Hmmm, lunch was McDonalds... (not the best when you both have the shits)

Took the train down to Fort Cochin in Kerala. It's a former colonial outpost which most western powers had a go at at some time. This actually makes it a rather interesting place. That is if you find walking around aspirational London suburbs interesting, but it is when you're in India. The weather down here is sooper hot, and the humidity is coming up as well. Apparently in less that a month it'll be unbearable down here so our impending escape to Nepal will probably be in the nick of time.

While in Cochin we decided to see a Kathakali performance. It's a local traditional dance that usually takes place overnight. We got the 2 hour tourist taster but as with the camel ride, what seems like being short changed actually turns out to be quite enough thankyou! The costumes are spectacular, and the fervour that the performers whip themselves up into is frightening but there's almost no dialogue other than sign language and facial expression. When you don't understand what's going on it starts to get a little (shall we say) tiresome. However, it's still a worthwhile cultural experience. For those that want to know, here's the plot summary (as told over 2 hours):

Archer bloke is very proud of his skills
God disguises himself and beats him in a duel.
Archer bloke repents his egotism.
The. End.

We've now moved down to Aleppy, where we have scored our lowest price accommodation yet, at around 2.50GBP. It's a lovely clean room with ensuite, close to the centre and even the owner seems quite nice (we beat him down from 2.75GBP! ;-). This beats our previous record set in Cochin of 3 pounds! Another thing we like about Kerala is that the rickshaw drivers are more reasonable, and on some occasions have even started out on the right price!!! Maybe the heat is too much for arguing.

We're off to the beach now, with the Lying Planet's ominous comment that going into the water is "dangerous"... We'll let you know. Presumably that's not "dangerous" in the same sense as going into a wave pool with a couple of hundred hormonal indian teenagers. Ah the scars will take a while to heal...