South India ...

Hello again from a very wet and humid India! It's been a while since our first installment, so we've put the main update first and a load of photos second ...

We're still loving it out here and can’t believe we've been away for over a month. We left our friends in Delhi (amid a storm!) to take a 25 hour sleeper train to Mumbai which was an experience. Before we left Delhi we helped sweep rain water from next door to prevent the whole place flooding! When we finally reached the station (dodging fallen trees on our way), there was a power cut and each carriage was flooded with an inch of water so finding our seats was a little tricky!  Luckily Mark was there to help us and despite 10 locals cramming into our 6-person compartment, we had a great time chatting with them :-)

Mumbai was hot, extremely busy, very diverse and a little on the crazy side! The slums are very apparent, but there's also a lot of wealth in certain places. No where is the gap between rich and poor so obvious. Not sure it's somewhere we'd rush back to though be honest.

Another overnight train took us to Kerala where we explored Fort Cochin, saw the amazing Chinese fishing nets (which Sam helped hawl) and stayed in a lovely Homestay with a family. We also saw 'Kathakali' which is a tradtional Indian dance/drama where they dress in elaborate costumes, apply amazing make-up and use intricate gestures to tell old stories. They stay silent and the live music is dictated by their gestures. These performances used to go on all night, but ours was toned down to 2 hours. Really impressive though!

From here we travelled to Alleppey which is where the main backwaters start (small rural canals in the middle of nowhere). We did a village canoe tour, just us and the lovely guide to the right, which was a small slice of paradise - quite a contrast to Mumbai! We had a guided tour through the Padi fields and saw kingfishers, woodpeckers and local women washing their clothes in the water. The Villagers made the land about 100 years ago by lifting mud from the canal bed.

During our time in the backwaters we stayed with a family who host travellers to provide a small insight into their rural lifestyle. Their Island has a population of 500 people so everyone knows everyone and there is a real sense of community. We went fishing, Jo 3 - Sam 0 (you can imagine how disappointed Sam was with this)! We walked around the island through little huts and stopped off in one for a traditional breakfast and then headed to a 'pub', a little shack, for Todi. This is fermented coconut milk, which is collected by a man climbing up a Palm tree, cutting a stem from one of the coconut leaves, placing a bottle over the end to collect the 'sap' and then fermenting it! It tasted like gone-off beer, not our favourite beverage! 

Amma's ashram was the next destination. She is a female guru, nicknamed the 'hugging mother' as she gives 'darsham' (ceremonies) where she blesses people by her giving them a hug! She was not there when we went, but it was really interesting to visit. Over 2000 people live in the ashram permanently, including a lot of westerners who devote their lives to Amma. A little too heavy for us but we enjoyed it (despite picking up stomache bugs from the communal food)!

Another long train journey, with an added 10 hour delay, took us to Goa where we volunteered for 2 weeks. We both gained so much from the experience and had a real insight into working life in India. We felt like proper commuters getting our bus there and back each day! Sam provided anti-bullying information and training to school health counsellors and Jo carried out therapy in an autistic unit and a special needs school which was amazing and definitely a highlight.

The monsoons have been relentless, but amazing, because the rain comes down so heavy. We've only been caught a few times, once on Anjuna beach where some beach children were trying to sell us jewellery. Not taking “no thanks” as an answer, one of the girls proceeded to put an ankle bracelet on Jo. The heavens opened, but the girl wouldn't take it off so we got completely soaked before we finally managed to escape to shelter. It would not have been that bad, but we were told during the commotion that our skin looked like “chicken skin”! What a compliment! Jenny, a friend from Cardiff, came to Goa for a couple of days which was great, and a lovely reminder of home, thanks Jen :-)

We're now back in Delhi staying with the wonderful Mark and Marina again. It's great to sleep in an air con room and eat 'normal' food for a while. We really miss the comforts of home, the convenience of getting food from the fridge, and the accessibility of food that you can trust! Marina's goat pie was the perfect remedy!

Our Northern adventure begins next where we'll be taking in Dharamsala, Manali and Varanassi (weather permitting or course). Sam has his fancy camera back now (having broken it on the first day), so watch out for some snazzy snaps in the next edition! We miss you all and look forward to hearing your news. Until the next blog “alvida” x

Our sleeper train from Delhi - Mumbai ...

The family opposite us shared this bunk and the one above.

We had a middle and upper of three bunks. Quite comfy and spacious (at less than 5 pounds each for a 25 hour journey), but hard to sleep with all the rocking and a lack of air conditioning!

This 'health and safety' nightmare confronted us when we arrived in Mumbai. Anythings goes, seriously, anything!

People crossing a typical street in the 'maxmimum city' - so called because it's getting more and more crowded.

There is a beautiful side to Mumbai though, evidenced by this lovely Victorian-Gothic architecture ...

We met these likely lads on our train from Mumbai - Kerala. They had 'navy-imported' wine and whisky which they were keen to share with us. Even one of the food-wallahs joined the party :-)

Still edging on the side of caution though, we resisted the temptation to indulge in the constant flow of food.

When we got to Fort Kochin we were greeted by seens such as these ...

And the chinese finshing nets, which work using a cantilever system by lowering giant nets into the water and then drawing them back out by pulling weights down.

  

Can you spot Sam helping pull the rocks down?

The Kathakali we saw started with a demon transforming into a young women to woo a famous prince who the demon wanted to kill ...

The prince (sitting) soon realises the women must be the demon in disguise (because she's so forward with him), and transforms her back in to the demon before killing him!

After Fort Kochin, we travelled to Alleppey where we took an idilic canoe tour of the backwaters ...

Saw some beautiful rice paddies ...

And even the local team preparing for the Nehru Trophy Snake Boat Race (which we missed by a week)

Whilst staying on one of the Islands, we met loads of cute children ...

And drank Todi in dingy 'bars'!

Photos weren't allowed at Amma's Ashram, but this sneaky pic demonstrates the phenomenal views we had from our 12th floor (yes, 12th floor) balcony

After a 10 hour delay plus a 15 hour journey (and bug picked up from the Ashram), we headed up the coast to Goa for 2 weeks volunteering.

Goa used to be colonised by the Portugease so doesn't always look like India!

Or feel like India ...

But we really enjoyed the volunteering and met some cool people ...

Ate great food ...

Saw the Christian side to India ...

 Haggled in several markets ...

Saw some lovely (although often monsoon-ravaged) beaches ...

And hooked up with a good friend (Jenny) from Cardiff  :-)

We splashed out on AC for our 32 hour journey back to Delhi (still only 10 pounds each though)!

Successfully ate the train food :-)

Played chess ...

And enjoyed the views!

We arrived back in Delhi just in time for Independence Day. The wonderful Mark and Marina are hosting us again for the second time before we set off on our Northern adventure ...