Today we woke up at six am as we were having a yoga class on our veranda over looking the backwaters. I woke up first and sleepily wandered into the bathroom and stumbled back to bed all in the dark as the electricity was out. Shortly after the electricity must have come back on as Steven got up to use the bathroom... Then all I heard was " Laura... Do NOT go in the bathroom... I will be back in a minute" I was now freaking as it meant only one thing SPIDER!! The next next thing the electricity had gone again and Steven comes back in with Mr Thomas' half asleep brother... Complete with miners headlight on his head and a large flip flop.... He went in the bathroom and all I could hear was him hit something loudly, followed by a crash as the jug fell over then he came out "back in a minute" he said and the next thing, he's back with a broom... What follows is more banging and the a flustered looking Indian chap emerging from the bathroom... (Still with head torch in situ) and muttering " problem solved!" ...it was the most random start to a morning yet.

We then went out to the veranda for the yoga (Steven joined me and the other three girls). I was still grieving for the spider ...for as much as I hate them I could never kill one.... It's not his fault I find him repulsive!! Anyway we met the others on the veranda and took to our mats while the most prettiest sunrise came up... We then spent the next hour and a half undertaking the most relaxed session of yoga I have experienced... I felt truly zen... Not sure poor Steven did though, didn't realise the poor boy was so inflexible! His best move being the lying down and relaxing part where the yoga teacher had to say to him... You can get up now haha!!

After the yoga everyone felt refreshed and starving and headed for breakfast. I felt a bit squiffy so skipped breakfast and took a few mins out... Did manage a black tea but it didn't stay down for long. We then packed up and headed out to the boat. With our bags and everyone in tow we headed on to the boat and set sail... Only to realise we had left Rhys and Cliodna on shore! Once we eventually got the boat back into position they jumped aboard and we set off for the ride home. Mr Thomas and his family were all out and waving us off which was so sweet... Including his mum and the little children.

We sailed through the backwaters for about an hour and a half and it was a beautiful time of day to observe such a magical place and by the time we docked my green tinge was now a pink glow. We headed onto dry land and met up with our bus and luggage and hit the road for fort kochi. This took another hour and a half and we eventually got to the hotel a little after mid day. Me and Steven were reaquanted with all the stuff we had left at the hotel and now are bags are bulging again! We all sat up on the roof terrace for a last yarn and drink before me and Steven set off on our merry way... It was truly sad saying bye to everyone. Especially Vanessa as she had been with us since day one and is such a sweetheart... Hopefully see her in Thailand though. The group were quite sweet though and gave us left over alco gel and such delights... Then me and Steven hit the road.

The plan was to get to varkala.... First we had to get the ferry from fort kochi to Ernarkulam before grabbing the train to varkala. We got the one fifty ferry of which I queued for the because the ladies and gents queue separately for their tickets and the ladies queue is always a lot shorter... Maybe three women to twenty guys. I purchased our five rupee ticket and waited to board the ferry, its always a crazy rush for everything here ...like its the last ferry of the day or something. Anyway we boarded and sat back to enjoy the thirty min journey to Ernarkulam. I was feeling a bit drained now as I hadn't really drank for fear of vomiting so was ready for something to eat and drink.

We landed in Ernarkulam and in the boiling hot sun began to wither... So we headed for our beloved thali in the first place we tried it in the south. Thali is normally served on a banana leaf and you are given a big dollop of Kerala fluffy rice, then some marinated veg and then a few variations of curry, sometimes lentil, sometimes tomato. You then end up with three piles of thick spicy sauce, a big pile of rice and on the side you have popadoms, chutneys, yoghurt and various other curried goods. You then mix parts of the curry into the rice and eat it with your hands... It's absolutely delicious! Stevens dream this week to open a thali restaurant back home along side his plantation and tea farm. You also get a nice dessert of rice pudding and bananas.... All for anything from eighty pence to two pounds... Plus it's unlimited although after your second helping your pretty much stuffed. It's the fastest food in every way... Beats Macy's Ds.

After our thali I was feeling a lot better... We popped into the supermarket and bought some crisps, fruit and biscuits and walked to the train station. Once at the station we took a pew on platform four and awaited the four twenty train to varkala. We got to chatting to two guys who were heading home from the navy and they assisted us with knowing where to go. The train eventually arrived fashionably late Indian style at five pm and its quite a sight. By then the platform is packed and guys even jump onto the tracks to enter the train from another side! Madness... Manners go out the window and everyone pushes to get on! Luckily we were both tall and tired so barged straight through.

Once on the train we took our seats... After moving a couple out of them.. And settled down for the ride. The cartridge was nice and more spacious then any plane I have been on. The journey was long and chilled as the air con was on full pelt and it was evening ...Steven read and I tried to nap but felt like we had a whole mother and toddler group with us as all I could here was babies screeching!! Drove me in sane... Out came the iPod (which is alive and well Garry!!) haha... And I attempted to drown them out with some Florence and the machine... Didn't really work though.. Didn't matter however as we were on our holidays so wrote my blog instead, we arrived at Varkala just after mine pm and were me straight away by an auto rickshaw driver... So after some bartering we were on our way to the hotel. We have now arrived and checked out the room which is compact but clean and the wifi, which is very powerful and free then headed for a shower.., that was cold but two out of three isn't bad! We are now snuggled down and looking forward to a lie in tomorrow... No alarm yeeees!!! Then the beach followed by yet another thali....