We're already two weeks down, and we are loving India. The boys are complaining that the time is going too fast. There is so much to see, do, eat, that we know we are getting the merest tempting hint of India.
The first week (in Tamil Nadu) was fairly busy, with many Hindu temples dating back centuries, even millenia. I lost a couple of days from that week with gastro (almost certainly a virus rather than Delhi Belly).
The second week (in Kerala) has been pretty chilled, with leisurely walks and enjoying hotel pools. Jos copped the gastro virus in the second week, but is now fully recovered. As our driver says, there are no straight roads in Kerala - indeed, they all curve and curl and follow the terrain. (The flat coastal region is relatively small, particularly compared with the vast alluvial plains that are Tamil Nadu.)
Everywhere the food is wonderful, and gobsmakingly cheap. Last night, we dined at a seafood restaurant on a pier called Arca Nova, recommended by Rough Guide as the pick of Cochin. Between the seven of us, we had five seafood curries, four vegetable dishes, four entrees and soft drinks - all magnificent. Total bill under R3500 ($70)!
Fort Cochin is the Indian version of a quaint historically preserved fishing village/maritime fort. The Portuguese influence is strong, there are lots of westerners, but it is gorgeous. New constructions were stopped in 1976, but older buildings can be restored. Some are, some are caving in with disrepair.
Tomorrow we have to be on the road by 4am - it is an hour or more to the airport, and we have to be there an hour before our 6:25am flight. That will take us via Chennai to Delhi. There we will be met by a car and driven to Jaipur.
Breakfast time, then we have a guide coming to show us around Fort Cochi.
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