Hi everyone,

India sounds interesting juls, looks a bit chilly on that beach? the dancers look good.

I cant wait to get out there, Chris has gone to Meribel to do his season and everyones at uni so im sat here twiddling my thumbs.

Btw my flight doesnt arrive at 00:40 like you think, it arrives at 11:40 on the 5th, im assuming thats local time? i depart from heathrow at 21:30

see you on tuesday :D!

ahoy there. at present i am sitting and typing in the rather pretenscious art cafe in kochi. classical music plays in the background and travellers simper in their saris.not that this is a bad cafe, having just sampled the food, i am forced to admit that i like it here. its a little slice of home, more accuratly according to flo, like totness. this bit of kochi called fort coshin is really relaxed and pleasent, the bit we are staying in is about 20 minutes away and is noisy and a bit crap. too late to move though, we are heading back to mumbai on the morrow to pick up lucy on the 5th.

im looking forward to this train journey especially as it stands at 26hours non-stop it will rival the tan-goeff kashmer experiance as the most hellish journey of the year. the trains have been a fun experiance, and a really good way of speaking to lots of cool idian chaps who are not after your money. the last train trip, from mangalore to kochi (a mere 10 hours) was a bit grim becouse straped for time we had to stump for second class. this means one has to huddle on a seat made of wooden slats with the great unwashed. you can’t move of course as soome fiend will leap into your seat in a blink. it turned out not to be too bad as we made friends with our section of the coach. this included two it students traveling back from taking an exam. a young kid coming back from school, a wierd lecherous man who i had to physically distance from flo, and and intire football team including coach, who were to a man, deaf and dum. so, on paper our compartment could seat 8. on our seat comfortable for 3, sat 6. same for oposite us. above our heads perched in the luggage racks, limbs dangling like some perculiour plant, were another 6 or so people also crowded the aisles, fill the compartment with a humid fug composed mainly of sweat. it was an alright journey though. chattering away as most spoke very good english. we only struggled when it came to my inept attempts at sign language.

my phone apparently ambarassed at it’s inability to get a signal, committed sepeku the other day, its screen dimming in a most tragic manner. somehow i managed to resurrect it today but i am considering getting a new phone when i get a sim. right im off to head around the town.

see you later.

julio

some picsin no perticular order:

the kerelan back waters complete with bathing elephants

small beady eyes!

a nausiating couple

flo on mumbai station with our light luggage

believe it or not this is a sea slug

gokarn in all its melevolent glory

kerelan kathakali dance

Liv – luu seems to be having trouble posting, or indeed logging on at all (she may not be able to read…) Possibly e-mail her and give detailed, short word explanation?

 

Bathtime

Potty training

Wales play the All Blacks

Barnham banana

Well, we made it to Om and Half Moon Beach and another one still further away and can confirm the malign influence of Gokarn extended well beyond the town boundary. Although it seemed to be the people rather than the topography that caused this, even without people something unpleasant still hung in the air.

This is all subjective, of course. We know a Frenchman who spent a couple of his formative years in Bognor Regis and remembers it with incomprehensible fondness.

Jul. You didn’t actually mention Om beach or Half Moon beach, just Gokarna itself. I hope you actually made it to these places?!? Gokarna itself is nothing special – just a village to walk to from these beaches in order to procure fresh supplies.

We spent a month on Om beach not in Gokarn itself. It was most classy.