Getting worried....

Not posted anything for a few days I know, but basically we've been gone on a boat trip in the backwaters which involved a nights "sleep" that was the hottest we've ever endured and no sleep was had, and we're now in Varkala - very touristy and nice beach. But there's one problem....

....there are storms every night as the monsoon seems to have come early. This is seriously not good because it knocks the TV out....so not only is the TV not working yet (a technician is working on it as I type), but when it does work again, the TV may stop working again if we have the usual evening storm. Why am I getting worried? In case anyone reading this didn't realise it's the world cup final tonight (cricket), starting in 1 hour 15 minutes. Michelle, it goes without saying, is not worried about the TV not working in the slightest!

The only saving grace is that I just met someone worse off...a mad Man U supporter. He wanted to watch the football which started 10 minutes ago but he can't as the TV isn't working. He is either sufficiently mad/loaded/committed (pick whichever you deem appropriate) that he went off to go and phone his mum and get her to leave the phone next to 5 live on the radio!!! Needless to say (or is it needless???), I won't be doing that for the cricket if the TV still isn't working....

Kochi

We're now in Kochi having made it via Chennai (Madras). Chennai was good but we had a run in with a dodgy auto rickshaw driver who didn't know where he was going but wouldn't let us get out til he found a police car. He then told us to get out and complained to the police that we hadn't paid. Of course we hadn't - we were further away than when we started! After an argument and a few "f words" to the police woman (don't think I would have got away with that in the UK) we were left to walk away unchallenged...

We're staying in an incredibly clean place in Kochi Fort....they are very tourist friendly here and it seems very unlike the rest of India from what we've seen so far...with the possible exception of Bangalore. This morning we were invited for pull up the huge fishing nets they have here....for a pretty pitiful catch!

Sunsets

Neil Island had some simply amazing sunsets....here's a few pics.

Dog Whisperer

Michelle seems to attract dogs everywhere we go - she is too nice to them! In Neil Island we had 4 sleeping on our porch and at least 1 following us around wherever we went each day!!

Name the fruit

No idea what this fruit is but we found it on Neil Island so let us know if you do...

Neil Island was much less organised for tourists than Havelock....most people there seemed to be of the pot smoking 18 year old variety who seemed happy in the 50 rupee (60p) per night huts with no door and just eating what fruits they could find themselves. We wanted something a little better so for a fiver a night we found ourselves this hut...looks good right? Well except the large numbers of mice (or were they rats?) also living there. They made loads of noise during the nights but fortunately Michelle didn't hear them til the last night or we may have left after day 1!

The food there was pretty good as where we stayed was one of the few places to serve food it seemed...

we ordered by 2pm each day and then they went to the market to buy what we wanted...fresh grilled fish every day. One breakfast was a highlight though - I asked for a mixed fruit pancake and when he read our order back, he read it as "banana pancake". I explained I wanted mixed fruit and he said he only had banana but he'd see if he could find papaya...we assumed he meant he'd look in the kitchen, but instead he strolled past us into the forest and came back a couple of minutes later with papaya...

A few Havelock pics

Havelock

We had been advised that Havelock was excellent and so it proved...we stayed at the Emerald Gecco resort which was excellent....we had a two storey hut at a tiny price, with the perfect turquoise sea a stones throw away, and the food was superb and very different from what we've been eating in India everywhere else....lots of grilled fish and freshly made pasta if we wanted it.

We ended up staying for 10 days we liked it so much (no car horns - blissful!) - that was partly to do with the fact that when we went to the other side of the island, where we originally planned to move to, we got bitten by sand flies. Michelle seemed particularly susceptable - in comparison I got off lightly.

The island was sufficiently remote that they ran out of beer for 6 days at our resort - imagine how much money they missed out on from us! And when we wanted to pay by card we were asked to pay when we returned to Port Blair was they have no way of taking card payments there...

The sun was very strong there so we managed to get burnt the day we went snorkelling - it's impossible not to unless you wear long trousers and a log sleeved top in the water...

Port Blair

We're back in the world of internet connections so I can update you on two lovely weeks on the Andaman Islands...it was more like being on one of the Islands of Thailand than off India. You have to go via Port Blair to get anywhere, where I noticed a brilliantly located cricket pitch - a good Tour spot for the future? All the Andaman's were hit by the tsunami to a lesser or greater extent and there were some photos in a museum we went to that showed how bits of coastline we could see now, looked the day after the tsunami...very different!

Off to the Andaman Islands

Well it's been a tough few days in Bangalore, shopping, drinking and eating at nice restaurants. It took a lot out of us so we're off for some sun and sand in the Andaman Islands tonight, we arrive tomorrow morning via Chennai.

We were looking at the Maldives but it's at least double as expensive and the travel agents were terrible so we went for the Andaman Islands based on a recommendation from someone here. We get back in 2 weeks and then fly straight to Kochi in Kerala where we'll get back to normal India travelling on 20th April, going North via Goa until we catch our flight home from Mumbai on 15th May.

For anyone wanting to get in touch, the chances are we won't be able to get your message or reply until 20th...there is no mobile phone reception there and apparently the only internet cafe is in the capital Port Blair....don't be offended if you don't hear from us!!

Over and out for a couple of weeks....

Cricketing Worship

As far as I know there is no "Bobby Charlton Square" or "David Beckham Circle" in England which is quite a surprise considering the hype around football. Here, cricketers get things named after them - for those that don't know Anil Kumble is one of India's most successful bowlers ever, who has just announced his retirement from One Day Internationals - and he has a local "circle" named after him as you can hopefully see on this sign, although I know it's dark!

Bangalore Palace

We've enjoyed Bangalore because it's a little bit of respite compared to the rest of India...relaxed and much more Westernised - there is even an M&S here! Michelle was incredibly restrained though when she went shopping first time...we're going to have another go tomorrow....

Today we took a look at Bangalore Palace which looks very impressive from the outside but much less so from the inside....2 or 3 rooms were very grand but the rest was a bit like exploring the murky rooms at Durrants (our wedding venue for those of you that came)...