Cruising the backwaters of Kerala

We have just come off a 2 day cruise around the Keralan backwaters which was by far the highlight of India for us so far. Palm trees lined the narrow waterways and we floated past little communities fishing and washing their clothes in the river. We had a huge boat and a 3 man crew to ourselves and were waited on hand and foot. We ate the best food we've had here so far and loved every minute of it. Garry took 200 photos!

Mad and Madderdurai

Madurai is famous for its amazing temples and skanky, smelly streets. It was a facsinating place - the roads full of pilgrims visiting the main temple and cows parked up with the motorbikes. We found a quiet spot on the 10th floor of The Plaza Break Hotel where Sam celebrated her birthday above the smog and chaos. We had our first chick pea dahl style dish here. Over the next few days the chick peas came out the other end of our bodies like bullets!! Won't be trying that again!!





We caught the overnight train to Varkala and booked into a great place by the beach. It was very touristy, but beautiful and sooo clean! We spent 4 days lazing on the beach, drinking fruit lassies and enjoying the sun. A huge culture leap from Madurai, but not an unwelcome one.

The meaning of the universe...

If there is a bright spark in the centre of the universe, then Kodiakonal (in the physical realm) is farthest from it. Set high up in the hills, this hill station is a perfect spot to cool down, chill out and eat some great food.

Our room had a perfect view of the valley and although we set out to do some walks about the area, the pull of relaxing on our balcony was more than often too strong. We took a boat out on the lake, walked about town, ate pancakes and massala.

The town was founded by American missionaries and everywhere you look there is a Christian banner, calender, sticker. Even the taxis have King of Kings and Praise the Lord plastered over them! We went to one of the 50 churches in town on Sunday. It was very lively and a mixture of Indians and Westerners. Not surprisingly we loved Kodaikonal. Still, it is not possible to stay on the mountain peaks for long - the valley of Madurai is calling....

HAPPY BIRTHDAY RONNIE!

This page is dedicated to the 60th birthday of Sam's dad - Ron Whitney!


HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!


Did you know that a man of sixty has spent twenty years in bed and over three years in eating? In your case I think you have spent at least 3 years working on the garden, 3 years plotting and planning your retirement and about 5 years watching films. There has been maybe 3 years dedicated to the caravan and at least 3 years worrying about your daughters and 3 years watching Kettering Town football club lose. That leaves about 15 years - mostly made up of spending time with friends and family, learning, giving, honouring the Lord with your life and being an example of someone who has run with perseverance the race that is set before them.

Oh, I forgot about work! Well, maybe another 3 years...

And we end with a word of wisdom by Mark Twain: "Wrinkles should merely indicate where smiles have been".

Here's to many more years of smiling. Happy birthday. Love Sam and Garry

New Year beach party

We spent new years eve in a place called Mammallapuram. It is on the south east coast of India and is a travellers hideout. There are many French ex-pats in this part of the world and lots if hippy, 'peace and harmony man' new age communities. The new year was welcomed in by fireworks, firecrackers and dancing on the beach. Was a bit wild and undignified, but that is India and it was great fun.

We are now in Pondicherry - two hours further down the coast. It is very French here and the people are really friendly and there is some great architecture. We have visited some churches, the botanical gardens, the museum and spent too many hours wandering around the many book shops. The food is great and yesterday we stumbled across a Hindu vegetarian restaurant. We asked them to bring us something that we would like and spent the next 2 hrs working our way through the menu. At 50p a course - you can't go wrong!

Tonight we travel via bus-train-bus to a hill station called Kodai. It is much cooler up there and hopefully the air will be cleaner. Onwards and upwards!