Kerala

Hi all

So we are leaving Kerala today - we have been here for nearly a week now and compared to Mumbai it has been so relaxing and peaceful. Unfortunately we have spent quite a large proportion of our time here in bed/in the bathroom with continuing Bombay Belly problems for both of us. Gross. But we did have an interlude in which we went to Allepey to visit the 'backwaters' which is basically rivers, canals, and rice fields where there are loads of villages all along the banks of the water. It is really really beautiful - they grow all sorts of tropical fruits and flowers like mangoes, coconuts, guava, hibiscus etc. They also fish and do all their washing in the water and get around by canoe or ferry. It's really amazing. We were going to go on a houseboat, which is the standard tourist thing to do, but we're actually really glad we didn't as we stayed instead in one of the villages with a family and so we got to experience the more traditional way of life, and we spent a lot of time just chilling out by the water, on a boat or a canoe. We met lots of the locals who gave us breakfast one morning in one of their houses, we were also sung to, and visited the local bar (where the only alcoholic drink is 'toddy' which is made from coconut). It was all very authentic and the big houseboats kept going past with tourists on them and we were pretty pleased that we had not done that, I think we saw a lot more than we would have done from the deck of the ship.

We then came back to Cochi only to get ill again and spend an exciting 24hours in bed taking it in turns to use the bathroom. We are feeling a lot better today and are excited about where we are heading this evening - Madurai in Tamil Nadu where we hope to see an ancient temple which is apparently the 'Athens' of the East or something like that. It sounds good anyway.

I have just realised that we have not really given much Monsoon weather information, which was the supposed point of this blog. So:

In Mumbai the rain was barely noticeable and did not stop us from doing anything. It was a light drizzle for a few hours which was actually quite refreshing.
However, landslides caused by the monsoon were the reason why we did not visit Goa, so this caused quite a big change to our trip.
In Kerala it rains heavily for a few hours each day/night. This means you can't really do much when it is raining but you can always just dart for cover and wear a waterproof jacket. It's not a big deal and again, it is quite refreshing.


So that's it from us for now, hope all is well with all our fans.

xxx

Cochin

Hi fans,

We've had a wonderful two days in Cochin since the last update, the first of which consisted mainly of a visit to the friendly 'Dr. Roy', who was able to prescribe something (not 100% sure what...) which has resulted in a speedy recovery for us both.

Fort Cochin is an absolutely beautiful place; certainly a refreshing change of pace compared to Mumbai! The streets are a lot calmer and the buildings themselves are very different - there's a strong Portuguese influence here. We started off the day with a nice swim in a local hotel, followed by a cookery class by the lovely Leena. Although, to be honest, we thought we knew everything there was to know about Indian cookery, she certainly had a few tricks that we hadn't seen - the food that she cooked was absolutely delicious. She taught us six new Keralan recipes in all, which we're sure you're looking forward to us sharing with you when we return.

We spent the rest of the afternoon being shown around Fort Cochin by an autorickshaw driver called Shaki who was great and took to all the main sights, and quite a few shops too... Luke spent a great deal of the afternoon attempting to prevent Sarah from buying everything under the sun. If you think her TopShop habit is bad, you should see her in a spice bazaar...

xxx

Bombay Mumbai - stop 1

Hi fans
Sarah is typing this as Mr Macleod lays low in the  hotel room for as long as possible before check out time. He was a bad case of Bombay  Belly. My biggest fans will be shocked - yes Luke is ill and not me!! But maybe I was Indian in a previous life, as I have long suspected.
He is here now so I will have to be serious. 
We are leaving Mumbai today to fly to Cochi in Kerala. We were meant to be getting the train to Goa but there have been landslides so we cancelled plans to go to Goa and booked a flight straight to Kerala. Well, this is what a very persuasive and helpful Indian travel agent Babi told us. We don't really know anything for sure except that he thought Luke and I were a couple (as everyone in India does - Luke is thrilled to have found himself with a girlfriend/wife for 5 weeks) and he repeatedly told us he wanted us to 'See the real India, know the real India, love the real India' but this came at a price and also would have necessitated us spending all day in his taxi so we declined.

Unfortunately we weren't so successful at rejecting the advances of a nice Indian man who insisted that we were not allowed to look at Crawford Market (a market set up by the British) on our own so he kindly came with us and spices we bought at a spice stall were about the same price as Waitrose spices, so in hindsight I think we walked straight into that one. We also rewarded him handsomely for his time and also obligingly spent 2 days budget on silk and pashmina products......so we are certainly supporting the local tourism market. In fairness - they guy was in his 70s and had been in the market for most of his life, so he was quite an interesting fellow. I am also glad he didn't take us into the meat market 'I never take women there' because there was enough dead animals around anyway (just generally - there seems to be a lot of dead dogs and dead rats in Mumbai!) so I think I saw enough!


Yesterday we also went to visit Davari slums which is home to 1 million people, its where Slumdog Millionaire was filmed (by the way - I think slumdog millionaire was for Mumbai people about as popular but also as unrealistic as Harry Potter is for British people) and its Asia's largest slum. We paid what we later learned was 3 days salary for the average slum worker for the tour (each) but the company (reality tours) was an NGO and we could clearly see that they do a lot of good work in the slums so it was definitely money well spent. To describe the slum is difficult - Luke and I were both really overwhelmed. The average wage is 140 rupees a day. Luke and I are about to spent 450 rupees on a taxi ride to the airport. I just bought a bottle of coke and a bottle of water and that was 55 rupees. So you get the idea. Its 4 bottles of coke a day. The conditions they work in were hellish. It is so hot anyway and then the work they do is very tough - a lot of the industry is recycling for the big companies and so they were melting metal and plastic in tiny cramped rooms when it is 30 degrees outside. In the residential area a family of 4 or 5 live in a room the size of perhaps a smallish bathroom in the UK. They cook, clean and sleep there. The toilets are either the public toilets or just wherever they can. To get in between the houses there are alleyways which reminded me of the tunnels from the trenches which I visited at Ypres on a school trip. You had to stoop and you couldn't fit more than one person across. It was upsetting but the silver lining is that our guide (who grew up in a slum) explained that when you have nothing you appreciate what you can get for free and the two values he cited as being strong values in the slums are community and humanity. The people didn't look hungry and the children were lively and clean looking and most go to school. It wasn't like slumdog millionaire.

We did go to the Taj Palace last night for drinks, which we hope you won't judge us for.........! It did very much bring home to us the different worlds that exist side by side in India. We had some cocktails in the Harbour Bar, Mumbai's first licensed bar. It was destroyed in the 2008 attacks but the refurbishment is incredible and our waiter was telling us all about the origins of the drinks they serve and the story of the bar. We could look out to the bay and the Gate of India and I could imagine it in colonial times - it was quite amazing.

We have saved our money by buying cheap food - we can eat lunch and dinner for a few pounds and it is incredible Indian food which is, primarily, why we made this trip. Perhaps we might have to be a bit more discerning after Luke's little episode this morning! hopefully not though as we have eaten pretty much as locals do - for example on Chowpatty beach we ate with Indian families on rugs on the sand being served very attentively by the people working on the stalls - and it has been really atmospheric and exciting.

Final thoughts - Never EVER drive in Mumbai. I genuinely think they make all other bad drivers in the world (Mexico, Italy? Greece) seem like safe conscientious drivers. I have feared for my life most of the time I have been in a taxi and crossing the road is literally a case of making a mad dash for it into the face of oncoming traffic and hoping for the best.

Thats it for now - next stop Kerala!

Please send us emails/messages with your news!

xxx

We're off!! (touch wood)

We are at heathrow terminal 4 waiting to board our air india flight to
Mumbai! We had high drama yesterday when our flight was cancelled at
the last minute but after much excitement, and consultation of the
ever useful college of law GDL contract handbook, we were rebooked and
had a wonderful evening at one of heathrow's finest hotels. We had a
delicious delayed flight buffet dinner with all sarah's new friends
from the BA service desk queue.
Anyway we are now on our way. Luke has his extensive reading material
sorted so he should be able to avoid talking to me until mumbai!
Hope the curry on the plane doesn't make us sick.......!
See you in India!

Still in England.....welcome to our blog!

Hi there Luke and Sarah fans!
Welcome to our blog. We are going to tell anyone who is interested how we get on in India for 5 weeks during the Monsoon.
If Luke realises the error of his ways and becomes a Buddhist monk you will hear it here first!
Send us messages and tell us how you are and if David Cameron has been arrested yet.
Much Love
Sarah and Luke xxx