Kanyakumari (Cape Comorin)

Tuesday 25th January

Asked for a seat for the 3 hour train trip today to Kanyakumari (Cape Comorin), which is more expensive than a free-for-all ticket. They said I could sit anywhere in the non-AC sleeper carriages. Which was fine, except all those seats were occupied and lots of people were standing. But after an hour or so, lots of people got off and I had heaps of space. The hostel I planned to stay at had no dormitory (renovation) and only expensive rooms. Found this place, still a bit expensive, but ok. I am here a few days so will see what else is here.

Kanyakumari is the southern most point in all of India. Its only a small town, but I have four days here before making my way north; so I am trying save the sightseeing for later in the week. So I just had a wander round the bazaar, had some good food then came back to watch Eat, Love, Pray on my laptop.

Wednesday 26th January

Australia Day and India's Republic Day. Got up, earlyish, and did my washing in a bucket in the room. It took a while, and certainly needed doing. At first I hung the wet clothes in my room, trying not to draw attention to it as sometimes hotels don't want you to do your own washing....but it didnt seem to be drying so I took it to the end of the external corridor and hung it over the balcony, directly in the sunlight. Perfect. I sat there reading my book, with an ocean view and clean clothes.

Went to the tourist information office which was 'closed' but someone was there and I asked him if there would be any celebrations of Republic Day and he said no, though I am not sure he completely understood me. (He just gave me a leaflet about the town - which was gratefully received, and I will use, but didnt answer my question).  But here in the state of Tamil Nadu they do not necessarily consider themselves part of Inida and some would quite like to be seperated, so perhaps there is no enthusiasm for Republic Day.

In the past few weeks I have found myself being a bit impatient with, and rude to, the locals when things don't go smoothly. Once I realised this, I didnt like myself for it and have been trying to get back to happy-go-lucky Pete from before. Such behaviour may also be part of the Indian experience, ups and downs. I have definitely been better in recent days. Here is an everyday example of how things can be frustrating, things that normally I would happily get through, but had been bothering me recently.........

I thought I would try a locals diner for dinner, rather than the touristy places, as I often do. They had a list of dishes, including veg curry, in English, on an A-Board outside, so I sat down and asked for veg curry. A tall guy leans over me and just looks blankly at me as I repeat my order. "Banana" he says. "No, veg curry and rice, please". I think he said banana again before pointing at  the fried fish and chicken out the front. "No, vegetarian. Curry. Rice, no meat". If you are going to advertise that you serve veg curry then surely you need to be able understand when someone orders it! Now, all this is written from my point of view of course, I expect he and the other staff watching have a whole different perspective on it.

Anyway, so he steps aside without making it clear whether he has understood, which is frustrating. They don't indicate whether or not they understand, but its just a cultural thing......a few seconds later another guy stands over me and I repeat my order a couple of times and they get it. Anyway, the rice wasnt very warm, the sauce was very spicy and there were not many vegies.

Indian people don't generally say "Please" or "Thank you" or "here you are" to each other, in shops or restaurants. Sometimes just a small wiggle of the head to acknowledge what they have given or received. I think I had started to think that if they don't use courteous words, then I won't bother either. But this was just making seem grumpy and insolent so I have gone back to being polite even if it does not seem important to the locals.

After dinner I walked down to the water and got chatting with a tourists driver. His English was good and he was friendly. But he kept asking why I had not been to certain places, without giving me the chance to say that I can't do everything. Anyway, he was cool. He had his bonnet open to catch the cool evening breeze off the sea, after a long days driving. He also confirmed that there is no celebration here for Republic Day.

Stop press.....except there were a few fireworks later, let off from the back of a hotel. People stopped to look but there was gathering.


Thursday 27th January

Checked into a different hotel this morning. Its a bit cheaper and the guy was more friendly, but only a bucket shower. Did the sightseeing in Kanyakumari, the southern tip of India that runs into the Arabian Sea, the Indian Ocean and the Bay of Bengal. So in theory I could swim to Perth from here.

The Gandhi Memorial is a playful bright marshmallow-pink with not much inside. I walked past the fishermen unknotting their nets and past the small, coloured village houses, to the white Catholic church; there was a wedding on. The bride was wearing a sari and a white veil and there was no seating, the small congregation sitting on the floor, the bride and groom on plastic chairs. The music was 80's synth pop with Hindi/Tamil singing.

Next I queued up and caught the beaten-up old ferry 400 metres across to the Vivekananda Memorial. Surprisingly, they gave us life jackets, which were a bit old but would have been better than nothing as the sea was quite choppy. Vivekananda was a swami who spread his moral message overseas. Not bad, the locals seemed to like it. There is also a huge statue of Tamil poet Thiruvalluvar, though you can't visit the island he is on.

Went to the Kumari Amman Temple. Men have to remove their shirt as well as shoes to enter. It was dark inside and it felt like being underground. You enter in stages and there was some waiting around; I got my first Indian paint spot planted on my forehead. There are signs saying 'silence' but the locals ignore that and talk and shout as if they are at the market. We went into a second chamber and there was a bit of a squash and I couldn't quite see what was happening, but I dont  think I missed much. Any chance of a spiritual experience was lost in the chatter and pushing.

Had a cat nap in the afternoon then walked a couple of kms to sunset park where I read for a while. As often happens, the sun went behind a cloud of haze long before it would have gone over the horizon. Oh well, there were lots of Indian tourists hanging around too. I walked back and found some kiosks and resturants I hadn't seen before. Got dosa masala. An Indian Christian family asked me what religion I am "Hindu?, Christian?" and they laughed when I said "no religion".

Not a great night's sleep, with the very loud Indian music blarring from the street around midnight and at 6am. And the noisy torrent of water from the cistern competing with the music.


Friday 28th January

Lazy lie-in. Dipped my feet in the sea, the same as I did at the southern most point of Africa. After lunch, went to the train station to book a ticket for next week. The trains are getting booked out far in advance so although I don't like to plan ahead, I have to if I want to see all the things I still want to see before my visa runs out.

I walked on up the road to an ashram to the Vivekananda exhibition. We had to wait an hour before it opened (I kind of knew that before I went). Met Elsa from Taiwan and we sat outside chatting until they let us in 20 minutes late. Vivekananda was a swami and in the 1890s he toured India spreading his spiritual and moral message. He then meditated on the rock here, just off Kanyakumari and decided to spread his message to the world. He went to New York to a gathering of world religious leaders, and, apparently, took the place by storm, winning lots of respect, partly because he said that no single religion is more important than any other, and that the west should concentrate on spirituality rather than material wealth.

Elsa and I walked back into town and walked along the pier made of rocks out to sea, then had dinner and sat near the beach.  I hadn't spoken much in the last couple of days as there are only a few tourists here, so it was good to have someone to hang out with.

Ooty, Kerala Backwaters, Kollam and Varkala

Thursday 20th January

Last night I skyped with Mum and Dad for my birthday. Didn't find anyone to hang out with so drank some whiskey while watching football and Terminator in my room.

This morning arranged to maybe go on a houseboat in Kerala with some Aussies I met here. At 2pm, I got the miniature, old-fashioned steam train down the mountain from Ooty. Lucky to have a window seat for views of the tea plantations and alpine forests. Waited at Mettupalayam station for a couple of hours then onto train to Coimbatore. Friendly local guy insisted I shared his home-made (mother-made) chapatis and chutney - delicious. Also befriended two Russian girls and an Israeli guy, who are always playing backgammon - I had seen them playing at the Guest House in Ooty, during the day and in the cold evening. We had a 4 hour wait at Coimbatore, so went to a bar, where the others played their backgammon. A bit worried when Thalia downed her rum in one swig - if we carried on like that we won't make it onto the train. Went into other bars but all men, and not really comfortable for the girls. Ended up in a canteen-type place for another drink before heading back to the station. I left the others for my midnight train to Ernakulam, Kerala.


Friday 21st January

Arrived in Ernakulam at 4:30am, which was always going to be a bit annoying. The hotels around the station were full or expensive, so I waited until 7am, then sent Aussie Ben a text to see where they were in Kochin. I walked to the bus stop and got the local bus, 20 minutes, to Kochin. Watched the fishermen collect their catch from the Chinese fishing nets, then met the Aussies and we had breakfast. Then they collected their stuff from their Guest House and we got the bus back to Ernakulam to get the train to Alleppy.

At Alleppey, five of us and our bags in one tuk-tuk, went to the HouseBoat Jetty. Bartered a bit with the guy running the first boat we saw. Had a wander along the river but the other boats were bigger than we needed, so we agreed to take the first boat we had seen, at 11:30 tomorrow morning. The same guy then took us to a reasonable hostel. We dumped our bags and went into town. Had fantastic meal, sharing prawns and chicken curry and paneer masala and veg spring rolls and lime juice.

Had a walk around town, which has a couple of canals running through it, it is a gateway to the Kerala Backwater, which is where the houseboats go. We stocked up on booze and fruit and, via the long way, got a tuk-tuk back to the hostel.

Saturday 22nd.

We got a tuk-tuk to where the Houseboat leaves from. This was a different jetty to where we chose the boat yesterday, and we would have had more choice had we been there yesterday. I guess the tuk-tuk driver from the train station took us to his mates boat rather than where most of them are docked. Oh well. We started to get annoyed until the boat left, 20 minutes late. 4 young Aussies, (Ben, Kathryn, Amy and Camile), Me and 3 staff set off into the backwaters, the main part being a large lake, with lots of similar boats doing the same thing. They soon gave us an excellent lunch, chapati, chicken curry, curd, veggies. We spent the afternoon lolling around, reading and chatting. At 5pm we docked for the evening, this allows the local fishermen to work undisturbed, not that we saw any. The others had a swim but I didnt fancy it....

Dinner was even better than lunch. The chef cooked fish and veggies, and the Tiger Prawns that we had bought earlier. They were pretty good, although quite small by the time we had peeled them. We drank some beer and listened to tunes into the evening. Around 10pm, the staff gestured for us to go to bed, as their beds were in the lounge room bit of the boat we were in. Good job we didnt really want to party.

Sunday 23rd January

They gave us breakfast and then we made the short trip back to the jetty. So we hadnt really gone far, we were back earlier than promised and they never took us to the village as promised. So overall it wasnt the best thing ever but we had a nice enough time and got to see the famous Backwaters. It was good for me to have people to share the trip with as I would not have done it by myself.


I said goodbye to the others and got another jam-packed local bus 2 hours to Kollam. I want to see a few sea-side towns in the next couple of days. In Kollam I wandered round in the heat for about 45 minutes, stubbornly looking for a cheap place, after an expensive time on the Houseboat. After a few disappointments, a guy on a market stall saw me and handed me a business card for a place down the road which I eventually found and was 'ideal'. The owner said "its just a room, shared bathroom" "thats fine", I said. And it is!

I walked 2kms to the beach, where it is too dangerous to swim. Listened to my podcast for a bit then walked down a country lane parallel with the beach. Got a bit annoyed at people looking at me, (I haven't seen any other white people here) but I know I shouldnt let it bother me. Then a group of about 8 guys dropped back and waited for me, then started talking to me. I dont mean to be grumpy but they get quite excitable and often don't make much sense, but they did like football and I managed to get last nights results out of them. I left them and walked back along the beach, read my book in the shade, got some late lunch, went to the jetty and read some more and came back. Well, Kollam is not the most memorable place but I am not in a hurry at this stage so its all good.


Monday 24th January

For shorter train trips, you don't make a reservation, its just a free-for-all, which in India often means a big scrum to get onto the train and then no room to breathe once you are on the train. I bought my ticket to Varkala this morning and the train was already on the platform so I ran/waddled with my bag and could see the train slowly moving away and that the carriage was already packed, so I jumped onto one that looked a bit quieter, quieter because it was the sleeper carriage, where my ticket is not valid. But i just plead ignorance and the conductor was fine as long as i was stood in the corridor.

At Varkala, could only find expensive hotel near the station, but figured that would work out as cheap as getting tuk-tuks to and from a cheaper place near the beach.  Without high expectations, I walked through the small, busy town, down the palm-tree-lined country road for maybe 45 minutes and to the beach, which has high cliffs above it. The surf is quite rough with not many swimmers. I took the steps up to the cliff where there are many restaurants and hotels all setup for (better off) tourists. The beach and surrounds are beautiful and it was all very nice but very commercial and I have done all my beach dwelling for India so I just went for a long enjoyable scenic walk along the cliffs and the beach and then headed back to the hotel mid-afternoon. Watched football and Dracula comedy.

Ooty

Tuesday 18th January

Didnt get a great nights sleep as the only other guy in the hostel, an Indian guy, was chatting to his wife at 1:20am. Got some snacks and went to the tour agents at the arranged time of 9:15am. By the time we left town to start the tour it was after 10:30.

The old minibus was mainly Indian tourists but I was ushered to sit next to the only white person, Steve the Liverpool fan from Bournemouth. The tour was of the surrounding countryside and the animal Sanctuary. The area is heavily forested has lots of hairpin bends and great lookouts so we stopped a few times to walk around. The driver soon said that we might like to give him a $5 or $10 tip at the end, yet the tour only costs $5. Anyway we stopped in a few scenic points where many movies are filmed and then at Pykara Waterfall which was beautiful, the river flowing over the rocks. After the driver had changed the tyre we had a couple more stops then stopped for lunch (pretty sure the driver gets commission for stopping there every day).

The we entered Mudumalai National Park. There are tigers there but only a slim chance of seeing one. But we saw some big and baby elephants and lots of deer. We got back to Ooty after dark and when we got off the bus we were a bit lost so had to get a tuk-tuk. We got some grog and went back to Steve's and chatted about music (he's the same generation as me) and he was trying to show me how to play piano, on his ipad (he's in a band). Walked back through the near-deserted streets, Ooty goes to sleep at 10am (except there was some kind of show going on in a marquee, i think something to do with a new temple).

At midnight I swigged some bad whiskey to celebrate my 40th birthday.


Wednesday 19th January

So I woke up on my 40th birthday in a big empty dorm room. Got a tuk-tuk to the more luxurious Reflections hotel, at the other end of town, overlooking the lake. Had a vegie puff for breakfast, got some snacks and went for one hour walk around the lake, along the country lanes. Omelette sandwich. Got the bus 10kms uphill to Doddabetta. Its then a steep 2km walk upto the lookout, which was tiring given the altitude. But the views of the Nilgiris and Ooty are amazing. What a beautiful place to have a birthday!

I walked back down via a shortcut track that a couple of local ladies showed me. The path took me through small villages with people going about their business and an older guy stopped me for a chat and shook my hand. Back in town had a look around the shoes shops for some trekking boots for Nepal, and ate deep fried spicy soya balls and spaghetti off the street - delicious.

There were some processions in town to mark the opening of the new Jain Temple which is made of marble and is very white. Jain is a branch of Hinduism, I am told. Nothing black is allowed inside the temple so I had to leave my small backpack ouitside. The inside was all white and beautiful; intricate hand-carved statues and icons on along the walls.

There are christians, muslims and hindus all living happily together, here in Ooty.

 

Chennai and Ooty

Monday 10th January.

Washing clothes, shave, sitting around.

Tuesday 11th January

Sitting around, reading. To Goan Corner for dinner and card games.

Wednesday 12th January

Up a bit earlier than usual. Packed up, said goodbye and headed across the river. Cheap tuk-tuk to Hospet bus station and then tuk-tuk to train station. A bit early, 3 hour wait. Then complete chaos as too many people crush into unresevered seating area. I was stood in the short corridor, between the toilets. Because there was no choice, a man was in there, smoking, with his young daughter, and 3 other guys. Not comfortable standing for 2 hours, and a big crush getting off at Guntanka, as people get on. Changed to sleeper train to Chennai. Met American Tony and chatted with locals before sleep. Finished The Alchemist

Thursday 13th January

Train arrived early in Chennai, 4:40am. Eventually Tony and I got cheap tuk-tuk to hotel but no rooms. Sat around for a while then Tony found a room for us in another hotel. Cat nap and then wandered into the street and met the Chileans. We had a wander around the north of the city and George Town. Back to real India after so long of sitting around in the peace and quiet.

In the evening, the four of us went out for dinner, kinda for my birthday which is next week. The Chileans gave me a birthday present, a t-shirt with my year of birth on - 1978! We went to a Wine Shop which is a hole-in-the-wall, usually with prison-style bars between customer and seller. They just sell spirits, no wine I don't think and these places attract some 'interesting' characters. We drank the whiskey back at the hotel while watching Ice Age.


Friday 14th January

Had to check out at 6:40am as that was the time we checked in yesterday. So i went to the Chileans room and had coffee and thensaid goodbye as I probably won't see them now until we are all in Oz. Walked round to the Salvation Army and checked in to the dorm. The zip on my backpack finally broke.

Walked for about 90 minutes through the city; Chennai is ok, better than I expected. Met Steve outside the Sheraton and we went for breakfast/lunch. Steve had a driver for 3 days so we went looking for something to secure my bag. The driver took us to a few expensive malls but I couldnt find what I wanted so may need to buy a new bag. Steve bought some shirts and a suit.

Went to '10 Downing Street' pub to check out the football but they soon asked us to leave as it is couples only after 6:30pm, and we didnt quite live up to the dress code either. We came back towards the hostel and I had dinner and Steve went back to his guest house. I had a wander round the other side of the hostel. There were loads of people around, shopping, and festive atmosphere for the Pongal Festival which is like New Year and harvest festival. There was also a large model pot with rice boiling over, to signify that they eat Pongal rice at this time, it is sweet rice. As part of the festival, the locals also make patterns on the pavement using painted rice. In the hostel chatted to Korean girl who was having trouble with the dentist. Finished off the whiskey.


Saturday 15th January

For convenience, I moved into Steve's guest house. Had a different driver and he took us to a cheaper k-mart-type place where they had a good quality backpack for 1500 rupees ($34) so with a heavy heart, I bought it. This means no longer using my backpack which I have had since 1992 and has seen so many places. Steve is taking it home and I might try to get the zip fixed.

The driver took us to Chennai beach which is very wide and was very busy, being the weekend and Pongal. The sea is far too rough to get in, but, again, it was good for people watching and I had bhel puri.   About 200 people drowned here in the Boxing Day tsunami.

We then went on to  to St (doubting) Thomas church/basilica. St Thomas apparently brought Christianity to Southern India before dying. We also saw the cave where Thomas hid and a rock that was indented from him leaning on it to pray. There is also a wooden pole which he is said to have put in the ground to keep to keep the sea away. The tsunami didnt get that far.

Steve took us out to dinner at the posh Rain Tree terrace restaurant with city views. I had a meat sizzler with loads of great veggies - delicious. After, we bought some whiskey and drank it while watching the footy. Also had some chocolate cake as kinda birthday cake.


Sunday 16th January

At lunchtime went to collect Steve's new clothes. Then the driver took us to animal park where they have birds, crocs, monkeys and deer locked up in small enclosures.  But it was good to people watch and chat.

After lunch we had a wander round. Steve bought some gifts for the girls then we went
 for a walk near Steve's guest house, before settling down to more football and whiskey. Around 9pm the driver took us to the train station, I said goodbye to Steve and he went on to the airport to fly home.

10pm departure from Chennai to Coimabatore.


Monday 17th January

Arrived in Coimbatore at 6am. Couldnt work out how to get to the bus stop i needed so got a tuk-tuk. Good driver said 'I am a muslim so it is my duty to make sure you get the right bus', which he did. On the bus to Ooty I kinda kicked out the kid on the front seat, and I had a great view as we made our way up the mountain, 14 hairpin bends, great scenery. This area is known as the Western Ghats and has big blue skies, pine forests and mountain air. Definitely a good place to be for my birthday. Booked into the cheap Youth Hostel dorm, thinking it would be sociable, but I am the only one in this 30 bed room.

Went to find a better hostel to stay in for my birthday. Booked train tickets, had lunch and made plans for the next week or so, always enjoyable. Walked up to St Stephens church which was nice on the inside and the outside. Late afternoon I went to the lovely Botanical Gardens, lots of young folk and families having a pleasant time; I will go again. Booked a tour for tomorrow.

Hampi

Wednesday 5th January

The sights around Hampi are quite spread out. You could take a bicycle but we decided to hire a tuk-tuk to take us around. So after coffee at the Chileans' we met our driver, Mr Paul, and headed out to the ruins. Well, it was ok, but we were templed-out before we started really so we just wandered around, enjoying the sunshine and scenery, rather than feeling the need to know much about the temples. We had lunch then I left the Chileans to catch their bus. Went up to the high boulders for the sunset but too much haze. Gangster movie back at the hostel. Good chat with Danish Alun about Nook, Greenland, cricket and his political activism.


Thursday 6th January

Slept in again. Partly laziness, but also because I have 5 days to kill here, not that I am complaining. After porridge I hired a bicycle and headed out into the countryside, and had a great time. It was good to see rural village life again. Kids coming out to say Hi, guys bathing their water buffalo, ladies sewing crops, guys ploughing with either animals or a tractor. Hampi is great but the town is all based on tourism. Every shop is either an internet cafe, travellers clothes shop or money exchange. Where is the real Hampi? Its been similar in other towns. So that made today's ride in the countryside so much better! Along the way, I climbed upto the monkey temple and admired the 360 view from the top. I unwittingly rode in a 3 hour loop, then headed into Anegundi village before heading home. There is more to see so will probably go out again another day.


Friday 7th January

Didnt do much today. Sitting around reading. Walked up to Sunset point and met Austrian Katrin and made plans for tomorrow and had dinner and a movie.


Saturday 8th January

After porridge, met up with Austrian Katrin and 2 American guys and we hired bikes. We headed towards a small village and then onto the resevoir/lake. There is a very old sign that says Beware of the Crocodiles but we asked the locals and they assured us there are no crocodildes - hmmm...Well anyway, we found a quiet spot on a rock and jumped in, the water was cool and refreshing. We sat there in the sun and read until it got quite crowded. The others went onto the Monkey temple and I came back.

As i arrived back, there were more police around than usual and I thought it might be a drugs bust, but I had missed the demolition derby as some brick bungalows next to us were knocked down by a bulldozer cos the owners never got planning permission (or paid enough baksheesh). The police were there to make sure nobody tried to stop the demolition.  In the evening went to see Trainspotting with Ollie and Chris.

Sunday 9th January

Sleeping, reading, internet is off in Hampi. Huge, delicious falafel for lunch. More sitting around with Aussie Emmanuela. Cards, watched Into the Wild. Its going to be hard to leave Hampi!

Om Beach and Hampi

Sunday 2nd January 2011

Slept in again. Hung out with musical chillum-puffing gang then in the evening I checked out and walked along the beach to Namaste Cafe to get a taxi jeep to the bus stand. There were a couple of other tourists going the same way so we shared the cab. 2 hours at the bus stand, which is fine, better early than late, although the tea I bought there tasted like washing up water. I hadnt realised that my bed on the bus would be a double and that I would be sharing with another, male, tourist. I think our bums touched in the night but that was as far as it went.


Monday 3rd January 2011

Arrived in Hampi at 7am after bumpy but ok journey. Tried to find the Chilean's hostel but couldnt so crossed the river to find a place. Hampi is split into 2 by a small river, less than 100 metres wide. But the only way across is on a small wooden boat with an outboard motor. Being India, they like to get as many people, and motorbikes, on the boat as possible (30?)

Anyway so I am staying at Little Italy Restaurant and Guest House, and its cheap as chips. Outside loo and shower, and the room is like a prison cell but thats fine, its just somewhere to sleep. Slept until lunchtime then went and found the Chileans. Had dinner together and then i wanted to head back across the river.... I knew the last boat crossed at 6pm but had been told that there is always another boat there that runs in the night and you have to pay 10 times the normal price. The first time we went down there there was no boat so I was going to stay the night at the Chileans hostel but asked a guy in the shop about crossing the river, and he made a call and when i went back down there was a guy with a boat and 3 other stranded tourists. This boat was like an upturned cereal bowl, made of bamboo and sandbags, but it was fine. Apparently the boatman just paid a huge bribe to the local cops so he can continue his trade by night. It would be so easy to just build a footbridge so there must be something dodgy going on there too. Anyway, when i got I sat in the restaurant watching Scarface and chatting to a Czech and a French guy.

Tuesday 4th January 2011

Lazy lie-in then banana porridge.  I have porridge everyday and could probably write a Lonely Planet entry on the various quality of porridge in India, which is usually quite high. Then went over to the Chileans for coffee, they have their own kettle of course. Had a walk around town and some of the temples and boulders. I finally bought some traveller/hippy pants/trousers. Pictures to follow. We had lunch at the Green Mango from where there is a great view of the river and the banana trees and the huge boulders left from volcanic activity; the boulders and trees make it look like the set of The Flintstones.

Picked up my train tickets to and from Chennai. The trains are almost booked out but they keep a tourist quota of tickets (which you pay extra for) so i was lucky to get the tickets I wanted. Then I crossed back across the river, before 6pm today. Went for a walk and ended up on top of some boulders overlooking Hampi, a great view from there of the town and the surroundings. Met some nice Sydney girls and some other guys, some of whom I had met elsewhere in India.

Watched The Big Lebowski while having dinner. Then came back to our Guest House and had another Masala Chai, surely the best tea ever, with lashings of sugar. I drink heaps of it.  The staff here are very friendly and polite and tend to fall asleep among us guests on the comfy sofas in between serving.

Om Beach NYE

31st December 2010

Today was much the same as every other day. Late breakfast, lazing around, late lunch, lazing around, swim, dinner. We did have lots of Bagpiper Whiskey with sprite and lemon slices! Went to the beach, lots of fireworks before, at and after 12. The owner of our lodgings put out a huge box of fireworks just on the beach and let them off. They were maybe the best fireworks of the night. It was a good show. The Chileans went to bed and I joined the musicians who kept us entertained until i crashed at 5:30am.

Getting to the end of the year without a cocounut, a branch or a snake landing on my head around here is quite an achievement.

Saturday 1st January 2011

Long lie in. Hanging out with the Chileans. Lots of Indian men enjoying the beach today.

The Chileans left this evening for Hampi. I will catch them up. Sat around chatting to fellow travellers until the the early hours.