So long, 2008!

We've had the last few days off work and it's been great to unwind a bit. I've been leeching some free music off the web and have discovered stuff by Nick Drake, Morcheeba, The Buddah Bar series, Folklore de Peru & Ecuador and many others! I find I quite like the sound of the charango - a South American lute/guitar which is often played on documentaries about Peru. Anyway, it's quite relaxing and nice to have on in the background. My laptop's got reasonable speakers for an office computer but I really miss having a bit of volume. With luck I'll get some cheapo speakers in Trivandrum tomorrow, then I'll be able to drown out the Hindu temple noise when it next happens!

I mentioned that I'd found a new path from Kovalam Junction to home. Here are a couple of photos taken along the route. The one with the orange house actually shows the more usual house colours in the foreground - a "beige with algae" sort of colour scheme. Many of the houses are this rectangular concrete style.

Since I arrived in India I've been recording how much I spend and on what. Call me anal but I've even been recording Rs.3 cups of chai! The two weeks in October weren't really typical because there were some big one-off costs such as the hotel, the mattress, Internet subscription, and the cost of kitting this place out. November and December work out at £150 each, and that includes £83 for the monthly house rent. In total I've spent £825 for two and a half months. Mind you, I've been living quite frugally - I haven't been out for any expensive meals and the only alcohol I've had was half a pint of lager. Even that was bought for me! If I continue to live like a hermit I should be able to manage on £3000 for the year, excluding flights and any costs in the UK. That is well within my budget. I think I can afford to splash out on some speakers for my computer!

Good wishes for 2009 to all my readers!