I left Laos and Saelao on the 17th of December to head onto India! Before going, I was a bit apprehensive about solo travelling in India as a woman but my fears were totally unjustified. This country has offered me nothing but great encounters and a unique form of beauty. This is what I first noticed on Delhi airport where my connection was, I was finally at the epicentre of the whirlwind called yoga. Surya Namaskara!
Initially I went to Mamallampuram (2 hours south of Chennai) where I met Orla for two days. She spoilt me rotten at the Radisson Blu hotel which had brilliant food and a very nice infinity pool! Christmas came early this year! 
Mamallampuram is a sleepy town by the coast with some famous temples so there’s a fair bit of tourism, but yet very relaxed and easy to like. We spent a day going to the sights. For example the five Rathas and the Butter Ball.
The temples were pleasant and walking between them gives you a good sense of the place. What I enjoyed most though was the people watching, strolling along the beach and go to Yoga. A lot of the social life took place along the beach where the fishing boats were laid up and the cows were sunbathing in the afternoons! 
Along some streets you can see quite elaborate flower style decorations which have some form of religious ties and seem to be made fresh on a daily basis. They are made with powder in various colours and really brighten up the streets. 
One of the many stray dogs had taken a nap on one of these street decorations!
Then there was also a fair few goats around! 
Leaving Mamallampuram I went to the Andaman Islands! My intention was to travel around these islands for a bit starting in Port Blair where I spent three nights. Port Blair is pretty busy so the feeling of being on an exotic island is not quite there…
However, there’s a few tourist attractions to check out and a nice park by the waterfront where you can watch the sea and the world go by. The guest house I stayed in, Lalaji, really made you feel welcome so I’m glad I stayed for Christmas and didn’t just hurry onto the next port of call. The cellular jail provides some insight into the Indian struggle for independence and was worth a visit.
On Christmas Eve we decorated a little Christmas tree that Lalaji got to make us guests feel at home. For Christmas Day, Napoleon Sebastian got a bottle of wine as well and we spent the evening eating momos and sipping our wine. A Christmas to be remembered!
Moving on from Port Blair I headed to Havelock island where I was gonna stay 4/5 nights. Little did I know I would end up getting hooked and stay put there for the duration of my Andaman visit!
There’s a few internet cafes in Havelock but other than that you don’t have internet readily available. It was very liberating! Additionally I rarely brought my phone anywhere so I have very few pictures from this place… This was on the other hand a bit annoying in retrospec, but I have the pictures in my mind I suppose! As the people I met on the island agreed, it was a bit of a parallel world, not entirely linked to reality and so we called it the Andaman bubble (I also did some fun dives with a dive centre by the name Andaman Bubbles – I can recommend them if you are into diving and going to this part of the world).
So what can I say about these couple of weeks in paradise? I stayed in Coconut Grove which was run by charismatic and warmhearted Hari. It was thanks to Napoleon and Nirman from Lalaji that I got a hut there as I had failed to book anything and the time period I went is very busy so most places were full. I loved the coconut and especially my watchdog Barracuda who I connected with instantaneously! 
Activity wise I explored the island’s beaches
One day a few of us staying in coconut went on a snorkeling trip but I didn’t bring my camera.. I also went diving with Andaman Bubbles and saw a turtle up close and even got to swim with it for a couple of meters. An amazing dive experience I’ll never forget!
Then I spent a lot of time with the large portion Israeli tourists that come here. I was frequently lost in translation, but got myself a crash course in essential Hebrew and Israeli cuisine during my stay. Hummus and Shaksuka all the way! 
After the Andamans I headed to meet up with my parents in Kerala. We had about three weeks together during which we saw Kochi, Varkala, Kovalam and Wayanad. Starting off in Kochi we headed out to the Fort Kochi island to eat seafood and watch the giant Chinese fishing nets. 
It was a nice place to stroll around. 
Eager to head onto the backwaters we only stayed one night in Kochi city and then took a bus and a ferry onto Allepey. 
Allepey was great, we stayed in a place called Mayalam Lake Resorts Homestay. This family run place is beautifully located by the backwaters.
You’ll find recommendations for it both in the lonely planet book and on trip advisor and sometimes places loose their touch once they’ve been recommended… This place is still great! The family running it are so nice and their freshly squeezed pineapple juice we were served at arrival and also each morning was to die for. Just ripe pineapples and nothing else.
In Allepey we also met with Lakshmi, a local travel agent who helped us arrange our Kerala trip. As we had limited time before mom and dad were going home, we wanted to make sure we would get a chance to see as much as possible and not spend time trying to figure out travel means and walking around looking for accommodation. This turned out to be a very good decision!
For anyone heading to Kerala and want to do a package trip rather than independent travel, I would recommend getting in touch with Lakshmi. Although the company ( Southerngreen Holidays) offers set packages on their website, they are also able to help with an individually tailored trip, which is what we did. Anyhow, after having met with Lakshmi we headed onto Varkala. I hardly took any pictures here either, but I will mention a few things. The place we stayed at had twice daily Hatha yoga classes so I got stuck in with them straight away. The teacher was a gentle and experienced yogi who was adjusting each class to suit everyone attending from beginners to advanced students. Within a few days training with him I had made significant progress in both headstand and crow pose.
One down side of Varkala is that the waterfront is jammed packed with shops and thus also shopkeepers eager to sell you something… After a few days, this gets really frustrating! However the further towards the south cliff you go (past a big parking area/helicopter pad) the quieter it gets.
Funnily enough I came across another Lakshmi in Varkala. This time it was a beauty parlour recommended by the lonely planet. It was a one woman business and she only takes female clients. To get there you have to walk through a restaurant, out the back and around a corner and you’ll find her little hut. I dropped in to get my legs waxed. I had such a good time and she did an excellent job, so I went back two days in a row for other treatments. If you go, trying the one hour full body massage is a must. It was the best massage I’ve had in India and possibly the best full body massage I have ever had! 
I have in retrospect found out that Lakshmi means ‘true wealth’.
Leaving Varkala we headed south to Kovalam, another sea and beach area. It was a nice spot but prepare for tourists and what goes with that! It was interesting to just stroll around the town and area and watch the local mosques, fishing boats and people! 
From Kovalam we travelled back to Allepey to check out the famous house boats. We went for a one day/one night trip. I think the best thing about them is that you get to see some of the more tucked away areas of the backwaters. The boat we were on was pretty small in comparison to some of the house boats you’ll see and this was an advantage as you can go routes that the big ones can’t access. Some pictures from this experience.
We also visited a backwater fishmonger where we bought some catch of the day. 
I can’t remember if they called them freshwater tiger prawns or freshwater crayfish, but these were later cooked on the boat by the chef and were absolutely stunning!
It seems luxury boat life is nice, we were well looked after the whole time.
We finished the day with a nice sunset by the village where the chef was from.
For me one night was just enough and it gave me an idea about what the backwaters and life around there looks like.
Ending our Kerala trip in style we headed north east to Wayanad. This was my favourite area of Kerala out of the ones I’ve seen. Very quiet and beautiful. As we also celebrated my mother’s birthday here, we splashed out and booked into Wayanad Silverwoods Resort, which had stunning views over the dam and mountains.
From here we did day trips. One was out to the tea plantations where we did a smaller trek.
On another day trip we went to a nature reserve area which was full of school children on an outing. We had good fun trying to walk between the mini islands through the rapids and watching monkeys, butterflies and lots of white bamboo (Something I didn’t know existed before this!)
Along the way we also saw pepper plants and coffee bean shrubs
The hotel we stayed at was very nice so we spent one day just hanging out there. Going for massage, eating good food, drinking wine on the balcony and having a haircut session!
The Wayanad wildlife sanctuary is worth visiting but there’s no point going unless you are one of the first jeeps on the road. Therefore, make sure you either go just when they open in the morning, or when they start the afternoon session. We went in the morning and were the second jeep out that day. We saw plenty of monkeys, a few elephants, lots of different kinds of deer and ….a bison! I have never seen a bison before and found it an impressive animal. My pictures of the animals were all a bit blurry unfortunately…but I took one which wasn’t blurry of mom, sitting in the sun after the jeep trip!
This completes the Kerala experience and after this I headed onto Rishikesh for my yoga training where I still am.
I will leave you with a picture of a the sun setting over the dam.
Om shanti shanti shanti
To the Core 