Up early again, and we've got a hard core day ahead, not sure where it'll end or where we're going to stay tonight, we'll have to wait and see!!!!

First off we're on the ferry to Kottayam at 7:30 this morning for a two hourer , at the time we  weren't sure of the next move, either a house boat fore 24 hours or a train further on. Straight into a couple of agents at Kottayam to find out about prices for a boat and not to put too fine a point on it , they're all wankers!!! Just wanting our money and not interested in answering our questions, not even bothering to in some cases, maybe 6000 rupees isn't much to them  but it is to us and we want some info!!!! In the end we decide against it get in a tuk tuk to the train station, train to Ernakulam, tuk tuk to the ferry jetty , and a ferry to Vipeen island, to get a tuk tuk to Charai beach ( breath). Maybe we'll stay here.... up and down the road looking at places to stay but the whole place is full or charging what we now know is a ridiculous amout of money for holes!! Ria was even shown a room in the staff quarters with a mud floor, filth everywhere and they wanted 500 rupes, ridiculous!!! Anyway no time to get down hartened it's still only 3 so back on a bus to Ernaculam where we meet a really nice Keralan guy who tells us all about India, really interesting.

Right off at Eraculam and the plan now is to get to Thrissur, only a couple of hours on the train, are we explorers or what!!!! I hear they have phants there!!!!!!!!!!!!

Nice old folks run the place, and it's a good location, but you'd better sleep on top of the blankets. Some creepy-crawlies will keep you company.

All around great value. You are treated like one of the family here, and breakfast is served on the roof. A great neighborhood about 1.5 km away from the main touristy section of Fort Kochi and a perfect base to explore the surrounding islands. Chai is almost always available, there is a little fridge in a common area, and they will book backwater tours or Ayurvedic massages for you without ripping you off. A good place to meet travellers from all over the world as well as to dive in to local Keralan life.

Kathakali is a traditional dance originating in the state of Kerala known for its dramtic make-up and costumes. The dance tells a story by the numerous moves, or mudras, that the dancers perform. There is a small live band with one singer, but the dancers do not speak. Kathakali is performed during festivals and other special occasions beginning in the evening and continuing until dawn.

Thankfully, there are many shortened versions for tourists.

The one I saw in Fort Cochin was a one and a half hour show……which was a bit too long for my taste. It was interesting to watch the big facial gestures during the demonstration part of the show. At the beginning, an announcer and one performer showed us some examples of the beautiful movements in kathakali dance and explained what those moves meant.

It was a great idea because most of the dance seems to be conversations held in a kathakali sign language. The dance was less dance-like than I thought it would be.

Unfortunately, you learn so many gestures during the demonstration that my friends and I forgot most of them during the show. Plus, the huge costumes and colourful make-up actually made the gestures smaller and harder to read.

Basically, I found the show interesting and entertaining at the beginning, but in my eyes, the dance became this show of bumbling performers in giant poofy dresses wandering around stage talking to each other using a sign language I couldn’t understand of even see very well. The fact that the performer playing Lord Shiva kept bellowing "wooh wooh wooh!", (much like a monkey) just made the whole thing seem cartoonish.

Well, I did something cultural I guess.

Here’s a funny note: Sometimes, when you order a beer at a restaurant in Kerala, the beer is actually being served illegally due to licensing or city regulations. So after the show, when a beer was ordered at our street-side table, it came in a GIANT TEAPOT with a mug. Maybe this is the true reasons Indians love their tea……!