Kochi

It was really hot when we arrived in Kochi. We got a room and crashed. Bizzarely we bumbed into a girl we had met up in Khajorao and she told us of some festival happening in town. So Col, myself, Louise (Irish girl) and the crowd we met in Mysore (2 Brits, Canadian, Dutch and Argentinian) all headed in to the festival. There we saw a load of Elephants marching down the street with horns blowing and loads more going on. It was great fun. The group really gelled and we had agood laugh. The next day I couldn't get myself out of the bed. I was still really tired. I reckon all the travelling and sleepless nights on overnight busses were catching up with me. I didn't get up till 1. We bummed around town looking for business cards for ourselves. every tom dick and harry seems to have business cards so we thought we might as well get in on the act. Easier said than done. Nobody could tell us where we could get them made. Some day!! In the evening we headed to a Katakali performance. Its a dance thingy where there asrer no wors but only facial expressions and hand movements. It was fine for the first half hour but got tedious after that. I was glad when it was over. We met Louise and went for dinner. For dinner we went to a place where you can buy your own fresh fish and bring it to a shack to get it cooked. BBetween us we got a massive plate of shrimp, a crab and a pretty big Red Snapper. It was delicious. We were all stuffed afterwards. The good eating in India continues :) THe next day we went on a Backwaters tour where we take a canoe ride through small streams and rivers and see the how the locals live. We saw rope being made from the fibres of old coconut shells. That was really amazing to see the women do their stuff. Also one of our guides limbed a coconut tree, using only a small bit of rope, to collect some coconuts so we could drink the water from them. Colin tried to climd the tree the same way but failed miserably. I on the other hand was smart enough not to make a holy show of myself and refrained from attempting to climb the tree.. It was a really nice day. So relaxed. while on the water we saw an old skin of a snake that had molted, a few kingfisher birds with their fantastic colours, a number of jellyfish and a water snake speeding through the water. Altogether a good day and highly recommended. That night we said our goodbyes to all the other travellers because we were heading south and the others were staying in Kocji a bit longer. The next day was a bus to Munnar to see the tea plantations.