We Are Family!

Well its been quite a busy two weeks covering a fair bit of India for my Mum and bro to get a good taste of it but we did! They arrived in Chennai (on the East Coast) at about half one in the morning where I anxiously waited in the Hotel room my mum had reserved from France. I was a little worried as it was what should have been a higher class hotel to my usual budget range and was a bit shoddy for what my Mum was paying, so after an enthusiastic welcome of my family, we changed to another hotel I had been staying at previously and was priced the same but you actually got what you paid for! We had a bit of a french family reunion (a bustling Indian city is not the usual place to have reunions I know) and my fab uncle joined us, my mums brother (who I affectionately know as Cri Cri), who as usual had us in fits of laughter. We (and a couple of my Uncle's friends) had a day trip to Mamalaparam (by the sea-see pic of Cri Cri, Mum, Olivier and I sitting on a wall)) and the Crocodile Nature reserve. At one point we couldn't see mum and I checked to see if any of the crocs looked like they were feasting on a nice french meal, but it turned out she was okay.

After this we(me, Mum, Olivier and Edwin(alias silly name Gertie)) headed on an overnight train to Allepey, Kerela, where we spent the night in a lux haven away from the bustle with hammock, wicker chairs and a long game of Monopoly till we couldn't keep our eyes open anymore, and discovered that my brother liked Biryiani. The next morning we took an autorickshaw to the backwaters trip to Kollam by boat. It took 8 hours but felt like 2, as it was such a beautiful journey. Basically the backwaters are like rivers but behind the sea, hence their name. We saw Igrits, Eagles, a couple of Kingfishers (which were too fast for me to picture) and colourful jelly fish. We also passed green green banks of palm trees, local village woman washing their clothes, and fisherman. It was so relaxing chugging along these still waters... ( playing board games and sleeping with a hat on your head was easy).

When we arrived in Kollam, we shared a taxi with an interesting guy from Norway who was a first mate on a huge boat searcing for Oil. You meet some interesting people! We headed to Varkala, a recommended beach in Kerela, and were bleary eyed when we finally got there and ended up staying in a lush shiny clean bamboo hut resort. We then bumped into Andrew (a guy Edwin and I knew as had met at Tushita, the Buddhist retreat back in November) and met for sunset drinks... We chilled here for 3 days and Olivier enjoyed catching the waves with a boogie board and eating more biryianis. I didn't ever want to leave...

We then went on to the Cape Kanukamari 'point' which is at the tip of India, where the Indian Ocean, Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal meet. The place itself was not so incredible after being on such a lux beach, and we had Cockroaches in our Hotel...mmm... However we did see a cloudy sunset and Mum and I got up early to see the sunrise over the different seas.. Next we headed to a place near Madurai to hook up again with my uncle in a home he and his late wife had set up for gypsy children and elderly abandoned ladies. It was such an experience, the Children were so gorgeous, and a family ran it, who had known Christian since the 60's, when he first came to India, see pic of Indian couple with kids behind them... Coming to this place taught me more about my Uncle and what great stuff he had done here.

Then back on the road to Pondicherry, which you will have read about in my last blog, but it was really nice to share it with my family this time... My Mum ordered something on the Menu in a restaurant there and said to me "Ju, do you think this will be enough or should I order another dish?" I didn't know what it was she had ordered either, so I said, "Maybe wait and see until it arrives and then decide". She appreciated the advice and this will make sense with the downloaded the picture when I get a chance. Watch this space...!