On the coast- Kerala and Karnataka

Near Kannur in Kerala, I stayed at Costa Malabari, a converted spinning factory near a secluded and idyllic beach. I basically practised yoga on the beach early and after a fantastic Keralan breakfast of rice flour pancakes and coconut sambal, I sunbathed and swam in the bath- warm water until a lunch of fish, afternoon nap, more swimming...OK I'm really rubbing it in now. I don't want the place to get too popular but I would highly, highly, highly recommend Costa Malabari as a beach retreat. It's very simple, not at all expensive and the food and beaches are fantastic.

I went to see a Theyam which is an ancient religious rite (older than Hinduism). Men (and one woman apparently) trained in the ancient art are prepared to stay awake for up to 48 hours, performing dances and rituals in which they enter a trance and God speaks through them. This god was hearing the villagers problems and giving advice before we saw him dancing and performing complicated rituals which would go on until the next morning. It was the first Theyam of the season and we were very lucky to see it. The whole thing took place in the grounds of a small village temple in the middle of nowhere. The locals welcomed us with open arms and seemed very happy to share their holy place, food etc with us.

This priest is preparing decorations for the enormous hat that the god will wear later in the evening.

The priests played some very stirring music throughout much of the evening. It was a really fantastic experience.

Om Beach in Gokarna is popular with the hippy crowd searching for more seclusion than you get in Goa these days. I actually found it dirty, crowded and the vendors annoying compared to the Keralan beach.

Om Beach resort, where I stayed had lovely gardens and views.

This is the last photo I took before leaving India at Gokarna railway station at 2am before getting a cockroach-infested sleeper train to Mangalore and my flight to Mumbai. I treated myself to a posh hotel and indulged in baths, saunas and room service before a very smooth (if long) couple of flights to Melbourne.