Skeggsy’s Blog

Took ferry to Elephanta Island at 9am arriving 10am. Walked to top where there is an impressive temple carved out of a cave. The path to the top is lined with shops & also saw monkeys. Had a coffee & coke at MTDC restaurant at top of mountain. Saw eagles fly over which was very impressive. Saw an eagle go in for the kill, a small bird.
Also saw green paraqet. Bought chess set on way back down for 1500 rupees (approx �19.00)
Got back to Gateway of india at 12:15pm & stopped for lunch at The Food Inn in Colaba. Cost was 150 rp inc tip.

Taxi from hotel at 7:20am to Chennai Airport, arrived 7:40am. Plane to Bombay departs at 9:15am.
Arrived 11:00am
Met Auntie Raji & Avinash at airport.
Taxi from airport to Taj President hotel took 1.5 hours. Whilst in taxi targeted by child beggars. Very good sea view from our 15th floor room. Went for a walk at 14:30 towards Colaba. Had lunch at Shiv Sagar vegetarian restaurant.
Saw The Gateway To India & enquired about ferry tickets to Elephanta Island. Then walked towards Regal Cinema. Yamini casually held onto a yellow rail, only to find her hands were covered in wet paint. (It was several hours before the paint had completely disappeared). Dropped into Central Cottage Industries Emporium on Shivaji Marg. Fantastic table & chairs for approx �4000. They offer export services but decided to leave it this time. Took cab to Churchgate district in search of a bookshop. Cab was 50 rupees inc tip.
After finding bookshop took cab back to hotel, also 50 rupees. Had coke & beer & retired to room.

Madras. Uncle Gokri had to wait 3 hours at the station for us to arrive. Institute of Technology campus. Shoba made us a huge breakfast, and then to Madhvan’s house. Said bye to Yamini’s dad and Uncle Gokri. Checked into Chola Cheraton Cathedral Road Chennai. Room upgraded to duplex was very nice. Visited Valluvar Kottam & Kapalishvara Temple.

Hung around flat most of the day.
Had egg curry for lunch & went for a bit of a walk. Yamini’s cousin Krishnan, wife Sree Devi and daughter Smrithi visited and brought us presents. Raman, also came round, with a small oil burner.
Left flat at 3:30pm for Ernakulum train station. Train station very busy. Had someone carry our luggage on their head to our train.
Mistaken for a famous Croatian tennis player whilst standing on the platform.
Witnessed a proper scrum to get on the train, pushing & shoving is acceptable. Thankfully we are A/C sleeper class with allocated seat/beds. Sleep disrupted by loud snoring. Train supposed to depart for Madras/Chennai at 17:10. Actually departed at 17:50. Still about 12 hours to make up the time.
Continued reading Brave New World.
Indian coffee is very nice-I think because it has the texture of hot chocolate.
Palghat Junction 21:49pm.
Erode Junction 12:42am
Arkkonam Junction 6:30am
Arrival in Chennai approx 8:00am.
Total of 15 hours, 3 hours late.

10am collected suit. Dropped into a handicraft shop to buy some presents.
Had lunch at flat.
Went for a walk to local shops.
Dinner at Meridian, courtesy of Bharat and Ranjana, where there was a major gynacology conference with 6000 delegates. Had snacks & drinks before dinner in the presidential suite.

Awoke on houseboat. Set off for a cruise at about 8:00am. Had breakfast on the boat & returned by 9:45am. Driven back to flat. Arrived Cochin approx 12pm.
4pm went to collect suit which turned out not to be ready. Also went looking for a colourful umbrella as a present for Mum but one we saw was for an elephant so was a bit big.
Visited a few local temples in Ernakulam.
Finished reading Under the skin.
Dinner at Thampi’s. Discovered that mutton is in fact goat, and had ‘pink’ pineapple.

Checked out at 10:30am & drove to where we thought houseboat departed. Arrived back at hotel at 13:15 where houseboat actually departed from. Welcomed with a coconut water drink. Moored for lunch at about 2pm. Lunch was sambar, fried fish, bean thoran, popadoms, aviyal and lime pickle & then payasam for dessert (like rice pudding but with vermicilli).
Then had half a pineapple expertly sliced.
Setoff at 3:30pm.
Purchased some large prawns for dinner.
Moored up at about 5pm.
Dinner 8pm.
Saw some bats.
Yamini sang to me. (Yamini would like to point out it was pretty bad but funny).

Started out for Kottayam at 8:30am. Approx 140km. Arrived 12pm at Backwater Ripples which was very pleasant. Customer service is much better as well. Very nice room with view across backwaters.
Took a taxi to Coconut Lagoon for lunch but it was fully booked. Had lunch at The Taj instead- Chicken Biriani. Had coconut water to drink by straw straight out of the coconut.
Cost was approx 2500 Rupees/approx �30. Very expensive meal!
Headed back to Backwater Ripples.
Sunbathed by pool.
Had cup of coffee & game of ping pong.
Ordered a beer & sat by lake to watch sun go down.
Watched entertainment….traditional dancing. Had dinner & watched tv before bed.

Driven to Thekarry, approx 115 km away.Started out at 8am. Lovely scenery along the way but roads absolutely terrible so v.slow going. Arrived 11:30am at Saj Jungle Village where we were staying.
Had elephant ride at 2pm. Unfortunately we went for the overpriced unofficial version. Went for boat ride within the sanctuary. We saw Sambar deer, black monkeys, rather cute otters, water snake, tortoise, wild boar & a kingfisher. Then dropped back at bottom of our road & walked back up stopping at The Taj hotel for drinks & snacks (Samosas & french fries). Saw lots of large bats against clear night sky, probably the most impressive sight today.
Incredibly exhausted so had fairly early one.
Not overly impressed with the man on reception at Jungle Village.

Had toast & Idly for breakfast.
Picked up by mini coach for our tour at 10am.
First stop was Erivakulam National park at the top of a mountain. We switched to a jeep at the entrance to the park. As a foreign national I paid 200 rupees for entrance but Binnie the driver got Yamini’s ticket which was 15 rupees. Saw some rare goat that was nearly extinct & is now protected. Saw a rare plant that only flowers once every 12 yrs - Neelakurinji. On the way back down we stopped at a waterfall where we also saw some beautiful blue butterflies. We also stopped to look at the tea plantations. We then stopped for lunch at Bhavan Saravan in centre of Munnar.
After lunch we stopped at two dams.
Stopped at echo point.
Drove to Top Station which was covered in cloud. Bought some green tea. Yamini wasn’t cold in her shorts, eventhough we were told it was 7 degrees centigrade.
On way back down saw some wild elephants that had ventured into the tea plantation. Also saw some working elephants. Saw some eucalyptus trees.
Arrived back at Tea County approx 6pm.
Had a beer in the bar & wrote journal and then dinner. Had chicken Khorma which looked a really nice green & lovely smell which is why I had some. Tasted nice though lightly spiced. Whereas usually chicken korma is such a ghastly artificial colour so never actually had it before.
Had Gulab Jamun for dessert.

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