The city of Thiruvananthapuram

What's in a name? Well in the case of Thiruvananthapuram a whole lot of letters. Mention Thiruvananthapuram to most people and what they first think is that you have started to make up a word and didn't know when to stop. They may think that it is an exotic foodstuff, one of the 22 Inuit words for snow or perhaps an onomatopoeic sound made by a deflating balloon. All of these guesses however would be wrong, and the guessers might not ever know what they are missing out on.

The city of Thiruvananthapuram is in fact, one of India's most ancient cities, going back over 3000 years. Thats a lot of history, and that means that there is a lot to see for visitors, I found that one week was nowhere near enough. In fact I think a person might never get tired of the many charms of the The City Of Holy Serpent.



A place with ancient roots, modern Thiruvananthapuram very much has it's eyes on the future. In 1966 the nearby Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre launched India's very first space rocket, and is still a key site in India's up and coming space program. This is definitely a city that is going places. Really, don't take my word for it see for yourself, with so many bargains to be had for luxury hotel accommodation and flights to Thiruvanthapuram landing at the convenient and modern Thiruvananthapuram airport there is no reason not to go. The best time to is September through to May.

Haiti earthquake - still not fixed

I have been truly, truly shocked by how ignorant some people can be. After the recent earthquake in Haiti not only have so many people not known were Haiti is or how much of a mess it was in before the quake, but also they have not even begun to think how they could help. The people there had next to nothing before, and now the scale of what has happened is beginning to hit home.

In the most terrible situations though, there is hope. Those on the ground there, the aid agencies and the survivors have an epic task ahead of them. We should think of them, but also we should remember that although charity begins at home, we can also find real ways to help the victims of the Haiti earthquake.

Something Beautiful

Hi to start my new blog I though I would post the most beautiful video I have seen all week. There is so much bad and ugly and stupid going on in the world but this video of beautiful blooms opening up in time-lapse just seems to make it all OK for a while...


Isn't that just awesome? I love it. You know when I see flowers it just makes me feel glad to be alive. Even if it does make me wish I were out hiking instead of inside!