The Sun'll come out tomorrow.

It's here! I can't believe it, the sun still exists and we're going on a trek.

I was so excited about the prospect of being out in the sun I made John put on some suntan lotion. As it turns out we hadn't factored in the small detail that we were that much closer to the sun in the mountains nor had we taken into consideration Johns' new grade 1 haircut = 3rd degree burns!

The trek was brilliant. The guide had promised us changing landscape every half hour starting in the Glens of Scotland (I wasn't convinced as it was too sunny and he did confess he'd never been to Scotland), then we would pass through a eucalyptus forest (& he showed us the trenches which were dug out to collect the oil for my new favourite cough mixture).

Carrie in the Scottish Highlands

Then onto tea plantations before passing through a village on our way up to climb the mountain. One of my best days yet, possibly helped by the fact we ended up in another seedy drinking hole!

Post-Trek drinks in an illicit drinking den with our two new posh friends

Snooty Ooty

It's cold 2000 metres above sea-level and maybe I wasn't wearing enough clothing yesterday (I forgot my duffel coat), but I seem to have acquired a chest infection. There is however an upside to this - I sound like Mariella Frostrup, which conveniently John seems to like. The locals tell me eucalyptus oil rubbed on my chest will work. In the absence of any benylin I give it a go - they're right it works but our budget accommmodation now stinks of the stuff. I just wish the sun would shine!

"In search of sunshine"

"Like the kids, I have no idea what John is doing"

Nilgiri Rack Railway

Udhagamandalam or "Snooty Ooty" is a hill station built by the British to escape the heat. It is 2,216m above sea-level and we were taking the toy train up the 28miles of track to the top. It was built in 1899 and the train, a real life Thomas the Tank engine, is over 100 years old. It is also the only railway in India to use a rack-and-pinion fail safe system. This means that the journey is steep! Oh and also it was the only sign of any health & safety aspect for the whole journey.

By some luck of fortune we had the best seats in the house, at the front of the train, behind the signalmen (the loco pushes the carriages up). Signalmen entailed two men sitting under an umbrella randomly waving either a red or a green flag.

"Would you want to go over this?"

Unfortunately, karma had her revenge for the seats by providing dreadful weather conditions (cloud & rain all the way - so no spectacular views then) and the most ignorant American woman I have had the misfortune to meet sharing our carriage (she didn't even have the courtesy to understand my sarcasm when I said I enjoyed her wet umbrella soaking my trouser leg!).

"All Aboard the Cazza Express! (Except the rude American woman who wouldn't even wait for us to take the photo!)"

That said I really enjoyed the 5 hour train journey - anything goes in India especially health & safety rules and regulations, which meant we could wander along the tracks whenever there was a waterstop and look at flooding gorges 50metres below the rails. We might not have had the fantastic views promised but it could have been worse - they shut the line down the next day due to flooding....maybe there is a health & safety policy after all!

"Thomas the tank engine & friends (John & Carrie)"

"We regret to inform you that the 8:45 train to London Bridge has been delayed due to a hunk on the tracks (John for those of you requiring clarification)"

Coimbatore

This is purely a transit town and only deserves mentioning on two points:

• The hideous accommodation - fortunately we were only staying for 8 hours for an early morning train connection and needed somewhere safe overnight, well it had a lock on the door. The sheets were foul so we made ourselves a den using our own duvet covers and mosquitoe net, and the bathroom - well see for your self.
  
  

"The bucket is the excuse for a shower"

• The seedy drinking den - utilised in an attempt to forget about above accommodation!
  

"Dimly Lit Bar Hollywood & the lowest chair in the world to hide ladies"

Kochin - I lost the bet

I am the first to go down with the lurgy, and whilst knowing it could be worse, I can still control my sphincter muscle and we could be on a train, it still isn't nice especially being away from home. That said being the martyr that I am we still managed a day trip to Kochin, where it rained - again (I thought India was meant to be dry and hot outside the Monsoon season). My favourite bit was helping the fishermen with their Chinese fishing nets. I say help I'm sure I was more of a hindrance, but they were more interested in the money I would bung 'em for the privilege of doing their work!

"Chinese Fishing Net""Carrie with The Old Man of the sea working the ropes"
"Who needs the gym?"
"Assessing the catch of the day - 7 plastic bottles and a flip-flop"
"John's first trip to an Indian barbers - Carrie's first time in a barbers!"

"Sweeney Todd in action"

Kumily, Climb Ev'ry Mountain

Fresh from the excitement of our tiger spotting experience we decided we wanted to see more of the area, so having sought advice from the local tourist information office we embarked on a 12km walk up the highest hill in the area. It was going to be arduous, pretty much 6km straight uphill following a track. But we were promised the result was going to be worthwhile: enviable 360 degree panoramic views of the Western Ghat mountain range including tea and cardamom plantations from the highest point across the National Park.

What we got? Some new friends from the local village and to see a rose garden (yes rose garden) at the top!




"Carrie practising her Lady Di pose ready for the Taj Mahal shot"


























"Meet the family"

Periyar National Park

This is a 780 sq km sanctuary created in 1934 and is centred around a man-made lake that is more than 3000m above sea-level, which means refreshingly it is not as hot or as dry as we had been used to. We had come to spot tigers!

To get into the spirit of things we decided our luxury honeymoon accommodation should be a fantastic tree house, located right in the jungle.

After 5 minutes inside listening to the rain, we saw our des-res for what it was: a damp hut with no central heating, no hot water and no direct sunlight 3km above sea-level and it was raining. If you still can't picture it, think of a wet weekend in a leaky tent in the Lake District. The result? We were constantly wet for 4 days, this trekking better be good!

"Our Intrepid Explorers"

Another 6am roll call so we could get to the park gates, grab the best trekker and be the first people out into the park thereby improving our chances of spotting wildlife. What we hadn't counted on were the Indian touts who forced themselves to the front of the queue bagging premium trekkers for their clients (there are times when the English reserve is a real pain in the arse!).

So we were last to leave after all our careful planning and we were sharing our guide with 2 German girls. I was positive about our group, John however didn't share my enthusiasm and like most things he was proved right. After only ten minutes one of them began to whinge about the speed of our pace (brisk walk on the flat). It was going to be a long trek and the chances of seeing anything diminished as the animals moved deep into the forest the later it got. On top of this for some reason the German girls talked incessantly (no doubt about shopping and lipstick) which would further scare off animals.

However, by some form of luck or freak of nature we managed to spot a tiger half an hour later - I still can't believe it now. We were well prepared for the event (John had the camera zipped safely inside his coat pocket) but this allowed me to watch the tiger jump out of a pond 50 metres away from us and run into the woods. It's hard to describe (and even harder to show with our pathetic photograph) such a majestic animal, but I can clearly remember the fur on it's shoulders as it ran away and it was far bigger than I imagined too. The whole event lasted maybe 30 seconds but the adrenaline rush meant everyone was high fiveing each other like crazed Americans for the next 5 minutes!

"Spot the Tiger"

Probably the most amazing part of the whole trek, however, was when the German girl who had slowed our party down in the first place claimed that it was down to her that we saw the tiger!

The rest of the trek was OK, I suppose, we saw some wild boar, porcupine needles, bison and some monkeys but nothing was going to match our tiger. Against all odds we had been lucky enough to see what we had come to see.

"German Girls & Guide on a sinking Bamboo Raft - if only"