Kochi (2 nights)

I rose early to secure an auto-rickshaw to the airport, 32km away, and made it there with plenty of time to spare. Angela arrived pretty much on time and we took the rickshaw back to the boat jetty in Ernakulam. Together we squeezed onto the seats in the ferry, Angela trapped under her pack, and we were soon in Fort Cochin. Another shorter rickshaw journey and we were at the hotel.

That afternoon we took a stroll along the sea front and had lunch in a rooftop cafe. Then we had coffee and cake in a quaint little tea shop with a tree trunk table and chairs made from old tea caskets. Later we found the only bar in town and forgot about dinner altogether!

The next day we took a little ferry across to Vypeen Island and then jumped on a bus to Cherai beach. We met an English girl on the bus and had a pretty pleasent journey, despite the oppressive heat. The three of us set of walking, chatting, walking and then started to wonder just how far it was. After asking a local shop owner, who just said 'go away' and pointed (he probably didnt mean any offence), a rickshaw stopped and offered us a free lift. Yes.....free! We wondered what he was after, but jumped in and he dropped us at the beach, no hassle. Im still puzzled.

The beach was long and mostly empty, not a stunner, but ok. We spent a bit of time sun-bathing and then found a place to have some food and a refreshing beer. It was so nice to escape the sun that we stayed much longer than we meant to and ended up taking a rickshaw back to the bus stop. The bus arrived almost immediately, as did the ferry once we returned to the jetty. Easy!

Later we had a good Kerala fish curry in a restaurant not far from our hotel and a couple more beers in the bar!