Week 4 & 5 – India

Goa

Agonda – Palolem

Kerala

Alleppey – Varkala – Fort Kochi

“At least my trousers are brown”

India! What a place, guys. A complete sensory overload and we’ve not even scratched the surface of this country. Currently writing this from a little beachside restaurant in Varkala, a stunning town on the Arabian sea in Kerala, known amongst tourists for Varkala cliff, a hippie beachside spot. Varkala is also a pilgrimage site, and the beach here is thought to have holy waters, so it’s filled with people quite literally washing away their sins. We took a dip, but still feeling pretty sinful 😦 It’s also famous for Ayurvedic medicine and massages, Al and I gave this a whirl yesterday, another interesting experience. I’ll get to that later. 

Before we got here a couple of days ago, we spent a week in South Goa. After waving off our lovely Faye at Colombo airport (we miss you!!), Alice and I boarded our flight to Chennai on route to Goa. A hop skip and a jump (2 hour layover and then another flight from Chennai to Goa) later we arrived in Goa. It was a two hour drive from the airport to our little beach shack on Agonda beach, and most of the journey was spent nattering away and randomly repeating ‘WE ARE IN INDIA!’, not quite believing we were actually here. Still feels a little surreal that I’ll have spent two weeks in a country that I’ve always wanted to visit, but definitely didn’t think I ever would. Lucky girly. 

It’s also worth noting that arriving in Agonda marks the beginning of my HORRENDOUS skin journey. I’ve always counted myself pretty lucky with my skin… how naive of me. I think a combination of the sea, sun, sweat (tears?) and copious amounts of factor 50 suncream has left my skin crying out for help. I partly blame myself, I didn’t bring any exfoliant. I am a fool. I was envisioning that stripping back on products would be great for my skin and the sun would make me a sun-kissed freckly Goddess. ALAS, FOLKS. The Goddess part is still true hehe, but my pores are in disarray and my skin is full of these adorable red bumps. Anyway, time to get over myself, plus, poor Alice is probably bored to death of saying ‘You really can’t tell Lil!’ or ‘It’s always going to look worse when you’re an inch away from the mirror with your torch on your face!’. God love her. 

So, Agonda. We picked this beach as we’d heard it’s a little more chill than Palolem (our next stop) and we were in desperate need of some TLC. The last three weeks have been sooooooooooooooo stressful guys!!!!!!! Agonda was maybe one of the most chilled out places I’ve ever been, it honestly felt like everybody was whispering. They obviously weren’t because that would be super odd, but you get what I mean. Our little beach shack was just off the beach and we spent our first evening sipping a Kingfisher on the beach. Well Alice had a cosmo because she’s a chic bitch. We were up and at em the next day for our first full day in Goa. After a quick dip in the sea, we threw ourselves into the Goan vibes and did a meditation together on the beach. When in India. Agonda is very small but the shopping is amazing, so we wandered around and managed to get ourselves a couple of cute crop tops and some olive green wide leg trousers (no elephants) for the stunning price of £12 between us. Alice and I also cannot haggle for shit, so we probably hugely overpaid, but we move, we must. Next up was the most amazing massage, the pressure was bang on and I came out feeling like a new woman. The massage beds here don’t tend to have the holes for your face, so you kind of have to get your head at the right angle for it to feel ok. It means you come out looking like the guy from the goonies, but worth it for the oily goodness. Puffy and relaxed. For lunch that day we had our first curry, and my GOD did it live up to everything we were expecting for our first Indian curry. We went for paneer butter masala, rice and a naan bread that shook me to my core. The first of many unbelievable meals and the first of hundreds of even more unbelievable trips to the toilet. The first one being about two hours after this meal mid face-time to Dad. Sorry Paps. Alice and I are honestly so used to having the shits that we are well and truly in the habit of bringing toilet paper everywhere and saying a small prayer before every meal. Completely worth it for the food here. We spent the rest of the day on sun loungers, enjoying watching the cows on the beach roam around. Not sure I’ll ever get used to seeing so many cows just wandering about. For you uncultured idiots, Cows are sacred within Hinduism (80% ish of India is Hindu) and represent the earth/mother earth, so they are honestly everywhere. Some of them are seriously intimidating, and we watched one cow try to ram its horns into a girl on Palolem beach (she was fine and managed to avoid the horns), safe to say we now give them a wide berth. This girl was also stroking the cow who looked pretty pissed off, but to be honest I wouldn’t want to be petted in 33 degree heat, so fair play to the cow I guess?

We wandered down the beach that evening for dinner at somewhere called Sea Breeze. The reviews were amazing so we settled in for dinner on the beach with the sun just beginning to set. Just as our drinks arrived, I’m not even joking when I say the biggest swarm of flying ants basically took over the entire beach. It was honestly like a scene out of a horror film, or The Mummy, everybody was running off the beach flailing their hands in the air, swatting them away. All the restaurants turned off their lights to deter them and we sprinted inside to take cover. I looked down at my beer and there were about 6 of them floating on the top, poor things desperate for the sweet stuff. Just as we were about to call it a night as we didn’t fancy eating dinner in the pitch black unsurprisingly, the flies disappeared and we were able to finish our meal in peace on the beach. A truly bizarre scene.

As has been the way for the majority of the trip, it got to 9pm and we were completely wrecked, so it was time for bed. I wrote in the journal that evening: ‘Off to Palolem tomorrow, me, Alice and my fungal agne’. Living for the DRAMA!!!

On our final morning in Agonda I treated myself to some peanut butter and jam on toast with a coffee while Al laid on the beach with her book. I heard the women in front of me scream, looked up, and in the distance, just behind Alice, I saw a dolphin jump in and out of the water twice. One of those moments that don’t quite feel real… a had to be there moment. Alice joined after her sunbathing sesh, had two tokes of my cigarette and it clearly got her bowels moving because I’ve never seen somebody pull out their chair and run away so quickly. She basically threw herself out of the chair. I was crying with laughter. 

After that wholesome beginning to the day, we jumped in a tuk tuk to Palolem.

After two nights in our own beach hut, it was time to (reluctantly?) get back to hostel life.We were a little dismayed to find that our dorm at The Lost Hostel had no air con. Humbling. Alice’s face was a sight after this realisation, sheer panic, she has a real thing about sleeping in the freezing cold which is a laugh. The amount of times I’ve woken up in the middle of the night and she’s turned the aircon down to 15 degrees and I’m frozen. Anyway, we dropped our bags and spent the afternoon lounging on Palolem beach, very different from Agonda, it was kind of giving Costa Del Sol vibes, which we weren’t really expecting, but beautiful nonetheless. That evening at the hostel we ended up meeting a lovely bunch of people, an incredibly eclectic mix from all over the world, from India to Germany, Leeds (they are bloody everywhere!!) to Australia and ranging from 20 years old to 45, all on their own travels with their own stories. Not very often do you get to spend time in a group like that, it was brilliant. We ended up going to an incredibly low key restaurant around the corner and letting the guys that lived locally order for us. Dhal and paneer and rice and more bread. I’ve eaten so much bread in India I fear I’m turning doughy. One of the younger Danish guys we were with ordered a spicy curry and he looked like he was about to die, not even kidding. He was so red and his eyes were watering profusely while intermittently choking, poor kid. We’ve been told on numerous occasions not to eat the food on the trains here, and this same guy told us how on their 14 hour train journey they had eaten a chicken biryani in the first 30 minutes and the next 13 and half hours were spent in absolute agony. A few hours later I wrote in my journal “Currently sitting in bed listening to someone shower, sweating profusely with no AC – is dorm life for me?”. TBC on that answer. 

The next day in Palolem I got up a little earlier to go to a yoga class at somewhere called Palm Forest in this shala in the middle of the forest. I’m really enjoying starting my days like that when I can, especially when I feel completely out of control of my life 🙂 After that, us and our new pals rented bikes and drove to Galgibaga beach, otherwise known as Turtle beach. We didn’t see any turtles as it’s out of season but the beach was absolutely stunning. It’s a stretch of sand in between the sea and a lagoon, and we were practically the only ones there. The sand was fucking boiling so we were about 10 seconds away from searing off a layer of skin on the bottom of our feet, but aside from that, paradise. The waves were seriously intense, and I don’t think I’ll ever forget Alice trying to get me on her shoulders while being bashed about by the waves, choking because we were laughing so much. A few of our new friends from India spoke in depth about the complexities of India over lunch. Over 100 languages spoken, the repercussions of the caste system, the state of affairs with a very right wing government, the reservation system which was set up to give people from typically underrepresented groups within the caste system equal opportunities (this was so complex it blew my mind), how religion plays such a huge part in the running of this country. The conversation went on for hours, and it was incredible to listen to three people from completely different regions discuss and debate. It turned to micro economics at one point, I was desperately trying to keep up with this, but to no avail. I also tried my first Chai tea, nom nom nom. 

After the beach we went to get ice cream like the big children we are, I was so hungry I basically headbutted my scoop of mint chocolate chip. We wandered down Palolem beach to a famous sunset spot at the end and we watched the most unbelievable sunset. Maybe my favourite so far. I wonder how many times I’m going to say that. I smoked my first beedi, which is a classic Indian cigarette, tobacco wrapped in a Tendu leaf. As if my lungs aren’t in a bad state already, let’s get rid of the filter!!! We went for dinner that evening at a place called Tattwa, which soon became our favourite place to eat. Definitely the best curry I’ve ever eaten. I’ll never forget the butter paneer masala and the naan bread filled with spinach and tomato. Dribbling as I write this *wipes keyboard*. I don’t think I’ve laughed as much as I did that night in a really long time. Two of the guys we were with decided to have a chilli eating competition. The heat took about 5 minutes to kick in, and I’ve never seen anything like it. An absolutely ridiculous thing to do, but truly hilarious. We also taught the two Danish boys (who we were completely obsessed with – Alice described them as formidable and it was so accurate) the word ‘plonker’ and it went down a treat. It’s so important to share your culture with other people???? Went back to the hostel for ping pong after, felt very smug as I beat a couple of the guys who kept telling me how great they were, PEW PEW!!! #feminism

The next day was Valentine’s Day ❤ Alice and I went for pancakes in the morning to celebrate our undying love for eachother. It became a running joke amongst this group how we were basically a couple. After brekky it was time for some retail therapy, we both treated ourselves to a lovely new beach bag. Unfortunately we were told shortly after how we overpaid by hundreds of rupees and had once again been completely mugged off. Alice was told her bag had been handsewed in Rajasthan… on reflection, not so sure. That afternoon we checked into our little beach hut. We’d managed two nights in the dorm room with no AC, but we soon decided we couldn’t do another two nights so off we went to our lovely little bungalow in what felt like a jungle. So quiet and just what we needed before our big Valentine’s night out!!! Also worth noting that I slipped in cow shit earlier that day and nearly stacked it. I had to rinse my poo filled shoe out in front of a bunch of people. Quite mortifying actually. Happy Valentine’s day to me.

The hostel we had just left was having a Valentine’s Day night out, so we put on our finest red dresses (joking) and headed back for pre-drinks before the cloob. We really threw it back to circa 2k11 and at one point I was holding Alice’s hair back as she was vomiting in the hostel toilet. Reliving our teenage years for one night only!! I didn’t think she was going to make it out but low and behold, next thing we knew we were in somewhere called Leopard Valley dancing to what I would describe as a mix of Bollywood and trance. It was such a fun night, such a great group of people. Slightly tampered by a guy at the end who was an absolute knob/piece of shit/horrible human, but aside from that, it was lots of fun. The hangover the next day was like nothing either of us had experienced in a long time, especially after such a chilled week. We spent the majority of the day in silence, in and out of naps. Pangs of guilt that we’d spent the day in bed, but we managed to rally for dinner and ate our first Thali in this tiny little restaurant which could fit about 8 people in. Thali is basically a platter of various traditional dishes and we went for kingfish and prawns. Thoroughly enjoyed it. 

Feeling fresh the next morning after a long sleep we went for a lush breakfast at somewhere called The Mill. It was kind of giving East London vibes, but we weren’t complaining as we sipped on our smoothies!!! I went for an amazing yoga class at somewhere called The Shiva Yoga Centre. It was run by possibly the bendiest man (Shiva himself) I’ve ever seen but the class was just no frills and lots of breathwork. It felt pretty spiritual, but I wont get into that because I don’t want to lose any friends while I’m away because you’re cringed out. Alice and I both had an Ayurvedic healing massage that day, another interesting experience. The massage was meant to find where you store your negative and positive energy, in the hopes of clearing it out apparently. Safe to say I haven’t experienced pain like that in a while as he rammed his elbow into my arse cheek with such force I was literally whelping. Apparently it’s all part of the process as he kept repeating ‘No pain, no gain!!!’ while laughing. So much fucking pain. Turns out Alice’s experience was much the same, and we were both told we stored negative energy towards men in our neck. The reviews of this place were pretty amazing, so perhaps we do? We were also both told our lymphatic systems were in disarray and we needed to drink at least 3 litres of water a day. This would make sense as we are parched 24/7. We went back to Tattwa for our final meal in Goa with our lovely friends, and we were waved off after our stunning curry. Goodbye Goa!!

Our taxi picked us up at 5pm for our flight from Goa to Kochi. Next up on the trip was our adventure to Alleppey to experience the famous backwaters. Now this was a seriously wild 24 hours. We arrived in Kochi at 11pm, schlepped to our hotel from the airport which had seriously weird vibes and then jumped in a taxi at 9am for a 2 hour journey down to Alleppey feeling really excited for a change of scenery! 1 hour into the journey, I was nodding off and Alice was listening to music and all of a sudden our taxi went into the back of the car in front and slid into the side of the road. It was actually pretty terrifying, and we were both beyond relieved that we were wearing a seatbelt as it really could have been much worse. The car was suddenly swarmed by people checking out the car and we were really keen to get out of there. We decided to pay our taxi driver as he looked pretty devastated and rightly shaken up, and God knows how much the damage was going to cost. We managed to find another taxi across the road who didn’t seem fussed about making sure the seat belt sockets were accessible. We managed to get across that we weren’t getting in without them and we were onward bound on the second part of our journey. The next hour was spent feeling quite emotional and a little shaken up but we were pretty grateful we had eachother. We arrived in Alleppey at our slightly odd hostel feeling a little merp to say the least. A guy called Dean who we’d met at The Lost Hostel in Goa was also staying there, so we spent the afternoon with him mooching along the beach and nattering away. We went for our first Keralan curry that evening in the centre of Alleppey, shitting ourselves everytime we crossed the road. My one gripe with India (the small amount I’ve seen) is the driving, it’s just complete chaos. Terrifying. We were so excited to go to bed after what had felt like a very long day, ready for a new day. Unfortunately, the double bed in our room was what can only be described as a large plank of wood. Arguably this was quite good for our necks which were both feeling a little crooked after the car accident. We managed to sleep and we were up at 7 with our splinters (joking) ready for the backwaters. The ferry journey to the backwaters was in itself absolutely breathtaking, like nothing we’d ever seen before, small villages and communities of people filled the river banks. We did ponder on various occasions how it must feel to have tourists come and take pictures of your daily life, a very strange concept. Before we got into our canoe, we had breakfast in the home of a couple who lived locally. We were given sweet chai tea (obsessed – also drank Als because she’s a weirdo and doesn’t drink tea or coffee wtf????) and Idly, which are steamed rice cakes. Fueled up and ready to go, 6 of us got into the canoe. I’ve not spent much time on boats before, but the water was so quiet and the scenery so stunning I was hit by an avalanche of tiredness and the next hour was spent twitching as I kept nodding off in the back of the boat. You know the kind of tiredness you felt at school when you were desperately trying to keep your eyes open and it almost ached? Well that was me for a good 60 minutes. Who knew the gentle rocking of a boat was so relaxing? Once I’d come about, we continued to float around the backwaters, completely blown away by how gorgeous this place was. Whole towns filled with shops, schools and businesses running along the canals. At about midday we stopped for some fresh pineapple juice and a banana fritter, and then off to lunch at the same place as before. This time it was Thali on the menu and some more tea. We were back on the ferry after that and back to the hostel to collect our bits and head further down south to Varkala which everybody we’d met had raved about. 

The plan was to get the train, but we were pretty keen to move on from Alleppey and the timings didn’t match up, so we decided to get a tuk tuk the whole way. My favourite mode of transport. 3 hours of gorgeous views and it really feels like you’re in the thick of it. Earphones in, numb arse, heaven. We stopped for a quick chai tea (asked by a randomer for a selfie here) about three quarters of the way into the journey, and we were back on the road. At various points on this journey we drove past massive groups of people singing/dancing/praying and even an actual elephant. It turns out it was the Shiva festival, or Maha Shivaratri which is a Hindu festival that happens every year in honour of Lord Shiva, one of the most famous deities. This was pretty incredible to see, another great reason to have got a tuk tuk! Anyhoo, we arrived in Varkala at about 7pm, and we checked into our lovely hostel, Cliff & Coral. Sehr chic. Quick shower, daily moan about my skin and we were off for dinner on Varkala cliff at somewhere called Cafe Calma. We had our first peanut masala that evening and of course a coke, number 38 of the day. We’d heard whispers of a party at somewhere called Sandy Beach, so we wandered down the beach to this bar, had a couple of rum and cokes with some lovely women we’d met there, debated dancing but decided we were far too tired so wandered home to bed. My favourite part of these past couple of weeks have been the evening mooches with Al, it usually involves ice cream and this particular evening we went into depth about how well we know ourselves and if you ever really do, just some light hearted chatter. 

Our first full day in Varkala begun at Cafe Sarwaa with a Chai tea and a smoothie bowl,  accompanied by an OUTRAGEOUS view over the cliff. We then had a mooch around and found a cliff side hotel with some sun loungers and parked up for the day. Alice was getting a little cocky with the sun and didn’t put any suncream on, she learnt a harsh lesson that day, one I’ve been taught over and over again. There were steps down to the beach (sooooo fun on the way up) and we were the only ones on our little patch, possibly my favourite looking beach so far. After this really long and tiring day, we decided to try a famous Keralan Ayeveuridc massage as we’d been told by lots of people that this was the place to have it. Itsy bitsy paper panties on, the massage was a go. Truthfully, this kind of massage wasn’t my style, it was less pressure and more kind of manic rubbing up and down. As I’m writing this I am literally thinking, wow I am actually moaning about my massage not being quite what I wanted after an afternoon of laying in the sun. Sorry, folks. Anyway, we slipped on home, oiled up like the little slugs we are, showered and got ready for dinner. We met Katie and Dave (a really gorgeous couple from Plymouth that we’d met in Alleppey and ended up seeing a couple of times in Varkala) and an Aussie called Katie for a random evening of long island ice teas at The Darejeeling Cafe. The sunset that evening was another stonker and we spent the rest of the evening smoking up a Marlboro storm. 

I’d somehow convinced Alice to come to an aerial yoga class the following morning. Both feeling a little jaded and sweaty (you literally step out the door and you’re dripping) ,we spent the next hour getting tangled in a hammock and hanging upside down like caterpillars. It was actually very fun and our bodies felt battered but in a good way, and the teacher even told us that many of the moves were great for getting our reproductive systems working. HOORAY, GIVE US DA BABIES. Unfortunately the hammock has cut up my left armpit, completely my own fault for turning up trying to look cute in my sports bra. Idiot. One odd thing about this class was that a women was filming the entire class for her yoga teacher training and hadn’t asked permission, so we weren’t really feeling having a camera in our face when we were spread eagle with a hammock between our legs, but hey, there’s some interesting footage out there somewhere. A hungover breakfast was well needed after this and I (don’t fucking judge me) actually ate some bacon with my eggs. I’ve been doing brilliantly with no meat, but that morning I saw bacon on the menu and decided that my soul needed it. No regrets, it was delicious… and streaky. The rest of that afternoon was spent in a lovely little cliffside taco restaurant, Alice in and out of the sea and me starting my blog. I was feeling incredibly anxious that afternoon (probably the long island ice teas) so I called Mabel and had a little cry, decided with Alice that I was being too hard on myself and felt a lot lighter by the evening. It is a really interesting experience dealing with anxiety so far from home. 

Anyway, that evening we met Katie and Dave for dinner at God’s Own Country (Kerala is known as God’s Own Country because of its natural beauty. It’s also the spice capital of India!) with the first thirty minutes of the evening spent over candlelight as there was a power cut. Another night spent eating fish curry, fresh grilled fish and some kingfisher beers. A fish-filled and wholesome evening putting the world to rights. 

The next morning it was finally time for another surf lesson. We’d been talking about getting back on the waves (bruh) for the last two weeks in India and we’d finally found the place to do it. We decided to get a private lesson, we really didn’t want to make anyone else in a group feel bad about their surfing skills, so we thought it best to save them the humiliation and just take to the waves el solo (hoping the sarcasm travels continents). 90 minutes of surfing was absolutely EXHAUSTING, but so fun. We’d both managed to get up on the board again, and also to completely flop at various points, a real hot pot of success and failure.The water was incredibly shallow, so it was quite scary falling back and wondering if this was going to be the moment you crack your head open. Oddly enough, my instructor took me for a break halfway through and encouraged me to sit for five minutes and eat a banana. Alice didn’t… not sure what vibe I was giving off, I must have looked wrecked? I was coughing and spluttering a lot… strange. Anyway, Alice managed to bag herself a sexy surf instructor and fell in love with his iridescent eyes, mine was giving more Dad vibes, but a very kind and patient man who said to me: “My father told me growing up, if you have 100 rupees, put 50 in the bank, give 30 to your family and 20 to your friends”. He was insistent this was the key to happiness. Food for thought, folks. I spent the afternoon in a little cafe called Lumuma, blogging away and protecting my poor face from the sun while Alice was making the most out of her last day on the beach. We then wandered over to somewhere called Tickety Boo where we finally tried a masala dosa, absolutely BUFF. It’s like a thin pancake filled with potatoes and it’s just heaven basically. We also tried a momo which a few people had told us we had to try, they originate from Tibet and are effectively steamed dumplings. We had them filled with potato and cheese and this was another slice of heaven. Quite a carby lunch on reflection. 

The next part of my day was quite eventful. As a holy place, Varkala is full of healers, yogis and all the kind of stuff that you know I fall hook, line and sinker for! I came across a Reiki healer and obviously I had to try this. I turned up in this small room just off the beach, full of crystals, oils and sound bowls and was ready to be HEALED BABY. He started by spritzing me with essential oils (wincing slightly as I was petrified of clogging my pores more than they already are) and using a crystal to… I’m not actually sure, but he was kind of pointing it in my ears, down my back… something to do with my chakras maybe? He then asked me to get onto the bed and lay down. He put crystals across the top part of the body and then started to perform reiki which was actually amazing. I sound like a prick but I could actually feel parts of my body getting hotter which he puts down to energy being moved around. Anyway, half an hour in I was feeling incredibly relaxed. Next thing I know, men are pounding at the door and screaming. Naturally I couldn’t understand what was being said, and the healer looked a little distressed. He opened the door and three policemen were standing there and shouting. I couldn’t quite believe this was happening. They came to look inside and I caught eyes with one of them as I had crystals laying across my body and one on my forehead meaning I couldn’t move my head much. I tried to smile. I cannot imagine what he was thinking. We both looked quite awkward, and rightly so it was an incredibly awkward scene. Thank God I had clothes on. After some more shouting and some discussion about a licence (I managed to make this bit out) the reiki continued. I found it quite hard to get back into the zone, so the next half an hour was peaceful but a little disturbed by the police interruption. The healer was incredibly apologetic and explained that it’s very common. He was lovely. 

That evening me and Alice went to the Sri Janardanaswamy Temple at dusk which was incredibly special, and a standout moment for me. It’s said to be over 2000 years old, although they don’t know exactly when it was built, and we got there in time to see the Aartis, which are the evening prayers. It was incredible and quite moving. This was our final evening in Varkala, so we went to somewhere called Babu Farm for dinner on the beach. We picked the fish we wanted to eat from the daily catch (prawns and a white fish that I can’t remember the name of) and enjoyed our evening of nattering away about relationships and luuuuurve. Many places in Varkala don’t sell alcohol because of the holy nature of the town, so we stuck with the soft drinks and it was a beautiful end to our beach portion of the India trip. We wandered along the cliff after dinner with a scoop of ice cream and then watched a fellow Brit play with a dog… and then it bit her Alice was convinced that the dog was rabid, I wasn’t so sure as it looked like a cute little playful pup, but she made a good point and asked me “Since when were you the expert on rabidity?” It’s been wonderful being with Alice because I’ve finally met my match with the hypochondria. Good to know there’s more of us out there.

The next morning we hopped on our first Indian train from Varkala back up to Kochi. We booked a second class AC seat (£6 each for a 4 hour journey) and we were in the sleeper carriage. Alice took the bottom bunk and I clambered on the top one. The journey flew by and it was actually really relaxing, aside from the men that walk down the aisles shouting ‘Biryani, biryani, biryani’ every 10 minutes. I’m assuming that doesn’t happen on the overnight trains because that would actually be torture if you’re trying to sleep. We arrived in Kochi at about 2pm and made our way to Fort Kochi where we were staying in a lovely homestay called Zen. We nearly cried with happiness when we arrived and there were real life DUVETS. Fort Kochi is a really interesting place, originally a fishing port, it was claimed by the Portuguese, and then the Dutch and then the last colonial regime was the British (obviously). It’s known as one of the first European settlements in India. Walking around it feels incredibly European with the architecture and the churches etc. A really fascinating place!

We spent the afternoon mooching, Maraid joined us for lunch over facetime, slightly unimpressed that we were eating pizza and drinking coke, which I totally get, it was also really not very nice so lesson learnt. That evening we both got ourselves a tattoo at somewhere called Zamurai, run by a woman called Maria and her partner. They were wonderful and we were chuffed with the results. We went for a low key dinner on the water that evening, ready for a big day of sightseeing on Alice’s final day. 

Ashok, who we met in the morning, offered to give us a tour of Fort Kochi for the day. We were hesitant at first as we’d wanted to mooch, but so thankful we’d taken up his offer as it was sweltering and there’s so much to see. I’m not going to go into too much detail as I can see that this is already 9 pages long on Microsoft Word (WOW, DOES ANYONE EVEN CARE THAT MUCH???) and my fingers are starting to ache. It’s also definitely nearly lunch time. But, we managed to see the famous Chinese fishing nets which are called that because they use similar ones in China and were apparently introduced in Kochi by a Chinese “explorer” (the word explorer is so fascinating when it’s to do with Colonialism – like, explorer? really?), but are these huge nets that are permanently installed and basically lift up and down using stones. We also saw the Santa Cruz Cathedral Basilica which was beautiful, the Jain Temple, a museum on the history of Kochi, St Peter’s Church, a street that is lived on by only Brahmins (the highest caste in Hindusim) and also somewhere called Dobhi Kharna, which is where all the public laundry is done, mostly by Vannars (a Tamil caste at the bottom of the hierarchy). Ashok took us to a spot called Sri Krishna for lunch and we ate the most unbelievable masala dosa (for 50p) and a chai tea. It was so low key and just the most delicious food, no frills. I had to get home at 2:30 for my first therapy session of the trip.I was feeling nice and centred after that and then Al and I spent our last evening wandering around and looking in the shops on Princess Street. I’d already bought myself a bracelet that day, so I continued with my big spender vibes and treated myself to these three cute cloth matching toiletry bags which I convinced myself were an absolute necessity for my travels. Alice agreed, so I was sold. We hopped in a rickshaw to Jew Town, which was once the heart of the Cochin Jewish Community, unfortunately the synagogue was closed but it was still lovely to see it and get a feel for the place. We spent our final evening together at a restaurant called Lila, which is an art gallery meets fancy restaurant, and the food was unreal. We ate another fish curry with string hoppers, prawns in like a puff pastry ring (yum) and then treated ourselves to this pork and banana dish, sounds quite random but it was 10/10. 

Cannot quite believe Alice has actually gone! We said goodbye this morning which was very emotional, I’lll miss being with her everyday. There’s few people in life you can spend all day everyday with and not want to punch in the face at some point, so I count myself very lucky. We’ve had the most wonderful trip together, we’ve laughed, we’ve cried, we’ve shit ourselves (thank God her trousers were brown!!) – so many beautiful and disgusting moments we’ll remember forever. LOVE YOU ALICE! 

Next up is Thailand. My lovely friend Emily is going to spend a week with me in Bangkok and then Chiang Mai before I venture off on my own. If I think about the fact I will be on my own in less than a week I want to vomit, how have 5 weeks gone by already?! Wrapping up this blog post in Lilas, the same place we came for dinner last night. I might treat myself to some pancakes for lunch as a final farewell to India. It’s been an incredibly special two weeks here, met some lovely people, seen things I never thought I would, sweated more than I thought was possible and fallen completely head over heels in love with butter paneer masala. 

Until next time,

Lily xx