After a hairy motor-rick ride through the middle of the night I finally reached the right station at Chennai! On the way, he pointed out an upside down train next to the tracks Look at that! It's been there for many months - 65 people died.It did not help my nerves about this trip.

With the help of a very nice student from the North I finally found the right carriage and got on my train in Chennai. I once again was very much the only foreigner in my carriage and was a little freaked out by the fact that i was sharing my section with 3 men. After I passed out for a sleep most of the cabin had cleared out and daylight had broken and I met the lovely Ravi who looked after me for the next 6 hours - sharing his apple and encouraging me to drink chai and eat.

He works for a British/Indian agricultural company in the marketing department. When I asked if they sold chemicals for agricultural he insisted that his company did not sell them. That the company was trying to work with farmers to create ecologically sound solutions to fertiliser because of all the people getting sick from poor farming practices near waterways. It was great to hear what progress they're making in the field. When I asked him what caste he was from he explained he was from a caste that were traditionally makers and merchants of vegetable oil but had now become a businessmen caste. He also said that his marriage was an arranged marriage that had worked out very well and that he reckons 80% of marriages are still arranged! I was surprised by that stat.

Alleppey + Houseboats

With great joy I found Anita, Luke, Jo and Chris at our accommodation. After my very long journey I was very relieved. Though I had been warned about the attention foreign women get I was not prepared for how unsettling I would find it.

The next day we head straight to the houseboats to take our houseboat through the Keralan backwaters. Bliss! It's a must for any traveller in South India. We made a very slow journey through rivers surrounded on both sides by rice paddies. The community live on built up banks of earth in between the river and the rice fields (some are sinking unfortunately).

I very quickly dropped my vegetarianism when encountering the beautiful food the chef prepared for us - especially fresh water prawns that were the size of WA crays.