January 31 - February 3
Walking along the seashore a group of half a dozen Indian fishermen beckon to us and urge us to come over
They use a giant Chinese net which measures 30feet across and takes the whole team to gently lower it down into the water.
Almost as soon as they have dropped it down into the sea off the coast at Fort Cochin in Kerala, southern India they are pulling it back out again to see what they have caught.
These iconic Chinese fishing nets have a long history. Generation after generation have worked as fishermen on this same stretch of coastline right back to the 15th century.
Hauling the net out of the water is tough work in the sweltering 30C sunshine.
Our first impressions of India are that it is profoundly poor and we have been surprised by just how underdeveloped the country is.
Even in the towns there is no pavement at the side of the road - only smelly and dirty dust.
To use a mobile phone analogy - even in Vietnam and the poorer parts of China there were people with iPhones and iPads.
Here the only mobile phones are old basic Nokia handsets - most of these people have probably never seen a smartphone which the rest of the world has so quickly begun to take for granted (I'm writing this blog post on one now).
Many of the countries we have visited have been cheap by comparison with the UK, but India is really cheap.
Eating out in a restaurant near our accommodation in Kaloor, Kerala, we struggle to spend more than £4 on two main courses (curry, naturally) and drinks. A bus ticket to the beach or Fort Cochin - both around 20 miles away - costs us about 20 pence each.
I am expecting the bigger cities we will visit - like Bangalore and Mumbai - will be much more developed and less alien to the western tourist.
In Britain, Conservative MPs have argued that the UK should stop handing over £286million a year in aid to India.
Although the Indian government could spend their money more effectively to eliminate poverty, the money is mere peanuts to Britain - regardless of the national debt.
The Coalition government are committed to spending 0.7 per cent of GDP on foreign aid. On the basis of what we have seen in our first few days in India that is not enough.
UPDATE: India is the last country we are visiting on our trip and we return to England on March 4.
While in India we will be visiting Cochin, Bangalore, Mysore, Hampi, Goa and Mumbai.
Walking along the seashore a group of half a dozen Indian fishermen beckon to us and urge us to come over
They use a giant Chinese net which measures 30feet across and takes the whole team to gently lower it down into the water.
Almost as soon as they have dropped it down into the sea off the coast at Fort Cochin in Kerala, southern India they are pulling it back out again to see what they have caught.
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| Haul: Me and Kelly-Ann hold the fishermens' catch - it amounted to no more than a few cuttlefish |
But today is a quiet day. The men are happy for me to help them haul the net out of the water - in the hope that I will hand them a few rupees as a tip which is mere pennies. There's not much to catch, so every rupee counts.
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| Pulling in the catch: I haul in a rope along with half a dozen other Indian fishermen to see what has been caught |
Once it is done I go over to examine the catch. It is pitiful - just a few cuttlefish, worth next to nothing, to show for their efforts.
The lead fisherman explains that during the monsoon season - which lasts from June to September - there are far more fish to be had. The catch is sold at nearby stalls.
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| A Chinese fishing net which is lowered down into the water every few minutes. They have been used in Kerala, southern India, since the 15th century |
Even in the towns there is no pavement at the side of the road - only smelly and dirty dust.
To use a mobile phone analogy - even in Vietnam and the poorer parts of China there were people with iPhones and iPads.
Here the only mobile phones are old basic Nokia handsets - most of these people have probably never seen a smartphone which the rest of the world has so quickly begun to take for granted (I'm writing this blog post on one now).
 |
| Many of the fish caught in Fort Cochin are sold on stalls like this nearby for mere pennies |
Eating out in a restaurant near our accommodation in Kaloor, Kerala, we struggle to spend more than £4 on two main courses (curry, naturally) and drinks. A bus ticket to the beach or Fort Cochin - both around 20 miles away - costs us about 20 pence each.
 |
| A fantastic little undeveloped beach we visited around 20 miles from our accommodation in Kerala |
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| Elephant bathing time: We went to a nearby river for 8am to watch the elephants being scrubbed |
In Britain, Conservative MPs have argued that the UK should stop handing over £286million a year in aid to India.
Although the Indian government could spend their money more effectively to eliminate poverty, the money is mere peanuts to Britain - regardless of the national debt.
The Coalition government are committed to spending 0.7 per cent of GDP on foreign aid. On the basis of what we have seen in our first few days in India that is not enough.
UPDATE: India is the last country we are visiting on our trip and we return to England on March 4.
While in India we will be visiting Cochin, Bangalore, Mysore, Hampi, Goa and Mumbai.
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