Last night we walked out at sunset past a really big mango tree with
fruits the size of rugby balls, and to
our surprise there were half a dozen fruit bats, called flying foxes around
three feet wide darting between the trees.
We called at the Opticians to order
some new specs for himself, very reasonable at £29 for titanium frames and good
lenses. Himself asked how long they
would take to make them up and he was
told 15 minutes ! Service or what?
We went for dinner on the rooftop of a local
hotel, and were welcomed in by a very smart concierge complete with white suit
and turban.Hells bells, I've just realised you can see right through my latest purchase!
There was a buffet of about 40 dishes, 10 starters, and far too many sweets and I think himself tried all of it!! We left after eating far too much and spending just a tenner.
Today has been a very slutty day, we went to the Indian Coffee house for elevenses. Its in all the guide books so we thought we had better take a look. It’s the Indian version of the leaning tower of Pisa. The waiters walk all the way around the central core up to the top of the slopes, the tables are set off at the side & numbered. We sat at table 27 almost at the top. I can just see management of an English establishment trying to get waiters to run up a gradient like that all day, health & safety would have a fit! We had a white coffee and lemon tea for just 18p and I got a rollicking from himself for not leaving a tip!
Outside & inside the Indian Coffee Shop
Next door to the Indian Coffee house is the new bus station, talk about state of the art, it’s a stunning building, built in next to no time, we cant even build a bridge over our river in 6 months!
Our digs are by the Home office, and the Minister of State
came on a visit yesterday at break neck speed, he was wedged between three
police cars and following in hot pursuit was an ambulance, all the local police
saluted him.
This afternoon we went to the coast to Kovalum to get some
cooler air and our driver asked if we needed the air con on at an extra 1 rupee a kilometre – we said what the hell, switch it on! The beaches were busy, India goes to the
seaside on Sundays. There were some
really big waves hitting the shore and two lifeguards were on patrol with red
flags and whistles blowing frantically to warn people to keep to shallow
water. Indians don’t swim! Most can’t, all the women go in fully dressed
in their saris and the men strip down to their budgie smugglers. Its quite a sight. One group of rowdy youngsters were red
flagged, dragged out and made to have time out sitting on the edge of the beach
in disgrace for ten minutes before being allowed back in. They
whooped for joy and somersaulted into the warm clear waters only to be
whistled and flagged again!
Us
and 2000 Indians shared the beach, however we started negotiations on renting
two sunbeds and a brolly, and after several minutes joked we didn’t want to
take the stuff home with us, the vendor laughed and said he would throw in a
couple of dogs as well. We spent an entertaining afternoon there and
had supper at sunset at a beachfront restaurant, eating a huge Red Snapper
washed down with illicit beer and gin and tonics, again served in mugs and cans
and bottles hidden under the table
We have been listening to some very loud noises in the night
and asked Roy our host what it was. It
sounded like cannon fire, it was in fact coconuts and jackfruits dropping some
70 feet on to the roof of the house!
We move on to Bengaluru (Bangalore) tomorrow, so might not
get to do the blog. We’ll be back soon
………………
PS Happy Birthday Jack xxxxxxxxxx Hope you get the drum kit!
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