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Hey people!
We actually never ended up going to the North of Goa... we liked Patnem too much so we stayed two more days before we had to catch our flight to Kerala which is the province in the most southern tip of India. During our stop we met a 45 year old poker player from Dubai called Kevin. We just asked him if the internet worked in the airport, we started talking and the next thing we knew we had a free ride from Cochin airport to our hotel! His cousin, Seldon, came to pick him up from Cochin airport and we hopped in as well. Kevin told us that his family originally came from Kerala, but everyone except for his mom moved out of India. He had a sister in California, a brother in England and the rest also lived in Dubai. Every once in a while he comes to visit his mom back in Kerala. We drove to his mom's house and had some coffee. After that, he brought us to our hotel. We had some problems with finding one, but after some recommendations we ended up with a cheap hotel a few blocks away from Kevin's house. It wasn't a very good hotel though; the owner was an alcoholic, the hotel itself was very dirty and our toilet had the most nasty and biggest cockroaches! It was disgusting! When I sat down on my bed, it literally broke into two pieces. The excuse of the owner; the bed was 100 years old and he didn't have enough money to buy some new furniture (I think because he spends all his money on alcohol). Anyways, the first day in Cochin, Kaylee and I went to walk around Cochin. Cochin itself is beautiful! It's tropical, has lot's of buildings and churches still from the time when the Portuguese ruled this part of India and there are old school cars everywhere. I've never been to Cuba, but I think there's a hint of Cuba here! Besides shopping, we ended up doing pretty much nothing. Just taking it easy and enjoy the seaside as well.
The next day, Kevin and Seldon took us for a tour through Cochin and it's surroundings by car. We drove to a beach, drove through a communist worker's neighborhood (Actually, everything here is communist! Everywhere on every street corner you can see some communist propaganda and red flags etc.), drove trough Jewish, Muslim, Christian and Hindu neighborhoods and eventually went to a beautiful rich area on a lake surrounded by palm trees and aqua blue water. It was a fun day! In the evening we went an had Kevin's famous chicken curry. He said that it was the most amazing thing you will ever have in India, and I must say I was kind of skeptical but once I had a taste it was delicious! It was really the best Indian food I've had so far!
Yesterday, we drove two hours to the backwaters of Kerala. The backwaters are canals surrounded by jungle, primitive villages and god knows what more, and you can take a bamboo motor boat to take you around the canals for a few hours. We went for three hours and it was really beautiful! Huge palm trees surrounded the riverside, people were taking dives in the river to wash themselves, housewives here cleaning pots and pans and dirty clothes, everyone took home made canoe's to get arround and it was really like a trip to the medieval ages. It is such a recommendation if you get there in Kerala. Take the tour, bring a bottle of water with you and a little food and go and check it out! It's worth it! Also, stop at one of the waterside restaurants and try some duck curry. It's delicious! In the evening we were called by Kevin and he said that we could stay at his place for the night. He didn't like us staying in that dirty hotel. How nice!
We had a very good night of sleep and I packed my bag firmly this morning. Kaylee and I went to the Jewish part of town and bought our last souvenirs and now I'm writing my last blog in India itself. I fly home this evening at around eight, so I have to leave in about and hour and a half.
India has been great. I was pretty nervous for it before we landed here, but it's got the most wonderful people who don't want anything in return but your company and friendship, the most beautiful landscapes and I won't even start on the culture! It's been a rough, long ride with ups and downs and I feel it's about time I go home. I definitely coming back here though, no doubt about that! But for now, I just wanna go back to my 'koude kleine kikkerlandje'. That's it for now! If you ever consider going to India, give me a call or send me an e-mail and I'll be glad to inform you.
Namaste. :)