Kovalam, Kerala

Hey all!! So we are finishing up in Kerala today. We will miss all the amazing scenery and the funky little strip down by the beach but I won't miss the crazy walk down a million steps through a construction site to get there! : ) the hotel we are staying in 'Sea and Hill View Resort' does exactly as it says on the tin, it is up a hill giving you fab views of the coast but meaning a nice trek down and back up if you want to hit the beach etc. We had decided on our first morning here to sunbathe by the pool in an attempt to become a little less pasty. Unfortunately we are now too patchy looking tomato humans!! Nice and red..... oh well! So we needed to do something the next day which would involve much less sun : ) so we went on a day-trip through the backwaters of Kerala which was well worth the four hour car journey. It was my birthday present to roy so we booked the best one we could find. I will admit my heart was in my mouth for most of the trip down there with the absolutely mental driving performed by our taxi man, nuts! There is no system to the roads here it is everyman for himself. You should see the roundabouts ha!!

As we passed things the taxi man thought might be of interest he would hold the wheel with one hand whilst swerving around like a loon and point with the other hand no longer looking ahead and would proceed to explain to us the story behind it, this included his own home : ) and the local laundromat! Anyway we made it to Allepey alive somehow and on to our boat, which was massive and all to ourselves! I was shocked at it, there were bedrooms and a kitchen on board and an upstairs deck to sit and chill in the shade while you look out. The houseboats as they're called, are made from timber and reeds and look really cool. We had a chef and a driver on board and off we all went for a 6 hour trip around the backwaters.

Kerala is famous for it's backwaters, huge twisting lakes wrapped around remote little villages. We plodded along and it was quite amazing. We saw two men in the water beside their little wooden canoe diving and then resurfacing with snakes in their hands and throwing them onto their canoe. There were lots of tiny villages we passed through where we could see women in the water of the lake outside their little huts washing their families clothes. It felt a bit intrusive a few times when we realised the villagers also wash themselves in the water! There were lots of little kids on their way home from school in the afternoon running along the banks and waving at us so cute! We were served up lunch when we banked beside a paddy field and there was no choice so this time I had to brave real Indian food and I have to admit it was the best meal I have had since we left home. The chef came out and proudly explained that the rice was from their own paddy fields and the curry had ten vegetables in it all grown by the local villagers and the fish was from the lake itself and my favourite part was the yoghurt which he served with the curry, it was yum and had pineapple in it but the best thing about it was how disgusted roy was that Indians eat their curry with fruity yoghurt!! He thought us Byrnes were a bunch of crazies with our yoghurt and curry haha he was sickened when they produced it. Anyway it was all delicious!!!! And neither of us are sick at all so I may need to get a bit braver I think!

There was so much to see along the trip and I was delighted we saw four Kingfishers which was a first for both of us, they are so pretty but they were hard to get a good photo of! Anyway it was a long but lovely day, and considering the service we got and lunch etc it wasn't expensive either! So we had a nice drive home then....in the dark, with all the mad drivers still being mad. I couldn't even look anymore at that stage it was pure madness. All the cars either had no lights or else their full head lights so either way you couldn't fecking see anything!!! I will never drive here!!! So checking out today and onto Bangalore. Hope all is good at home and more to come soon, Love Sarz Xxxxx