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.