We landed after a steady descent through grey clouds and over endless miles of jungly forest. After leaving the UK through similar cloud cover ( albeit without the jungle bit) it was rather a shock to be hit with humidity to prompt breaking out in an instantaneous sweat as we disembarked the aircraft.

Fort Cochin, our first Indian destination is a charming town situated on a finger of land making up a whole hand of mini peninsulas. Known as the first port of India discovered by Vasco de Gama, Fort Cochin is a wonderful melange of the Colonial and the Indigenous.

In excited trepidation of what awaits us on arrival in Bombay in 10 days time we are soaking up the culture bit by bit in this comparitively sleepy area. A concoction of sensory offferings is like nothing else I have experienced before and leaves me in awe at every turn - the acrid smell of a garbage dump by the roadside, incence burning from a tiny shrine in an alleyway, cows wandering through the streets totally at ease amongst the incessant hooting and swerving of indefinable 'lanes' of traffic.

The use of an ancient fishing technique - a series of giant cantilevered Chinese fishing nets - dominates the shoreline in the main town area and on our first evening we saw an astounding array of species in the days catch including around 300 squid, some in the throes of death displaying their fiercest display of threat by creating a rippling rainbow of pigment across their bodies.

Last night we saw the ancient South Indian artform of Kathakali which are plays depicting the Hindu epics of Ramayana, the Mahabharata and the Puranas. The spoken word is not used, instead a hugely complex language of facial expressions and hand movements tell the stories, sometimes lasting about 8 hours! Ours, thankfully, lasted only 2 with 30 minutes dedicated to the application of intricate makeup.The actors train for 7 years in order to perfect the comical array of facial contortions that look rather more like someone trying to get rid of an incessant fly on the face without the use of hands.

And today one of my lifes ambitions has finally been achieved - a few hours spent with some orphaned elephants at a sanctuary. A dawn wakeup call took us to their breakfast bathing spot where we were able to join in on the scrub. Using coconut shells as loofahs we pampered their wrinkly hides as they closed their eyes in contentment, lifting their trunks when instructed and turning over on command. Being young-uns at ages 3,5 and 6 they were super curious about everything! The last of the 4 sanctuary residents was a 29yr old female and Nick and I rode her later on in the day. Just at the very end we stood for a photo by her trunk and I looked up at her. Something must have spooked her as she shook her head and nearly knocked me to the floor! Pretty scary stuff and Nick thought she was about to freak out and trample me but in truth i think it was just her sheer hugeness that meant a fairly small movement sent me flying! New respect for the tamed elephant!

Onwards and Upwards

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