India 2008 (Kerala)

So, we finally made it to India! Two weeks at Easter in Kerala. Absolutely fantastic - great people, fantastic food and glorious weather!

The photos (from the top) show one of the oldest Hindu temples in Trivandrum (to be remembered for the many hours we spent lost in the markets and small side streets - lost but happy), a rather large visitor to the temple, Kathryn posing in the sun on one of our many walks along the coastline, Damien at the top of the lighthouse in Kovolam, the local fishermen's catch of the day, a local fisherman pulling in the catch (we used to sit and watch this wonderful experience most days we were around). The guy scratching his head is there to represent the huge arguments which started amongst the fishermen once their catch was landed - who was to blame for the poor catch and who wasn't pulling enough etc!

Further down we see the lake formed by the Newar Dam as we visited this National park and spent the whole day enjoying the countryside - and a boat trip on the lake.

The sunset is at Lighthouse Beach - we drank Kingfisher beer every evening on the beach before wandering off to find another local restaurant serving yet more delicious food!

Lower down, you also see one of the converted rice barges (not the one we hired!). We spent a couple of days chugging round the backwaters, enjoying watching local canal life. Most memorable moment was lying on the deck at night watching one of the most amazing nights of stars.

The temple and statue are to be found right at the Southern tip of India in Tamil Nadu - we had intended to catch the ferry out to the islands themselves, but the queue time was over an hour, so we settled for watching everyone else making their pilgrimages.

The bottom row shows the one Hindu temple which allows non Hindus inside to visit - as long as men remove their shirts - a visit which was amazing indeed. We have been in Buddhist Temples, a Sikh temple in Bangkok and mosques in Thailand and Egypt but this was a very different experience. There's also a photo Damien at one of the former palaces that we visited as well as a photo of local day trippers enjoying a day at the seaside.

A wonderful experience which will stay with us for a long time - especially the food and people. Two curries a day and the chance to meet plenty of friendly locals.