Hey Dudes!

So I am now on my fourth week of travelling and since I last wrote a blog a lot of travelling has been done!

Let me begin from where I left off, after writing my last blog entry me and kim walked out of the small hut which is the Om beach internet cafe and quickly realised that there was something a miss? everyone in the restaurant next door had moved and were all cramped together sharing 5 tables under the main roof. It was pitch black out side of the restaurant so we couldnt see much but where our eyes had failed us our ears had pulled through and I quickly recognised a familiar sound from home ... rain! and lots of it.
Whilst happily typing away on the internet a monsoon had hit stranding me and kimberley on the opposite side of the bay to our guesthouse. We sat tight in the restaurant for 2 hours playing cards and drinking rum but when the establishment closed we realised we either had to fork out to stay in their flats or .. venture out onto the pitch black coast with no torch and attempt to find our way home. So of course we took the cheap stupid option and headed out haha
One mans misfortune is anothers wealth and so for us lightning which due to the fact we kept wondering into the sea would usually be a hinderance, everytime it strook lit up the whole beach and meant for a split second we could see where we were going and like a beacon of light we finally found our half way savour - a beach bar named dolphin. Inside sat all of our friends playing guitar, singing and drinking. A roar of hoorays and woohoos errupted as me and kim entered and we both agreed that our friends felt more like family for that night at least.
We headed back to the guesthouse a few hours later and after kim freaking out because she thought we had walked into a heard of "SLEEPING COWS!!?"(which were actually just rocks) alexandro tripping over the worlds biggest toad (similar size to a football), me sinking up to the waist in quick sand and a drunk local almost drowning we were relieved to go to bed.

Since then our family group as got less and less the more travelling we have done, which is the nature of this trip but doesnt making leaving people any easier. Firstly after a fantastic day playing in the sea, Alexandro making Fort Bean (a sand castle we all would be proud to call our own) and some well earned coctails whilst sunbathing, we made out first split. I left Janner, Tess and Alba, and the rest of us headed off to our next destination which was Hampi. Hampi is a crazy little town inland from Gokarna, we survived the death jeep we had hired for the trip, which not only crashed into a police barrier but wanted to charge us for the damage? crashing isnt great when you are sat in the boot ontop of the backpacks (which I was!) and arrived to what seemed to be the set of the new flinstone movie. Hampi now named by us as bedrock is situated in the middle of mountains made of massive 2 story high boulders. The town is known for its amazing temples but they were a bit lost on me as not even the locals could explain there history or relevance? They were cool to look at though, we hired bikes and peddled our way around for 2 days, going to such places as a monkey temple which includes a 500 step walk up to get to it. It was cool to see but in 40 degrees not an easy task - we all looked like we had been swimming by the time we arrived at the top. The boys enjoyed hampi a lot for its rock climing, youso and peter have just finished their compulsory military services and so thoroughly enjoyed the challenge and adventure of climing to great heights. The only real down side to Hampi was when kimberley dropped her precious very expensive sunglasses down an indian loo and had to fish them out by hand, reminding us all of our first night in Gokarna when we had the same situation with Albas phone lol luckily for both one end of these precious items where sticking up so they didnt have to go up to the elbow in other peoples shi.... erm waste lol

We left hampi and left youso and Peter (making us a group of 3, me kim and alexandro) and headed to mysore, a city not unlike Mumbai, its bustling, loud and rude - very typical for india. After seeing sights such as the Mysore Palace, Brindivan gardens - which we thought was simply a lit up night garden actually turned out to be an indian type theme park with one attraction, a fountain, light and music show. Everyone roared with delight as the fountains danced to the Venga boys? although entertaining due to everyones enthusiasm I found it a little ironic that in the main city of Mysore their are tonnes of beggars asking for our bottles of water due to their survere thirst and here only 30 mins bus ride away they are doing 5 fountain shows an hour for the well off and paying. Its strange how this country works.We also attracted the attention of the local conartists who all promised there was a brilliant spice market round the corner after relucantly following we were taken to such places as a butchers, an underground cigarrette factory and an incence producers who covered allessandro in oils to help him grow more hair but actually just caused a burning sensation and made him smell like toilet clearner lol

Speaking of water whilst in mysore we took the 3 hours journey out to the infamouse shivanasamudra waterfalls, the largest in india and a spectacle not to miss. Again it was a ridiculously hot day and it would have been amazing to jump into the flowing water, but due to safety reason we werent allowed :( we still had a great day and spent the 6 hour round bus trip playing guess who - that game never gets old.

Since then I have arrived in Kerala, after making the mistake of heading to the north beaches during a monsoon we quickly changed roots and came to the fishing town of Fort Kochin which is where I am now. South Kerala is a collection of small islands connected by strong bridges which seem to be holding each island in an attempt to not only keep them appart and stop them from floating absentmindedly into the Arabian sea, but also to keep them from bumping into each other. Like a mum holding her sweet natured but slightly unruly kids at arms length. Fort Kochin is a very westernised town, the menus have a range of food, the locals speak english and this all means the prices are doubled. I like it hear though, its relaxed and hassle free - the weather is impecable as well at a cool 38 degrees the coast brings in a welcome breeze every so often.
Yesterday we went on a boat trip around the back waters, smaller islands seperated by slow moving water. Our boat made of bamboo and carpeted with coconut wool was shaded and refreshing. For the first time in india we witnessed complete silence apart from the odd bird singing in the sun. It was soo relaxing that within 10 mins of being on the water kimberley was asleep - later she said it was worth the money as that was the best sleep she had had in ages :) Today alexandro left to go back to Paris, it was sad to see him go as he has been our main focus of amusement during this trip. He has a flare for the comedic and a compasion like no other - me and kim will miss him loads. So tonight we head north, since we cant face a 4 days train to the far north we have decided to take a 10 hour train back to Goa and then head on from there. Sorry thing has been a long one, I promise the next will be more concise. I hope your all enjoying reading of my adventures?! Miss you xxxx