Despite our chance for a lie in we both woke up stupidly early at about five thirty... We did manage to doze a little more but not much so got up ready for the day. It was a bit of a mis match morning as the electricity kept going out (apparently there are planned power cuts seven thirty to eight both am and pm). Plus the power cuts stopped the tank filling with cold water so no water either mmmm... Eventually I had a cold shower and was a lot more a wake and ready for the day.

We headed out in the direction of the beach which is only about five mins away and it was amazing... As we came up the last five hundred yards or so all you could see was a big stretch if blue coming towards you. We explored a bit around the area known as north cliff then headed for some breakfast at a place on the sea front called 'Oottupura' which is a vegetarian restaurant and looked truly inviting. We sat down and Steven ordered a masala dosa to be told they didn't have any... So had a veg omelette instead and I had a very large pot of tea.

We enjoyed a relaxing period of time here before we headed down a large number of steps to reach the beach. It was probably only about nine am but there was already a few people sunbathing and pottering about. We headed down the beach and at the mid way point we put out our towels and settled down. It wasn't long before we were bored though and jumping into the sea. I was a bit apprehensive about wearing a bikini here as I didn't want to offend any locals but I needn't have worried, Everyone was in bikinis and none of the locals bat an eye lid... Well the young ones... The older men openly stare at you while they walk past even though they know you can see them.

After a couple of hours Stevens stomach was rumbling so we set off to explore a bit. We headed down the beach road in the direction of temple junction and found another small beach lined with shops. We then headed up towards the town and past a massive drop well which looked stunning against its backdrop of palm trees. There were local people washing and doing their laundry and it was cool to see. We eventually came across a small ramshackle place called 'Sreepadman' that we had seen reviewed in the lonely planet guide. It's a very local place which was full of rick shaw drivers and such. We moved it to the back area and the view was amazing, it sat right on the water hole. It was very authentic india with birds and cats everywhere... Quite the experience! We ordered our thali and sat down to enjoy some lunch as we got chatting to a guy from Brighton who was feeding a family of cats his curried mackerel...

After lunch we headed back towards the hotel to see if we could swap rooms. They manager had said yesterday that we could move to an upstairs room with a balcony today... But it will be tomorrow instead. We grabbed some refreshments and headed back to the beach for a couple of hours, then sat in the 'sky lounge' which is a restaurant with awesome views of the beach and has free wifi. We had a fresh lime soda and did some hostel booking for the next leg of the trip before ambling home to chill on the roof top terrace.

About five ish I jumped in the shower and washed all the salt out of my hair and got ready for the evening, I then sat on the rooftop with a rum and coke and chatted with Hannah and Harry back home while Steven showered... We then chilled for a while enjoying some rum and making plans for Hong Kong before heading out for dinner about seven thirty... During the power cut so torches at the ready.

We walked up and down the sea front before a place called abba caught our eye... It a beach side restaurant with really nice ambiance with its star lanterns and candles everywhere. We sat down and ordered a couple of beer which arrived in huge pottery tankards with the design of jeans on the front... Pretty random. We then ordered a butter chicken, prawn curry, jeera rice and naan, it was pretty delicious and had just enough spice for me. An English couple sat down the table next to us and we got chatting to them which was nice... They were here for a wedding in Mumbai so thought they would have a week here first. Turns out they leave the same days as us but on an earlier train. They are both doctors who live in London so we had a fair bit in common.

After dinner the four of us headed down to the sky lounge for cocktails and shared travel stories and photos... Before heading bak to the hotel and up to bed. By now it was ten thirty and we were pretty tired plus I had a Skype date with Lacey. The only problem being that once we arrived back the lobby door was locked (our room is accessed from outside the hotel) so I couldn't get in to use the wifi... The guy from reception had probably long gone to bed so I followed suit, hopefully catch Lacey in the morning. It's amazing how tired you feel after doing nothing! I feel the blogs may be a bit dull the next few days lol.. Lots of sunbathing and chilling...