Hang on tight - you're in for a bumpy ride

Sooo nice being back in India!

Day five and we've done quite a lot actually;

Arrived Tuesday morning October 13 at around 1am - and here's where I got a bit shocked - everything was so easy, it run smoothly like hell; Both our bags arrived, the driver was waiting, he took us straight to the hostel and got us both inside, Sumanthi was very welcoming and made sure we had everything - and then we went straight to bed!

Woke up pretty late, and then just walked around all day - to Bazaar Street, MG Road, the big park etc.

It's warm. It's chaos. It's traffic everywhere. And cows. And dirt. And dust.

It's India!

The smell in the air is India. A blend of spices, pollution, cow dung (and other types of shit), food, insence, sweat and more spices. I love it!

We went to Ruchi Restaurant near our homestay that evening - ended up eating (lovely food) in an empty restaurant. Just the two of us, and like twenty waiters..! One guy took our order, another one came with our plates, a third one came with the food, a fifth one came with the drinks but the sixth one served the drinks of the tray, and a seventh one served us the food from the bowls... and so it went on..! Felt a bit luxurious, although we know you're not supposed to eat anywhere where there's no people (meaning: here you could get stomach ache (and worse)) - but we did get this place recommended to us, so we took a chance =)

Wednesday - walked a bit, tried to buy some nice fabrics to get a dress but it was a bit expensive (yeah, some things could get pricey here too), and then we couldn't find a tailor who had time to sow it for us.. So we went to Ulla's Refreshments - maybe a swedish who started this place? - for some nice food - lovin' it! And later that night we saw half a movie at the cinema. They didn't really speak any english, only things they sais were "Listen", "Okey but here's the thing...", "Seriously" and so on - but we never got to hear the rest in english... =) But you sort of get it anyway, it's pretty obvious what the story is. Although, after half the movie they always have a break - so we went outside to look at the traffic instead =)

Thursday - internet day, taking out money, went to a temple and took a nap - then it was time to get on the 15hour bus journey to Ernakulam/Cochin. I've never ever experienced such a bumpy road in my life! (and we were in the far back, so maybe that had something to do with it being extra bumpy...) But well, you should do something like this once or twice I guess - it's part of the experience, part of the country!

Friday - With sore backs, asses and legs we stumbled out in the hot and humid Ernakulam - the mainland city of Ernakulam/Kochi (also Cochin). Checked in to Mother Tree in Fort Cochin and slept half the day! Not bad at all! But we were still a bit tired, so got into bed at 9pm, and slept twelve (12!) hours =D

Saturday - planned the rest of our trip a bit loosely, walked around the market and stalls along the sea, and now we're struggling with uploading pictures etc. You'll have to make do with the ones I got here, and they're not even mine... My memory card seems to have some disease, so it won't work on any computer... So I've borrowed Therese's pics =) They're all from Bangalore - you'll see more from Cochin later.

Have to run - gotta take a shower (like it's gonna matter..) before catching a show of Kathakali at five - gonna be real fun!

See ya'll soon again!

Hot and sweaty hugs!