Started this morning in Alleppey, the farming town in the Keralan backwaters, in a homestay on a hard local bed, in the heat and humidity with the fan whirring away loudly powered by the generator as there was a morning power cut. After a local breakfast, we headed away by boats down the canals. Beautiful views with an interesting background that we had learned about the previous evening, with our local farmer host Thomas. Man made canals, with a system of pump...

Spent a lovely afternoon in Thekkady. A relaxed walk through the centre of the small town, yummy lunch then a tour of a beautiful spice garden smelling and tasting the spices under the expert guidance of Abraham. Lots of photos to come. In the evening, we did a cooking class and then scoffed our expert dinner. Yum! Pineapple curry and the parathas were my favourite. Masala french fries were pretty good too. This sign is on the back of our room door. I couldn'...

We left what felt like our holiday resort in Mamallapuram this morning on our minibus to head to 'Pondy'. Wasn't too sure what to expect in this former French colony but did find French influences in the roads, buildings with little courtyards behind the main entrance and of course in the bakeries with baguette and croissant. Very charming town with a relatively quiet and calm feel. Perhaps due to the famous Sri Autobindo Ashram which has led to it becoming a...

Meant to get up for yoga at 6am this morning but somehow did not get a great night's sleep so just couldn't face it when the alarm went. (Not that surprising I guess!) It feels very hot here although I am assured it's only around 34-35. To beat the heat and hordes of Indian tourists, we left on a bicycle tour of Mamallapuram at 8am. I didn't have great brakes and only half a right pedal but it's a small heritage town so we poottled along nicely and saw the monu...

Yummy breakfast of masala dosa and masala chai at a little place by the station, on arrival in Chennai. Turns out it is a chain with branches all over the world including 5 places in west London. Train ride was interesting. When we got on we sort of wished it had been cancelled and we'd got a bus!! There were various sizes of cockroaches running about and the odd rustle of mouse or rat dashing past. The loos were already smelling pretty fruity and we hadn't eve...