the good, the bad and the ugly

having seen, and been in, all types of rooms, there is not much that surprises me these days, as far as accommodation goes. sometimes i take a room wondering about what kind of bite marks i'm going to end up with... in trivandrum, the sort of dusty, boring town where even the hotels are gloomy, i found this gem - not! - of a place that was so, so shabby that it became amusing. and for 140 rupees (less than 2 pounds) i couldn't resist but stay there.

there was a gap on the bathroom wall where the sink must have once stood and, through the corridors and balconies overlooking the inner courtyard, one could stumble on parts of furniture - couches, divans, boudoirs - that had presumably, at some point, decorated the rooms. looking down to the courtyard from outside my third floor room, a few empty plastic bottles laying on a green puddle were all that was left of a pond, and the few potted plants scattered around could only emphasize the total air of neglect that the whole compound exhaled.

nevertheless, induced by 16 hours of stiff train seats, sleep came to me that night like a blessing and i slept like a baby until the next morning.