South India

Hi all, find here some photos of my south India escapades over the last few weeks. After the dust, desert and dryness of north/central India the south is a coconut palm, white beach tropical paradise. I spent 35 uneventful hours on a train to get there drinking tea and counting the various shades of Indian Railways blue (there’s a few). We also had a two hour delay after having a head-on with a stray cow somewhere between Agra and Kota!

Desert somewhere one the edge of Rajasthan

Sunset from train

First up I spent a day exploring the old Portuguese capital of Goa, Panjim and nearby Old Goa; with lots of crumbling grand colonial buildings and churches it was strangely non-Indian.

After Panjim I bused down to Palolem for four days of beach bliss. It’s low season, which means the usual hordes of people weren’t there and accommodation was a bit cheaper. Was great to unwind here after the rush to leave Delhi and do nothing but swim and lie in the sun. I really liked the traditional Goan fishing boats that lined the beach. Fishermen would take them out early morning then spend the rest of the day fixing nets on the beach in the shade of palm trees!

Cow guarding boat

An all night bus epic delivered me to Mysore in Karnatika. The highlight was the old Maharajah’s palace and unfortunately no photography was allowed. The original burnt down but the current one dates from 1912 and is opulence personified – the ruling class definitely lived in a different universe. Designed by an Englishman, it’s a crazy clash of Edwardian restraint and Hindu flamboyance. On sunday nights it’s lit up by 97000 light bulbs!

Don't mess with him!

Don't mess with her!

The next best thing was Devaraja fruit and vegetable market; a kaleidoscope of colour and smell. I also discovered the open air butchers market a block away but the smells/open sewers in the humidity were more than I could take!

Street side typists reading the news

From Karnatika I moved to the tea growing town of Munnar in Kerala. It was great to be out of the humidity of the plains at 1500m after another all night bus marathon. The surrounding landscape is a mixture of towering peaks and rolling, manicured tea estates. I spent a great two days walking and cycling around including a 60km ride to the Top Station; an all day uphill battle on a one speed ‘mountain bike’ to the high pass above Munnar on the border with Tamil Nandu. Really sore legs were compensated with stunning scenery and a 35km downhill back to town.

The four hour bus ride from Munnar to the coastal town of Fort Kochi was a bargain at 70 rupees, including some of the most entertaining/edge of set bus driving experienced, ably demonstrated by my Kerala State Road Transport Corporation bus driver going for maximum speed on steep, single lane roads with hairpin corners. Painted on the side of all Kerala buses is ‘Super Fast’ (true) and this was no exception.

Fort Kochi was a great historical mishmash; winding streets with old Portuguese houses, a 16th century Jewish synagogue and rows of fantastic Chinese cantilevered fishing nets! These were introduced by traders from the court of Kublai Khan.

Fort Kochi wharf

The next stop was Kollam slightly further south and a half day trip through Kerala’s backwaters; tight, winding waterways through coconut and spice plantations and prawn farms – stunning but the humidity was crushing. The highlight of Kollam town was the Indian Coffee House run by the Kerala coffee growers union, looked to be a real institution and not changed since the 50’s; coffee only served one way, strictly with milk and sweet.

Drying coconut

My first ‘general’ class train ride delivered me dehydrated to southern most tip of India at Cape Comorin. ‘General’ actually means free-for-all; essentially as many people piled into one carriage as possible, standing room only and a real endurance test in the southern heat.

Thiruvalluvar statue

It was great to get as far as Cape Comorin; a strange, dirty windswept headland mainly for the Indian tourist/pilgrimage scene. At the tip is Kumari Amman temple and bathing ghats. Overlooking the town is the surreal statue of Thiruvalluvar built on a nearby island. I left the next morning after my worst room yet and took another ‘general’ class train to the beach town of Varkala.

Sunset at Varkala

The plan was to go through Pondicherry on the east coast and loop back via Hampi and finish at Goa. But I ran out of time. So instead I spent a few relaxed days at Varkala beach in Kerala and then endured a day and a half train trip back to Goa up the west coast.

And that in short was my time in south India. I'm currently in Kathmandu and will load some Nepal photos soon. Hope everyone is well and good, love James.