Beach temple festival

A short 2hour train journey from Colombo, lies Unawatuna: beach resort on the south-west coast of Sri Lanka.
We expected a few restaurants, hotels and watersports ... But we have been greeted by many local people, many pop-up shops (selling all sorts: men's shoes, cheese graters, goldfish, plastic jugs, bags and clothes), all here because of an annual Buddhist festival that has its centre in the temple on the beach.
You can walk up the temple (shoes off, of course!) bringing offers of fresh fruit, incense and oil to keep the flames  burning. It was very moving to see people sitting in prayer, in front of a big Buddha statue. The village was also dotted by the typical orange robes of the monks, that were anachronistically carrying smartphones at times!
We were also involved in a very colourful parade: drums, elephants, dancers and fighters all marched along the narrow street in Unawatuna all the way to the temple. I was really enjoying this, until the parade consisted of a group of young guys who had hooks threaded in the skin of their backs, while the rest of the group was pulling them!
To top it all off, the loudspeaker is on every day from 10am to 10pm, singing, preaching ... If only I knew what they are saying!

The Beautiful Andamans

Made of 572 islands, the Andaman and Nicobar islands are situated around 1000 miles from the east coast of India, in the bay of Bengal.
It is currently off season, so we did not expect many people to be around but the islands really did surprise us.
From the capital Port Blair, once a British penile colony, you can get ferries to most of the other islands: South Andaman, Little Andaman and others. As a foreigner, you need a restricted area permit for 28days to travel the islands. The Nicobar islands are off limits on the permit and even the islanders will need a special government permit to travel there.
These islands are actually populated with local tribes, so the land is reserved for them... and some have not had any contact with the outside world at all, like Sentinelese on North Sentinel Island.
We spent most of our time in Havelock, the most developed island about 2.5hrs away from the capital: most of the population consists of people the Indian government has resettled after both the Pakistani and the Bangladeshi partition. The southern part of the island is a very green and thick jungle where no one could settle.
We did a couple of day trips while on the island: Beach #7, located on the opposite side from where we staying. We took a local bus on one of the two roads of the island (the local people called it "danger bus"... Indian driving!) and went for a swim in Neil's cove: we were the only ones there pretty much all day... We left a little bit of our heart there and also a wedding ring!!
On the same bus route and 1.8km away on a muddy track (monsoon season!) lies Elephant Beach. Again, very quiet and with a spectacular reef, it is a white-sand turquoise-water beach... Then we saw a couple of wild elephants feeding in the jungle just behind us! We kept at distance but it was the perfect ending to a few days in one of the most gorgeous places in the world!

Cooking the Indian way

One of the things I most looked forward to in India was the food. I like Indian food but the food you get locally is very different from any version of Indian food around the world. On top of this, the subcontinent is so big that the cuisine is very localized, meaning that what you would typically get in one region might be completely different from the next state. 

We are currently in Kerala - a coastal state in the very south of India. The local flavour is mustard seed, that we learned need to be "popped" in very hot coconut oil before being added to the dish you are preparing ... together with coconut (milk, pulp, flakes, water or any other form) it is the essence of Kerala cooking. With Jewish and Christian influences, the typical dish would be fish with some sort of curry (which is just the sauce that goes with it, not the spice!) and Kerala rice. 

So, while we were all the way here, I could not turn down the possibility of a cooking class in Indian cuisine... I just knocked on a little door that said "Cookery Class" and we were invited the next day in the lady's own kitchen with her pots and pans to sit though a lesson about spices and powders, before cooking up a storm. 

We managed to get our hands dirty making a Kerala version of the Dal Fry - lentils and coconut flakes, in this Southern Indian delicacy. We made vegetable curry, with tumeric, mustard seeds and all sorts of vegetables and we also could eat it all with great satisfaction! 

Trespassing in India

One thing that is mandatory in India is to get on one of the local trains. Long distance, only a couple of hours... Indian trains seems to be able to get you anywhere you want, as long as you are not really concerned about the timing.

We boarded the train from Goa, to get to another state called Karnataka... Quite a short journey, considering the vast Indian scale of travels.

The train arrived late and left late, but that was fine: we were being entertained by the sellers on it, providing everything from pillows, to chai, books and jewellery. 

We were not sure how long the journey was going to take, not sure of the distance so we kept a close eye on the stations, having a good look at the view around us. With all windows and doors open, even while moving, it was easy to feel immersed in the jungle all around us.

We finally got to our destination, with many long stops in between, to dismount on the opposite of the train station: I will admit we had to trespass to the other side of the platform as the was no other way round. The Indians were very at ease with this but for me it was strange as I have been told all my life it is very dangerous... One more experience ticked off!

Old Goa: the Rome of the East

On the way from the beach to a temple location, we stopped in Panjim for a night. Smallest capital in the whole of India, the city has got a very Portuguese feeling in some area... We are staying in a little Portuguese house tonight, with wrought-iron windows and high ceilings with wood poles. Even the streets have Portuguese names!

About 9km away from the capital, lies Old Goa. The place has got so many churches it could compete with Rome! Visited 4 in the space of two hours, all Catholic and all of colonial heritage. Old Goa was the capital of the state until 1843 and until the 18th century its population exceeded that of London or Lisbon. What I found interesting it is the devotion practises around here, crosses and sacred imagines (of any kind!) are very popular everywhere: buses, houses, bars... But they are often get put together where a Christian image gets offered incense and flowers of Hindu tradition!

On a night bus with no AC for 10hours tomorrow, on the way the Unesco World Heritage Site, Hampi... Wish us luck!

Rainy north Goa

Little did we know about monsoon season. It rains. A LOT! Cabin fever aside, we get plenty of nice food (hail the veggie thali!), nice beers, walks along the beaches, card games and afternoon naps! 

Life has got a very different pace in India and the coast is humid but breezy, with some black Goan pigs running around along with free-roaming sacred cows.

Currently in Anjuna, where the beach is rocky and the vendors are pushy... But we have running water!

Mental Mumbai

Got to India after a long journey through Dubai.

We are staying in an area not very popular with tourists so we are getting the odd stare, but think that is all part of the game!

On the other hand, got some very cheap dining ... Two meals for less than £2! 

Went for a walk and explored Mumbai - chaotic, hot, poor, mental, beepy (as in the horn beep), sweaty and rainy.

Managed to get on a bus today: Mumbai buses have no doors and you basically have to run onto them while they are still moving. They can get really busy and I am not sure you wanna fight the locals for a spot on the bus!

Colonial builiding outside Victoria Terminus

Just a goat, hanging out on a bike outside our hotel.

Also went to see the "Gateway of India", an arch built to commemorate the visit of the British king George VI in 1911: very busy with local tourists... And we also got asked to take some pictures with a couple of locals. Feels weird to be the foreigners!

Gateway of India