A break in the monsoon rains today as we awoke to clouds. We decided to head over to Ernakulam to explore further afield, so took a tuk tuk then a ferry across to the mainland. It turned out to be a busy, hot, honking and smelly mess of a city. We paced the busy roadsides a bit, then decided to abandon as we were both getting headaches from all the traffic fumes. We did buy a little travel chess set though, much to Gaz’s delight! Which we played on the ferry on the way back, with a lot of interested locals looking on. A quick lunch back at Dal Roti’s again, with some delicious vegetable kati rolls and very spicy ginger tea, yum!
Then a split decision to go on a backwaters tour, to escape the bustling city. So we booked through our hotel for 500 rupees each for a 3 hour backwater tour, and were picked up in a car. Things didn’t get off to a good start when the car turned up late, and we were then informed that actually the tour finished at 7pm, not the 6pm advertised; this was a problem as we were meant to be meeting the boys later that evening. Then we realised they were cramming 4 tourists into a tiny car, so we sat squidged together for over an hour on the roads, no one seeming particularly pleased with the tour so far. Then we arrived and had to wait around for some more tourists to arrive; we kept informing the guides that we had to be back soon.
Then a split decision to go on a backwaters tour, to escape the bustling city. So we booked through our hotel for 500 rupees each for a 3 hour backwater tour, and were picked up in a car. Things didn’t get off to a good start when the car turned up late, and we were then informed that actually the tour finished at 7pm, not the 6pm advertised; this was a problem as we were meant to be meeting the boys later that evening. Then we realised they were cramming 4 tourists into a tiny car, so we sat squidged together for over an hour on the roads, no one seeming particularly pleased with the tour so far. Then we arrived and had to wait around for some more tourists to arrive; we kept informing the guides that we had to be back soon. 
Eventually we were on our way on a nice banana leaf barge through the backwaters, with two men, one at the front and one at the back, punting us through the calm waters. It would have been very relaxing had it not been for a screaming baby onboard (who at one point walked straight up to Rach and smacked her SLR camera! Omg!) so we ended up hanging off the end of the boat with o
ne of the boatmen where the crying was muffled a little. The waters were lovely, with dipping birds and palm trees, and we wished we were exploring in a little canoe by ourselves in peace. We stopped off at a village enroute to see women spinning rope out of coconut husks, and we bought some tasty tapioca crisps. The trip became really nice when we turned and headed down tiny little waterways, with the boat only just big enough to make it. We then sped back in the car, another hour being squished with a French man falling asleep on Rach’s shoulder, and were inevitably late back.Cue a mad rush to get ready and get to the ferry to head over the Casino Hotel on Willingdon Island where we were meeting Jai and the school boys for a final meal together. We just missed a ferry (waa!), so decided to get a tuk tuk the whole way there, bouncing over pot holes and narrowly avoiding crashes! Luckily we arrived before the boys, so had whisky and soda with Jai and his wife in their room, then met everyone for a buffet meal in the hotel. All the boys were in one piece from their travels, apart from Churchy who had narrowly escaped a motorbike accident with just a scrape on his arm, phewf! A band were playing at the hotel, who played any songs we requested, and to our surprise Jai jumped up and started playing the clarinet with them. Quite funny and a nice evening.
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