being here one night it is gonna be a three night stay in a city the LP suggests is only a gateway for most tourists to enter he rest of the state and that if you do stay you should be able to find enough sights to entertain you for a day. We originally came here with the goal of doing a bit of shopping, as it is the capital of Kerala with a population of about 1million people. Our first mistake was arriving on a Sunday and, although the city was still a buzz of activity, a number of the shops were closed. No problems we thought, one extra day won’t hurt, we aren’t staying in the worst hotel. So yesterday (Monday) we headed to the Big Bazaar shopping centre and managed to get the majority of clothes and toiletry options we were after (although it was a struggle to find a shirt to fit over my comparatively large frame, with the biggest XXL size only just doing the trick). Mission successful though and after a good night sleep we were all ready to head off this morning to a bit more tropical R&R at the resort town of Varkala. I headed off to go buy a couple more things we had thought of and walked down onto the road to discover that everything was closed. After asking the security guard at the hotel I managed to ascertain there was some sort of strike on. So I headed back to tell Tess and after perusing the news channels we worked out there was a national Bandh in place. This is a call from the opposition political party for everyone to go on strike, on this occasion in protest of rapidly increasing costs. Numerous planes, trains and other forms of transport 
have been cancelled nationwide and in some states where they have been running protesters have blocked them or beaten people using the services. We quickly decided we will not be leaving today and after talking to the hotel staff we have been told it should all be back to normal tomorrow. I have been for a quick walk around and it is a little eerie, as there are a few people about, but compared to the madness that we have seen the previous two days here you could almost call it a ghost town.As a city Trivandrum is a mix of new and old. When you walk the streets in the space of a hundred metres you can go from stately government buildings, to dilapidated markets selling everything from raw meat to fine silk, and then a shopping centre like the bazaar where you would find most things common to a western department store. As an introduction to an Indian city I think it is a good one, although on a lot smaller scale to what we are likely to encounter in the likes of Mumbai. There is the odd westerner around, although they are few and far between, and English is not the common communication tool it was in Kovalam, although we have managed to get our point across on most occasions. Hopefully tomorrow we will be out of the city and back to the beach, where the only things we will need to communicate is Dosa Masala (for breakfast of course) or “another beer please”.
Tessa Says: We left the sanctuary of Kovallam in a different sort of style than we arrived – the local bus. At only 9 rupee each (about 30 nz cents) it was a steal, especially when the alternative was dangerously fast driving taxi at 450 rupee.
Once we arrived we wandered the streets to find a hotel and managed to settle on a “semi-deluxe” (ordinary) double room, which is about the size of an average London unit minus the kitchen. Taking to the streets in search of some bargains we were surprised to find most of the shops closed, it seems Trivandrumiams observe Sunday
as a holy day. So we strolled up to the zoological gardens, even in the 30 + degree heat people were out for their evening jog. Some children would stare wide-eyed in awe of what I can only guess as mine and Jareds bizarre western appearance.The following day we went shopping and I bought myself a Salwar Kameez which is a Indian style tunic top that is worn over pants, feeling happy with my purchases and that I would now stick out less we strolled out of the Big Bazaar only for me to be groped on the boob by a sleazy Indian man. I was fore-warned that this may happen though it did come as a shock, especially seeing I was wearing a baggy old t-shirt!
Waking up this morning we were all set to leave this hot little town and move back to the coast, but alas the lack of transport because of the nation-wide strike has slowed down our travel plans. We have spent the day ordering room-service and watching HBO and StarMovies.
Accomo: Highland Hotel, 1250 Rp double room. ***
Eats: City Queen Pure Vegetarian Restaurant (Thali, Dosa Masala) ***1/2
Highland Hotel Room Service (Dosa Masala, Fish Thali, Pakora) ***
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