Pure tranquility. Magical...............I spent my last afternoon on the island looking at this beautiful view, preparing myself for the next 24 hours in the city of Chennai.
Jay's visa ran out on the 30th June which is when she had to leave the island so we packed as much as possible into the remaining few days - we saw the elephants again at first light being turned back out into the jungle, pic-nicked and swam on deserted beaches, Jay had her first scuba dive and we saw the amazing coral and stunning fish life on the South Western coast of the island. We ate with the locals in what can only be described as 'sheds' - Jay would walk into these dark huts full of men, with me following meekly behind, point to a dish that someone else was eating and say "two of those please" - although they only spoke Hindi she managed to make herself understood and the food was surprisingly good. I was really surprised at how well she coped on her own in a such a 'different' environment. Not only is she female but she is white, and the Indian men just couldn't understand how she was 'allowed' to travel on her own. Their curiosity was almost rude and I found it quite uncomfortable the way they stared.
Jay has been travelling since November and she has really grown up. The experience has taught her, amongst other things, the value of money, Independence, tolerance, a social conscience and an appreciation of what she has and where she comes from.
When Jay left to continue her travels up North I had two days on my own on the island before flying back to the UK. It was so lovely having the deserted beach to get away from the stares. I still did a lot of exploring on my bike and got caught in a really heavy monsoon downpour which was rather exciting. I also had time to read books which is something I just don't do enough of at home. I read a book called 'The Return' which was fictional but based on the Spanish Civil war - I had no idea how many people were killed and displaced during this time. A really brutal war and the worst being that it was the Spanish people fighting each other - splitting family loyalties, with the Italians and French joining in against the Republics and on the side of Franco. It makes you wonder if a country can ever truly get over such treachery. I also read Andy McNab's latest book - 'Seven Troop' - his true memoirs about his time with the SAS and his experiences in Northern Ireland, Oman and Afganistan and how these experiences have affected him and the rest of the troop - the majority of which have since either committed suicide or have suffered terribly with Post traumatic stress disorder. Did you know that during the Russian invasion of Afganistan the SAS actually trained a young Osama Bin Laden and other like minded youngsters how to fire stinger missiles and taught them war strategies and techniques? An ironic thought on the 4th anniversary of the Taliban bombings in London...
I'm now in the middle of a book about Mohatma Ghandi - Hopefully I will find time to finish it as I would like more of an insight into the Indian people and the Hindu religion. From what I have read so far, Ghandi was the religion and actually changed the Giti (their 'bible') when he was translating it into how he thought the Hindu religion should be conducted.
