Kerala!

So this weekend we took our very first all-out R&R vacation to the beach! We headed out first thing after work on Friday afternoon to Bangalore and stayed at my friend's uncle's Bangalore guesthouses again. As to be expected, food was delicious and the room was eggcellent. Except we had to wake up at 3:30am the next morning to catch our flight to Trivandrum (also known as Thiruvananthapuram). Our resort had taxis waiting for us at the airport to pick us up before it was even 9am we were out on the beach!

We stayed at a charming little place called Coconut Bay Resort - "private" beach, hammocks, a pool, and a restaurant that had the best food ever. Once we arrived, we immediately started beaching it, playing in the sand, swimming in the ocean...it was great (although I couldn't help but think the entire time how much I wish I was in San Diego, surfing it up at Seascape...SIIIIIGGGHHH). Later on, some of us went to Kovalam beach and explored the touristy area. Honestly, it wasn't as good as our "private beach" because it was crowded and dirtier looking. Our beach was pretty cool because a bunch of fisherman landed their boats there every morning, unloading their catches...tons and tons of muscles! It was pretty cool cuz the fisherman boats were basically just made of three big logs.

Later on we made our way to the Leela Resort which is the big, fancy resort in town. It is SUPER nice there. They have a sweet infinity pool, an amazing view, and I'm pretty sure they have a private beach of their own as well. It's also huge. I might have to try it out someday when I'm rich =P. We rested and had some refreshments and then headed back to Coconut Bay for dinner. The restaurant at our resort was SO GOOD. I stuffed myself all three times I ate there...mmmm Chicken Tikka Makhani... Agh, it's making me hungry just thinking about it.

The next day consisted of even more R&R. After a slow morning we tossed a frisbee along the beach (YAY, ultimate...I'd been so deprived!!!) Had another delicious meal and then headed out to a backwater boat tour. We rode this old-school boat down a lazy river until it reached the ocean and then he brought us back up. Our boat driver was so funny and precious - he kept pointing out things of interest like all the eagles flying overhead or the poisonous mangrove trees. He was pretty awesome.

Yep, it was a pretty easy, relaxing weekend. The beach was great. The only thing I realized that I really dislike about India in general is all the burning trash. Awful smoke clouds of pollution clogging up my lungs can really ruin a moment. And they're EVERYWHERE. It really suck and doesn't make any sense to me...isn't that incredibly unhealthy and absolutely disastrous for the environment????

Monday was pretty hectic and full of travel...we didn't get back to Mysore until 3:30pm! Luckily, class is pretty useless, as evidenced by the fact that I got a 95% on my test this morning even though I didn't go to half of the module. Haha...oh man.

Anyway, it's crazy to think that I have exactly a week left in Mysore...and then it's off to Hyderabad! I don't know if I'm quite ready to leave...but maybe I am. I feel like I have so much more left to do!