Thursday 22nd November:

Thursday 22nd November:

Start:           22,707

Finish:        22,707

Distance:     (0)

Average:     

Route:         Several walks + 3 x tuc-tuc rides (luxury !)

Today:

An early start for one of us, whilst the other farted & snorted his way through to breakfast, organized for 09.00. In the meantime, it was a good opportunity to clear some ‘stuff’ from the motherland and edit more Log notes ‘suitable’ for publication… cos this will be considered an ‘educational’ account of our exploits, for generations to come !!

The room with (thank the lord, cos we are in the Jewish quarter) has twin beds, although you can only get a 25mm feeler gauge in between them…..but it’s enough ! In fact, it is a very well presented small hotel, within an alcohol free zone, because of the waning religious influence and the tenure of the properties still with religious ownership. A small price to pay for such a vibrant location.

At 09.00 on the button, we received a call to say breakfast was ready and what a pleasant surprise to find a beautifully presented table of various fresh fruits, fresh juice, toast and jams, fresh boiled eggs with a delightful fresh cooked plate of Indian breads, spiced potatoes and curry sauce. A very appealing start to the day + real fresh ground coffee….a treat in itself.

Next stop, another recce of the laneways and shops. ‘Aaaah, you have come back’….so something must have gelled the previous day ? This included another strategic coffee in a local hostelry and the decision to take a tuc-tuc to the Chinese Fisherman’s Nets, on the north west side of the island.

There were several surprises when we arrived. The speed of the tide which would have been several knots, the blanket of dislodged water lilys being swept down stream and seeing dolphins feeding….surely a very positive sign for the quality of the water.

All this touristy stuff was very exacting, so time for lunch (and a beer) in The Killains, obviously a bygone colonial haunt and onto the Indian Maritime Museum, which had been heavily influenced by Russian connections over the previous decades….a relationship that had not been apparent until now. There was also much made of the Indian Navy’s involvement in bringing the 1970’s conflict with Pakistan to a speedy end. In all, an informative view of another side to Indian history and multi-cultural influences from the Chinese, Portuguese and of course the Brits.

Back to the hotel and another opportunity to explore the large market streets and have lots of engagement with various shop owners promoting their wares.

One of these conversations provided a recommendation to a local restaurant, which we found, enjoyed some local traditional fare and back for an early night for another early start.