Today was the day we tackled the trains!!! So we thought we'd get to the train station in plenty of time so we could find out what we were suppose to do. We'd already bought our tickets but we needed to find out seats, platforms etc. But surprise surprise, you guessed it, it didn't go smoothly! First of all we couldn't find where it told you our seats numbers, then to finally find it, but only to see there wasn't a sheet for our train, then to be told that there wouldn't be a sheet for our train - as it was delayed!!! Indian time again - bet you're not shocked by now eh!?!? The theme here is quite clear. The train station is a very difficult place to try and kill time. There is nowhere to sit (apart from a small room that's really dirty and swarming with flies - that's for 1st class passengers! - however we just went in and sat down anyway cause the alternative was to lie on the platform with the locals! We just sat on our own reading a book and getting very strange looks, until we found out our train had been delayed again. Finally we discovered it was due to arrive on platform 4 so with our new found knowledge of how India works, we thought it best to actually ask where platform 4 was instead of assuming it was where it should be. To our surprise the man said, 'there are 6 platforms here. This is platform 1, then it is 2 then 3 and then 4'! It actually went in order - it's the first sensible and logical thing we've come across.

So we make our way over to the platform in preparation - to be told it was delayed again. By now I'm now amused. It's getting later and it's getting hotter and we're trying not to drink too much so we don't have to use (and pay for!!!!!) the toilets in the station. So the train finally came and it was the longest train I've ever seen - it just kept coming - to be fair it is a train that runs for about 32 hours, so it carries a lot of people along the way. It's just like you see on the tv - people packed into carriages, hanging out of doors, jumping on and off while it's moving and throwing all their rubbish out the windows. There were men going up and down the platform selling drinks and food to all the hands and faces pressed up against the bars of the windows with no glass.

As there was no list, we were told to see the guard on the train who would tell us where our seats were. We should have known! He looked very uninterested and grunted at us. In a second attempt he made a faint gesture with his hand, directing us to the front of the train, so we set off in that direction. However, as we'd watched the train come in , we knew that it was only the lower class (cattle-like) carriages that were up that end, so we quickly turned on our heels and headed the other direction in search of the air conditioned carriages. We walked, and walked and walked and walked some more. Everyone was on and we started to hear noises, so worrying that the train would start to leave and we'd have to try and mount it by jumping (with our 15kg backpacks!) we hopped on to the first a/c carriage we came across and just sat down in the first empty cubicle- and thought, we'll move if they ask us to!

The seats weren't bad actually (they turn into beds aswell for overnight trips) but the surrounding area was littered with food and rubbish, however we'd a bit of a clean up and made it like home for the next 4 hours. A few other tourists came on and gave that look along with a few huffs and puffs - that communial language and acceptance between travellers that meant 'what an effort'. Not long after we'd set off a lady came up to us and asked what we'd paid for our ticket as she was being asked for more money and thought she was being ripped off. As it turned out, the conductor was right but what she said, and how mad she was, sums it all up. 'You can never trust anyone, as day after day the story changes, the price changes and you don't know if they're taking the piss out of you or not. It's so much effort'. Thankfully he checked our tickets (after looking through about 20 pages of names - surely they're a better way) and didn't make us move - so we drew the curtains and tried to get some sleep. That was until the constant line of men selling drink and food came along. We did appreciate their effort to stop and direct the question at us specifically after they realised we were tourists, but really, coffee is coffee and veg biryani is veg biryani, in hindi and english - but never the less we got it all repeated for us, while speaking slower - quite a lot! I don't know why, but there seemed to be a need for three men in a row to walk down the train all offering you coffee and then another 2 or 3 selling pakoras and then another lot selling curry - so of course you have to say 'no thank you' to each and every one.

However, we arrived in Varkala with no major dramas (the train conductor actually came back to let us know our stop was coming up - amazement shone in our faces to say the least!) So we get off the train to be met by men wanting to know if we want a rickshaw - again we launched into our 'no thanks, no thanks' (we'd rather find our own than take one from a guy who hassles you all the time in your face). They tried to get us to cross the track to get to their tuks tuks (infront of the train!) but we opted for the bridge and headed to the street to get a tuk tuk to our hotel.

We arrived in Bamboo Village - amazing! We decided to stay in a beach hut (as they hadn't been built yet in Goa due to the long Monsoon season this year) so thanks to those that bought us a nights accommodation in a hut. We thoroghly enjoyed it. The hut was so cute, made from wood panels and bamboo. But it had a double bed (not two pushed together) and a bathroom, with a shower and western toilet. And it was clean. Probably cleaner than most of the rooms we've stayed in. There was a little balcony with a table and chairs, which was great to sit and read and watch the sea. There were a few huts, arranged right on the cliff edge overlooking the sea and plam trees, with hammocks. The place itself is great. I think we prefered it to Goa actually. There are a few nice beaches, although small, but the Arabian sea is so warm and it's lovely to play in the waves at sunset. The main strip is all on the edge of a cliff, lined with cafes and restaurants. At night the sea lights up on the horizon with loads of lights from all the fishing boats. It looks like you're looking directly across on to land (reminds me a bit of home actually) but then you realise, it's only water out there and then you appreciate how many fisher men are actually out there working over night.

Needless to say, the fish was amazing. You choose which one you want (sea salmon, blue marlin, tuna etc etc) and they cut a chunk off it for you and then cook it how you want - tandoori oven style tuna was delicious, although blue marlin cooked in coconut and spices in a banana leaf was something else. Yum.

We liked the place that much we stayed an extra night. I have never eaten so much fish and rice in all my life - but how can you not when you see it that fresh!