India Part 3

Since I last checked in with you, our month in India has come to an end. I would be correct to say I have a love/hate relationship with this wonderful sub-continent. Whilst the people are generally really friendly, I can never accept that it's okay to push someone out of your way to get onto a train first... especially if that someone has a baby in her arms - unfortunately something that is culturally acceptable here. A small blip on an otherwise fantastic country.

Upon leaving the tiny beach haven of Goa, we made our way south to Kerala. This state is famous for it's backwaters; a network of rivers, canals and lakes that's begging to be explored. We did so via a large sleeper boat with driver, cook and waiter. All for as cheap as chips. However the real exploration was achieved the next day when we took a canoe through a series of small canals with a local as a guide.

Leaving Kerala we decided to spend our last we days in India visiting a National Park, followed by the Taj Mahal - rather touristy, but criminal to miss. Now India is mindbogglingly big. Think of something massive, and a bit and your not even close. Our 'express' train from Kerala to Nagpur (Pench National Park) took 30hrs, with another 18hrs to Agra (land of the Taj). I for one am convinced that I have discovered train-lag.

Stopping at Pench National Park (slap band in the middle of India, and where Jungle book was set), was part of a greater mission to see tigers. And as such a safari was in order. Unfortunately we didn't get to see a tiger, but this may have been a good thing as our jeep broke down in tiger country - twice! We first had to change tyre by crocodile lake, and then the radiator blew right in the tigers hunting ground. Luckily only us humans were stupid enough to be up at 5.30AM. The Tigers were most probably safely tucked up in bed.

Agra - the home of the Taj Mahal, along with monkeys and rats was next on our agenda. With very little time to explore the city we hired a tuk-tuk guide for the day. We also struck lucky as it was free entry day for all tourist attractions the day we were there. It normally cost more to get into the Taj, than we were paying each for a weeks accommodation. Result! Agra also gave us a good lesson on how not to drive - thanks to a driver who I was convinced was blind and drunk! Somehow we only had one small crash in a day where we spent a lot of time driving on the wrong side of the road :-) xx

Goa and Steve, India (Part 2)

BANG - and then there was tourism. After chilling on remote and far away beaches for the last few weeks, finding lots of 'white' tourists ironically came as a bit of a culture shock. Possibly we can direct blame at the start of the holiday season, but to be fair Palolem itself is rather hard to leave... our planned stay has been well extended already.

It is quite possible that I can be a little susceptible to challenges at times, and upon meeting the French version of Steve Irvine (Emanuel) we were easily convinced that heading into the jungle to canyon down some waterfalls would be a good idea... and so we did! A TV show was recently filmed at said waterfall, with 'French Steve' leading the presenters down the route that we would follow. Basically we began by driving into the middle of the jungle in an open topped jeep (I really want one), before hiking 1/2 hour to the the river we would conquer. 'French Steve' decided this an appropriate time to inform us of all the ways that we could die today, not least his story about bumping into a tiger in this part of the woods (sorry, i mean
Jungle) before. If we were to meet one ourselves, it was deemed best that we run at it with our hands above our heads making loud noises (presumably so that it would think we totally bonkers and rather untasty)!

The actual canyoning was great fun, although I recommend doing the same in Europe where you don't have to check for snakes before jumping into the water. Speaking of snakes, we had an encounter with the worlds most poisonous variety - the King Cobra. The King Cobra diets on other snakes, and the Cobra in question was enjoying a nice snakey dinner when we made our introductions. Crazy 'French Steve' offered to
clear the snake from our path and sent us a short distance away, with instructions to leave him should he be bitten (there is not serum for the King Cobra in India). We were left to mull over that fact that should he be bitten we would actually have to pass the snake on our only way out anyhow. Luckily our snake charmer friend was less than charming, and Mr King Cobra hid long enough for us to pass. We met his intended dinner further downstream, who was taking his last snakey breaths thanks to the venom (see photo).

All a bit hungry from this action, we ended our jungle adventure for the day by eating some red ants (which surprisingly tasted of lemon) before heading back to our nice and safe touristy beach. Suddenly the beach seems a nice safer place, if a little less fun. x