Our last full day in India as we have an early flight in the morning to Chennai (Madras). We take a walk to the beach before breakfast as the local fishermen have their nets out and are starting to pull in their catch. I haven't seen this done since I was a kid on holidays at Rainbow Bay. These nets are slightly bigger though and it takes them sometime to haul them in by hand. When it is close to shore three of the fisherman tie their sarongs extra tight and ente...

Today we drove to Kanyakumari, the very end of India where the Arabian Sea, the Indian Ocean and the Bay of Bengal all meet. We take a crowded ferry ride out to one of the monuments/temples built on the rocks just off the shore line. Then when back on the mainland we walk and dip our toes into the water at the very tip of India. This is only 90kms from where we are staying at Kovalam but took us 3 and half ours to get here as the roads as poor and the traffic and...

After breakfast of juice, cereal, toast and fresh fruit on the houseboat we set off and docked at Alleppy by around 9am. Mr Anthony was there to meet us and we set off for the drive to Kovalam. It takes quite a few hours as the roads aren't great and the traffic and driving bad. Along the way we pass through some fairly decent sized towns. I notice a very distinct dress for the men in the south. Most wear a white sarong tied around their waist with a collared but...

After a lazy morning beside the pool we we boarded our houseboat from the jetty at our hotel at around midday. Our houseboat is part of the River Escapes fleet and is very charming. It is traditional looking with thatched roof and timber floors. There are two bedrooms with ensuites and a big picture window in each of the bedrooms. Up front is the the living area which is open apart from the roof. We have the ding area with table and chairs, a couple of comfy can ...

This morning we spent with the elephants. First off we went for a ride, Laurie and I on Lucky, a 28yo male elephant. And Bob and Deb on Mira, a 25yo female. The elephants live for well over 100 so these two were just youngsters. When then got it feed them cut up pumpkins by placing them right inside their mouths. You couldn't help but get a little lick from there tongues which felt a little icky. Then Lucky showed how he could drag large timber logs by placing a ...