It was now due time to leave Kumily and we would head first to Kottayam and from there either get on a train or possibly boat further down. After a lazy start we checked out, headed towards the bus station and immediately found a bus going our way.

We arrived in Kottayam, and got a Riksha to the ferry with some 20 minutes to go before the last boat to Alleppey. The driver however suggested we stay in Kottayam for the day – check out some Shiva festival and he, of course, knew a good home-stay. Well, what the heck? Besides he did have a point that going down the river would be very nice early early next morning whereas now it would be pitch dark in an hour or so.

The home-stay was very nice and clean, and for 800 Rs it seemed cheap as well, specially considering that the driver probably got at least 200 Rs out of those. The driver had explained that the food was included in the price but this turned out not to be the case – well well. We took a walk, crossed a river with a tiny canoe and ended up at the Shiva festival as the only foreigners there. After watching some processions with dancers and elephants we got a Riksha back home to enjoy a fab meal including two beers.

Wakening and feeling well but hungry we had a quick breakfast before getting an Auto-Riksha to Abraham’s Spice Garden. Well there we decided to wait for mr Abraham himself to finish a tour rather than taking the tour with an assistant, it turned out to be well worth the time. He was very knowledgeable and the one our or so tour was very enlightening.

We had dinner at Chrissies, and decided to try their home-made pasta (how very Indian). It was OK but nothing more, and since it costed about twice as much as an Indian dinner it was probably the last european food we ate during the trip. The iPad have somehow given up rebooting and was thus able to get recharged, yay! I’ve made a note to never use it below 10% without proper charger at hand to avoid the risk of loosing all books (including Lonely Planet) etc that we’ve stored on the iPad.

At around 04 I woke from some bizarre dream and felt a bit uneasy. Apparently the noodles I got last night were my bane and within 30 minutes I was spending my time in the bathroom loosing water in every possible way. At 07 I took some Dimor and while not feeling well at least Mona hadn’t thrown up.

The day was spent more or less in bed, and not in that romantic/cozy way. Eventually also Mona got ill but it seemed that we would get better towards the evening. I also lost access to the iPad by draining it totally and with the only charger I brought with me (0,5A, not the 2A it requires) it seems to get stuck in a boot-up loop. Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day…