From beaches to mountains.

After finishing up on kicking concrete so my big toe fell apart, we took the train for Kottayam where we spent a couple of hours. We took the bus early in the morning for Munnar, a hill station with a cooler climate, more vegetation and lots of mountain tops. It was good to see all these things although it felt a bit cold with only 20 degrees. I actually had to put on a sweater, while wearing pants is now a habit I practice in cold areas as well as places with temperatures above 35 degrees. Munnar has a split population between people from Tamil Nadu and people from Kerala which results in a mixed spoken variety between Malayalam and Tamil. This is funny since we know a bit Tamil, but of course it could end horribly wrong as well. Yesterday two guys came up behind us and asked how we were doing, in really bad english. We answered back in english and soon realized that he didn't know much more to say and what he tried to get out was pretty much incomprehensible. So to make him feel better I tried som Tamil phrases, which resulted in the same incomprehensible dialogue, except the tables had turned. He was extatic and started talking, what to us was, gibberish. Anyhow, it was he who started!!

We walked into a small village up in one of the tea farms in the area and met some children. They wanted us to take pictures of everyone and then they wanted to take pictures themselves of everyone. Luckily we're both guys who knows how to say when enough is enough.

There are a lot of interesting signs around here. For instance we have found the "infant jesus radiator shop". I want a car just to go there to get some service done. We have also found a "very very weak bridge", and believe me; they are not kidding. The police has a slogan: "polite, but firm". What a relief.

That pretty much sums it up. Tomorrow morning we'll head for Coimbatore and then we'll separate again where one half goes up north and the other, which is yours truly, will be heading back to beloved Pondicherry to spend the last week with friends I'll soon be leaving behind.

That's it for now. I'll post more later. Mountain hugs to everyone!

Wonderful Kerala.

We've been on the road for a couple of days and finally we settled down for a three day long vacation in Varkala. First we left Kochi by train down to Alleppey (Allapuzha) where we checked into a houseboat and spent the night rocking away to the soft touch of the waves. The backwaters is beautiful and it's so comfortable just getting everything done for you. The only thing you need to do is to enjoy yourself, which isn't really hard when being with good company. We set out to sea at noon and went to buy some fresh tiger prawns from some local fishers. That was amazing. I've never seen prawns that size before. They looked like aliens. Our chef prepared them for us and that is undoubfully the best dinner I've had down here, and maybe the best dinner I've ever had. Later on we watched "Om, Shanti, Om" starring Shahrukh Khan, a really good and funny Bollywood movie with a lot of great songs. The day after we left the houseboat by nine and went for the bus station. We took the bus for a four hour long drive down to Varkala where we have stayed for three days now. This is a tourist place similar to Greece, Cyprus, Spain and, yeah, you catch my drift. Luckily it's the end of the season so it's not many tourists left. Unfortunately this makes all the desperate bars and sellers to become more aggressive to get a grip on to the few people left. Well, anyhow, we get cheap booze and beer compared to the high season prices and even though the monsoon is closing in we still have good weather during daytime. Around 37 degrees and warming sun. Compared to Pondicherry it's more windy here which makes it feel cooler than on the east coast. The waves and the undercurrent here is really strong and many have given in while being swept away, but the lifeguards try their best to keep everyone safe. I wonder if they know how to swim instead of just blowing their whistle. This will be the last day here and we're unsure of where the next trip will go. Some are heading back to Kochi since they're leaving for Pondicherry on Monday. I am not sure if I'll head for Munnar or Thekkady, but first I either have to get to Kottayam or Kochi. Either way it's a day of traveling in bus, and the local buses here are not very comfortable. I'm sorry for not getting to show you pictures, but there is no way to connect my Mac to the internet anywhere so I'll have to publish them in some other way at another time in life. Maybe when I'm back in Pondicherry. Check in for more later. Tally-Ho!

From train to houseboat.

Today we'll leave Kochi for now and head down to the backwaters and Alappuzha. We have a houseboat there for a 24 hour ride through canals and with three bedrooms and freshly prepared fish that'll be fished along the way. We'll try to make it onto one of the local trains. From there we'll see if we'll head down to Varkala to work on the tan.

Greetings from Kochi!

We arrived Kochi in Kerala on Sunday and have already got to try out fishing with Chinese fishing nets, starred in a major Keralan movie, been swimming through the town's streets during heavy rainfall and watched traditional dancing and martial arts performed to excellence.

This sums it all up and, unfortunately, I can't upload pictures because there is no such internet connection here so that I can use my own laptop. But we'll all survive. Today we'll have a reunion with some friends and tomorrow we may head on down south to backwaters or beach areas. Stay tuned.

Nearly the end (some thoughts around life in India).

It hasn't been too many updates here lately. Mainly because nothing has happened. We're counting down the days until the studies ends and try to reminisce all the things we have experienced. I've passed both my mid-term papers and have kind of taken a break from reading while organizing all the information I've stock piled in my memory for the past 9 weeks. I'll soon travel to Kerala where I hope new experiences will make it into new blog posts and extraordinary pictures. So, to make this a blog post that isn't just rubbish, I'll try to paint a picture of what impressions I now have of this "small" Indian town.

'Parklife' has a totally different meaning here. Basically because people actually live in the park.

Most Indians have this mentality that 'what goes up must come down', or more like 'what's inside must come out'. It's not unusual to have Indians spitting right in front of you in the street. While eating at restaurants, or being on planes or buses, your fellow companion in the seat next to you may burp out loud. When going shopping, being a bit larger than the average Indian, you may hear that your size doesn't exist in India. Or if you're slightly overweight they will confront you with the fact that you're actually fat.

Patience is a virtue. There is nothing called efficiency. If you wait for a coffee which you'll get after about half an hour, you'll be surprised by how hard working they actually are at that place.

Never order continental. Or, you may, but it's faster, and far better, with Indian food.

Read newspapers with a six year old's mind. I quote yesterdays paper: "During the weekend 580 people were arrested in Chennai to prevent riots during the election, including 15 anti socials (??)...", or maybe even better "A man, on monday, complained to the police about being harrassed by his wife, which have two kids, for bad housing.".

Don't go reversed bungee jumping. An Indian student's safety belt buckle broke and resulted in a 60 feet launch and likewise a 60 feet fall to his death... Obviously...

What comes around, goes around. Don't become a criminal. A guy in Pondicherry got stabbed to death by 11 members of a rival gang last week just meters away from the bar we hung out at. He had tried to kill one of them the day before, but the "victim" escaped. What you should learn from this? If you need to kill someone: succeed in doing so!

Choose your rickshaw driver with wisdom. If it says "Speed King" on the side along with a drawing of a dragon, then it's a safe bet. It's fast and fun.

Stay away from tuna that doesn't taste like tuna. It is most likely not tuna and will make your intestines wish for a new resting ground.

Get yourself mosquito repellant. Anything will do. You'll get sucked dry anyways, but over a longer period of time.

Get used to bedbugs. Consider them your pets. It's always nicer sleeping with someone, or something, than spending the night alone.

Be prepared for any situation. There may suddenly be a beach party somewhere or a collision involving a couple of motorcycles. Prepare yourself for either surfing or saving lives.

Learn falling techniques. Just in case you want to avoid being a subject of life saving after a motorcycle accident.

Use fans. Fans works just as well as air condition except for the fact that air conditioning gets you sick. If you're sick, deal with it! Indian doctors seems hard to cope with and has very different ways of treating your illness than what you're used to. If your ear hurts it is probably your throat and if you have stomach pain they may have many different options on what it could be. It's a bit like "Are you smarter than a 5th grader?".

Do the finger dance. When the finger dance comes into the picture you know the party has started.

Bear arms. Get yourself a BB-gun. You'll hate the crows and it's good having something in hand that prevents you from running around chasing them instead.

I think this concludes it all, but there is probably more that I have left out at the moment. I'll keep you posted. Peace!