Kerala
Travel Blogs from Kerala, India
Alleppey
... nbsp; It's truly astounding to consider. The other local innovation is to collect huge piles of shells (the lowlands of Kerala used to be submerged underwater) dry them, grind them, and use them as a strengthener in concrete construction. ...
Cruising, Cochin, and Kathakali
... come close to capturing the intensity and skill of the performers. Suffice it to say that I loved it! Kerala has been a wonderful "easing-in" to India. The friendly people, fairly hassle-free travel, tasty cuisine, rich culture, and exquisite natural ...
Visit with local college students
... sides tested the waters. Being politically minded (and they asked what my major was) we delved into the pending US-India nuclear deal, but the conversation soon shifted into my choice of dress; thus begins my love-hate relationship with the dhoti. ...
May the guru have your email address please?
... out when I take off from India. The tiny part of this incredible country that I've seen has been wonderful. Everything is more in India, the colours are more vibrant, the smells (yup, that'll be both good and bad ones) are more potent, sounds are ...
Oh to be beside the sea again
... take a rikshaw into town to book train tickets and bump into John who jumped of the boat to get his hug from Amma and tells us all about it over a beer or two. Tomorrow we leave for Trivandum our last port of call in India. To be continued. . . . ...
Cup of Tea anyone
... took six hours to get here by bus and we stayed at JJ Cottage which is in our guide book. Munnar is the Tea capital of India and if my family were here I'm sure they would drink the place dry!! Munnar has great scenery and amazing views but by 8pm we ...
Our passage to India
... viewing things more as she would see them. Anyway, we will be heading north tomorrow to the alluring backwaters of Kerala then on to Delhi and Rajastan in the north. Katie Said: After driving all around Sri Lanka for a week ...
Cochin
The bus ride to Kochi was a seven hour nightmare and we have decided that any journey which takes longer than 4 hours will be done by train from now on. We go straight to the fort side and stay at a small guest house called Wilson's. It would have ...
Fawlty Towers
... through the seven days and came out all the wiser in the end. One day we took a tuk-tuk to Alleppy beach, and the India that we were experiencing summed itself up nicely. An oldish guy wandered into the sea and proceeded to drop his keks and wash his ...
An Ode to India
... juicy steak, I'm getting the feeling we made another mistake! Let's head for the mountains where it's nice and cool, A part of India which is a real jewel. Kodaikanal is a trek and a half if you are catching the bus, I was minding my own reading a ...
Kali, incense, and major construction!
... basically collapsed for about 5 hours. Wandered a bit after I woke up, did some essentials, ATM, water, bookstore (found my India guide!) and had masala chai and veggie samosas at the Teahouse a local place that could have been right in San ...
Bollywood here I come!
Ok, so I'm not really going to Bollywood...but, was featured with two others from the Beach and Lake on the local news station after they interviewed many of us about the pollution in the lake/ocean and dead fish that had popped up the previous ...
Training for India
... fright was assuaged when Dr. Luke told us that it happens like clockwork most nights this summer due to power shortages. Kerala has experienced 80% less rainfall in it's monsoon season than previous years, and this has obvious consequences for its ...
Postal Service Tailors...
... . Now, you wouldn't think this seemingly simple task would require much however, you haven't ever tried to do it in India! As I mentioned in an earlier blog entry, there is a theft problem here apparently, so all packages have to be sewn up in ...
Greener than the Green Bag
... . The place is chilled and the people are super friendly and less spaced out. This is the first place I visit in Kerala, the state with the highest educational rate in the developing world - 92%. You can tell the difference right away. ...
A Day in God's Own Country
... in which such goods were probably made. Xin was happy to learn that, thanks to expensive costs and strong trade unions, Kerala had, for the most part, stopped multi-national companies from moving in and setting up shop, knowing the destruction that ...
Spices and Elephants!
... . For many of us it was our favorite section of the tour, just being in the semi-jungle and very authentic India. Bring on the elephants! Initially I had some reservations because they were old and had these huge harnesses on their ...
Lets get twisted on Kingfisher Strongs
Got up at about 8am, after an air conditioned sleep, so peaceful only bird song. One of the crew was taking part in the religious festival that was going on so left for his village after making us a breako of noodles and pineapple. Already starting ...
train conversations
... nbsp;to just talk with someone who only wants to discover why we visited their country, and what we thought. But, in India, the Indians are very curious about us, our experience has been if you stand still for any period of time ...
Off To See The Tigers......
... a cow - we might as well been at a farm! Despite the disastrous jungle trek Periyer is one of the better destinations in India so far. Kerala is turning out to be far, far better than Tamil Nadu. Lots of love, Hollie and Thomas x x x ...
Simply food.
Hm, you know you're pretty chilled out when you have to ask the person next to you at the internet cafe what date it is for your Travelpod entry.... Now you've got to bear with me about the photo updates, I'm using two cameras (yeah I'm such a light ...
Farewell South India
Posted by Genevieve Our last stop in the steamy south was Fort Kochi, the entrance to the Keralan backwaters and an historical meeting point of cultures from all over. Part fishing town, part cultural centre, part tourist trap, we were in for a ...
32 degrees - at 3am - God help us...
We woke early as we had to check out of the guest house and catch our bus to Margaom train station (60R) which we had decided to take instead of a taxi (1000R). We headed down the road in the direction that the hotel staff pointed us in (there are ...
Kerala - Kochi - Day 21
After eating breakfast on the boat, arrived back to the docks at 9am. Jumped in a rickshaw to the bus station and caught a bus back to Kochi. When I arrived in Fort Kochi stayed at the park hotel on princes street which is where the little action in ...
Faulty towers
... hello to Tony for me." It was so funny, they were very friendly and at the same time it was so chaotic, just like India really. Back at the hostel we weighed up the chance of a strike being called off by the next morning as very un-likely ...
Periyar wildlife sanctuary
... Swamis dressed in different colors, it'd be great to have heard them shout "you're not singing anymore". On first impressions, Kerala seems a little more touristy than I was expecting but I suppose it's one of the richest states and has had tourists ...
House Boat ... DO IT!!!
... the boat. The next group was booked for 11am. They kicked us off at 10am the next morning - an hour earlier the planned. Welcome back to India, Brittany. We strapped on our backpacks and headed to a nearby beach to hang for the ...
Christmas in Kerala
... were so elegantly portrayed - the costumes were crazy - the makeup an art. In my opinion, this is a must see if you visit Kerala. We are off to a house boat now as we have finally booked a boat ... thank goodness that pressure is off - ...
