Kovalam

We were on deck again at 6.30 to see the sunrise and watch the misty scene before us. The birds were much in evidence and close to the boats. The reflections in the water added to the beauty of the landscape. Breakfast was the best yet, an omelette and coconut pancake with toast and fruit. We had to admit defeat eventually. It was a case of compliments to the chef. Hopefully we can walk it off at our beach resort. On our way back we saw a lady washing her buffalo, dusty from working in the fields. There were also lots of one man canoes, a cricket match and some Toddy tappers. (That would make a great name for a band).

After saying farewell to our captain and cook, we met up with Shijo and travelled on to the Travancore Heritage Hotel almost at the southern tip of India. On the way we again discussed a wide range of subjects like ages for drinking, driving and marriage which are all 18 in India. Shijo who is 28 was asked by his parents a couple of years ago if he wanted them to find a wife for him. He said no at the time but has recently indicated he is ready so they are "looking". He promised to invite us to the wedding. Sometimes there may be as many as 50 prospectives shown to a young man before there is an agreement, though the agreement has to be on both sides. He had a client from UK who married an Indian girl and he showed us a movie clip of the wedding procession, elephant carrying the groom, guests all in Indian dress. He also had a clip of the toddy tapping. At the beginning of the day it is sweet, but by the evening it is not so sweet but has a bit of a kick - instant alcohol.

He arranged for us to see the fish market at Neerakkala where fish of all shapes and sizes had been landed, sold and prepared. The birds overhead were an equal atraction with egrets and black kites vying for the leftovers. Men were mending the very colourful nets. This was the port where the Tamil Nadu fishermen set off from. The pictures of the two men killed by the Italian marines were everywhere.

Travancore Heritage hotel is on a cliff top a few miles south of Kovalam, overlooking the beach, and we are in the top part. There is a lift to the bottom and two pools with an indoor/outdoor restaurant. We have nice gardens, hammocks strung up everywhere, and internet so we were able to keep up with news but not to upload pictures. That will have to wait till home. We hoped to do very little here, chilling out and enjoying the facilities with perhaps a couple of visits to nearby villages. The beach far below was a fishing village and at night there were rows of lights from the fishing boats in a line out to sea. Once again there were British tourists, Germans, Scandinavians and Russians. You could have a health package with Ayuverdic massage but we were chilled out enough anyway. There were other medical opportunities and Tom was tempted by the dental treatments on offer!