Fort Cochin

We all go for a fancy dinner at The Old CourtYard and Tevo gets to eat his favourite Greek Salad. It's a really pretty little town, very Catholic, super friendly (I'm picking up on Canadian phrases hanging out with Maya - I caught myslef saying 'neat' the other day) and lots to see and do. Everyone is much happier.

Staying at Park Avenue Hotel (400 rups for a nice double with balcony, overlooking terracotta tiled houses and the sounds of hymn practice from the local school). This is the place of the famous Chinese fishing nets, where you can watch them hawl in their catches at sunset. They're huge and it takes 4 or 5 of them to raise and lower them. Just beautiful to watch. Take in a Kathikali show - amazing drumming and tabla, with dancing demons in heavy make-up. Great fun! Fort Cochin is a fine place to just wander about, with nice little markets, fishing areas and cafes.

After a good days rest, we have an early start for a boat trip down the backwaters. In a small boat, we glide silently along spotting snakes, kingfishers, woodpeckers, fishing cormorants, ducks and wildflowers. The air is hot and still - this is the hottest we have been so far I think. Kerala is a 3 showers a day place - the only way to cool down when there's no swimming to be had. The heat builds up and then it's not uncommon for a downpour late afternoon.

After big family discussions and a vote, we have decided to return to Agonda in Goa. Why seek what we have already found! Keralan beaches are either cliff backed with strong tides or expensive resorts geared towards package holiday makers. We had everything we needed at Dersy's, so we phone them to confirm our return and book a train back to Goa. We now have two very happy children who can hardly contain their excitement - Roisin says she doesn't care how tiring the journey will be - it'll be worth it. She's not wrong.

Hooty Ooty & Steaming down the Western Ghats

After a bumpy mini-bus ride up to Ooty through national parks, 39 hairpin bends and the Nilgiri Hills, we arrived tired and hungry at the YWCA, recommended by the Lonely Planet as a quiet clean place outside of town, with big fires. It was absolutely freezing, no sign of any fires and the rooms were damp and cold, including the bedding. After very small portions of average food we tried to get some sleep in our lofty cold rooms. The cold woke us all constantly through the night so first thing in the morning we left for Ooty town - lots of hooting, belching traffic and hardly looked like how I imagined a hill station. Maya and I found a decent basic place above one of the best Darbars in town (according to 'the book').

But what we wanted that afternoon was carbs, carbs, carbs.... so we went for huge pizzas with extra everything. Given I was feeling a bit ill (again), cheese was probably not the best food for me to eat and I spent the entire next day in bed or on the loo. Lee, Maya, Tevo & Roisin went on a trip to the Nilgiri Hills. Apparently I didn't miss much. There's a cyclone sitting off the Tamil Nadu coast from Chennai, but we're heading east.

We took the steam train through Conoor and headed back towards Kerala. the train was cool with our own first class carriage and amazing views. Tea plantations led down to pristine looking forest and waterfalls hanging off steep cliffs. Very nice. Arriving late we took a local bus to Coimbatore where I shared my seat with a woman with the largest backside in Tamil Nadu. The children had to battle to hold a seat between them until Lee intervened. We take the 9.30pm to Kochi arriving at 3.30am. After much messing around and hassle with both the rickshaw driver and a hotel with the Gestapo for staff, we finally get some rest. We have arrived in a communist state. They want photocopies of passports and large deposits then wake us up early to hassle us again (since getting a photocopy of your passport at 4am was somewhat unlikely).

The children are feeling very hassled and tired and travel weary. It's time to find a place to chill for a month. We take a very long and hot taxi journey to Vypeen Island - what a pit. The island itself has some nice little villages but the beach is horrible and trashed, with lots of Indian day trippers. There are no guesthouses and although we find a 3 bed house to rent, it's in its own little rubbish pit garden with complimentary razor blades. Tevo says "It's rubbish here". Lee replies "It's not rubbish Tevo, rubbish is what Indian tourists throw on the floor!" It's a good job some of us are maintaining our sense of humour - I think I left mine back at the Green Hotel in Mysore along with my health.

We head to Fort Cochin in the hope of finding some Western oriented tourism, decent guesthouses and something other than rubbish to look at. We're supposed to be heading to Varkala, a beach in the south, but I'm not convinced anymore. We've been here nearly three months and are all very tired just now. Perhaps we shouldn't be trying to look for somewhere we have already found. We've seen alot of India in that time, but it's time to remember that the children are only seven - it's not an easy life here and homesickness is kicking in, fuelled by exhaustion and sensory overload.

Oh how I dream of modern sewage systems, a bit of cleaning that involves some elbow grease (on places like toilet handles rather than leaving them all poop stained), a bed that is at least the length of a full grown person, fluffy mashed potato, brown bread (without sugar thanks) and soya products (please bring us Sosmix Caroline).