Country 2 - Sri Lanka & Plot Twist

We've left India...
But only for 10 days. After hearing so much about Sri Lanka from people in the hostels (and before we left), we decided a while ago we'd need to make a stop here. Only a quick 10 day stop, which will be pretty jam-packed. We hopped on an AC bus from Kochi to the airport, and made our way to the gate.

Flying to Colombo, however we're not staying in the capital, as we haven't heard great things from....anyone really. So first stop is Negombo!

We've also had a big change of plans happen over the past few days. As previously mentioned in our Palolem blog post, Dani had decided she needed to do her yoga teacher training at some point in the future. Well this hasn't left her mind, and after a few long chats and weighing up the pros and cons, we've decided that the future is pretty much now - she's heading back to Goa straight after our Sri Lanka visit, and starting a 24-day 200 hour course to become a certified yoga hun. Stu will carry on with the trip as planned, finishing up the last couple of stops in India, before tackling Macau/Hong Kong/China on his lonesome, before we meet back up in Tokyo straight after the training is finished. Stu is particularly looking forward to the non-refundable night in a 5-star hotel that was booked for Macau! Though it's been a little stressful at times, we're proud of the way we've manged the change. (Side note from Dani: So much love to Stu for his continuous support & ability to work things out ❤)

The blog will be changed up a little after we split up, but we can cross that bridge when we get to it.

All good for now, and an update on our first couple of stops in Sri Lanka will be up soon.

Big love, Dani & Stu.

Currently Listening to:

Stop 10 - Kochi, Urban Kerala

Last Indian stop...
For a little while, at least. We have spent a night in Kochi before our trip to Munnar, as mentioned in the last post, but now we get to spend a couple of nights in the tourist district of Fort Kochi. We checked in to our hostel, Zostel Kochi, and immediately felt we'd picked right - a lovely AC private room in a central location.

We first did what we usually do, and went searching for a nearby cafe. Kashi Art Cafe was our pick of the bunch, and it delivered the goods - one of the best breakfast/lunches we've had:

We also got caught up in a surprise party being held there for Jomy George - a seemingly famous musician/Tabla player - Check him out. He was shooting his latest music video nearby. He didn't seem surprised at all when everyone jumped out at him, he later told us it was his 4th birthday party in the past few days. Some life. All was a bit odd, but we got a slice of the most unreal cake out of it, so we were happy to go along with it all.

We took it easy on day one, and had some important parts of the trip to plan. Also this travelling craic is tiring. Dani had a field day killing the mosquitoes in the room, (Kochi is pretty much in the middle of a load of marshland/swamps), so once she felt that had adequately been taken care of, a good nights sleep was had.

Next day was a bit more action packed, after a forgettable breakfast, we saved our skin from the midday sun by spending a couple of hours in Loafers Cafe, where we got an absolutely amazing iced coffee with ice cream:

After the caffeine and sugar rush had set in, we decided to head to the bluntly named Jew Town, and wandered around the narrow streets to see what was there. Not a whole lot, a synagogue (which we couldn't enter as Dani wasn't "modestly dressed"), so after a quick stroll we decided a sit down and some snacks were needed. A very enthusiastic old man hurriedly rushed to get us whatever we wanted, he seemed extremely happy that we wanted some ice cream and showed us each and every one available.

During our wander, we came across a small photo shop ran by another happy old man (they seem to be everywhere here), and Stu remembered it might be a good idea to get some passport photos taken for visas and the likes. Pretty ghetto setup, but turned out well, and 4 photos for €1.25 is a lot cheaper than home!

The late afternoon was setting in, so the one touristy thing we wanted to see in Kochi was the Chinese Fishing Nets at sunset, so we finally got our step count up for the first time in a week or so, and headed across the town to get there. Was worth the effort, as you can see:

To congratulate ourselves for a day well spent, we decided a beer was needed. On we went to XL Bar, where we met a dad & daughter who were on their way to Rasoi Fort Kochi, a north Indian restaurant. Given it was one of our last meals in India, and we've very firmly decided North Indian food is our favourite, we belatedly joined them and shared a dinner between the four of us - and it was one of the best meals we've had, up their with Pinch of Spice - which we had in Agra. Paneer Kadai, Butter Chicken, Garlic Naan, and Veg Pulao rice: doesn't get any better.

The next day was a quick goodbye to Kochi, and in fact India (for now). We returned to the two previously mentioned cafes, and paid €1.05 each to get a lovely AC bus to the airport. We're heading to country number two, so will cover that a little in the next post. Time is flying!

Big love, Dani & Stu.

Currently Listening to:

Stop 9 - Munnar, Kerala Mountains

Break from backpacking...
As we've decided to go for the glam option and take a guided tour to Munnar. Our train journey from Alleppey again left a lot to be desired - though this one might have been our own fault, as we paid 35 INR (~45c) to get our 2nd class unreserved ticket for our two hour journey to Kochi. Dani squished in between a family, five to a bench that is designed to fit three. Stuart had the more spacious option - sitting on the floor. More spacious until an Indian boy sat on his feet for half the journey. The fear of not getting off the train was real too, as a scrum of people rushing to get on the train have no regard for your want of getting off. Ain't nobody got time for that.

Thankfully we were able to barge our way out, and another train station (and maybe our last!), as we set foot in Ernakulam (just outside Kochi). We splashed out for a night in a 3-star hotel, Senate by Nextel, a whopping €17.50 for the night. Again, a break from backpacking and living like the locals, as we went for home comforts, and found ourselves in a McDonald's again (this time by choice, unlike the need of sanctuary like last time) - not gonna lie, it was pretty good.
After two nights on the houseboat an early one was needed. We fell into such a deep sleep that we didn't notice the army of mosquitoes that seemed to take a liking to us overnight - if ever in Kochi, bug spray 24/7 is essential.

Only a quick stopover for the night, as we headed off the next morning at 8a.m. on a tour to Munnar, with our driver for the next 3 days, Pilson. Thankfully, he could drive like a sane person, which was refreshing to see - only took 6 weeks. We set off on a ~3 hour drive, eventually heading up the mountain roads to reach Munnar. Munnar is famous for its tea plantations, and cultivating other herbs, plants, and spices, for ayurvedic (Indian system of medicine) use.

As such, first stop was an ayurvedic plantation. Apparently everything can cure cancer. Stuart was not impressed.

Next up was the tea museum, where a very enthusiastic man loudly effused the cancer-curing properties of green tea. "Why don't you see animals getting cancer? They eat the green tea leaves - Why do you see cancer in humans?". Stuart was not impressed. The tea was alright though. Thankfully no cancer that needs to be cured!

There were also some waterfalls that weren't too shabby as we continued on up the hills to reach our guesthouse:

We finally made it to our guesthouse, and had a home cooked meal served up to us, before some thunderstorms set in for the night (It's actually cold in Munnar! Well, sometimes), and off to bed we went. We thankfully woke up to this view for breakfast:

After a lazy start to the day, and our driver wondering where we were, we finally emerged for a second day of sightseeing. An actually decent botanic garden:

Cannot confirm nor deny whether these cure cancer

A pretty impressive dam (apparently there's 39 in Kerala, don't you know):

In which we were able to rent out a paddleboat:

And a very impressive wild elephant:

The real highlight though being the general scenery of Munnar. It really is spectacular:

We finished up our evening with a walk around the town of Munnar with our now-friend Pilson, we bought all three of us a dairy milk (it's unreal over here) - which we think he appreciated:

And back to the guesthouse for our final night in Munnar. A lovely quick tour, and we set off back to Kochi to see what it's really like - spending a couple of nights in the main centre of Fort Kochi - and is our last stop in India before we set off on our first flight, and visit country two. We'll be back in India for a while, so no teary-eyed goodbyes yet. But our Indian adventure is nearing its end!

Big love, Dani & Stu.

Currently Listening to:

Stop 8 - Alleppey, Kerala Backwaters

So Indian trains...
Can also do one at this stage. Our journey from Palolem was another rough one. We had to get a taxi to south Goa station (Margao), which was our worst form of transport in India to date. A vomit-inducing journey on twisting roads in the dead of night. Not fun. We had to get the taxi that late, as our train was delayed from it's 9p.m. departure time to a....vomit-inducing new departure time of 4a.m. Indian transport punctuality leaves a lot to be desired. We read it on other blogs, and here we are complaining about it again.

The journey that was supposed to take 12 hours also took 18.5 hours. So that didn't help. We finally got off the train at 10:30p.m at Alleppey station, our first stop in Kerala. We rushed to our guesthouse/hostel for the night, Seashore Homely Stay, to be greeted again by our now long-term travel partners Jack & Fui, who had left us two days before (and had a similar train experience!). We were also greeted by this, our "deluxe double room":

While a beach hut was something we had wanted to get during our stay, after a near 20 hour train journey, this felt a little too.....scaldy for our liking. The owners of the guesthouse though were absolutely lovely, welcoming us with a late dinner, and helping us to sort out the main reason we had come to Alleppey - a houseboat through the Kerala backwaters, which was to be booked for the next day. Jack kindly went with the guesthouse staff to view our two-storey floating fortress for the next two nights. Off we set in a tuk-tuk, and after separate ATM, alcohol, and cigarette stops, the four of us finally made it to the dock. When we got to the boat, we soon realised Jack did good, so he did:

This experience was absolutely amazing, again one of the best things we've done. The scenery is mind blowing, a cool breeze staves off the 33+ degree heat, you've plenty of time to chill out and read, and all food is included + cooked for you. Can't recommend it enough.

After humming and hawing for a while, we decided it'd be a good idea to pull ashore and all of us get a traditional Keralan massage. Full body for 90 mins. Good price. Off we went into our own rooms. All going well. Until the masseur/masseuse asked us to take off our clothes. Alright, it's a massage, down to our underwear - fair enough. Apparently that doesn't fly in Kerala, as we were all asked to strip down another layer to our birthday suits. Oh, ok then...what have we done? (I believe that covers our collective minds racing through the start of our...experience) - and so began 90 minutes of a somewhat odd, completely bollock naked, massage. After a while you sort of get used to it - they're trained to do this, it's obviously the custom (we fucking hope it is), so on we go. Even more odd though, was the ending - a shower room is attached to the massage room. Finally, we can wash ourselves and begin the process of washing away this memory, and forgetting it ever happened. What we didn't expect, was for the masseur/masseuse to come in with us, get the soap, and give us a complete rubdown, head to toe (thankfully leaving out anything between the legs, or just about).
It happened when we were babies, it'll probably happen again when we're much older, but we don't think we needed a reminder on what it's like to be washed by someone else at the age of 28. After all our dignity was finally washed (and dried) from us, it was finally over. We were able to laugh about it after, thankfully...

 The scene of the crime

After we all had extensive discussions on what had happened, and made sure we all got the same treatment, we all calmed down and took it easy for the next 36 hours - reading, lying in the sun, taking in the scenery, a few drinks and card games after dinner, and an absolute blast to celebrate both Valentine's Day, and our final goodbyes to Jack and Fionnuala. They set off for Puducherry on the east coast, while we set off on planning for our next stop, staying in Kerala. Thankfully no more delayed trains, dangerously scary taxis, or nightmare sleeper buses for us.

We've only a few more stops in India, with a quick 10 day whizz around Sri Lanka planned in less than a weeks time, so blog posts might be a bit shorter in the next while. Or delayed. But they should still be up every few days. One last special thanks to Fionnuala and Jack, we had an absolute blast the past few weeks.

Next stop, heading up to the mountains of Kerala for a two day tour.

Big love, Dani & Stu.

Currently Listening to:

Stop 7 - Palolem, South Goa

Back to Goa...
The train journey here was an absolute dream in comparison to the nightmare bus journey we had getting out of Goa. We were both happy to be returning back to Goa, particularly with it being the southern part we were visiting this time. We set up base in Palolem, staying in SUMMER by thehostelcrowd, which we both think has been our best hostel yet.

We arrived on Monday 4th February, and immediately signed up for the yoga class ran every morning, up at the rooftop yoga area conveniently right next to our room. A minimum donation of 200 rupees (~€2.50) per person for 90 minutes of the best yoga class we've ever had, at sunrise or sunset. Could be worse ways to start or end your day!

Being a month in now, and living off curries, a change from Indian food was well needed - a trip to Magic Italy, a restaurant ran by an Italian family, satisfied our cravings for some European food for the next while. Pizza was amazing, as was the handmade pasta.

Our first full night meant some more hostel shenanigans, as we signed up to the Arty Party night - free drinks, and paints provided, ourselves and Fionnuala+Jack decided to attempt a sunset pic Fui had taken in Sri Lanka. Who captured it better, you decide (definitely not us):

Next day, and our first major touristy thing to do in quite a while - a cooking class at Rahul's Cooking Classes, was kindly booked for the four artists by Fui. Absolutely 10/10, one of the most enjoyable things we've done on the trip, and the food we made was pretty much as good as any of the restaurants we've been to. Mushroom curry, paneer aloo, dal tadka, tangdi chicken, and rice+chapattis will be served at our first dinner party hosted when returning to Dublin!

A sunset on the beach, and a drink at our now favourite beach shack Roundcube, rounded off one of the best days we've had yet.

After settling in to life here in South Goa, we finally decided it was the right time to get ourselves a Moped, as the hostel had organised a group trip to Cabo da Rama, an old fort/church, with the most idyllic hidden beach behind it. It was on this adventure we met the lovely Danielle & Luana (pictured below), they are here doing yoga teacher training. Both inspired Dani to do it one day too!

Thankfully no crashes, nicks, or scathes, we all made it back in one piece - closest shave we had being  the police trying to pull us over (we were informed by tour guide beforehand to just keep going if this happened). Unfortunately one of the group had missed out on the conversation at the start of the day, and pulled over. Rookie mistake. A 600 rupee fine was bargained down to a 300 rupee (~€3.75) bribe, and off we went to get some ice cream, before returning the bike before dark.

Not being used to driving mopeds can mean a pretty stressful day, so given Stu's nerves were shot, an early evening to finish off our last night seemed the sensible option. We'd a train to Gokarna to catch the next day. After moving to the nicest rooms in the hostel, deluxe private huts in front of the hostel's gym and beach volleyball court...

Nodding off to sleep in the comfy double bed shouldn't be too difficult, right? Wrong. Our last night being a Thursday, Tattwa is a small restaurant next to our hostel that hosts a DJ night that night. Curfew in south Goa is generally 11p.m., so with there being only an hour left of it (in bed by 10p.m. in Goa? For shame), we decided to quickly get ready and venture out to see what all the fuss was about. Great music, an insane crowd of dancers that had just finished a month long yoga teaching course, and a couple of drinks made us think we'd signed off on our south Goa stay in style, albeit a little too early. We soon after bumped into the friendly hostel manager, who persuaded us that Gokarna - our next stop, was not the place we wanted to spend our Thurs-Sunday, given the amount Palolem had to offer on those nights (Gokarna apparently has nothing on in the evenings!). So another change of plans, and south Goa for a few more nights was on the cards.

Friday is the biggest party night here, with a €10 entry fee to outdoor nightclub Leopard Valley, of which we of course partook. A bit more chilled out than the high intensity psytrance of north Goa, and another great setup, meant our best night out yet (this paragraph has reminded Stu of: Holly Carpenter's NYE 2016 Article - he can only hope we have achieved the same high standard of writing).

Few too many tequila shots led to our first missed yoga session, and Saturday was spent nursing ourselves back to health. A relaxed day, before the hostel again persuaded us (not that we need much persuasion) to join up for the hostel BBQ, again with drinks included. This was the pre-drinks before heading out to the silent disco on every Saturday, which Palolem is famous for. Two nights in a row caught up on us though, and we gave the silent disco a miss. Getting old!

Our original plan of staying three nights was now well and truly out the window, and one more booking meant we had our eighth night here at SUMMER. Having absolutely loved the place, we spent the last day checking out a few yoga schools for Dani, as she intends to return here next year to do her yoga teacher training course. Goodbye for now Goa, but we'll be back.

Having finally escaped Goa, we're on our way to get an overnight train to Alleppey (sorry Gokarna, maybe next time). This'll be a long journey bringing us down to the most southern state in India, Kerala. We're meeting back up with Fionnuala+Jack, and are looking forward to seeing what it has to offer. We imagine WiFi will be a bit harder to come by, so next update mightn't be for a while!

Big love, Dani & Stu,

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