Joys to come!

It's Valentine's Day in India too and they're getting ready.
Today my jetlag caught up, I didn't sleep well and then when I had finally got off I was woken by a phone call to see if I wanted breakfast. I declined. It was kind of them to phone before they cleared away though.
When I did get up I decided to get the bus into town. Bad timing as ever, I was walking across the beach between 11 and 11.30, it was quite warm mid 30s.
The bus costs 25/- (rupees not shillings!) about 25p and takes 45 mins. The buses don't need to have AC as they don't have windows. There's a shot in the extras and one of the beach too. There's also one of the many more primitive beach stalls this one selling snacks - aubergines, chillis, pineapple.
I always used to get an auto rickshaw or a taxi into town then I discovered the bus which is much more fun and a tenth of the price.
On Trivandrum I walked up to Pothy's store, described as an Alayalam of Silks . It's a large store and I know of at least 3 others in Kerala and Tamil Nadu. They sell everything, having recently opened supermarkets in some of the stores. I like the way they have spaces to park your men, nice and close to the cash registers too!
From Pothy's I walked down towards the bus stand empty handed, having failed to spend any money.
I stopped at a cafe and had a fizzy juice and a fried banana which relieved me of that tension. Imagine spending 50p on buses and not spending anything else!
On the bus home I sat next to a local young woman in her 20s and we chatted most of the way home.
I changed quickly once I got to the hotel and went straight to the pool to cool off, bliss.
This evening I met up with a friend of somebody from Edinburgh to hand over a gift from her. We had a lovely time chatting and watching a beautiful sunset. After he left I went and picked up my shortened trousers then had dinner.
I was chatting to one of the waiters in the Kingfisher restaurant. He said he remembered me and as if to prove it, asked if I was going to my school in Tirunelveli again! I guess he really did remember me.
Tired tonight so hopefully I'll sleep well. Thank you for all the lovely comments and good wishes.
Steps today 11081