So you may be relieved and possibly surprised to know that 1. We are still alive and 2. We have actually managed to find our way around India!

At the time of writing our last blog we were staying with a family in Alleppey, Kerala. We spent several days exploring the town, sailing along its Backwaters and lazing along its beaches. We certainly managed to rejuvenate ourselves after the long journey getting there!

Of course there have been the usual daily comedy occurrences. One of which being our journey to the Boathouse. We were wedged into the back of a Tuck Tuck with our main luggage, day rucksacks and two plastic bags which we had accumulated full of the essentials we couldn’t pack the night before. As we bounced along the bumpy roads in a daze, suddenly the driver stopped and was trying to communicate with us in distress. We sat calmly staring back at him as we tried our best to work out what he was saying, finally making out the word “luggage”. Still confused, we gormlessly sat repeating “luggage” back to him trying desperately to understand what the problem was when suddenly we were approached by two very embarrassed local men handing us our underwear, bikinis, shampoo, hairbrushes etc. It was at this point we realised that one of our plastic bags had flown off the Tuck Tuck and skidded into the road stopping the oncoming traffic. And yes, we were sat in the back totally oblivious to all the commotion of everyone else trying to recover our essentials!

Once there, our time on the Boathouse was amazing. As well as our rooms we had our very own living area on the deck with fresh food being prepared throughout the day. We spent most of the two days eating fresh seafood, home made curries, naans and fruits while cruising along and admiring the surrounding views… 😌

After Alleppey we decided to travel to Munnar, south west of Kerala which is famous for its tea and coffee plantations and views from the hills and mountains. After finding a nice little guesthouse we headed out for the evening to explore the town. We met a local tour guide who told us about one of his “nice little treks to see the tea plantations” which would start at 7am the following day and finish around midday. This seemed to fit well with our schedule so we agreed to meet him the next morning. Confirming the most important things like how difficult the trek was going to be and what clothes/footwear we would need (which was very limited for the both of us), we were assured that the trek was very easy and we could wear shorts, t-shirts and any footwear. We weren’t sure if this guy was just having a laugh with us because we turned up at the agreed meeting point the next morning at 7am in our short shorts, t-shirts, sunglasses, ripped converse and £15 trainers from Sports Direct, only to find the rest of our group fully equipped with hiking gear, full length trousers and walking boots looking like they were about to climb Mount Kilimanjaro. Fighting the urge to run in the opposite direction, we eventually brushed it off and started the trek with our heads held high!

So, two hours into the trek and we realised that this guy was definitely having a laugh with us because instead of trekking uphill learning about the environment, we were full on climbing on our hands and knees up mountain peaks. If there has been any moment on this trip so far that we have impersonated Karl Pilkington, this would be it. The conversation went something like this:

Before 9:30am:

“Ah this is lovely. How amazing are the views!?”
“Oh wow look at that!”
“Such a beautiful place.”

After 9:30am:

“OMG, look at that! I can’t get up there!”
“OMG how much longer is this going to last?”
“I don’t think I can go any higher”
“OMG.”

After 10:30am:

“Is he taking the piss?”
“I can’t believe he lied to us and said this was easy!”
“We could have had a medical condition!!”

*Guide passes Jenny a long stick to help her climb*

“Just wait till I get on trip advisor”
“He’s getting no tip”
“We should have bloody done this for charity!”

And so on…

Obviously we moaned to each other and not to the rest of the group. Well, we moaned out loud but the rest of the group couldn’t hear because they were too far ahead. And unfortunately we didn’t learn much about the tea plantations because every time we caught up with the group the guide had already finished his speech about what plant was what and they were all setting off again.

On the way up to the highest and final peak it was literally like a scene from a movie. Physically exhausted and legs like jelly we continued to climb and “we could and we would make it to the top!” And we did make it to the top! We quickly reached for the camera for a celebratory picture before we both collapsed and boom – the battery had gone. Perfect.

After our heart rates had returned to semi-normal we did take time to appreciate the views which were incredible and eating lunch at the top was also pretty amazing. Even getting down wasn’t as difficult as we had anticipated – Jen skidded down most of it and I was too busy trying to make sure my two big toes were still attached to my feet to care about falling off the edge. Fast forward another 3 hours and we had made it to the bottom! Fast forward another 10 minutes and we were both KO’d on the beds at the little guest house only to be woken up later on by the owner knocking on our door shouting, “Hellooo? Are you dead?!”

We had booked the night bus to Pondicherry for the same evening which was due to leave at 5pm. This gave us enough time to head out for some dinner after our post-traumatic nap. We decided to treat ourselves and for the first time ever headed to the only western restaurant in the area – we hate to say it – Pizza Max. But we were not going to feel ashamed for ordering pizza and fried chicken after what we had just endured! Waiting for our food in excitement, Jen was daydreaming at our bus ticket when suddenly she let out the two dreaded words… “Oh no.” The ticket stated that our departure time was 4:15pm not 5pm so we had been told the wrong time by the booking office. By this point it was 3:50pm and our food had not arrived, our bags were at our guesthouse and the bus station was at the other side of town. There was silence for about two minutes while we both tried to conjure up a plan of action and figure out what was most important, getting to our next destination or eating pizza.

The food arrived. We inhaled half of it. We wrapped the rest in napkins. We ran to the nearest Tuck Tuck. We sped to the guesthouse. We grabbed our bags. We sped the the bus station and we reached our bus with 5 minutes to spare! The spare 5 minutes was then spent trying to ask if there was a toilet nearby when no one understood a word we were saying. This quickly turned into a game of Charades with me imitating someone being sat on the toilet and Jen cross legged holding her bladder like she was going to piss herself, in the middle of a bus station, in India. Even with these great acting skills we were still met with some very confused and concerned faces before we eventually gave up.

12 hours later and we had arrived in Pondicherry on the east coast of India. We had planned to come here to visit Doctor Tirou, who Jen used to work with at the hospital, and his family. We were dropped off outside his house at 5am and as we stood in the dark like lost sheep he opened his front door to find two big sweaty messes and all of our bags on his doorstep. We wouldn’t have blamed him if he’d have refused us entry, but he and his family were so welcoming and gave us our first hot shower and freshly cooked breakfast!

That afternoon his wife, Prema, took us to the stunning Sri Aurobindo Ashram. The Ashram was established in 1926 by a revolutionary, poet and philosopher (Sri Aurobindo) and grew under the guidance of Mirra Alfassa (known as The Mother). It is a spiritual centre and is one of the major draws in Pondicherry. It is important that everyone who enters maintains pin drop silence as its a space for meditation and prayer. Unfortunately this was made difficult as while we were stood absorbing the peaceful atmosphere a bird decided to defecate straight onto my head in front of everyone. Apart from this minor hitch however, it really is a beautiful place.

During our time in Pondicherry we also got to experience the Pongal Festival. Pongal is a three day harvest festival where families celebrate in the hustle and bustle of the town, streets are decorated with colourful Kolams and annual rituals take place. On day 3 however we almost spent the whole evening locked inside the wardrobe as we thought the town was under a terrorist attack. Huge bangs were going off outside our house like gun shots – it was all very dramatic with us bolting up the doors while planning our escape route and hiding places in case someone shot their way through them. After almost messaging our loved ones back home, we waited for a while until Jen decided to brave heading outside to investigate. She walked out anxiously onto the street when suddenly a huge bang went off again. There was a long pause and for a split second I thought Jen had actually been shot until she flew through the front door in a blind panic. A few moments later we realised that one of the neighbours had witnessed it all and came over to explain that it was just children setting off firecrackers outside the house! 🙈 Ahhh, always fearing the worst.

Our time in Pondicherry has been brilliant and we have seen and got to know so much about the town and culture thanks to Dr Tirou and Prema. We have visited several famous Temples (Manakula Vinayagar, Sri Varadaraja Perumal and Chidambaram Temple) and spent time exploring Auroville and the local beaches. One of our favourite days was definitely at the Tirou Medical Centre where we watched a gastroscopy being performed (although obviously just an average day for Jen!) and also helped out at the medical camp. Well, tried to help with our lack of Tamil! So to the Tirou family – we are going to miss you all and thank you so much again for everything you have done for us! Keep in touch, Nanri 🙏🏼

 

As we are now sat in Chennai airport waiting to board our next flight, our time in India has unfortunately come to an end. We are so sad to leave this beautiful country. We have had such an amazing time and have so many stories to tell. We will definitely be returning in the future but for now, goodbye India and Thailand here we come ❤️

Jen and Rach xxx