Although leaving Goa was pretty tough it was quite good getting back to the 'real India.' We arrived early morning in Mangalore, a pit-stop before Kochi, our first stop in Kerala. Our standards in accomodation are steadily decreasing as time has gone by and Kochi was perhaps the lowest of the low to date. Afteronly five minutes of getting there the sink crashed to the ground under the sheer weight of my towel, almost smashing on my foot. We were expecting some sort of apology or sympathy from the manager but when we told him he seemed to find the whole situation absolutely hilarious.

After a day sight-seeing around Kochi we caught the train down to Allepey so we could take the 8 hour boat trip down the backwaters to Kollam, pretty much the Southern tip of India. The boat ride was awesome and so peaceful compared to everywhere else we have been so far, apart from children the entire way who ran along with the boat, all shouting for, "one pen please!" Although we never quite worked out why everyone was so desperate for a pen we decided to put one in an empty water bottle so it would float if we didnt reach the bank. So when the next dude shouted for a pen i threw the bottle full-force at him, skelping his leg. But although he seemed pleased with his new pen, as i walked back to my seat I got a fair few looks of disgust and shakes of the head from the other passangers, who clearly thought I had simply thrown my rubbish at a friendly young boy.

Kollam itself was nothing special so after spending one night we made our way up to Periyar tiger reserve, where we spend two days. Unfortunitely we didnt see any tigers but there was plenty bisoon, deer, birds of prey, wild boars and, according to Joanne, a baby elephant (although it was probably a rock like all the other 'elephants' she has seen in India.) Later that day however, Joanne's dream did finally come true and we went on an elephant trek, dont think ive seen has as excited since the library extended its opening hours.

The second day there was less eventful due to the fact I had food poisoning from some questionable chicken noodles and Joanne quickly followed suit with some sympathy sickness just as i was improving. Despite this we managed to man up and make it on to a bus that night for Bangalore, the start of our long trip back up North.

James