The next stop about 5 hours south, was Vailankanni, a very spiritual place where the Shrine Basicillica, Our Lady of Vailankanni Catholic Church, where Mikey's Mum & Dad were married. It is like the Vatican in India. We attended Mass, lit candles, gave offerings, visited the priest and he blessed us. Cousin Johnny joined us again to guide us through our procession. It was hot and absolutely packed full with pilgrims and visitors, again I did not see another foreigner. There were markets leading down to the beach, where you could buy a fresh seafood lunch or dinner. The beach was like Currumbin Estuary, silty. Our hotel was quite good and cheap and the hotel restaurant was fantastic, delicious food and great service.
We left Vailankanni after dinner on the 2nd night to travel through to Kovalam, a beach resort on the south west coast, Kerala. It was a rough night drive but we had to make up time as we did not realise that 240 klms would take 5-6 hours in India, the traffic and roads are ridiculous! And did I mention our driver "Muthu" of Chella tours, he must be the best driver in the world! Yes we are now in lovely Kovalm, it is a little cooler as there has been a bit of rain. The beaches hear in Kovalam are lovely little tropical coves with lots of coconut palms. The sand is course and the sea is salty and there is a bit of sea lice. The surf is good and Mikey is taking advantage of that. There are a handful of foreigners and the shopping is like in Mahabliparum, alot of the shops are owned by the Kashmirians, from the north of India, lovely stuff like in "Tree of Life" but kinda expensive for India. It is very hard to bargain them down in the heat, just can't be bothered. Mikey wants to buy me something for my birthday though so maybe today I will find something. I might just get myself a massage for my birthday too!
Tomorrow we leave for Kochin to visit an Uncle and maybe spend a night on a houseboat, until the next internet wifi.....
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