Cochin We reached Cochin by a local hot and sweaty bus. The bus station was
big and run down.As we were looking for an STD (phone box not sexually transmitted desease) I spotted a man I thought I new. He stared at me and then shouted 'Lauren'! It was a friend of my parents. Sivan- I had met him on my other trips to India. It was so strange to bump into him, Cochin is such a huge busy city. Sivan is a great man, from an extremely poor village. He met my parents and aunty 15 years ago on a train. Since then Sivan has done so well and started his own website company! He really is the original white tiger! He proudly showed us around his new office and we had a great laugh as he blared out ABBA from his new laptop! Later that day we checked into Hotel Princess in Fort Cochin. The room was tiny and pretty dull, it was definately over priced. The next day we woke up feeling like the place was haunted. We both had experienced very strange dreams and had seen things in the room... Whilst packing up our stuff as we had decided to look for a better room, cock roaches had appeared from underneath the bed, so we were happy to be going! After checking into a cheaper and far better place, we went for a long walk around Cochin fort area. We went and observed the old traditional Chinese fishing nets. Which are great to see but unfortunately won't be around for much longer as their not economically efficent, as it take four man to lift one out of the water! We wondered along the water front and saw the Jewish Synogue and Dutch Palace. Cochin had changed such a lot since I was last there 20 years ago. The fort area was far more up market with lots of swanky restaurants and art galleries. It great to see such a lovely place being appreciated by so many travels, and its a great way to for the lives of the locals to improve. From researching a little about the state of Kerala, it tells us that Kerala is the most educated state in the whole of India. The lives of its people also have a better quality of life and live upto 10 years longer than the average Indian. However a few years back there weren't enough jobs available for the educated people. This led to depression, alcoholism and Kerala being the state with the most suicides. However, thanks to Tourism hundreds of new jobs have been created and all the entrepreners have their chance to make great business. After spending a few days in Cochin we took the ferry across (2.5 rupees/3p) the estury to Ernkalum Junction train station. There we got on the train foe Calicut. We had pre booked our seats on Cleartrip so we didnt have to worry about about having to lean against the toilet this time! The jouney was great- I was getting very excited as we were making our way to Calicut as my mother was flying from England the following day. We took advantage of all the sellers on the train selling delious snacks. We had plenty of Chai and coffee to drink, and we were adventurous enough to risk all the tasty food- however we had no clue what we were eating! The next day we woke up early. I could hardly wait to meet my mother. I hadn't seem her for six months. We have such a close relationship so being so far away from her for such a long time was quite challenging. We made it to the airport on a local bus, that way we saved about 350 rupees. We checked that her flight had landed and we headed to the arrivals gate. I love observing all the families waiting for their relative to arrive. I was wonder how long they have waited to see one another and try snd figure out their story. The arrivals gate is always a happy place to be. I only ever go when I'm meeting someone close to me. We waited quite a while, lots of kind Indians came over and chatted to us. They all wanted to know who we were waiting for and where we were going next. Its so nice when the locals just want a friendly chat and aren't trying to you something! Soon after, mum arrived, it was so lovely seeing her, I gave her the biggest hug. We got a pre paid taxi to drive us to Wayanad. The journey was hectic, up the wining mountain roads, mum hadn't adjusted to the Indian roads yet so was gasping everytime our driver over took on a hair pin bend! Eventually we arrived in Kalpata, a tiny town in the district of Wayanad. We stayed in a hotel called 'Palm Royal'. It was a really nice hotel for Berwyn and I as the standard was a lot higher than our usual budget accommodation. The next day we figured out the local bus routes and finally reached Wayanad Wildlife Sanctury. We had a great adventure trip through the jingle in a jeep! We saw lots of wild elephants, so it was really exciting! The next day we arrived a taxi to take is to our next destination. We wanted to go by bus and save lots of money but because some roads were through the jungle and passed through 3 India states, Kerala, Karnatka and Tamil Nadu, so there wasn't a bus route. The jouney was stunning- well worth the money. It was like a tour of India's finest countryside. We pottered through the Nilgiri Hills amongst the tea and coffee plantations. We even came across some elephants! I had visited Mudamalai 10 years ago with my family and had one of the best times of my life- so I was so excited to return. Mudumalai is 322 square kilometres of jungle which has one of the largest populations of elephants in India. We stayed in a lovely jungle resort called Safar Land. It was perfect. We did a morning trek to the mountain point. Unfortunately the morning mist was heavy and we didnt spot anything but we did burn a few calories! The afternoon we spent sitting my the beautiful river and mum and I wrote a poem! Sitting on an Indian rock, Forgetting about the English clock, Watching the river water rush, This really is what I call lush. Listening to the chirping birds, Dreaming of seeing the elephant herds. Crouching under the the Nilgiri Hills, For just that moment time stood still. Later that day we went on a Safari in some sort of bus... It wasn't that great and we didnt see hardly anything. However afterwards we headed down the river where the local mahouts had kept their elephants for the night. So we took lots of lovely pictures and watched the local kids wash and play fright in the river while their parents did the daily washing. The next day we arrived in Ooty. Ooty was found on the early nineteenth century by the British. It was a lovely place. High up on the Nilgiri Hills. Perfect temperature, hot in the daytime and nice and cool on the evenings- no wonder the British wouldnt leave! It was a delightful town- growing potatoes, tea, coffee and fruit. We visited the Ooty Tea Museum and Factury. It smelt delious! And at the end we were even more happier to discover they were selling Homemade Chocolate.... Although it tasted rubbish!! Just like fake advent calandar chocolate!! The following morning we boarded The Nilgiri Blue Mountain Railway. It looked like a tiny toy train. Although there was no room for anyones luggage and it was possibly the most uncomfortable train we had ever been on it was still very fun! And of course the views were pretty spectactular! We stopped off at the stunning hill stations along the way and stocked up on our delicious Chi. A few hours later we arrived in Coinbatore. A very busy industrial city. We visit this city every time we come to the motherland, because our family friends live here. Aunty Preetha, Uncle Pradip and Pranaya. Unfortunately Pradip was away working but we were still met by Preetha and Pranaya. We had a lovely day with them. They look us to a really posh and delicous restaurant for Lunch. After lunch we drove for a while into Coinbators suprisingly beautiful countryside. Finally we arrived to Isha Ashram and Yiga Centre. It was a very special place. We went into the Temple and got blessed with fire and flowers. We dipped our feet in the blessed enery pool, it was magical in there. Then we went and meditated in the golden done. Which is made out of balancing bricks and no cement. It is meant to survive a earth quake. We Aunty Preetha bought me a strength band. She tied it around my left wrist. I hope it lasts forever. That night we got our first Indian night bus with my Mother! I was do impressed she was fine with it. It was a luxury bus though! We arrived in Pondicherry at 4am. Luckily our hotel let us sleep in the lobby ss it was far to early to check in. Pondicherry is a town on the east coast of Indian- it is very popular with tourists as parts of the town are French. So has lots of little bakeries and some posh European restaurants. The promonard is nice and clean and becomes really busy with the locals in the evening. Behind the expensive sea front area, are many back roads full of homeless Indians. The most we have seen after being on India for over a month. There wasn't much begging but you couldn't help but notice the families including children and babies sleeping near the awful stinking canals. My Dad met us in Pondicherry. It was a great reunion after such a long time. The next day we visited a Leprocy project that my patents had been working with. My dad went to do some training and mum Berwyn and I just had a tour of the project and saw all the fantastic work FECT had been doing. In India Leporasy is something that local people don't fully understand due to the lack of education- so they are freightened of the people who suffer with the disease. They don't want them in the village and they can't even enter the buses. An extremely kind couple who began FECT went around the villages and started collecting all the people that had been abandoned. They brought them back to their own home. It started with a shed type building in the garden and now with the funding they had recieved they have made the 50 lepers a beautiful home/hospital. It was so great to see what they had achieved. Their next step is to use the roof of the building for childrens after school clubs- and there was even talk of an orphanage. The next day we headed to Prangapetiti for the day. This was a village where I had done some volenteering work with my friend carl a few years ago. It was so great to visit the people who I lived and worked with again.
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