Goa: Patnem and Palolem

Election Fever

Fort Cochin

The Backwaters of Kerela, Kollam - Alleppey

Varkala

Varkala is in Southern Kerela and is a small town centred on one stretch of sand and whilst fully aimed at western tourists was incredibly peaceful (we're here out of season) and a great place to spend my birthday (hopefully there will be photos to follow...).
Varkala, for me, was a place of colours. The colours of the cliffs, the sunsets, the incredible food, the Tibetan and Indian cloth for sale at every turn...and the colours i saw on my birthday. Inside my head. Awesome!

How far we've come

In just under two weeks we have traveled over 2,000 km from Kalkota to Kanyakumari. Now we slow down and start heading north, next stop, Trivandrum then Varkala.

Kanyakumari: The Southern Tip Of India

This is the southernmost tip of India, Kanyakumari.

The town is extremely popular with Indian holiday makers and many Hindu's come here on pilgrimage to bathe in the Ghats. Above is a statue of India poet Tirruvalluva Swarmi.

Everywhere you look there are posters advertising a myriad of Bollywood films. The colours are fantastic.

Kanyakumari is a working fishing town and full of men mending nets and counting there days catch.

Bonjour Pondicherry

Pondicherry lies below Chennai on the east coast of India. It was once collonised by the french and their influence is easily discernible. One side of the town, by the sea, is very french, with hotels, restaurants and quiet backstreets. The other side is very Indian, bustling, traffic filled and dozens of shops selling materials, Sari's etc.

On The Train To Pondicherry

Sunset from the train window, a moment of imense peace and beauty.

Konnark: The Sun Temple (ordaned with each 84 Kama Sutra positions)

Konnark is a small town south of Kolkata and it's famous Sun Temple is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The temple has been ravaged by time and in order to stop it toppling over it has now been filled with sand.

The intricacy of the carvings is incredible. The temple displays all 84 positions of the Kama Sutra, as above. There are repeated carvings of elephants battling dragons (?) and the 24 wheels that represent the wheels of Surya's (sun god) chariot and also the hours in a day.

Kolkata

Jumping off the plane straight into the mania that is Kolkata was a shock. Despite coming from Bangkok, one of the biggest cities in the world, there's something about an Indian city that sets it apart. This shot doesn't even begin to show how much traffic fills the streets here.

Kolkata was once at the centre of Britain's stranglehold over India. There are statues commemorating several British arcitects littered throughout the city and at almost every turn there is evidence of our presence. Above is St Pauls cathedral and below, the Victoria Memorial.

India Beckons

We flew from Bangkok to Kolkata on 22nd March.

The on board dining was questionably food!

Wat Pho, Bangkok

Whilst back in Bangkok we decided to give the tourist trap of the Grand Palace a miss and head to Wat Pho.

Wat Pho houses the largest recling Buddha in Thailand. It's hard to tell how incredibly big is it from these pictures, it was quite overwhelming.

I like this shot as it appears the Buddha is peering at the lens through the two pillars.

Pai, Elephants and the Hot Springs

The Hot Springs in Pai, a deserved 'bath' after our cycle there.
The Springs themselves reached 80 degrees celcius and there were a few locals up here boiling eggs!
We cycled to the Hot Springs, 7km from the town.
Pai is a prime location for Elephant treks, on the road to the Hot Springs there are numerous tour companies chasing the tourist dollar. We were happy to take a moment to respect these incredible animals and leave them to it.

Pai is a small town in the very North West of Thailand. We managed to find a bungalow across the river in a beautiful, peaceful spot.

Chiang Mai

Chiang Mai has over 300 temples, after Angkor we were abit templed out but we did check out some of the more impressive examples, the above was taken at Wat Prah Singh.
Elephant images appear everywhere in Chiang Mai, this was on the way to Wat Ta Kua. I like the contrast between the simple white of the sculpture and the brighlty coloured cloth and candle wax.

Wat Ta Kua.