Saturday 24th November

England to India

Picked up by Geordie from home we set off for Birmingham airport at 10:00. All seemed good until we encountered stationary traffic on the M42. We spent one hour in slow moving traffic due to a Dating.com event on at the N.E.C. We eventually got to the airport slip road and it was plain sailing from then on.

Inside the airport we found masses of Emirates, our airline, desks free when we got to baggage drop. We had to forego breakfast as time was short and straight to customs check and to the gate lobby. By this time the lobby was completely devoid of passengers! We joined the slight queue in the tunnel boarding the aircraft and then went straight to our seats for the six and a half hour flight to Dubai. We took off 40 minutes later than the scheduled departure time of 13:30.

The pre ordered Vegan meal we had fifty minutes into the flight was actually quite good and went well with our flying tradition of Moet & Chandon.

*Emirates excellent presentation of champagne*

Emirates proved to be an excellent airline, there customer service was good and everything ran like clockwork.

As we were flying through the night – 13:30 take off with 08:15 arrival at our final destination we saw a lovely sunrise.

Sunday 25th

England to India #2

We landed in Dubai at 00:30 (local time) to find Terminal 3 full of glitzy shops selling just about everything expensive. Gold and jewellery selling seemed to be the most popular activity at very high prices yet our search for a restaurant revealed little choice. We eventually eat fish and chips standing up at the Hard Rock Cafe! The pint of lager we shared went down well and cost £11!

We got back to our departure gate to find a similar situation to Birmingham and virtually went straight to our seats to take off at 02:45.

Arrival at Cochin Airport, India

Touched down at 08:20 and we were quickly met by Ganesh, our Tour Manager, who introduced us to Joy, our Driver.

Ganesh was very helpful right from the start by enabling us to pick up some local currency and two Indian SIM’s. Both took us on an ‘interesting’ one hours drive to our hotel which should Joy have been driving in the UK we swear he’d have been arrested several times before reaching our destination.

Ganesh explained that the Indian system of driving involved much use of the horn. It was accepted practice that the range was from one to four honks with one honk letting others know of your presence to four honks meaning ‘if I had a knife I would kill you’!

Transfer to the Brunton Boatyard hotel

We booked in to the Brunton Boatyard (First class, Character,Bed & Breakfast), part of the CGH Earth group of hotels, where we had a Sea Facing Room for 2 nights.

cgh earth experience hotels

Our first taste of Indian food was a delicious cheese and tomato rolls light lunch in the hotel! After lunch we did a minimalist unpack, made great use of the hotels swimming pool, showered and changed then toured around and generally chilled.

In the afternoon we confined ourselves to two hours sleep to try and get over the inevitable jet lag and get into synchronisation with Indian time which led UK’s time by 5.5 hours.

Sunset tour of the harbour

At 17:00 we boarded the hotels boat and met Winston and Jane, an English couple who had been living in Australia for the past 17 years. With just the two other guests we had an hours cruise of the Kochi harbour and towards the end watched the sunset. It was an ideal way to see the activities in the Cochin harbour and the Chinese fishing nets dotting the shore which looked spectacular as the sun went down on them.

*First view of the riverside Chinese fishing nets*

*Cochi (Colonial name – Cochin) is a major sea port*

*Cookery demonstration – delicious curry made in minutes!*

Then onto dinner into the same restaurant as lunch

*The prawns that Debbie ordered were huge!*

Monday 26th

We woke up to a massive transport ship going past our window

*Container ship from Arabia about to dock and be unloaded.*

Half day sightseeing tour of Cochin

Having met Jithu, our Cochin guide, the day before we set off with in the morning, after breakfast. Kochi (colonial name Cochin) is a vibrant city situated on the south-west coast of the Indian peninsula. The strategic importance of Cochin over the centuries is underlined by the sobriquet ‘Queen of the Arabian Sea’.

On this morning’s guided sightseeing tour we focused on the historical and characterful ‘heart’ of the city, the area of Fort Kochi. Surrounded by a wonderful blend of colonial architecture we visited the Mattancherry Palace, Jewish Synagogue, St Francis Church, and also the iconic Chinese fishing nets.

We saw much evidence of the British occupation which lasted 190 years (not the ‘200 year rule’ believed by many. Prior to the British take over the Indians were subjected to similar invasions from the Dutch and initially the Portugese. There was architectural evidence of all these periods and also dedicated streets.

Indians fishing with Chinese Fishing Nets

We left the hotel and started our tour with a look at the men fishing from the shore of Fort Cochin. The fishermen would drop their nets into the river and lift them around 15 minutes later. They would then take their fish to the auctioneer behind them.

*Indian fishermen using their Chinese fishing nets*

Bringing up the net

The Auctioneer would then periodically hold his sale to mostly the fish sellers who had stalls behind him.

From Auctioneer to Fish Stall

We saw this Stall Holder buy his fish then set them out for sale (bottom right hand bucket). Clearly the fish on sale were very fresh.

*Boilers left by the British, clearly not in use now!*

*First view of Tuk Tuk – the owner clearly had a GSOH*

*The Indian female police officers – known at the ‘Pink Police’*

India has a real problem regarding its Patriarchal society. Whilst things are changing there are still many cases of female abuse, violence and rape. The ‘Pink Police’ provide a very visible representation of the Police and comprise female officers on call to help.

*The Southern Indians don’t do Health & Safety*

*The clubhouse where British Army Officers would go – ladies not allowed!*

*First experience of the amazing Indian colours*

Dobi Khana – Laundry Facility

During the ‘Dutch Period’ the Dutch Government brought people from the Tamil Nadu and Malabar areas of India from Fort Chochi to wash their army’s uniform. They allocated 13 acres of land and set up 80 traditional sand bored ponds for the families for washing purposes. This continues to be run by the ancestors of those people.

*People still prefer to wash clothes by hand*

*very old fashioned iron (which works very well!)*

*Wall art of one of the original gentlemen who still works there.*

*Kochi Jew Town (without the negative association)*

*Sarah is the oldest Jewish lady remaining in Kochi*

Cochin Jews, also called Malabar Jews, are the oldest group of Jews in India, with possible roots claimed to date to the time of King Solomon. After India gained its independence in 1947 and although there was harmony amongst all of the religions in Cochi most of the Malabar Jews made Aliyah and emigrated from Kerala to Israel in the mid-1950s leaving a handful of Jews in Cochi. Sarah is the oldest of the Jewish ladies remaining and she runs a flourishing embroidery service.

Most of their synagogues are still existing in Kerala, whereas a few were sold or adapted for other uses. Among the 8 synagogues that had survived till the middle of 20th century, only the Paradesi synagogue still has a regular congregation and also attracts tourists as a historic site.

Another synagogue at Ernakulam operates partly as a shop by one of few remaining Cochin Jews. A few synagogues are in ruins and one was even demolished and a two-storeyed house was built in its place. The synagogue at Chendamangalam (Chennamangalam) was reconstructed in 2006 as Kerala Jews Life Style Museum.

The synagogue at Paravur (Parur) has been reconstructed as Kerala Jews History Museum

*As you would expect there are many spice shops*

In the afternoon we confined ourselves to two hours sleep to try and get over the inevitable jet lag and get into synchronisation with Indian time which led UK’s time by 5.5 hours

Evening Kathakali dance performance

Joy dropped us off at the theatre and as it was only a 10 minute walk from our hotel we let him go to spend his last night before with his family before driving us around Southern India for ten days.

This was a traditional Kathakali dance performance where the dancers primarily used facial expressions to tell the story. We got there in plenty of time to see the performers apply their elaborate (and colourful) make up.

There was a bit of a to do as when people arrived and occupied the front seats this obscured the view of those further back as the actors were actually lying down on the stage whilst having their make up applied. We let it go as we were far to relaxed to be concerned about this although we were told off for moving seats to get a better view!

*Dancer applying makeup in preparation for the nights performance*

*This is the King who was subjected to amorous advances*

*The lady who tried to seduce the king and had body parts cut off, including her breasts, because of her approaches!*

Tuesday 27th

*Over breakfast we saw local fishermen, this time operating by boat.*

*More of a conventional breakfast this morning!*

Transfer from Cochin to Munnar

After breakfast we should have had a 4 hour drive up into the tea hills to Munnar, followed by a 40 minute drive to our plantation bungalow. Having left at 09:30 we did not arrive until 18:20 that night!

We had been told the by Ganesh that the 4 hour journey would now be 5 hours due to a bridge being lost in the extreme weather 10 days previously meaning a longer route would be taken.

Later we found out that a temporary bridge had been built that had been washed away just 2 or 3 days earlier in another extreme bout of thunderstorm.

*An example of where the flood had taken away part of a hill, to end up on the road below*

*Modern day India – note the use of the mobile!*

Half day sightseeing tour of Munnar

We did have a quick lunch after meeting Raj, our guide for Munnar, then visited the Tea Museum in Munnar at around 14:00 for around an hour or so which was very interesting.

Raj introduced us to the Tata Tea Museum in Munnar showcased and highlighted some of the fascinating aspects on the evolution and growth of tea plantations.

We were invited to watch a video which conveyed the introduction and growth of the tea industry in India. The introduction of Chinese tea plants was by the stealing of tea plants and seedlings, which were regarded as property of the Chinese empire. From the first, Indian-grown tea proved extremely popular in Britain, both for its greater strength, and as a patriotic product of the Empire. Tea had been a high-status drink when first introduced, but had steadily fallen in price and increased in popularity among the working class.

Some of the unique items on display were the original tea roller and a rail engine wheel of the Kundale Valley Light Railway that shuttled men and material between Munnar and Top.

Raj took us into a small workshop for a private introduction into matters tea. It was clear that Raj was an expert in his subject. We then we’re took into the museum’s scaled down tea production plant.

We then we were took into the museum’s scaled down but fully operational tea production plant.

*Stage 1 – Cutting and grinding the leaves*

*Stage 2 – Heating the leaves to 104 degrees*

*Final Stage – Grading the leaves according to size*

Drive to plantation bungalow (45 mins – ha!)

The rest of the afternoon in Munnar never took place as we suddenly found the Plantation Bungalow chef had jumped into the passenger seat with no explanation as to his presence from Joy. We had assumed he was just getting a lift but it was at this point in time that Tim started to smell a rat….!

*Leaving Munar with the Chef (Lurch) having joined us…..*

The various folk at the Talayar Valley Bungalow, our destination, later became fondly known as various members of The Adams Family (1964 TV series, (you had to be there really)

So the chef sitting next to Joy engaged in frantic conversation with our driver was no other than Lurch.

*First view of the Tea Bushes. It’s starting to get foggy…..*

What should have taken 45 mins for this leg of the journey turned into a nightmare ride of near on four hours to stay at The Talayar Valley Bungalow (Blue Jay Suite) (Standard grade, Character) Full Board for 2 nights.

With Lurch sitting next to Joy we set off from Munnar and were told that we had to revert to using ‘estate roads’ as the main road was closed. For ‘estate road’ read dangerous, less than a cart widths, unmade, road often on the edge of a mountain with a rather large drop……

Then the fog came down!

We knew things were getting a tad worse when another bungalow employee (Cousin Itt) turned up on a motorcycle to show us the way. Cousin Itt appeared after we had taken a wrong turn, despite the presence of Lurch, our culinary expert with an extensive knowledge of the roads.

We occasionally lost sight of Cousin Itt due to the fog but Joy bravely kept going at, if anything, a greater speed when the visibility got poorer and the sheer drop to the side got closer…..

To be fair to Joy he did an excellent job in extremely difficult circumstances. Tim ‘had a word’ at the end of the journey about us being involved in any replanning – we just wanted to know what was going on. Joy took it well and went out of his way to fully involve us in every aspect from then on.

We arrived at 18:20, thoroughly stressed out and exhausted.

*Talayar Valley Bungalow (taken the next day)*

We met the Manager who we were told was named Ramish but we saw through this subterfuge and instantly recognised him as Gomez.

From then onwards Lurch prepared the food, Cousin Itt served it and Gomez made a general nuisance of himself, but in a nice but slightly creepy way. Morticia never turned up and Debbie reckoned that she had left Gomez some time earlier in the year. This would certainly explain the lack of cleanliness and hygiene we found throughout our stay at The Adams Family residence.

Gomez, with ill concealed pride, offered us chicken curry for dinner and what time would we like it. We requested 19:30 but had to point out we were vegetarians. In the event what was served was the sauce without its fowl basis.

Wearily we went to bed trying to convince ourselves that tomorrow would be better.

Wednesday 28th

Visit to the Talayar Tea Plantation

We awoke to brilliant sunshine and a view to die for, what an amazing region this was.

After breakfast at 10:00 Nigel, who was the bungalows housekeeper, took us on a walk from the bungalow to the Tea estate.

*The more modern horizontal planting of tea plants*

*A waterfall that was swollen through recent rain*

It was a wonderful walk which included removing our shoes to cross a stream as it was deeper than usual. Just before crossing the stream and when removing our shoes Nigel noticed a leech on Debbies foots. Nigel immediately plucked it from Debbies foot and treated it with the leaf from a nearby plant.

*Nigel’s expert treatment of Debbie’s foot, once he had removed the leech.*

Nigel expertly briefed us on:

* the tea plantation,

* the history of tea, the cropping method and how tea is harvested. We picked our own tea leaves which we later processed and finally drank the resulting tea!

*Debbie harvesting the tea leaves and throwing them over her head into the basket on her back*

*Then on to the factory to process our leaves*

*Entering the tea factory – manned by security guards – a throw back from the Clolonial days?*

*Our leaves just prior to going into the cutting machine*

*Once ground the leaves were put into an oven*

Next Nigel took us into the factory to see how tea is processed where unfortunately we were not allowed to photograph the fascinating process. The factory is a modern CTC (Cut, Tear, Crush) factory, where Nigel explained the intricate details of tea manufacture and took walked through the entire process. This was from the time the tea leaves arrive at the factory to it leaving the factory as packaged tea. We both found this hour long tour to be absolutely amazing.

He also be showed us the tea tasting process by the factory expert to learn about how to distinguish between the qualities of tea like colour, aroma and flavour.

*Tasting of the various types of tea, ours is on the far left*

We then ate our pre packed sandwiches as Joy drove us to the Eravikulam National Park, on the way there we saw some of the ladies working in the fields, harvesting the tea leaves

Visit to the Eravikulam National Park

* Eravikulam National Park is 97 sq. km. in extent, situated along the crest of the Western Ghats in Kerala state.
* The Park holds the largest viable population of the endangered Nilgiri Tahr.

* Apart from Tahr, the park is the abode of other little known fauna such as Nilgiri marten, ruddy mongoose, small clawed otter and dusky striped squirrel.

We waited for a few minutes for the bus that would take us to a reasonable point from the top. We alighted from the bus and found that Tim had left his phone on the seat. The security guards had been handed the phone and made sure that it was returned to it’s owner…very honest people!

There were many wild flowers and plants growing here. Among them,the Neelakurinji bush which produces purple flowers that only flower every twelve years, this being the year. We were very happy to spot and photograph it.

We didn’t see any other animals than the Tahr on our long climb to the top but they are a very attractive goat.

The views over the valleys were spectacular and despite not seeing more wildlife, the view should not be missed.

We returned to the bungalow and dinner with the” Adams” family.

Thursday 29th

Transfer from Munnar to Madurai

This morning drive which took around 5 hours from Munnar down the Western Ghats passing tea plantations to the Vaigai Plains with its coffee, grape and paddy fields to the temple town of Madurai. In doing so we crossed the border from the Kerala to the Tamil Nadu regions.

Madurai was a car, Tuk Tuk and bike crazy city which Joy navigated with ease (much to our amazement). Here we booked in to The Gateway Hotel (Superior Room)(First class, Modern) Bed & Breakfast for 3 nights. The difference in standard from our previous abode was as big as it could be, polar opposite from the bungalow we had left and no Adams family in sight!

Main restaurant

The hotel was lovely and built in the Colonial style. On arrival, we were greeted and told that we had been upgraded to an executive room. We had such a lovely spot the views over Madurai. We had lunch straight away and enjoyed watching the peacocks and little striped squirrels who were intent on retrieving any dropped food. The restaurant was very good here so there was certainly no need to go into town.

Friday 30th

Sightseeing tour of Madurai

We met with Siva and agreed with his proposed modification to our itinerary which was to cram more in today’s tour by strolling around the sights of Madurai.

Siva, our Guide

Siva is very proud of his country and especially Madurai, his passion was evident and totally justified. He showed us amazing aspects of its heritage, culture and way of life of its people. For an example if a young woman was, as Siva put it, a spinster and looking for a partner then she would wear her necklace outside of her dress. All woman wear a gold necklace and indeed their caste level is depicted by the quality of it. Further indicators of where the lady fitted in society were colour, style and quality of dress. Caste level was clearly an important aspect for Shiva who seems typical for a man of Shiva’s generation in India’s obviously patriarchal society.

We spent some time exploring the Meenahshi temple complex, the largest example of Dravidian architecture in Madurai. The vast complex comprises four colourfully carved towers (gopuram)

One of the towers in the Meenakshi complex

Inner lake filled with ‘holy water’

In the afternoon we walked around the numerous streets around the base of the temple and in the centre of Madurai. The bright and bustling markets were an amazing experience.

Many fresh vegetables

Siva took us to many ‘non tourist’ side streets

which were always very busy

Within the Clothes Market the goods were made on the spot

Saturday 1st December

Sightseeing tour of Madurai’s outlaying items of interest

Today we visited the outlaying temple – Nayak Palace complex and the water tank.

Debbie walked up the path with Shiva to arrive at a point just outside the temple where, much to Shiva’s delight, she got sprayed with ‘holy water’ from a hosepipe. Debbie found the whole experience amazing.

In the meantime Tim, who had declined the walk in bare feet up to the temple, was fascinated with the multitude of cheeky monkeys who were basically running riot in the Temples hillside care park. The monkeys were clearly used to pilgrims and worshippers parking and meeting there and the opportunities this presented….

Tim saw a pair of monkeys delving into a pair of motorcycle tank bags that the owners had foolishly left in place. They opened the zip and investigated the bags content discarding personal items including teeshirts underwear and other items in their search for food. When they came across a choc bar or similar they blatantly sat on the bike seat chomping their way through their stolen goods casually watching the world go by.

Further down the mountainside we visited the Alagar Kovil Temple with worshippers. Shiva pointed out a special tree where couples who are having difficulties having children go. They basically walked 3 times round the tree, often with their parents, in order that their God might bless them with children.

The afternoon visit to Jain caves was abandoned due to Tims aching feet.

Sunday 2nd

Transfer from Madurai to Periyar

At 08:00 this morning we set off and enjoyed a scenic drive crossing the Vaigai plains with paddy & sugarcane fields, to climb up the Western Ghats to the plantation & forest area of Periyar. The trip took around 5 hours.

It was during this transfer that having stopped to look at the pipeline that ran down the mountains to feed water into the hydro-electric power station that Debbie fell over on the uneven road. Although shaken Debbie did not seem any the worse for wear and we carried on with our journey.

We booked in to the Spice Village (Garden Cottage No 121) (First class, Traditional) Bed & Breakfast for 2 nights

Tour of a Spice Plantation

After lunch we were picked up by Joy and met Tambi, our guide. After a 15 minute drive we were shown around a smallholding that depicted the region’s principal spice producing areas in Kerala:
* we learned more about how the numerous aromatic and flavoursome spices are grown and used.
* Tambi identified and explained the various spices which included vanilla, nutmeg, pepper, turmeric, cloves and cardamom,
* Tambi also pointed out some more unusual spices and plants, as well as the many birds that flit around the gardens.

Upon returning to our cottage Debbie found her ankle, already bruised from the previous days fall, was swelling up and getting painful. We therefore skipped dinner and settled Debbie in for an early evening with cushions either side of her ankle to decrease her discomfort.

Monday 3rd

Periyar

This morning found Debbie in a lot of pain and Tim went to reception to organise a doctor. The hotel staff were amazing and the hotel doctor doctor turned up within minutes of Tim’s return to the cottage. After finding our about the circumstances of the injuries and examination he coated Debbie’s ankle with oil containing herbs and onion and left a leaf based healing herb in place. This was done after pressing the top of Debbie’s ankle and causing much pain but explained it would get the torn ligaments into alignment for a rapid repair!

The hotel staff once again excelled themselves and despite there being no room service brought a wonderful breakfast, specified by Debbie through Tim, to the cottage.

In the event we had a much appreciated lazy day by cancelling the morning walk and afternoon lake cruise.

After breakfast Debbie stayed in bed and slept while Tim toured around the hotel grounds eventually having lunch in the second restaurant along with two glasses of the excellent ‘Sula’ white local wine.

Both Tim and Debbie slept in the afternoon!

Debbie made excellent progress and her ankle was good enough to transport her to the restaurant for dinner. We had the best curry of the trip then which was washed down with the red version of the Sula local wine, this being the first day of alcohol consumption since Cochi.

Tuesday 4 Periyar – River Cruise Alleppey

Transfer from Periyar to Alleppey

We woke up to rain and realised how lucky we were having had lovely sunshine for our previous two days. After breakfast of egg on toast and much coffee we were driven from Periyar to Alleppey in the backwaters down the Western Ghats.

Tim’s feet were blessed!

We passed many tea & rubber plantations and stopped close to our destination to investigate a rubber tree which quite frankly was amazing. Joy organised the local farmer to show the tree where he cut a diagonal ridge which then bled rubber liquid. We were amazed at the flow of white rubber directly from the tree.

Locally made bricks

Our scenic drive took around 5 hours and towards the end Debbie found it increasingly difficult due to the continual cornering and braking accelerating of Joys typical Indian driving. All was well however when we stopped.

Overnight onboard a converted rice barge (Premier Houseboat) for 2 nights

After arrival at Lakes & Lagoons (Standard grade, Traditional) Full Board and a brief registration process we boarded our rice barge in plenty of time for lunch which was served around 20 minutes after setting off. Just before this we said a sorrowful goodbye to Joy, who we both loved. He is such a humble man with a great sense of humour. With a twinkle in his eye he would put over a point and when laughing, which he did on a regular basis, he wobbled all the way down from his head to his toes. He will be missed a great deal.

Onboard we were met by Suresh, our chef, Moduh, our Captain and Shadi who shared in all of the duties including keeping our bedroom and dining room clean.

We spent the afternoon lazing around our ‘houseboat’ meandered through the tranquil network of canals and lakes formed by the 40 odd rivers that flow down to the Arabian Sea from the hills inland.

The scenery was idyllic and we sailed along shallow palm-fringed waterways where we saw coconuts and cashews being loaded on to dugout canoes, fishermen carefully mending their nets, and children waved excitedly from small villages as we slowly glided past.

The houseboat had a private air-conditioned bedroom with en-suite bathroom, and all meals were served onboard. The food is traditional local Keralan cuisine and was absolutely delicious! This was a truly wonderful experience and a highlight of the amazing tour.

At around 15:00 we moored up and disembarked. From the same small jetty we boarded a canoe with one other person and set off for the very narrow canals. Debbie and Tim both helped row which took a fair bit of effort bearing in mind the heat / humidity. More than once little children came to the waters edge, waved and briefly spoke. They were all endearingly friendly, smiley and enthusiastic, wanting to know our names. We had time, as we passed, to exchange names and laughter.

Having moored up at 17:00 we had dinner at 20:00 which comprised of fish curry along with chapati rice, beetroot rice, papadums and other items. Apparently there had been a disagreement between the fishermen who used the waters and the straw barges. In the end the Government decreed that barges must not sail between the hours of 17:00 and 06:00.

We went to bed around 20:40 totally worn out – clearly too much relaxing had taken place. We were not in bed before thunder and lightning took place. We turned out the lights and witnessed a wonderful sound / light show. It started to rain just as we slipped into sleep…

Wednesday 5th

Last nights rain and thunderstorm had cleared the air and it was a gorgeous sunny day starting with just the right temperature.

We headed off to narrower canals and saw much more of the ‘real India’. The humidity remained at a much lower yesterday and was superb. It was wonderful to see this aspect of India.

We stopped and moored up in Champakulam where we disembarked and strolled around the shops and sights. We went into a magnificent Christian church and very much felt the presence of the Holy Spirit. We both silently prayed and gave thanks to God.

Debbie bought three scarves, one for each of the managers of Shipston Care and one for herself. We also bought a small elephant carving to remind us of our visit when back home.

Later, at around 15:30 we stopped for Tim to visit an Indian massage studio. After a thorough beating up he returned completely relaxed and in a state of awe!

We moored up opposite Moonnattinmukkam jetty where the company owned property.

Thursday 6th

Transfer from Alleppey – The PhilipKutty Farm, Kumarako

We departed Moonnattinmukkam jetty at 06:20 so we could get to our next destination, The Philipkutty’s Farm (Waterfront Villa) for 2 nights (Standard grade, Character) Full Board, in between 09:00 to 09:30. We never did figure out why the arrival at ‘chip butties’ was brought forward from late afternoon but equally were too relaxed to ask.

But the departure was only after Tim getting up at 05:40 as he wanted to record the river’s wildlife waking up (and that of humans too for that matter). It was amazing to hear the wildlife awaken with their numerous and different sounds. The first boat to go by was a ferry which apparently starts at 05:00 every morning.

We docked at chip butties at 09.20 to a lovely welcome by Joseph. Joseph has been in place for 24 years, has 2 sons with one of them a chef working in Dubai of which he is very proud. Later we met Raju who is a carpenter and has made the beautiful tables and chairs around the farm complex.

We also met Anu who is the lady who owns chip butties.

We then had a stroll round and returned to our villa where later we met Canadians Grant and Sandra who, having arrived 10 minutes earlier, strolled past our villa.

Friday 7th

Transfer from Kumarakom to Mararikulam

Marari Beach Resort (Garden Pool Villa),(First class, Character),Bed & Breakfast.

Anu provided us with a boat and ‘driver’ to get us across the river to the mainland where we waited a few minutes for our driver to turn up. Sony was another nice guy who only took around 40 minutes to get to our next and final destination.

All of the places we stayed had good security

The Marari is owned by the CGH group who also own a couple of the places we have stayed previously on this holiday.

The resort is lovely and the perfect place for us to totally relax for 3 days before our flight home. Full marks to Vicki Curnick of Travellers World for organising such a magnificent holiday / tour.