Agra-Cochin

Heading south
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Don't have as much time to write this time as we are waiting for a bus to take us up to Munnar, in the Western Ghats, or mountains.

After the Taj Mahal, the next two days were a blur of air conditioning, sleep, reading, playing hangman, then playing rummy and shithead (the only two card games we know), coughing, tentatively eating the train's food (actually not bad at all), coughing, sneezing (I caught a cold from the aircon) and trying to stare wistfully at the beautiful passing scenery through grimy yellow windows. I'd like to say that our 48 hour train journey from North to South was a blast, but aside from the cold-inducing blast from the AC vents, it really wasn't. I was glad to hop out at Ernakulum and breathe some fresh air. It was an experience, and about a 20th of the price of a flight so worth it but I'd rather not repeat it in a hurry.

The next two days were a blur of air conditioning, sleeping, reading, playing hangman, cards and eating

Our home for two days
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But Fort Cochin more than made up for it. Compared to the hooting frenzied chaos of Agra, Fort Cochin was like an oasis of calm. We caught a ferry across to the town and noticed immediately the lack of rickshaws and noisy motorbikes. We immediately changed down into a lower gear.

My cough and cold had reached nasty proportions so after checking in, we headed straight for an Ayurvedic centre and treated ourselves to a full body massage. It was bliss. I also had a treatment called Nyassar (I think) which invloved an oily facial massage, slapping hot towels lightly on my forehead and some pungent drops up my nose. My little masseuse told me to 'sniff hard' but it stung so much my eyes watered. 'Hard!' she demanded. The back of my throat burned. But all credit to her, my nose cleared and the cold disappeared! Sadly, the cough is still lingering, but man, what an experience.

Train food, cheap and cheerful
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That evening we saw the most amazing sunset over the ocean, the shore lined with palm trees and fishing nets and then we bought Indian salmon and prawns from teh evening's haul which was then cooked for us in a restaurant nearby - all for under a fiver!

Although it's monsoon season the rain has held off nicely with the odd shower each day. We hired a scooter the next day (160cc, much more powerful than mine!) and headed 25km up to Cherai beach which was virtually empty, the first swim in the sea wich was great and rounded it off with a fish curry. Ed also decided it was time to shave off the two weeks growth on his chin and went for a shave. Job was a good'un.

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Hmmm, I wanted to write more but the bus leaves shortly so watch this space. We have been to the beach and been on our romantic riceboat cruise (last night) but I'll write about that another time.