Josh and I explored Siam Square and the surrounding Malls, we both brought really cool headphones in MBK. Later that evening we went out for a drink and a stroll. We meet two nice American girls who working in Bangkok in a private school. After we went back via checking the Brighton score (3-1). The following day we spent most of the day on the internet sorting pictures etc. We spent the second half of the day relaxing in our guest house, we watched 'The Hangover' and had an early night. Our last day in Bangkok, we had to checkout and pack by 12.We had the whole day to kill until 5pm so we watched 'Eat Love Pray' in the guest house charged everything and read. We arrived at the airport just after 6pm and our flight went about 8.30pm. Luckily our 3 stop had been upgraded to 2 stops. We arrived at Mumbai airport about 12pm, our next flight wasn't until 10am so we had a long wait. After arriving in Trivandrum (Kerala) at 2pm we had to wait about an hour for Jackie and Joel and the airport with nothing there.
India
Once Jackie and Joel had arrived it was lovely to see them. We got a very small taxi to the area of guest houses and found a nice one called ' Princess Inn'. Trivandrum didn't have an awful lot to do so we walked around for a while and got some dinner in a nice veggie restaurant. We were all very tired so we all had an early night. We checked out the hotel the following morning and went to catch a train to Varkala. For 12 rupees each we sat in the seated area. Once we arrived and got a rickshaw to the beach area we found a nice hotel on the quieter side of the beach with hammocks outside and odd wall art. Joel, Josh and i went for a stroll along the beach and a swim in the sea.The waves were really rough and we were playing some games together when a large wave swept me under and throw me onto the sand which left a big graze on my chin, oouchie. We had a drink on the balcony and went out for dinner, we found a nice veggie restaurant on the beach strip and played pictionary on the DS. We went to a Tibetan Chill-out Bar for 'Full Moon Party' after which was very tame but good fun nevertheless. The next morning we went out for breakfast together and Josh, Jackie and I went to explore the town centre whilst Joel went to explore the Seafront area. The town didn't have very much, a few fruit stalls, sari shops, bakery's and was quite dirty. The roads had cars and bikes in every direction and everyone constantly beeps, the men in Kerala for about 40 years old and wear a sheet wrapped around as a skirt and every women wears a Sari. Later that evening we went for dinner and drinks at the 'Rock n Roll' bar for cocktails.
We left the following morning for Alleppey for two days. We went for a boat trip on the backwaters which was really nice, peaceful with two old locals rowing us(eco friendly option). Alleppey was a dirty town which we did walk around for a while. We visited the beach also which was very dirty also our room did occupy a few cockroaches too. We traveled by bus to Cochi next, we had to get a ferry (5rupees) after the bus over to Fort Cochin where we stayed in a very pink guesthouse for one night. We hired some 'Ferraris' and had a tour of the towns Museum, an Art Gallery, Spice Shop, Chinese fishing nets which was very touristy. Later that day Jackie and I went to watch the traditional dance show, this wasn't quite the dance we expected. We decided to go to Goa for the rest of Jackie and Joel's holiday as there didn't seem to be enough to do in Kerala for 3 weeks. We went caught a train which took 15 hours and got a rickshaw to Palolem beach, Palolem is beautiful. We go some rooms just off the beach for a very reasonable rate and spent 5 days here. We all had a good sleep and went walking around the beach area and went swimming the first day, in the evening we watched 127 hours at a restaurant in the garden on a big screen. Jackie and I visited a Wildlife Sanctuary the next morning about 7am, this was nice but we didn't see anything too exciting, just a couple of monkeys, some rescued deers but it was a lovely walkabout. We spent the nice few daytimes swimming in the sea, visited the market, relaxing and playing cards. One afternoon we hired kayaks are went out and looked around the Island area. We went to a pub quiz one evening, 20 questions and we all took part independently, Josh won the first place prize of a lovely t-shirt and the collected money (460rupes) and Joel was second place with a lovely cap. The last night in Palolem there was a silent disco in which Joel attended and i believe it was rather a good evening, this silent disco is every Saturday night and very popular.
We left for Panjim and arrived at the hotel we booked for one night, we went out for lunch and relaxed for the day. In the evening we went to the Wine festival which had live singing and dancing performances on stage, lots of food and drink stools, we brought some wine and sat on a park bench. We found a very nice bar on the way home we popped into overlooking the river and some nice Portuguese buildings. We went to a spice plantation the next morning. It was very interesting seeing where they all come from. You can also bathe elephants there, we didn't though. They supply you with a really nice lunch served in a banana leaf. We left for Anjuna afterwards. We found some nice big rooms with outside sitting area, fridges in a place called 'Paradise' which we spent 3 nights. Jackie and I went for a massage the first morning, it was really weird because you have to get completely naked, but this was OK its a strictly women on women basis and i really enjoyed it. Later that day we visited a animal rescue center. There were lots of sick dogs and cat and even a seagull and two pigs. This was a really well run rescue center for India and they seem to really care about animals. In the evening we went to dinner with Richard, our hotel guest neighbour from Latvia.
There was a really big Flea Market we spent a long time walking around the next day, Jackie and i brought some henna and stamps which we had fun playing with in the evening, we also visited Baga beach. We had booked a nice new hotel about 1km down the road for Joel's 23rd birthday for 2 nights which we arrived about 12pm, this hotel had a really nice pool and garden area and has lots of yoga classes. We spent the whole day by the pool swimming etc. In the evening we found a lovely restaurant called 'Bean Me Up' but sadly Jackie wasn't well and had a very bad night. The following day was Joel's 23rd birthday, Jackie was too ill to get up so the three of us went to Arambol Beach. This beach was very hippie and not busy, we spent the day here, the boys played volleyball and football. We arrived back and had dinner at the hotel Jackie was a bit better but Josh hand I weren't feeling well so we didn't go to Baga with Joel that evening. The next day was Jackie and Joel's last day. We relaxed by the pool for a few hours and went out to the Saturday Night Bazaar in the next town. This was a really nice market, entertainment, bars. music, it felt like a music festival, it was very hippie too. We went to go to 'Bean Me Up' but it closes on Saturday because it goes to the market so we found a nice restaurant in Vagator for our last meal and it was very nice. When we got back to the hotel, we stayed up and had a bottle of wine (Jackie and Joel were not leaving until 4pm taxi pick up), after we all sat in the room and had a little nap, it was sad to see them leave :(.
The next morning Josh and I left for Mapusa where we were getting our bus to Mumbai, we arrived at about 12pm and had to wait around until 7pm. Mapusa had nothing to do, especially as it was a Sunday. we sat in a park for a while, walked around and sat in cafes. Our bus took 13 hours and was surprisingly OK, but it wasn't very easy to sleep. We went to Coloba area to find a room, it was hard as nobody had checked out. We got one eventually which his very small and no window, also Mumbai rooms are a lot more expensive than Goa. We slept for a few hours and went for an explore. We tried a street Paneer (Indian Cheese) Kebab and went to the Sassoon Dock next to the Gateway of India which is very beautiful. Now we are here about to spend our first night in Mumbai and tomorrow we are visiting the Elephanta Island!
India
Once Jackie and Joel had arrived it was lovely to see them. We got a very small taxi to the area of guest houses and found a nice one called ' Princess Inn'. Trivandrum didn't have an awful lot to do so we walked around for a while and got some dinner in a nice veggie restaurant. We were all very tired so we all had an early night. We checked out the hotel the following morning and went to catch a train to Varkala. For 12 rupees each we sat in the seated area. Once we arrived and got a rickshaw to the beach area we found a nice hotel on the quieter side of the beach with hammocks outside and odd wall art. Joel, Josh and i went for a stroll along the beach and a swim in the sea.The waves were really rough and we were playing some games together when a large wave swept me under and throw me onto the sand which left a big graze on my chin, oouchie. We had a drink on the balcony and went out for dinner, we found a nice veggie restaurant on the beach strip and played pictionary on the DS. We went to a Tibetan Chill-out Bar for 'Full Moon Party' after which was very tame but good fun nevertheless. The next morning we went out for breakfast together and Josh, Jackie and I went to explore the town centre whilst Joel went to explore the Seafront area. The town didn't have very much, a few fruit stalls, sari shops, bakery's and was quite dirty. The roads had cars and bikes in every direction and everyone constantly beeps, the men in Kerala for about 40 years old and wear a sheet wrapped around as a skirt and every women wears a Sari. Later that evening we went for dinner and drinks at the 'Rock n Roll' bar for cocktails.
We left the following morning for Alleppey for two days. We went for a boat trip on the backwaters which was really nice, peaceful with two old locals rowing us(eco friendly option). Alleppey was a dirty town which we did walk around for a while. We visited the beach also which was very dirty also our room did occupy a few cockroaches too. We traveled by bus to Cochi next, we had to get a ferry (5rupees) after the bus over to Fort Cochin where we stayed in a very pink guesthouse for one night. We hired some 'Ferraris' and had a tour of the towns Museum, an Art Gallery, Spice Shop, Chinese fishing nets which was very touristy. Later that day Jackie and I went to watch the traditional dance show, this wasn't quite the dance we expected. We decided to go to Goa for the rest of Jackie and Joel's holiday as there didn't seem to be enough to do in Kerala for 3 weeks. We went caught a train which took 15 hours and got a rickshaw to Palolem beach, Palolem is beautiful. We go some rooms just off the beach for a very reasonable rate and spent 5 days here. We all had a good sleep and went walking around the beach area and went swimming the first day, in the evening we watched 127 hours at a restaurant in the garden on a big screen. Jackie and I visited a Wildlife Sanctuary the next morning about 7am, this was nice but we didn't see anything too exciting, just a couple of monkeys, some rescued deers but it was a lovely walkabout. We spent the nice few daytimes swimming in the sea, visited the market, relaxing and playing cards. One afternoon we hired kayaks are went out and looked around the Island area. We went to a pub quiz one evening, 20 questions and we all took part independently, Josh won the first place prize of a lovely t-shirt and the collected money (460rupes) and Joel was second place with a lovely cap. The last night in Palolem there was a silent disco in which Joel attended and i believe it was rather a good evening, this silent disco is every Saturday night and very popular.
We left for Panjim and arrived at the hotel we booked for one night, we went out for lunch and relaxed for the day. In the evening we went to the Wine festival which had live singing and dancing performances on stage, lots of food and drink stools, we brought some wine and sat on a park bench. We found a very nice bar on the way home we popped into overlooking the river and some nice Portuguese buildings. We went to a spice plantation the next morning. It was very interesting seeing where they all come from. You can also bathe elephants there, we didn't though. They supply you with a really nice lunch served in a banana leaf. We left for Anjuna afterwards. We found some nice big rooms with outside sitting area, fridges in a place called 'Paradise' which we spent 3 nights. Jackie and I went for a massage the first morning, it was really weird because you have to get completely naked, but this was OK its a strictly women on women basis and i really enjoyed it. Later that day we visited a animal rescue center. There were lots of sick dogs and cat and even a seagull and two pigs. This was a really well run rescue center for India and they seem to really care about animals. In the evening we went to dinner with Richard, our hotel guest neighbour from Latvia.
There was a really big Flea Market we spent a long time walking around the next day, Jackie and i brought some henna and stamps which we had fun playing with in the evening, we also visited Baga beach. We had booked a nice new hotel about 1km down the road for Joel's 23rd birthday for 2 nights which we arrived about 12pm, this hotel had a really nice pool and garden area and has lots of yoga classes. We spent the whole day by the pool swimming etc. In the evening we found a lovely restaurant called 'Bean Me Up' but sadly Jackie wasn't well and had a very bad night. The following day was Joel's 23rd birthday, Jackie was too ill to get up so the three of us went to Arambol Beach. This beach was very hippie and not busy, we spent the day here, the boys played volleyball and football. We arrived back and had dinner at the hotel Jackie was a bit better but Josh hand I weren't feeling well so we didn't go to Baga with Joel that evening. The next day was Jackie and Joel's last day. We relaxed by the pool for a few hours and went out to the Saturday Night Bazaar in the next town. This was a really nice market, entertainment, bars. music, it felt like a music festival, it was very hippie too. We went to go to 'Bean Me Up' but it closes on Saturday because it goes to the market so we found a nice restaurant in Vagator for our last meal and it was very nice. When we got back to the hotel, we stayed up and had a bottle of wine (Jackie and Joel were not leaving until 4pm taxi pick up), after we all sat in the room and had a little nap, it was sad to see them leave :(.
The next morning Josh and I left for Mapusa where we were getting our bus to Mumbai, we arrived at about 12pm and had to wait around until 7pm. Mapusa had nothing to do, especially as it was a Sunday. we sat in a park for a while, walked around and sat in cafes. Our bus took 13 hours and was surprisingly OK, but it wasn't very easy to sleep. We went to Coloba area to find a room, it was hard as nobody had checked out. We got one eventually which his very small and no window, also Mumbai rooms are a lot more expensive than Goa. We slept for a few hours and went for an explore. We tried a street Paneer (Indian Cheese) Kebab and went to the Sassoon Dock next to the Gateway of India which is very beautiful. Now we are here about to spend our first night in Mumbai and tomorrow we are visiting the Elephanta Island!
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