H: I read an article written by a lady who used to travel a lot before Covid. She wrote that before travelling the unknown was ‘infinitely, deliciously surprising’. But that now travelling just felt like a long list of all the things that could go wrong.

I felt exactly this as we set off a month ago, and some things did go wrong for us, but I am so glad that we did it.

We have seen some amazing sights these last 4 weeks. We have seen markets, forts, temples and rural villages. We have covered nearly 6,000km on boats, planes, trains, cars, jeeps, bikes, motorbikes, tuk tuks, and camels. We have seen firsthand how huge populations live and the impact that can have on the surrounding area. We have enjoyed meeting some lovely people with some big smiles.

It’s incredible to watch the children in a country like this. To see what they find exciting, or what they hardly notice as being different. It’s been super hot, the food has been quite hard at times and it’s crowded. They’ve stood for endless photographs, had their cheeks pinched and have told roughly half of India’s population their names and what country they are from. We’ve had them up early, and kept them up late. We’ve changed our plans, or had our plans changed for us with little notice. And they just seem to roll with it.

The kids weren’t ready to come home - they seemed set to carry on indefinitely. G and I are not ready to finish either, but we are ready to say goodbye to India. It’s an amazing country but we are ready to find some peace.

4 flights later and we’re back in our home. Minus all of our luggage - our Cochin-Colombo-Singapore-Melbourne-Christchurch route counted as ‘extravagant’ according to the baggage help lady at Christchurch airport so our bags could be anywhere. But we did manage to come home with two extra things - two more Covid infections, this time for Ben and Leo.

I am super grateful for getting to spend such a special month with G and the boys. However much we try, there are so many distractions and commitments at home. It has been lovely to come away from it all and we are looking forward to talking about what might be next!

H: Covid wasn’t all bad. It made us slow down for the first time in 4 weeks. I have a massive inbox to deal with when we get back but whilst we’ve been away I’ve been filing these away into a folder so am living in a pretty good state of ignorance. So when Jamie was sick at the same time as me I had all the time in the world to snuggle up with him. As much as I would love to say I would do this if this happened at home, I don’t think I would - instead I’d be wondering what else I could get done while he slept.

It also meant we had to delay our flights by a few days, so once we had both recovered we could enjoy the last couple of days. Having done a lot of walking the streets while we were sick, G and the boys were ready for something else. A quick google and we found a wee theme park - a perfect way to finish the trip and for the boys to let off a month’s worth of energy! I’d originally thought it wouldn’t be a very Indian way to finish the trip but I was wrong.

Firstly we got there by tuk tuk. Despite it being an hour’s journey, and despite us not really fitting in a tuk tuk anymore - actually because of that. I wanted to make sure we made the most of being able to squeeze into one while we still can. It won’t be long before the boys don’t fit on our knees any more which will be super sad!

The park was really busy with locals out having an awesome time together. A separation between men and women was more obvious than it has maybe been before - some rides were for men only, with women and families having separate ones.

The kids loved it - in fact I think it’s the first time (like, ever) that we’ve actually had to force them to stop for something to eat. It was a brilliant day, and a light-hearted end to a big 4 weeks!

Until we tried to get back to our hotel...

Having been completely vetoed for a tuk tuk home, we thought we could get an Uber. This was probably best for me too as it had been a big afternoon and an hour’s rest in an air conditioned car would have been good for all of us. However the mass of locals who made it out of the park before us must have taken whatever rides had been available. We couldn’t even find a tuk tuk. It was 8pm and we had only had a quick small lunch. It’s also dark. And raining.

Eventually a wee local bus pulls up and G manages to find out it’s sort of going in the direction we want to go. Feeling relieved we have some way of getting nearer home we jump on and settle down to a comfy journey.

Just kidding. Every seat was taken, and then some. People were already sharing. So we stood in the aisle, holding on tight, trying to find some space on the floor for our feet as the bus hurtled round corners. Ben got lucky first - someone squeezed up so he could perch on the edge of their seat. 30 minutes later and I was feeling pretty sicky - hot, tired and hungry and yep, that little bit of claustrophobia was back. Luckily for me two men in the row next to me maybe realised I was a bit wobbly and scooted up so now I too could get about 10% of my bum on a seat.

Poor Leo and Jamie were further back and I could hardly see them, let alone help them. Eventually a man stood up to comfort a very distressed baby and let Leo have his seat. A lady next to Jamie moved her baby across so that she could put Jamie on her other knee.

Obviously we hit traffic - obviously because we were tired and hungry and wanting to get back quickly. And also because have I told you there’s billions of people here and the streets and traffic are mental?

After sitting stationary for what felt like an hour we got dropped in a town somewhere, I’m not totally sure where. But I do know that we could now get an Uber for the last half hour home. Although we didn’t go straight home, we went straight to a restaurant we’d found that was still open and made the kids stay awake enough to have a few mouthfuls of rice and curry at 10pm. Before they crawled into bed for a few hours ready for our flight home the next day.

We most definitely finished our trip in the same way as we’ve lived the last 4 weeks... on the fly!

H: A few days of laying low for Jamie and I, my NZ ‘7 days of infection’ finished and a negative RAT test, and we were good to go again.

G and I don’t have the best of luck with beaches while travelling. We ended up on an awful beach in Cambodia and got ‘Swine-flu’d’ away from the beach in Mexico. We didn’t come here to find a beach but did read that Kerala had a lovely coastline. We also read that a lot of those beaches were either polluted or had dangerous currents.

We read about one that was clean and good for swimming, so keeping our expectations low we set off. A walk, a ferry, a local bus and a tuk tuk put us on a reasonably sloped beach with large dumpy waves just off the shore. Not great for swimming but plenty good enough for splashing and for the boys to burn some beans.

It was neat to catch the local bus - most of our journeys have been too long so we’ve used cars and trains instead. I absolutely love seeing the kids settle in to whatever seat they can find. They don’t care who it’s next to or how far away we are - they seem so at ease.

We also got to see men working at the Chinese fishing nets. They are huge nets that lever down into the sea and after a few minutes the fishermen haul on long ropes that lever the net back out. They then run up the platform to the net to try and retrieve any fish they’ve caught before the birds beat them to it. They are impressive contraptions!

H: Not surprisingly, I’ve caught Covid. Not surprisingly because it’s a virus that keeps on coming, and must be very prevalent in a country with a population this size. Also not surprising because it really wouldn’t be an H-and-G-On-Tour trip without at least one visit to a hospital. And further unsurprisingly, because arguably this is the worst time to catch it.

I’d felt a bit bunged up for a few days, but I’ve noticed since catching whatever awful thing I caught when I flew to the UK last year that I often feel funny in the back of my nose and throat, and so I put it out of my mind. However a few days later I had a slightly sore throat and so tested. If I’m honest with 3 days left before our flight home, I did consider not testing. If the strange feelings a few days ago were the start of Covid, then by the time we were meant to fly I’d be done with my 7 days infectious period based on NZ rules, which have been towards the strictest of any country’s rules. I knew testing would open a can of worms, but it was the right thing to do.

So yesterday was filled with a day on Google, ringing the insurance company and airlines, and a trip to the hospital to get an official test. We told the lady at the hotel we’re staying in (blessedly the cleanest nicest one of the whole trip - meant to be an end-of-trip treat) expecting quarantine signs to go up on the door. She simply shrugged, told us that was just normal life, and pointed us to the pharmacy in case we needed any meds.

It looks like I can’t get on a flight until I am testing negative (which in theory can take weeks to do), or until I can get a doctors certificate explaining that I am symptom free. Which I pretty much am now so I will try in a couple of days, but they may make me wait for a week after my test to do that. I should have tested myself the minute I felt anything funny and we’d have been a few days further ahead.

Unfortunately I have spent the last 3 weeks snuggled up to the kids - in cars, trains, jeeps and at night. The ship has probably sailed in terms of isolation but we took a deep breath and splashed out for a second room in the hotel last night so I could avoid G, Ben, and Leo a bit.

Jamie, however, has a fever and has been vomiting. We have tested him and he’s clear, but he’s in with me for now, leaving G, Ben and Leo to go make the most of our time here. Unfortunately there is not a whole heap for them to do here, and the sea is too dangerous to swim in again. From what they’re telling me, they are out eating ice cream or fried bananas - I guess G is enjoying G, Ben and Leo time too!

After a fleeting bout of grumpiness and frustration I’ve come to realise it’s really not all bad. In theory the insurance will cover our hotel and some food expenses for our extra time here. In theory I am near the end of a very mild bout and apart from taking it easy to help reduce the risk of any long term complications, I can be free to enjoy some time too. In theory Jamie should perk up soon, and then we can all enjoy these extra few days.

The only downside is the lost income from extra time off work but we are here all together. Having been given some special extra family-only time, I am not going to grumble!

H: Since landing in Kerala all the Hindi we learnt in Rajasthan has been useless. I had managed to learn the two words ‘thanda paanee’ (cold water) and G outdid himself and learnt how to count to 10. However here they speak Malayalam instead - and fortunately some very good English! 

The streets in Kerala are very different, far more cars and far fewer motorbikes, and the shops and buildings are more modern. There are even supermarkets! But no cows and monkeys roaming the streets which is a shame.

In Rajasthan it was rare to see a lady not wearing a sari. Here it’s much less common, particularly for younger women. The men down here wear lungis or dohtis (they were called longyis in Myanmar) which are long pieces of cloth that are wrapped and folded to make essentially a long skirt. Many of the men in Kerala fold them up and tie them again so they are like shorts - chilled style! 

The vast majority (nearly 90% based on a 10-year-old census) of the population in Rajasthan are Hindu, with Muslims accounting for most of the remaining 10%. However in Kerala only half are Hindu, a quarter Muslim and nearly 20% Christian. In the area of Kerala that we’re in, the percentage of Christians is much higher. There are churches everywhere, big grand churches but also small Christian shrines which I’ve not seen before. I’ve never been to any other Asian country where Christianity is common.

One similarity between the north and south has been that everyone is convinced that Ben and Leo are twins! To Ben’s dismay when we explain that they are not, we’re often then asked who is older. Occasionally we’ve been asked if they’re triplets. 

Joking aside though, the main similarity is that country wide we’ve found the people to be lovely. We got impressively scammed as we landed, and we get the odd tuk tuk driver finding us off a train and asking for a ridiculous amount to be taken it to town, or following us along just to be super sure we definitely could manage the short walk we turned their services down for. 

But those few people aside we have been met with smiles, waves, requests for ‘selfies’, and help when we needed it. The continual hassle that we were bracing ourselves for has just not been here.

H: 3 hours into yet another hot 5 hour car ride, I wondered if we had made the right decision in trying to get up into the hills. We most definitely did!

It’s beautiful up here - huge views and we’ve left the heavy heat behind.

We spent the day with our guide, Sinesh, exploring the hills around Munnar. The land is covered with tea plantations and Sinesh explained that he was the first generation in his family not to be a tea picker, and that that was quite common for this generation because it’s beginning to become automated.

He took us to his village which is owned by a huge Indian corporation called Tata. They own the plantations in this area and the tea pickers can live in the village, with electricity, schools and medical care paid for for free, but with a low daily salary of R300 (about $6/£3).

His wife was lovely, super smiley and very welcoming to the five of us. She made sweet tea that the kids all but downed, and rice crackers (also sweet) that are made for the tea pickers to snack on when they are out picking. They explained that the women pick the leaves and the men do the packing and transportation of the leaves.

I love that the children can see and hear how other people live. They used a fire for cooking, with a gas stove that they used only if they had to because the fuel is expensive. He explained that they picked tea 6 days a week, and on Sundays would walk the 5 kms through the hills up to Munnar to buy groceries, and then would get a tuk tuk home with their shopping. It’s a different life to ours - ours is so much more comfortable and seems easier - but as usual the villagers’ smiles makes me question that.

From here we carried on to a cave and waterfalls and it was super special to see the kids so free. They thrive on being outside and they got to swim at the bottom of a waterfall, climb trees and pull themselves up a huge rock with a vine. We saw cardamon plants, black pepper, bananas, jack fruit, cocoa beans and rubber trees.

And elephants! They come out of the forest in the dusk and down to the river where there is a natural spring. There was a single elephant there and we watched it for a long time before a wild dog spooked it and it ambled back into the forest. Apparently large herds can come down and we waited for so long hoping some more would come. 2 hours later, in the dark having not had any tea and with three pretty wriggly kids we decided it was time to call it quits. Sinesh looked a bit disappointed but started back, saying he’d get his friend to ring us if more arrived. Sure enough, 20 minutes after we left he got a phone call and turned us round and sure enough there were 10 wild elephants now in the river.

It’s been a special day!