Today we woke up early as we were hitting the road at eight thirty... Hadn't had the most restful sleep as I got a cramp that woke me up mid way through a dream where I was speaking German... Thinking I've been hanging around with Vanessa and Josie to much! I wasn't hungry this am so settled on a black tea but Steven was starving so paid the one hundred and fifty rupees for the buffet breakfast and ate a masala dosa and an omelette, along with toast and tea.

We then headed off on our merry way on the bus through the mountainous winding roads of this magnificent area known as the cardamom hills. By the time we reached sea level we were all feeling a bit green... I especially so stayed on the bus for a snooze while the others went for brunch. The journey to the backwaters of Kerala took about five hours, including a short canoe ride to our home stay.

We were staying ten km out of Allepphey in a tiny villiage called Chennamkary. It is a small picturesque backwater village and only accessible by boat. We stayed at green palms which is a gorgeous set of homes habited by several generations of the same family and is nestled between the backwaters and the rice fields. There were three houses scattered in a large garden which had all the plants and flowers you could imagine. We stayed in the house with the daughter of the family and her children along with Rhys,Cliodna , Frank, Stella, Savvy and Harry. We had our own en suite room that had our own veranda that had the most beautiful view of the backwaters. We sat there for many hours reading and watching the house boats and river taxis passing by.

Everyone else stayed in the main house opposite with the mother (the third house owned by Mr Thomas wasn't occupied by any of us). The main house was also beautiful with a large sitting room and gorgeous kitchen. We arrived about twelve thirty and dumped our day bags in our rooms ( the large rucksacks went a head to kochi). We were then invited for lunch in the main house in the glass room, we were presented with the most delicious lunch. We had Kerala fluffy rice, several vegetable curries and marinated catfish which was delicious. This was followed by a cardamom yoghurt but we didn't finish this as neither if us are fans of cardamom... Even less so after trying it fresh yesterday. The food was so tasty and all of it was grown in the gardens of the house or the rice fields behind... Even the yoghurt came from their own cow. After lunch we had free time till four so we all chilled... Read books on the veranda, sat and chatted with each other, walked around the village and sat on the jetty and dipped our toes in the warm fresh water of the backwaters.

At four o clock we met up in the house for some afternoon chai before meeting Mr Thomas who took us out for a village walk. We wandered down through the village and the maze of canals... He told us all about how the backwaters were formed, the trials they face and how they live their daily lives... The majority of residents are Christians so we saw a church or two... Then we walked through the rice fields and saw the most beautiful sunset before climbing in a canoe for a twilight boat ride.

The majority of the group climbed in one boat while the two English couples climbed into our own royal barge haha... It was actually more a canoe with seats but felt very grand. We gave our royal waves a try and rowed off... After a while we came together with the group and both boats were tied to each other. This was done to save us toppling over as the water ferries cause such ripples in the water. We floated around the canals for about an hour or so and I have to say it was one if my most favourite activities. I have loved the whole time we have spent in India, its been more than I could ever have asked for ...but there have been a handful of times where I have just sat back and truly felt context and happy and this was one if them. Here we were on a boat floating through one of the most beautiful places I have ever been watching a stunning pink summer sky turn to dusk with a group of new friends and to truly make the moment Mr Thomas, Ravi and the boat guys started singing Hindi folk songs to us... It was truly one of the most special and heartwarming moments of the trip. It was so beautiful... I just hope Larry recorded it on his camera. We then tried to return the favour of such beautiful songs by singing the twelve days of Christmas. The only problem being none of us could remember the order... And by the time we got to twelve it was a complete mess! We did get a small round of applause though... Not deserved though haha!

After the amazing boat ride we anchored up and all headed inside to shower before dinner at eight. I had a shower and then sat on the veranda while I combed my hair ...then we headed over to join the others for a yarn before being called through for our dinner. In India the main meal is often served a lunch and is a large helping of thali... The evening meal is normally something smaller and is a curry with a naan or something. Tonight we were treated to the delights of a home made water buffalo curry with paratha s. It was so tasty, we all had at least two helpings... It was the yummiest buffalo I have ever had haha. We then had a speech by Reece and we gave Ravi his well deserved bag of tips. He then gave us a little speech and told us that he had truly enjoyed the trip and the group... And then confessed that we were the first of his groups to be invited to his home for lunch... We were all truly touched and by the end were welling up with emotions! Typical girls... Was so lovely though.

We then had a few beers on the terrace with the group watching the various inhabitants come to life as the night cooled... We had frogs, geckos and some strange sort of grasshopper ( who was promptly eaten by the frog). It was a lovely way to spend our last evening together. We then headed to bed for a good sleep.