Tamil Nadu

We've managed to escape the sweltering heat, for the time being anyway. We are in a small mountain town called Kodaicannal, situated 2000m asl in the Western Ghats of the most southern Indian state, Tamil Nadu. It's a breezy 25 degrees here with almost no humidity, a far cry from the +40 degrees celsius we were experiencing in Kerala.

After leaving Alleppey, we cruised down the backwaters for about 8 hours to southern Kerala to meet up with two of my friends from EWB, Nicole and Carly. We spent 3 days in Varkala which was like being back in Goa, although I think it was actually more touristy. But it was nice, all of the beach restaurants and accommodations were situated on a very high cliff overlooking the ocean and a beautiful beach below. This place again made me lose my India feel a little bit but it was so great to catch up with my friends from university and the town was the perfect place for that!

The four of us then decided to head south, to the most southern tip of India, Kanyakumari. This place was spectacular, there were so many beautiful Christian churches and the shore was lined with hundreds of colourful fishing boats. This is where both the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal meet the Indian ocean. As much as we enjoyed this place however, it was just too hot and we decided to head for the nearby mountains.

This place is truly amazing. The people are very friendly and the food is fantastic. Yesterday the four of us rented a boat and peddled around the local lake. Today we set out into the forest with a guide to explore the rockfaced cliffs.

I think we will be heading to Chennai tomorrow and attempt to catch a flight to the Andaman Islands as soon as possible. I hope the Islands will give me a chance to get my ass back into shape for the trekking that's ahead of us in Northern India and Nepal. I've definitely been smoking to much of the local tobacco and havent been doing much physical activity next to swimming and carrying my pack from hotel to hotel. Maybe I will run on the beach everyday or something.

I tried to put pictures up today but somethings not working. Hopefully in the next day or two.

All the best to everyone at home.