Holiday Journal Extracts

To start with, I just wanted to apologise for not updating my blog over the last two weeks and explain my reasons. Firstly, this blog is about my year of teaching - I only have time off because the school is closed! And secondly, my holiday has been so jam packed that there hasn't been time to think, or even write my diary. We quickly sussed the Indian bus system and navigated our way on some very overcrowded buses to Pondicherry, Rameswaran, Madurai, Kanyakumari, Kollam, Alleppey, and even had time for five relaxing days in Fort Cochin and enough time to detour to Coimbatore to see Caitlin and Nuala. Instead of boring you with all of the details, I thought I'd post some extracts from my journal (which I still haven't caught up on!), so happy reading.

15.10.12 "Didn't sleep a wink last night because I had five men in the bunks surrounding me, all staring. But we arrived safely into Chennai at gone 3am with the plan of getting a bus straight to Pondicherry. Navigating our way to the bus stand was a challenge. Rickshaw drivers wanted Rs250 per person for the journey to the bus stand, but we knew we wanted bus 15B... It was just a case of finding it. We walked out of the train station and were pointed in the direction of the bus stop by a car park attendant. Avoiding all of the rickshaw drivers who couldn't believe what we were doing, we climbed over a barrier jn the middle of the road and started wandering up and down the closed shops in search of the 'bus stop'. We finally asked the right people, who flagged down the bus for us as it drove past. So proud we managed to persevere - especially as the bus was only Rs12!"

17.10.12 "We arrived in Madurai at 4am and, after considerable debate, decided to go straight to Rameswaran so that we would be back by evening. Finding our way involved a lot of asking people and a lot of buses. The view as we crossed the Indira Gandhi bridge, which seemed to go on forever, on to Rameswaran was amazing. The view from the next bus was equally impressive and we felt like we were back in rural India again, passing dozens of small huts made of woven reeds. Upon reaching the last stop slightly confused, we were hearded off the bus and towards some kind of elongated jeep. Already full with Indian tourists, it was a tight squeeze inside the jeep, but the hour long journey across the sands was worth it. Despite the rubbish and the lone snack stall, the beach was stunningly beautiful. We dipped our toes in the ocean and looked out to the first island of Sri Lanka. After having our photo taken with an Indian couple (on their camera), we headed back across the sands before suddenly grinding to a halt. The Indian tourists all jumped out and beckoned us to follow. The excitement was over a 'floating stone' which Rama had touched after leading an army of monkeys and bears over the sea to Sri Lanka to rescue his wife Sita from the demon Ravana. We quietly discussed the science behind the stone, but at the same time were intrigued by the excitement."

19.10.12 "Pineapple and mango looking out over the three seas which meet at the bottom of India was a pretty cool way to start the day. We then took a ferry - wearing giant orange lifejackets - to the Vivekananda Memorial off Kanyakumari. We enjoyed exploring the mini island and taking photos of school children who were taking photos of us! Typically, the monsoon rain started when we were at the furthest point possible from the ferry, so we all sat with our plastic bags full of soaking wet clothes on the bus to Kollam later that evening."

21.10.12 "The guidebook says that the large number of houseboats on the backwaters in Alleppey can be disappointing, but I found them beautiful. Renting a houseboat with six other volunteers [we met two more volunteers, Ruby and Veebs, for a couple of days in Kerala] and relaxing on the top deck chatting, writing postcards and taking in the beautiful views has to be the highlight of the holiday so far... We pulled over to the bank for dinner just as the monsoon rain started, which made for a strangely atmospheric end to the evening".