering around when suddenly a saw BAR, brilliant…or not! We get round the corner only to be met by an official looking guy who ushered us to a little kiosk surrounded by a cage, we had to pay the man inside 2 quid for 2 beers and we were then shown the ‘bar’, what a sh*t hole and certainly no place for a lady!! Although Sam fitted in quite well, first he took me to the ex servicemens and now here, rough is an understatement. There was a guy who looked like gandi sat crosslegged at the side and we awkwardly stood at the end of the bar with a very large kingfisher yet again being stared at. We went outside where we were told we could have a cigarrette but this went down like a lead balloon with me and as I returned from the ‘toilet’ I found Sam having to pay a man just to let me stay, we had to pay for our own private room…check out the pics it was manky! Cost about 14p but we were no longer affending anyone and could happily drink and smoke by this time it was about 9am!

The day was good we walked around for a few hours and then headed to some beautiful gardens but everything else there was shut, typical! By this point it was too hot and we started to feel exhausted so headed back to crash not before stopping off for a lovely fish curry which was terriblly expensive at 3 quid for 2 pineapple smoothies, 2 fish curry and rice, I like this place alot!

Well this is it guys the time has finally come, we’re just about to set off for the airport with a cup of tea and cold roast potato in hand. Thanks to everyone who celebrated our last day at work and a big thankyou to my lot for such a generous leaving prezzie that should last me a few months!

We’ll be landing about 11pm tonight in Trivandrum, Southern India so we’ll keep you posted on our findings as soon as we can. Big Love to everyone Kelly & Sam xx