unreal.

yes i am alive. i am still in India. and I'm alone again. i do apologize for the huge delay in blog writing, but it has been one crazy month of shenanigans, and you know how it goes.
where do i even begin...
i somehow managed to find myself in the company of four British blokes, travelling up the coast of south India. How did this happen? Well stuck in a blackout one night, we met under candle light and beers....and here we are a month later.
I guess i will start by giving you a few of the highlights from these past few weeks.

We made our way by train, bus, rickshaw, and what was left of our legs down the east coast from Pondicherry, Trichy, Tanjore, Madurai, and finally Varkala..a little slice of backpackers heaven out of the madness of India. Stopping in just a handful of temples (meaning loads) and staying in the most budget of all places.
Let's see...the most outrageous of our travel tales begin in Allepuzha, or Alleppy on the Western Coast of Kerala. Kerala for those of you who have never been might just be one of the most beautiful places on earth. Imagine India meet the amazon, winding alleyways and dense palm groves are intercepted by the hectic streets of India. Kerala is also the most literate state of India, and is operated by a communist government.hmm. The first downfall of this trip was agreeing to take a four hour taxi from Varkala, as opposed to a shit hole public bus that would cost 50 rupees. We needed to splurge.
In Alleppy we were greeted by the most ruthless of all hagglers, trying their best to convince us to take their houseboat. Alleppy is located right on the gateway of backwaters that run up the coast of Kerala, and supposedly taking a houseboat is a "top ten must do." Fed up with all the sneaky people trying to "cut us a deal" we set off on our own to find a boat.
To make this short...we wound up walking into a boating office, and were offered a free nights accommodation if we agreed to doing a photo shoot. The top dog of the office had just purchase a brand new, amazing, massive houseboat and he wanted us to take some photos for the brochure.
So naturally, we said yes...with far less hesitation than you might think.
We spent two wonderful nights floating through the backwaters, lulled by the sweet sounds of nearby fisherman and the melodic beat of washing pounding the rocks. One of the most amazing parts of this journey by far.
On our last day on our sweet little houseboat, we knew the inevitable was coming...the photo shoot. However, I was assuming it would be on some decent boat and that would be it.
Not so much. We made out way to the edge of the backwaters and were dropped off at an estate. You know, just the nicest house I have ever seen. Greeted by a gang of people pool side, we immediately accepted drink offers and made ourselves at home.
We were to learn later, the man in charge of this whole operation is the CEO of a major telecom company, and also owner of massive penthouse suites all over the world.
The next few days were simply unreal. After serving us drinks all day to "loosen up," the photo shoot proceeded on the boat that night. Literally, titanic style, Ben and I had to stand on the bow of the boat for at least an hour, trying not to die of laughter. The next few hours you can only imagine, and don't be alarmed if you are ever in the UK and you see a poster of this little situation. Ridiculous.
Another highlight of this little shindig came a few days later, when we were given an offer to stay at the Munnar estate. Munnar is a hill station in Northern Kerala, surrounded by sweeping tea plantations and palm trees. We stayed in a resort house for three days, pretty much complimentary. Served meals like kings and queens again, we basked in the glow of green tea leave scattering the hills. A breathtaking and beautiful place, and as Ben would say a tranquil and peaceful place outside of the busy and bustling cities of India. If you get a chance, check out Casa del Fauno...and you will see where we stayed. unbelievable. Now you might understand why I have not written in awhile...been a bit out of touch with reality.
So those are just a few highlights...more to come!