Hi all...
We last left you whilst we were in Varanasi waiting for our train back to Delhi. Since then, we have covered the entire length of India.
Delhi, being our fourth visit there was pretty unremarkable, except Sally was proposed to by the crazy hotel owner and has since been plagued by constant text messages. Don't worry mum and dad, the answer was (and remains) a firm no.
The next morning was an early one as we had a train to catch to Kerala, which is the Southern most state in India. We were slightly concerned by the fact it was our longest trip yet at about 30 hours, so we stocked up on crisps and cookies, said goodbye to Felipe and prepared for 2 days and a night on the train. However, turning up at the station, we discovered that actually this was a 42 hour train, so basically a mini break with 6 Indian men.
Kate made a new friend called Vivien, a 60 year old man with an alcohol problem (3 bottles of whiskey on the first day that we are aware of) who has now also been calling and texting daily. She got into trouble on the train as they were in the linen closet drinking whiskey and was accused of taking drugs... a quick bribe of 1000 rupees got her out of any trouble! She was warned by locals to get back to her bed fast ... they followed and then offered hashish and cigarettes to smoke out of the doors as the train was moving (answer was no).
We thought the best way to get through 42 hours of pretty much hell was to sleep as many hours as possible throughout the day. We both had the bottom bunks and both woke in the mornings to find our mini-break men sitting on our beds while we were sleeping... great!
So... we finally arrived in Kerala - we were originally planning on spending 5 days there, not realising we were going to lose a whole extra day on the train so had to re-think our plans and not travel too far from the station. The train took us to Ernakulum, Cochin - we arrived at the hugely convenient time of 5am. Backpacks went on and in the pouring rain, we started the walk to the MG Road, which was supposed to be the busiest place and the best for backpackers.
Maybe we will get used to the rain, maybe we will get used to carrying the backpacks... but its really difficult to find a cheap deal on a hotel in a good location when its pouring with rain at 5am and you are really desparate to find somewhere to sleep! So we settled on a decent but probably overpriced hotel and slept the day away.
Ernakulum has nothing to offer other than a few shops and a road called Jew Street, but we were able to make a plan for the next few days. Cochin is made up of a number of islands where you can hop on a boat between the islands for 2.5 rupees (67 to the pound). We found the ferry port and some much cheaper accomodation right by the port, so moved our luggage to the storage in the hotel and jumped on the ferry to Fort Cochin... and this is where we were so proud of ourselves... for two days, we lived out of small day packs with a 20 lt capacity. Seeing that we are now capable of living in the same outfits for 5 days straight, this actually wasn't too difficult!
Fort Cochin in a small island that you can easily walk around in a day. There is a lot to see in Fort Cochin, including a Dutch Palace which was actually built in the 1500s by the Portuguese to apologise for raiding a temple. It is the Dutch palace because the Dutch carried out the renovations. It was in this palace that we learned all the history about the Rajas, and the Maharajas.
Fort Cochin also has Chinese fishing nets and Sally jumped on board and helped with the fishing... not a huge catch unfortunately but it is a bad time of year for the fish apparently. In Fort Cochin, it is usual to buy your fish fresh from the fishermen and take them to the restaurants to have them cooked.
The other major thing we saw was the Synagogue, the oldest synagogue in the entire British Commonwealth, which was built in the 1500s when there used to be a huge Jewish community in Kerala. Now, there are only 7 Jews in Fort Cochin as they leave to move to Israel. We also broke into the Jewish cemetery (on the aptly named Jew Cemetery Road) to pay our respects. Unfortunately a lot of the graves had been destroyed, but the keepers of the synagogue have salvaged them and they were all kept in the grounds.
Our accommodation in Fort Cochin was... budget. Costing us about 2 pounds each a night we thought we had found somewhere pretty decent. Until, we were given a curfew of 11.30pm and water started leaking through the roof on top of Kate who was sick whilst the monsoon was pouring. A girl has to be pretty ill to just ignore the water, not move the bed, put a bucket underneath to catch the water or arrange for a new room. Fortunately Nurse Sally was on hand to fix everything!
Our nights were spent in a restaurant watching the football and drinking "special tea" (beer in a teapot as they don't have a license).
One great thing about Fort Cochin is the tuk tuk drivers will offer you a free ride anywhere as long as you agree to go into a shop and look around for 5 minutes, they get their commission and we get a free journey.
We then discovered that there was a 24 hour strike across the whole of India on the day that we were supposed to be leaving, so no taxis or tuk tuks would be running. So, our backpacks were now stored in a hotel an hours walk from the train station... we couldn't really stay there so had to negotiate getting our bags back the day before the strike (by paying them off with 100 rupees) and finding a hotel close to the station. Once again, it was pouring with rain, but we managed a much better deal after what felt like hours of hotels telling us they were fully booked as obviously all other travellers had the same idea!
So, the following day, we left the earily quiet Ernakulum and jumped on the train to Margao in the South of Goa. Having, as usual, done very little research on the best place to go in Goa, we decided we were just going to go to the nearest beach seeing as it was out of season, no travellers would be there anyway, and we would have a few days to recuperate from long train journeys that without exception make us both ill.
On the train, we met Jon and Giles, who without doubt turned our trip to Goa around... they told us they were going to Baga which is supposed to be the only place where tourists would be going and also the best night life. Of course this would cost us money... but you only go to Goa once right? (we really need to stop justifying spending money with that!)
So, we went to Baga, arriving at the slightly less annoying time of 6am and the four of us took a walk around the hotels (guess what, it was raining again) and tried to find a good deal. And when else, other than when you are travelling, do you meet someone one day and then agree to share a hotel room with them for a week following that?
Most of Goa disappeared in a haze of alcohol, sleeping and the Star Movies channel as believe it or not, the rain just kept on coming. We met loads of other holiday makers (still no long term travellers yet) from all over the world as every night we were in the same bars watching the football and then dancing the night away.
It is common for everyone in Goa to rent a bike or moped - I think we were the only group of people who didn't rent any - although a lift was always available from new found friends or friendly locals. One day, we did decide to rent mopeds... Sally didn't bother, Kate drove hers fine, Giles couldn't get the hang of it and Jon smashed his into the car of the person who rented him the bike! A 3000 rupee payoff got him off the hook, and we all left on foot after the manager took the other bikes back too. One day of sunshine burnt us terribly as everyone played football (Sally watching) and we swam in the sea. Which is apparently very dangerous, particularly at the spot of beach we were on... the current was REALLY strong and every time we got too far out the lifeguards would have to drive out into the sea to drag us back. But we are all strong swimmers and everyone was fine, if not a little pink when we returned.
Other bribes in Goa included Kate paying off an angry Indian when Jon jumped on someones bike whilst drunk and driving it into another car (1000 rupees) - Sally got together a search party of 12 people to look for them after it took half an hour for them to get 2 minutes down the road, and Sally paying off a policeman as she didn't have a license while driving someones bike (500 rupees). But we lived to tell the tale and have learned... stay away from bikes and linen closets and all will be fine!
Our last night was spent at a private pool party at our American friends hotel, before we had to be up and out early to catch our train to Mumbai.
Which is where we write this from today. Sally has been really ill since being in Goa... it is either the ice they put in the drinks or just too many drinks all together... feeling better now and hence able to write this!
Promise to write again sooner, as I am sure a lot of details have been forgotten in this update...
Expect to hear from us in Bali!
Much love
Sally and Katie xxx
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