With the wedding festivites complete and my friends ceremoniously married, there was finally some time to relax and play ‘Indians’ with friends over a quiet beer. One final buffet dinner to give thanks, laugh and chat before the newlyweds and associated honeymoon troupe flew to Himachal Pradesh in the country’s northwest…

Storm and I had only just decided to head south to the heat and humidity of Kerala, with a stopover in Goa on the west coast. Disorganisation had the potential to ruin our cleverly underlaid plans, however, as we were unable to reserve airconditioned bunks for the 17 hour overnight train journey from Pune. So we lined up for unreserved tickets and sat around for 3 hours, admiring the manner with which Indians board trains – through emergency exits, with both elbows swinging and surging crowds. We looked at each other in anxious anticipation of our turn at ‘hopefully’ securing a place on our train. Meanwhile, we had to absorb about 5000 man-hours of awkward staring, as passers-by made no attempt to conceal their curiosity.

Finally, the moment arrived and our train squealed to a halt. As we’d predicted, the crush was not so great for the A/C sections and we sidled in to a cabin, hoping that we would be able to upgrade without too much fuss. Alas, no. We were shuffled down to Sleeper carriage 7 by two conductors and found a relatively empty cabin in which to set out our things. What a stroke of unreserved fortune it was as Storm and I have both heartily agreed that the flowing air and open windows of the Sleeper class made our journey and set a wonderful precedent for any future travelling we may undertake. Hot, dusty breezes made way for cooler evening air as we thrummed along, keeping good company with a couple of army boys who spoke about half a lick of english each.

Anyways, I ramble…

And so we have reached Goa, a place unlike any other in India; a place full of catholic churches and cathedrals, pleasant town alleys and Portuguese style architecture and bars (due largely to the 500 or so years the Portuguese maintained control over the colony). We are now in the south, getting a taste of what Goa would ‘offer’ in summer months – westerners devouting many an hour to tans and beer bellies.

Tomorrow we head to Kerala for a taste of the south with tea plantations, canal cruises and wildlife sanctuaries awaiting (not to mention some more trains).

Not bad for a last minute decision to head south on a whim and a couple of unreserved tickets…

Hope you are all well…

James and Storm.