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 button up shirt. The sarongs have one colored stripe on the border of one edge and kinda remind us of the old public hospital sheets. They tie them around their waist and they reach to their ankles but most then grab the bottom edges and tuck these back up into the waist making them knee length. And almost every male has a mustache. The women wear either a sari or the tunic top and pants underneath with a matching scarf draped with the ends over each shoulder hanging to the back and forming a loop neckline to the front. We reach our hotel Turtle on the Beach after lunch and are well pleased with our hotel rooms that have views over the Arabian Sea. We settle in and head straight to the beach for a swim in the ocean. It is so hot and humid here. The water is nice but I don't stay in too long as I'm stung by some sort of stinger on my arm. No one else is though. After a shower we wander along the boardwalk at the beachfront browsing in the plethora of shops. There are plenty of options for dining along here as we, so we stop for dinner with views over the water and a slight breeze to cool us down. Back at the hotel I fall asleep to the sound of the ocean :)