Embarrassment, emporiums and elephants

Kerela is a lush, tropical, fertile province, they call it the garden of India.  It’s also reasonably affluent.  You don’t see beggars, rubbish, or straying cattle and dogs.  The people are well off by Indian standards and there is almost nil unemployment.  Cars are new Tata hatchbacks and Hyundai coupes. 

Our host Roy was telling us about some Americans who arrived shortly before us.  They had bought with them a huge suitcase full of unwanted clothes because they had heard that Indian people were poor, hungry and had no clothes.  He said he was in the embarrassing situation of having to tell them that they had got it wrong.  He could not think of anyone who would ever want second hand clothes especially enormous sizes from America.  He took them to an orphanage who flatly refused  them, and he was forced to lug the big case back and burn the contents! Roy also told us a riddle last night and asked us if we could work out the answer.  It kept four of us awake all night and then we had to drag the answer out of him.  You lot are next!

 We have  met a couple of really nice Australian guys who are very well travelled.  They frequently come to India and China to buy goods for their shop and go home via  Male & Kuala Lumpur.  Roger was saying that he was about to give a beggar  sitting outside a market in one of the northern states some money, when the beggar pulled out his Samsung Galaxy he changed his mind!

We had a restless night, apart from the riddle,  and an early start, the church next door started Mass at 6am and it went on til 7.30. 

Note to self: must remember to look on Google Earth to see what's next door, the Mosque is up the top of the road too and R.C. Cathedral opposite it.   The Bells the bells!

 Around 7am the “loggers” came to cut a tree down, so the damn chainsaw started up, the dogs started and the bells were ringing again,  We decided to take it easy today with just some essential shopping, conditioner (Pantene 75p) colgate toothpast 65p, two Revlon nailpolishes £1.30 and some camera batteries we usually pay about £8 back home were 45p!!!! We have a bag full, don’t know where we are going to put it all to get it back to Goa!  We already have a third case sitting in the taxi drivers home in Goa that he is going to bring to us when we get there in about a weeks time.

I also bought 3 long floaty tunic type tops that are so cool.  I  have to keep out of the sun after major skin problems last year, so the new clothes are ideal.  The heat here has been unbearable around mid day today it was 35c in the shade, last night we commented on how cool it had gone, it was 29c!.  Whilst out shopping I inadvertently left my handbag in one of the shops.  I didn't realise I hadn't got it until about an hour later!!!! I dashed back to where I had tried on all my tunics and the boy had kept it under the counter for me.  I was so relieved, it had my purse, credit & bank cards and iphone in it. I gave him some cash as a thank you

 We popped into an emporium and bought some nice silk wall hangings for home and then lunch at the Trivandrum Hotel.

We've been to see elephants and lions and hippos 

but as they are in controlled spaces, its no better than in a safari park. The last two photos are at the Botanical gardens, but it was so hot we abandoned it for a long cool beer, served to us in coffee mugs and out of a tea pot!