Back to Kochi, Munnar, Kumily, Thekkeday, Kottyam, Aleppey & Kollam

Realizing I haven't updated this thing in a while and have left out so much so after heading up north and taking the wrong train and found myself more north in Kannur waited for the next train and talked with some friendly locals which was nice and passed the 3 hours that I had to wait to catch the next train back to kochi and what felt like eternity it was a long day riding the train made it back to Fort Cochin spent a coule nights back there and stayed at a wonderful homestay with garden views a perfect spot to recupe and then set off to Munnar by bus.. beautiful lush place the place is surrounded by tea plantations I've never seen how tea was grown and utilized and was amazed. Took a drive up to the hill station and had a wonderful day sightseeing with a very friendly rickshaw driver and visited the tea musuem and had a quick lesson on how tea is cultivated. Stopped at all the best photo taking sites on the way up stopped for chai and just had the best time taking in the mountain air and beautiful landscapes. It was cold here in Munnar a welcome change to the sweltering hot of the rest of Kerala I even had hot water at the hotel I was staying at and that in itself was a luxury. Meals were had at stalls that were set up every evening lots of masals (curry dishes) with tons of parotta (similar to a chipatti) I stuffed myself silly.

(Tea plantations surround these hillsides so lush and green just beautiful beautiful)

(at a hill station in Munnar and these friendly students from Trivanthum) wanted a picture always smiling!)

(on the bus on the way up to Munnar)

(workers snipping the leaves of the tea plants)

After Munnar I headed to Thekkeday wildlife sanctuary and stayed in a town called Kumily. A Spice world my goodness every other shop sold carmadon, cinnamon, cloves vanilla etc, had a wonderful time there too almost a favourite so far. I went for a hike one day with a guide and a friendly guy from holland and saw some elephants, bison and a giant squirrel no tigers... then a boat ride that wiped me out but met some friendly travelers Bala and Sureesh and had an entertaining evening sipping indian rum with them and met a couple other travelers from France and a fellow canadian lots of jokes by everyone and lots of laughter.

(a bad picture but hopefully you can see the elephant hanging out while were on a hike through Thekkeday)

(Sureesh and Bala)

(on the ferry to Kollam, the fancy boats that we were not on but these things are floating palaces!)



The next day I set off by bus again to Kottyam and then to Allepey. Felt like a cold coming on so I chilled in Allepey for the night and then took a 8 hour boat ride to Kollam where I am right now was a fun ride through the backwaters all of us on the boat were tourists and it was nice to chat to others about there experiences and vice versa... I wish I could stay longer and exlpore a few other places but nope looks like I am cutting kerala short to make it to Bob's wedding in Kenya will be spending a couple weeks there and excited that it has all worked out for him can't wait to see what kenya is like I would absolutley love to see a giraffe and a zebra and i wonder what the food is like?? excited no doubt and because Irene is from Kenya we will get to see this country as a tourist with a local eye.

(outside of a temple in Allepey)

So I'm here in Kollam for one more night met a girl from California Althea on the boat yesterday and we are sharing a room until we both depart to separate places tomorrow. I'm looking foward to getting to Varkula get some rest and relaxing on the beach and sort out chaning my plane ticket back to AbuDhabi and just laying low there and just chilling for more than a day everything has been on the go so I welcome the easy life the beach is known for! Althea and I went on a small canoe/boat tour with a funny french man Pierre and a woman from Germany Renate and saw more of the backwaters. This was so much better than the ferry boat ride from Allepey. We had a friendly guy steering the boat and we stopped at a coir-making stationed along side of the river and like most women in this country they work hard coir is the rope made from the coconut shell someone was saying they make 50 rupees a day that's like $1.30 CND doing this hard labourous work..amazing and they were all smiles and chattering away to one another it was mentioned somewhere along my travels that a person living and working in india can survive on 50 rupees a day provides the bare essentials... it's an amazing thing to comprehend and understand I have finally started to understand one's quality of life not one person in india that I saw looks unhappy or stressed they all laugh and sing and smile they are happy happy people and living with only the necessities. ok so we get back on the boat and wonder along the backwater munching on cocunut and chatted away the four of us. Was a wonderful time back to our hotel in the afternoon and relaxed as Althea and I were departing the next day her to Kumily and myslef to Varkula.

(cruisin the backwaters)

(coir making rope made out of the coconut shell)

(Althea and Pierre munching on coconut that our tour guide/captain of our boat hacked down for us from the tree)

Kochi, Calicut

Hi everyone!
I have arrived in Kerala and can't believe that I'm actually here! I arrived in Kochi with no problems and on schedule was in shock for the first day and wanted to get on that plane back to Abu Dhabi. Things are so different and so many people and my god does this place smell I wasn't quite confident I could do it all alone. but now that I've been here for 5 days I feel like I've been here forevever... young indian men are staring at me as I type this at an internet cafe and usually used to it but sometimes catches me off guard...



(fishing nets in Fort Cochi big tourist attraction wonderful seafood)

anyway I stayed 3 nights in kochi I like the place Fort Cochin has got a lot of character and the food I love it yum yum took the train yesterday up to Calicut where i am right now and loved the ride lots to see and everyone is super friendly especially the women and young children I swear I am the only touris here in Calicut I have only seen two other backpackers this morning but it's kind of cool all at the same time just drinking up every moment... tomorrow I have arranged for a taxi and driving up to wayanad wildlife sanctuary and Monday back on the train to Kochi and then maybe munnar and then relax down south... I'll catch up on this later just want to let you know i'm here am having a wonderful time so far!!!


(picture is up in the Wayanad district just outside of Calicut took a drive up here for a day was beautiful saw monkeys visited some caves and just took in the spectacular views!)


(Monkey's just hanging out on the side of the road...)

Eastcoast all the way baby

our trip to the eastcoast was awesome the drive through the mountains and along the coast was great, different than Abu Dhabi and Dubai.
I felt very fortunate that I had the chance to see this side of the Emirates as one needs their own vehicle to get pretty much anywhere outside the major cities. Stayed at the lovely Sandy Beach Motel on the east coast of the Gulf of Oman along the Indian Ocean soaked up the sun, snorkeled around Snoopy island
and just had a relaxing time. Now I really hope to get to Oman as everyone says it's wonderful something definitely to see while over here. So once I am back from Indian adventures I'm hoping I will have that chance.

TICKLING ITCHY FEET IN INDIA!!!

Can you believe it I'm booked and scheduled to fly into Kochi (Cochin), Kerala MARCH 14, 2006!!
I'm so excited and amazed that I had the guts to actually book the ticket. I will be touring around Kerala for exactly one month and then back to Abu Dhabi and depending on what's happening around here in May I may take off to another exotic place. No real plans I'd like to explore Karnataka and Goa but I fly out of Thiruvananthapuram which is at the southern tip of Kerala so as time permits I will just have to see.

Hi Everyone! everything is great and I am loving abu dhabi more and more everyday keep meeting people from all walks of life and soaking up every minute of it. It rained here a couple weeks ago it's interesting it poured for two days and all the drains in the road are clogged from all the sand and huge puddles formed made driving even worse than it is on a good day. It reminds me of people who don't know how to drive in the snow. We all recovered from the thunder and lightning shows and the sun is back and keepin us happy. Walked down to the docks where the fishing boats are yesterday visited the beach that is close to town it was a wonderful day. Tomorrow we are off to the eastcoast I have not yet visited the other emirates other than Dubai and the desert I am looking foward to getting out of the city for the day!