I initially thought Indian trains would be much comfier than Indian buses however this theory was tested and proved wrong on the trip to Trivandrum, the capital of Kerala. First of all, we had to wander the narrow corridors searching for seats, all the time trying not to hit those near the aisle with my always growing back pack! Then, when we'd found seats, it was not only a struggle to fit my admittedly sizable bum on the bench, but also we had to wrestle our backpacks and bags in to the space too!
I spent most of the journey with my feet resting on the elderly man across from me, which he thought was hilarious and wasn't happy whenever I tried to move them. Unsurprisingly, both Debs and I had cricks in our necks and achy backs by the time we alighted, but no worries, we were heading somewhere special!
Our first mission was to buy newspapers, our latest indulgence, and breakfast. We ate in the Indian Coffee House which was housed in the most amazing building! A huge spiral with gorgeous fretwork windows and a never-ending stream of tables. The food was delicious too, all served by men in traditional uniforms. In true Indian style, these were incredibly smart, but all white and every single man was incredibly grubby.
After finishing breakfast, we jumped in a rickshaw to our luxurious hotel. It was glorious. Door men opened the large glass doors for us (something we later find we actually couldn't do without ruining the carpets!) and seeing the pool was, I imagine, how a camel feels when he sees an oasis in the desert - filled with sweet, sweet relief. Our room was the nutella on the pancake, minus the view anyway, gigantic pillows, fluffy duvets and my favourite thing - a bath tube!
I probably spent the first hour and half lounging around the bath, listening to music and drying my hair with an actual hair-dryer.
When we finally took a stroll to explore the city, I instantly fell in love. It had an intoxicating mix of beautiful temples, modern shopping malls and delicious food. Our first stop was to explore some of the delicious food. We went to Azad's and ordered the famous mutton roast. It was incredible. People say India is for vegetarians, but the meat! So slowly cooked and tender with perfect spicing! More please!
From there, we wandered through the streets, dipping in and out of malls and spending an incredible amount of time buying flannels in a supermarket.
On our wanders, we also passed two temples, both completely different. One was a towering stone building, peaceful and glowing in the sunset; the other was strong, dark marble - a busy hive of coconut tossing and bare chested planking!
We slept like the dead, feasted on gigantic thalis and left ready for our ashram experience...or so we thought.
I spent most of the journey with my feet resting on the elderly man across from me, which he thought was hilarious and wasn't happy whenever I tried to move them. Unsurprisingly, both Debs and I had cricks in our necks and achy backs by the time we alighted, but no worries, we were heading somewhere special!
Our first mission was to buy newspapers, our latest indulgence, and breakfast. We ate in the Indian Coffee House which was housed in the most amazing building! A huge spiral with gorgeous fretwork windows and a never-ending stream of tables. The food was delicious too, all served by men in traditional uniforms. In true Indian style, these were incredibly smart, but all white and every single man was incredibly grubby.
After finishing breakfast, we jumped in a rickshaw to our luxurious hotel. It was glorious. Door men opened the large glass doors for us (something we later find we actually couldn't do without ruining the carpets!) and seeing the pool was, I imagine, how a camel feels when he sees an oasis in the desert - filled with sweet, sweet relief. Our room was the nutella on the pancake, minus the view anyway, gigantic pillows, fluffy duvets and my favourite thing - a bath tube!I probably spent the first hour and half lounging around the bath, listening to music and drying my hair with an actual hair-dryer.
When we finally took a stroll to explore the city, I instantly fell in love. It had an intoxicating mix of beautiful temples, modern shopping malls and delicious food. Our first stop was to explore some of the delicious food. We went to Azad's and ordered the famous mutton roast. It was incredible. People say India is for vegetarians, but the meat! So slowly cooked and tender with perfect spicing! More please!
From there, we wandered through the streets, dipping in and out of malls and spending an incredible amount of time buying flannels in a supermarket.On our wanders, we also passed two temples, both completely different. One was a towering stone building, peaceful and glowing in the sunset; the other was strong, dark marble - a busy hive of coconut tossing and bare chested planking!We slept like the dead, feasted on gigantic thalis and left ready for our ashram experience...or so we thought.
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