Maldives - Good dives

So we splashed out on a bit of luxury for a week, giving our ears and respiratory tracks a bit of well deserved time off from the barrage of sensory insults India had thrown at us.
Well the resort could have been a little more pleasing to the eye, but the location was amazing, just want you'd expect really.
The main reason for coming was the diving and weren't disappointed. The coral was in great shape and the fishlife was in abundance. We also got to see some manta rays, the crowning glory!

It was also here that we heard the fantastic news about the birth of Si and Caroline's first child. Congratulations guys!! Thanks for the pic of little Benjamin!

As ever the days went so fast but we weren't too bothered about this as we knew what was in store for us afterwards.....Sri Lanka

Final few Indians days ( for a while anyway)!

Next stop was the cliff top 'resort' of Varkala, beautiful sea views, gorgeous sea food ,good beaches with a bit of surf. Also hardly any traffic! So it was a few days of relaxing and kicking back.

I made the mistake of having a massage in which I was declothed and wrapped in 2 tiny pieces of fabric in a fashion which would have made a sumo wrestler look over dressed. On hearing my cries of protest my 'masseur' convinced me it was "traditional". I wanted to tell him that although sacrificing virgins is "traditional" somewhere ( where, I'm still not sure) , it still doesn't make it 'alright'. The only positive thought was that he remained fully clothed. He then proceeded to cover me (baste, I think is more apt) in heat producing oil, probably chili based. Once I was nicely marinaded the real torture began. Thankfully the whole ordeal didn't last for as long as I thought it was going to, maybe my concentrating on not slipping off the table produced a false sense of time.

"So? Feeling relaxed?" he asked. " I am now you've finished!" I replied, but I don't think he understood the humour. So quick sharp I got out of my minimalistic mummy suit and gave him the slip , I knew all that oil would eventually come in handy.

We then took a "superfast" train down to Trivandrum to catch our flight knowing that we wouldn't be in this country again for about 6 weeks. It gave us time to think and reflect on this first section of India. As with all countries there is good and bad and this is certainly true with India. In my opinion most of the bad points stem from the gross overcrowding, but it also means getting around is quite easy, as the transport system has to be good to accommodate such a large population. We've just about got a handle on the train system, but there are always a few surprises like figuring out a 'Fast' train is actually quite slow, a 'Superfast' train is actually somewhere near approaching fast, and the word Express , as in the Delhi Express, simply means ' train'.

Oh India, we will miss you!

Chilling out (and warming up) in Kochin

Alright, a quick update. We moved on to a little honey farm-cum-hostal, Honey Valley, in the Western Ghats, near a town called Viajpet. It was gorgeous and so nice to get out of the hustle and bustle that typifies India. We ended up chilling out there for an extra day, enjoying the sounds of nature and eating the delicious food that seemed oil free. There aren't many stories to share as we didn't really do anything, but it was wonderful and the people there (both working and the tourists) were awesome.

After a few days of relaxing and hiking around Honey Valley we took the worst bus we have had so far (still not that bad, really) over to the coastal town of Kannur. We had booked ahead to get into a small hostel (which used to be a weaving factory) called Costa Malabari which is run by the very friendly Kurran, the local expert on theyyams. A theyyam is essentially a pre-Hindu ritual where after the medium has applied his make-up and head-dress he literally embodies the god. The whole experience was excellent. As there was no theyyam going on at the temple, we were lucky enough to see one being performed at a house-warming party. We were treated with the best in Indian hospitality, being fed and watered liberally and everyone wanting to shake our hands and have a chat. As an added bonus everyone we went with was great and we all really enjoyed it, though I was glad to sit down and have a good slug of water.

We arrived in the coastal town of Kochin a few days ago and (I know it's repetitive) we are really enjoying it here. Indians are all generally nice, but the people in Kochin seem exceptionally friendly. We did a great tour of the city with one of the nice and knowledgeable auto-rickshaw drivers who showed us around the spice market (cool) and a few palaces and temples and things of that nature. He even let Phil have a go at his auto-rickshaw, much to his delight. We ended up calling an end to our tour so we could have something to eat. Speaking of the end, it's time for us to head over to catch the kathakali.