Fresh from our 34 hour train journey we arrived in Trivandrum. We had a room booked but tried to find something a bit cheaper. After an hour we had to concede and head to our booked place. It's a nice place but the room is no different from some of the other hostels we've stayed in. Apart from being twice the price. We went to a local restaurant recommended by the staff and had some noodles. Cheating a bit on the Indian food we know but we have 5more weeks of curry to go yet! Quite quickly we realised that the men are all wearing skirts which Laura thinks is great but Sean can't see the point of and gets annoyed a bit. I'm determined to get Sean in one before we leave. They are called lungi or longi and it's a sheet of material which is very precariously draped around the waist. We can't see any logical reason why and how they manage to stay on. We hope they are wearing something underneath just in case... Google images: Gandhi. Off to bed for a real night's sleep after a fitful night on the train.

first day in Trivandrum (officially called Thiruvananthapuram but you can see why the colonial name is still common...) was spent firstly looking for a nice brunch. After a long time debating what to have from the extensive menu, and then being told everything we wanted was unavailable, only the biryani was, we quickly left before I had chance to vent my frustrations. We headed to the main drag and found a great little place where the waiter almost looked happy to see us... almost. Had a fab meal and I had a great Thali for about 60p! We wanted to get to know Trivandrum so explored the back streets and alleys for an hour or so in the blistering hat. Found Kerala Govt Handicraft emporium where the staff were overjoyed to see a customer. Browsing not really an option here. Found a neat alley of book sellers. About 30 little set ups, just little shack of tarpaulin with stacks and stacks of books. I would have been in heave had the majority of them not been IT or maths textbooks, and the fiction selections not been the same pirated copies of Sidney Sheldon, Dan brown, John Grisham or JK Rowling books on every single store... It was interesting to see the English books they thought were popular and there were some odd second hand gems. When I tried to look at a surprisingly genuine original book, the seller was quick to tell me I couldn't have it and directed me to mills and boon instead, I quickly lost interest and he quickly lost a customer...

We went for ice-cream in a little bakery and shop and juice bar to get out of the heat. The owner tried to fob this random jelly cake off on Sean, who initially refused but the owner seemed vey insistent so we thought it must be good, he was quite enthusiastic. It was truly the most disgusting thing I've had, a tasteless white mush, and he also charged us for it. In the evening we chose to go to a little bar and restaurant for a bev and a snack. Once inside we were persuaded not to eat as we looked around at the surroundings and what e were sat on; the grimiest garden furniture that had clearly never seen the light of day let alone a clean cloth. The walls were crawling with I don't even want to know what and we were trying not to touch anything around us. The beer however was dirt cheap. Literally. Swift exit and across the road to an Indian fast food place. More curry yum yum and to the hotel to catch Die Hard II. A classic in every country apparently.

Day two

Our lazy day. We had a long lie in and then to an internet cafe to catch up with friends and attempted to get the Tottenham goals on YouTube. We then set out on a journey to find our western heaven Cafe Coffee Day, we knew there was one nearby, we'd looked it up. A couple of rickshaws later and we made it to the promised land. A place where you can sit and don't have the bill shoved in your face halfway through your drink or meal. We don't get stared at at all either. Full of coffee and ice cream we decided to head back and got some snacks to chill out in the hotel and watch Swordfish.

Day three

final full day in Trivandrum. We went to Trivandrum Zoo. Very cheap to get in, even for foreigner which is a bonus. The zoo was okay, but the cages were quite small for a lot of the animals. At times we felt a bit like attractions at the zoo as well. And the 'aquarium' was outdone by most garden centers in England. There were some nice gardens so we relaxed but the heat was a bit overwhelming so decided we had deserved a nice ac treat in our fave hangout CCD. Had a bite to eat and more coffee and ice cream - it really is a hard life here... A few hands of Uno and a quick read and we moved on to explore the shopping opportunities. We had completely forgotten it was Sunday so opportunities were a bit scarce but we did find the Indian equivalent of Marks and Sparks or Debenhams. It's the first really large scale operation we've seen. Everyone is still a salesman though and targets white people like mosquitoes seem to be targeting us. Another satisfying day in India finished with a curry - of course. Now relaxing in the hotel with postcards, sports for Sean and a bit of light reading for Laura.

On to Varkala tomorrow where we are hoping to get on the beach to even out the t-shirt tans.