Day 35: Angekommen in Kollam

Heute morgen, kurz nach dem Fruehstueck, haben wir uns aufgemacht, zum Bus-Stand gegenueber des Bahnhofes in Trivandrum (Thiruvananthapuram, wie es eigentlich heisst…). Wir sind mit dem Tuktuk gefahren, trotz unserer Bedenken, ob all unser Gepaeck wohl in die kleine Quetsche hineinpasst…aber diese kleinen Biester scheinen wirklich alles zu schaffen (Krish hatte uns erzaehlt, er hat mal eines mit 10 Leuten drin gesehen, fahrend…). Am Busstand angekommen, haben wir uns zum Bus durchgewuehlt, der natuerlich nur in der Landessprache beschriftet ist, nd erst nach mehrfachem Nachfragen haben wir ihn entdeckt.

Day 34: Palmgroves and picture-postcard beaches

Hello to you all,

we have just returned to trivandrum from anthother day at Kovalam beach, a picture-postcard dream beach of the tropics, with palmtrees, massive waves, clear water and beautifullly clean yellow-white sand.  There was a wonderful view over a long stretch of coastline from a lovely little lighthouse on the beach from which Marco took some wonderful pictures.
During the midday heat it was again impossible to walk or be  in the open, unless you were keen on getting heavily sunburnt ( like many, many tourists here seem to enjoy very much….!)
Tomorrow, we leave Trivandrum for Kolam, a small town a bit further up the coast. We will go by bus ( which takes about an hour and a half); we quite enjoyed our crazy and bumpy busride to the beach today in spite of our previous expectations..!

Love to all and “see” you soon, Anne and Marco

Day 31: Welcome to Trivandrum

hello to all,

at midday today, we arrived at Trivandrum, the capital town of the state of kerala in the south-west of India (please see the attached map !). We chose to go by car, since this was only a short drive of about 88 km and on the way here, we had the chance to visit a waterfall which is a sacred place to Hindus and where many people and also a lot of children were bathing and enjoying themselves. We will stay here for four days until 7.2. and are planning to make some day trips to some of the beaches nearby which are supposed to be exceptionally beautiful, with loads of coconut palms..! These coconut palms are really lovely and dominate the countryside very much here. From here we are planning to slowly make our way north and go on a tour of the backwaters as we move along. We are really looking forward to this!!!
The weather here is extremely muggy and tropical , puhhh! it is cloudy and this seems to increase the oppressive humid air. But in the mornings and evenings it is quite pleasant to move around outside ( as is the custom of the people living here..).

We will  have a tour of the town tomorrow and maybe go to Kovallam beach.

Until soon, all the best from Anne and Marco

Map of Southindia - Trivandrum, where we are now!

(Quelle: Wikipedia)

Hier sind wir nun angekommen, in Trivandrum (Thiruvananthapuram), der Hauptstadt Keralas. Von hier aus starten wir unsere weiteren Expeditionen in die Backwaters, der Flusslandschaft durch die Palmenwaelder hinter der Kuestenlinie.