No photos again until I get some more data In a few more days.

Day 81 and we arrived into Cochin early in the morning after 16 hours of flying from SA. I managed to catch up on blue planet 2! Wow! Arriving into Cochin we were both slightly apprehensive about having to do all our logistics by ourselves after months of being lead around Africa. After arriving in the airport we couldn't find our organised lift and a slight confusion set in, before we could organise another taxi a gentleman approached us asking for Olly, clearly we stood out from the crowds. Straight into Indian traffic we dodged bikes, buses, tuk tuks and people to arrived at our hotel. And to think that driving was probably tame! Our first day in town was spent getting our bearings and walking the streets, venturing back to our hotel for a hot meal and an early night.

The next day we rose early to hit the tourist sites. Via tuk tuk and boat to reach kochi fort. Immediately the smells of fish, spices, sewage and everything in between passed by and we felt like we were in India. Our first stop were the Chinese fishing nets. Beautiful looking but neither of us could work out how they worked: even after reading the explanation sign. From there we wondered, and wondered passing temples and Syrian churches and finally finding the Jewish street, where the street narrowed and traders all ran business from an open shop front. There was a lot going on, including huge sacks of ginger being tossed up into lorries, perfume sellers and every kind of merchant selling wood, recycled metal and lots of different types of grains and fruits. Feeling a bit exposed having only brought a vest top out we wondered into a few scarf shops (Ollys favourite) to get me a deal. The haggling here was much more laid back and we ended up buying something we weren't haggling for because we thought it was too much to haggle down. Anyway the mums would be proud of my new scarf.

We retreated back to our hotel after a long hot day and after showering and napping we ventured out for some food for the pricey some of £4. Our favourite being fried bananas! Both of us our currently embracing and vegetarian and no alcohol diet and India is very much the place to be doing it!

Day 85 was our first attempt to book and ride a train. It was surpassingly easy and the train station announced everything in English. A lot easier than my time in China! Off we travelled to allepy, the region known for back water tours. The train was pretty uneventful but the sites of travelling down the coast were better than my average commute to Milton Keynes! Again jumping in a tuk tuk for 90p we reached our hostel, well we found the road the hostel was impossible to find, but our wonderful driver persisted, doing u turn after u turn to find us the place. First rule upon arrival shoes off outside the building! After dropping bags and we headed out to source a houseboat for the next day, the canal strip is covered in small shops selling tours so we were spoilt for choice. From then we attempted to find a bus ticket for leaving but completely failed, having to resort to wifi later to figure it all out. After a hot day exploring the canals and dodging traffic we headed to the beach to relax. Only to find the whole town came to do the same. It was actually nice to sit down whilst people played frisbee, did mini photo shoots and kids played around in the sea ( a very relaxed guard sometimes blowing his whistle at them). I think we sat for a good few hours watching the sunset behind some thick cloud before we headed back into town for a very light meal and sleep.

We both commented that we are sleeping for 9 hours at a time but still feel like we need more. Clearly the early mornings of camping have caught up with us.

Day 86 in allepy we headed out to purchase a night bus ticket. I would have to sit next a lady and Olly a man, but it meant that we would get a night bus with AC and hopefully some sleep! From bus tickets we headed off to meet our man and his house boat. After a short drive we arrived at the ferry terminal and were both shocked at how many boats were setting off. We knew this was huge business but hadn't appreciated the volume until now. Perhaps being a tad indulgent we had hired a boat for just us and met our two crew men Bobbi and ?! I never got his name right. For 5 hours we cruised down the back waters passing huge paddy fields lined with palm trees and then through a village which was surprisingly developed, until we came to a stop outside a very friendly man's house. We had a long conversation with him in broken English and then set about walking around the little village. In the middle of this leafy place a couple of boys approached us for a 'selfie'. We returned to the boat for a lovely dinner on the river before we called it a night and climbed into our very well air conditioned room. In the morning we woke to intense scratching coming from the walls and the air conditioning socket moving... something in the walls trying to get out. Needless to say I fled the room and sat outside refusing to go back in.

We returned early to the town confident that we had navigating the town sorted and not wanting to use a tuk tuk everywhere we went we headed out with bags to walk the 1.6km to our new hostel. We arrived on a street surrounded by chickens and dogs with locals staring at us with blank faces, not the right place at all. Olly walked down an alley to investigate whilst I stood waiting on the side of the road, eventually deciding to just ask and immediately being pointed to the next road. We wondered the street until finding a building that looked remotely like the right place. We rang the doorbell/ turned the porch light on - it was hard to tell what the button did. No one was there. Olly again wondered around the side whilst I stood being eaten alive by mosquitoes. Then a chap arrived then two more chaps, then we went inside, then we came outside and were told to go down the road to their other building. All in all a confusing day, think they were running some illegal hostel. We showered then left for the beach, spending the day reading and napping. In the evening we caught the 'Sleeper bus' to Mysore. The words 'sleeper bus' are in commas as they ironic. This was a terrible experience. The bus broke hard every five minutes and I would slide down my reclined seat, the horn blew every time we approached a vehicle on the road keeping us all alert to the road but also awake. Anyway there was a curtain at the front of the bus so at least we weren't distracted by the lights on the road, upside hey?!

Day 87 Arriving into Mysore extremely tired and ready to just hit a bed for a few hours we were politely told that our room wasn't ready. So sucking it up and not wanting to waste a day we headed into town, exploring the markets and the magnificent palace. Picking up a chai, and some chow chow for breakfast to keep us going. We really enjoyed the palace and we are quiet accustomed to taking our shoes off to visit these places. From there we went to the Mysore art gallery, where the record of tourist price inflation was displayed well. Tickets originally cost 20 rupees were now 170 for foreigners, still not expensive at £2 a pop. Not expecting the Tate we wondered into the decrepit building into room 1, which looked a lot like the rest of the rooms, with no explanation just the artists name and the name of the paintings/ drawings. Olly enjoyed it apparently, not linked to the fact that there were lots of sketches of big boosemed ladies. In the evening we headed to the palace to watch the light show, arriving early we decided to check out the beer garden we had picked for dinner. Bad idea. When we arrived and were offered a beer, we decided for stay and drink more beer and eat a curry in our first proper restaurant since we arrived and our first taste of alcohol since South Africa. The food was amazing, spinach rice, veg curry and garlic naan; and we had a light above our table to switch on when we wanted to be served! Genius. Spending just a few more pounds make such a difference!

Our second day in Mysore we made an attempt to visit the Chenai Hills, but either because it was a Weekend or a festival the place was heaving and we couldn't get into the temple. Not wanting to return quickly we walked around, and in the continuing theme of selfies, I was handed a crying baby whilst their parents took photos. After handing her back they brought out a tin of sweet deserts and insisted we had something. Very nice indeed, similar to halva. Not having a plan for the afternoon we decided to try mysore zoo. These can be hit and miss, but this place was great. The animals looked well kept, and there manypassive aggressive signs asking people to not litter, not tease the animals and not get eaten (as this would be annoying for the staff to deal with). It was also a bit strange to see these animals behind bars after seeing them in the wild in Africa. No matter how big the cages were they never have enough space.

That evening we boarded the night train, praying that it would be better than the night bus. Immediately we met some locals who told us how bad the roads were on the route we had taken and laughing at the fact we had taken the bus. Lesson learned. We both slept pretty well and woke up in Hampi our next stop.

Day 89 Hampi had been recommended by a few people so our expectations were high. But before we could see the sights we had to navigate by tuk tuk and boat to our hostel. We were staying In a very small village, where chickens, monkeys and of course cows roamed around and a little girl ran out from her house in front of us and squatted in a rubbish pile to do a poo ( with the biggest smile on her face). The place was great and spacious, immediately being offered a bike, beers and some local marijuana (which we declined) straight away. We then headed back across the river and via tuk tuk to the main town. Determined to walk the whole route and not use tuk tuks we started the route at the huge temple and then did a a 22k circuit across the sights with the odd river crossing and up hill hike thrown in. The sight is huge filled with low key to elaborate temples and palaces, and baths from around 1400's. It reminded me of Egypt in Luxor, but with a hint of Islamic influence too. A great day walking and meeting lots of friendly people, again being fed some delicious snacks, but this time no pictures required; but they were delighted when I got my hand sanitizer out and they passed it around. After a great day in the heat we headed back to cross the river before the last boat left. This time there were lots of motorbikes waiting to cross so they put on an additional service. I can only describe the boat as a huge woven basket, but it fit us plus a big family and the paddler in. Much more sereen than a motor boat. We then attempted to reach a good point for sunset but had left it to late, so scrambled up some rocks next to a massive Hindu convention. Apparently we had just missed a guru leader showing everyone the other dimension. We were offered to be taken to the guru but politely declined, we were both craving a cold beer and shower instead. That evening we ate in our hostel, meeting a lovely English couple that were roaming the village trying to find a meal. They too had been in Africa before India, so we swapped stories and experiences. We both came away from the conversation glad we had not attempted to do africa without a tour.

Our second day in hampi we moved to the centre town where we had managed to book a room for cheap as chips with a pool and breakfast. After enjoying the facilities we bussed back to the town to visit the remaining sights we had to cover. Alot less of a strenuous day, the sights were much more quieter than the day before. Bliss and only a few selfies to be taken today! We visited the final Vittaya temple which had a very unique stone chariot at its centre. Again attempting and failing to reach a spot for sun set we clambered up a hill surrounded by monkeys playing and taking food from tourists to watch the sunset, well drop behind some clouds... our sun set luck is rubbish! After a meal of dosa and poori in a local joint we headed to bed for an early morning train to Goa.