Sarah says she feels bad about the whole thing and we should just keep going to the bus station as we'd originally agreed, but I think all will be OK. Turns out my intuition was right, and in fact the bus leaves a bit early, and so off we go to Trivandrum. Of course the rickshaw driver had tried to get the full fare we originally agreed, but he'd not even driven half the distance to the agreed destination, so I only gave him 60% of the original fare. He kicked up a bit of a cheeky fuss, which I had no problem ignoring, although Sarah still seems to find these situations confusing!
Anyway, as we arrive in Trivandrum the train station is right in front of us, and we pass my first intended hostel, only 200 metres away. It turns out to one of the nicest places in India so far, and still cheap as chips, the Greenland Lodging.
The whole episode of the journey from Varkala to Trivandrum just seemed to encapsulate just how easy and effortless travelling has been for us in India so far - everything just seems to work like clockwork. In fact, I mentioned this to Roland, and he agreed that he'd experienced much the same, and then we both mentioned it to a Canadian guy, and he reiterated exactly the same thing, so it doesn't seem to be just me and Sarah getting really lucky all the time.
The whole episode of the journey from Varkala to Trivandrum just seemed to encapsulate just how easy and effortless travelling has been for us in India so far - everything just seems to work like clockwork. In fact, I mentioned this to Roland, and he agreed that he'd experienced much the same, and then we both mentioned it to a Canadian guy, and he reiterated exactly the same thing, so it doesn't seem to be just me and Sarah getting really lucky all the time.
Interestingly both the Canadian guy and Roland both said they were really in two minds about travelling in India independently, and both only did it thinking if things didn't work out they'd jump onto an organised package tour thing. Obviously a tour never even occured to me (the very thought kinda makes me sick in fact!), but both the guys said just how relieved they were that they hadn't gone the tour route. It always pays to fight the Epsilonic fear and paranoia that we all suffer from to some degree, and I was delighted to see these guys getting the payoff from fighting it!
So, having arrived nice and early in Trivandrum we had a shower and strolled out for some lunch. We went around the corner to probably the coolest restaurant building of the trip so far - the local Indian Coffee House. The building is circular and the tables all curve along the inner wall as the aisle slopes it's way up the building. Great food here too, and just ridiculously cheap (the Indian Coffee House is a local Indian chain and I've been to a few now, all bloody good!).
Then we caught a rickshaw to the north of the town to visit a museum and art gallery set nicely in a public park. Both where impressive, especially the Napier museum with a really cool, huge old wooden chariot used in Hindu processions, called a 'rath'.
Ignoring the zoo (been on too many safaris to bother with zoos now!), we had to walk all the way back to the town center due to a huge public demonstration. Apparently they are very common here, as Trivandrum is the state capital, but it was actually pretty cool to be walking along with thousands of demonstrators, even if we had no clue what they were demonstrating about.
That evening I booked train tickets for our next destination, the town of Cochin, and we went to a restaurant beside our hotel. It turned out to be another absolute gem of a place, Arya Niwas, busy with locals and yet more really fantastic food.
The next day I'd kinda planned as a day trip to the nearby beaches of Kovalam. The guidebooks say this town has been completely overrun by package tourists and large hotels, so I didn't want to stay there, just check it out. But first we checked out the area beside the bus station that has an old palace and a famous temple (but like most Hindu temples, non-Hindus aren't allowed in - or as I so eloquently put it to the guard, 'Oh, you don't welcome guests into your temples? Oh, I thought the Muslims were supposed to be the unfriendly ones!' - but I don't think he knew what I was on about. But for the record Muslims do allow non-Muslims guests into their mosques, so long as they're not women of course). Anyway, the Puttan Malika palace was pretty good as the obligitory guide thankfully ran through the place pretty quick (the solid crystal throne was interesting).
As usual it was easy to catch a bus to Kovalam, and it drops you at the gate of the fanciest hotel in the whole area, the Leela Hotel. So naturally I had to check it out, and it really is a very fancy gaff indeed, and one of the rare hotels where the photos on the Internet actually reflect what a place is really like. From here we strolled down to the first of the 4 beaches in the area, and after getting chased off the Leela's exclusive patch of beach (well, we weren't chased, they just asked if we were residents, at which we had to sheepishly wander off), we strolled along the beachfront.
Here again the locals seem to have deliberately uprooted all the trees, as none of the beaches provided any natural shade, so it was a tad tricky for me to have my swims, but I still managed a few during the day. But anyway the beaches weren't all that great really, I think I still rate every beach I get to now in relation to the beaches I went to 10 years ago on my first big trip. Back then all the beaches in Malaysia and Thailand seemed spotlessly clean, with nobody around, with very little concrete developments (just shacks and simple huts) and lots of shady palm trees to hide under, but maybe that's just a case of rose-tinted nostalga glasses.
So, having arrived nice and early in Trivandrum we had a shower and strolled out for some lunch. We went around the corner to probably the coolest restaurant building of the trip so far - the local Indian Coffee House. The building is circular and the tables all curve along the inner wall as the aisle slopes it's way up the building. Great food here too, and just ridiculously cheap (the Indian Coffee House is a local Indian chain and I've been to a few now, all bloody good!).
Then we caught a rickshaw to the north of the town to visit a museum and art gallery set nicely in a public park. Both where impressive, especially the Napier museum with a really cool, huge old wooden chariot used in Hindu processions, called a 'rath'.
Ignoring the zoo (been on too many safaris to bother with zoos now!), we had to walk all the way back to the town center due to a huge public demonstration. Apparently they are very common here, as Trivandrum is the state capital, but it was actually pretty cool to be walking along with thousands of demonstrators, even if we had no clue what they were demonstrating about.
That evening I booked train tickets for our next destination, the town of Cochin, and we went to a restaurant beside our hotel. It turned out to be another absolute gem of a place, Arya Niwas, busy with locals and yet more really fantastic food.
The next day I'd kinda planned as a day trip to the nearby beaches of Kovalam. The guidebooks say this town has been completely overrun by package tourists and large hotels, so I didn't want to stay there, just check it out. But first we checked out the area beside the bus station that has an old palace and a famous temple (but like most Hindu temples, non-Hindus aren't allowed in - or as I so eloquently put it to the guard, 'Oh, you don't welcome guests into your temples? Oh, I thought the Muslims were supposed to be the unfriendly ones!' - but I don't think he knew what I was on about. But for the record Muslims do allow non-Muslims guests into their mosques, so long as they're not women of course). Anyway, the Puttan Malika palace was pretty good as the obligitory guide thankfully ran through the place pretty quick (the solid crystal throne was interesting).
As usual it was easy to catch a bus to Kovalam, and it drops you at the gate of the fanciest hotel in the whole area, the Leela Hotel. So naturally I had to check it out, and it really is a very fancy gaff indeed, and one of the rare hotels where the photos on the Internet actually reflect what a place is really like. From here we strolled down to the first of the 4 beaches in the area, and after getting chased off the Leela's exclusive patch of beach (well, we weren't chased, they just asked if we were residents, at which we had to sheepishly wander off), we strolled along the beachfront.
Here again the locals seem to have deliberately uprooted all the trees, as none of the beaches provided any natural shade, so it was a tad tricky for me to have my swims, but I still managed a few during the day. But anyway the beaches weren't all that great really, I think I still rate every beach I get to now in relation to the beaches I went to 10 years ago on my first big trip. Back then all the beaches in Malaysia and Thailand seemed spotlessly clean, with nobody around, with very little concrete developments (just shacks and simple huts) and lots of shady palm trees to hide under, but maybe that's just a case of rose-tinted nostalga glasses.
We stayed the whole day checking out the beaches anyway (and watching a big group of fishermen hauling in a huge fishing net), and had a beer watching the setting sun before running back to catch a bus (for some reason I thought the last bus back was at 5:30pm), which as usual seemed to be waiting just for us, as it pulled off as soon as we boarded. I didn't think Kovalam was much worse than Varkala really, in fact both seemed pretty similar to me, and neither were particularly brilliant.
Dinner that evening was back to the great Arya Niwas before an early night and an early rise the next morning to stroll across the road to the train station for the 4 hour train journey North to Cochin.
Dinner that evening was back to the great Arya Niwas before an early night and an early rise the next morning to stroll across the road to the train station for the 4 hour train journey North to Cochin.
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