In Thailand

My time in India is now over and I am in the party city of Bangkok. Let me share some stories and commentary of my last few weeks in Kerala. I travelled around Kerala for one week, staying in a 250 year old British Residency for 120 rupees (less than 2 pounds) for the night, and took a backwater trip to an Ashram (Hugging Amer). Here I stayed for one night and received a hug and blessing. I than travelled to Kochi, where I stayed for a few nights before busing it all the way back to Trivandrum. I also went to Kovalam where I thought what could be better, beaches and sunshine. However, I was deterred by the sight of the tourists who consisted of charter holiday couples - something I was trying to avoid in India! After my week of backpacking around Kerala was over, I returned to the school, and carried on teaching English, whilst also visiting houses of sponsored children (children who were being sponsored by westerners, so they could go to a good school). The houses these children lived in, mirrored some of the sights you would have seen in Slumdog Millionaire - however, what was surprising was that these children were always smiling and so eager to learn -not like in the West!

So my last few days in Kerala were spent, seeing a Bollywood movie (Billu Barber), getting some clothes made up from cotton I bought and observing a holy Indian holiday. With regards to the film, it was extremely entertaining, however, there was a young chap next to me who kept clearing his throat (argggghhhhh sound as you hear continuously throughout India) and then spitting on the floor. When the lights turned on, well you can imagine - a puddle of spit! (Lovely!). Last Monday I observed Shivaratri, where I stayed up the whole night with a small community praying - it was a real unique experience, and was something that appropriately bought my stay in India to an end. The last two days in India were spent in Bangalore, where I stayed near Brigade street, which is a road that mirrors those of London city - every fastfood chain, and endless designer shops. When I looked around, there was no traditional Indian culture in sight, but fashion conscious teens spending endless disposable income on electronics, clothes and food. My main mission in Bangalore was to see Slumdog Millionaire - which I eventually saw after much trekking across Bangalore in tuk tuks.

Now, I am in Bangkok, and today I visited the spectacular Palace and Buddha temple, whilst also enjoying some local (i.e. off the street) Pad Thai!