http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Kerala/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Asia , India , Kerala en-us Wed, 08 Oct 2008 06:53:14 BST Wed, 08 Oct 2008 06:53:14 BST We arrived in Fort Cochi late on Monday night 930pm well it felt late as we had been travelling for 36 hours We did nothing other than check into our lovely little homestay Raintree and fall asleepFlights were ok and mostly on time I was impressed with the airport in Mombai as there was noone trying to grab your bags as there has been during past expereince. We transferred to the dom http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/India/Kerala/Kochi-/blog-332120.html Pictures are worth a thousand words which is good because I don' t have time to write. http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/India/Kerala/Munnar/blog-331779.html We decided to leave Trivandrum on a Sunday expecting the traffic to be a little lighter wrong. Although it was only 10 miles to Kovalam it felt like 50. It is incredibly hot and humid here which has the effect of draining the life out of you. That said we really enjoyed getting back on the bikes and it was a great experience riding on the Indian roads. It is still out of season and it will g http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/India/Kerala/Kovalam/blog-330965.html Well we have made it to India. The last 24hrs have been a bit of an epic but now we are here it was all worth it. In the end flying with the bikes proved to be effortless except for the bit when we had to put them through the Xray machine at the airport we still donrsquot know how we managed to get them through but we did. When we finally checked in someone came out and took the bikes away http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/India/Kerala/Trivandrum-/blog-330340.html Two day excursion into the Western Ghats which is the tea growing area Munnar is at an altitude of 2000 metres and you can certainly feel the difference with day time temperatures around 10 degrees lower than the coast and so green. On the way we stopped to watch the temple elephants taking their morning bathe in the river and at a spice farm a real one this time tasted raw cocoa and saw rubbe http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/India/Kerala/Munnar/blog-330336.html Wednesday we explored the town in the morning. All the Muslimowned shops were closed. Tuesday was the last day of Ramadan so Wednesday was a celebration day. Tuesday night they were doing prayer over a very loud loudspeaker right down the street from us. It was still going on when we went to sleep and the next morning it started again around 6 am. Around noon we got on our houseboat home for th http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/India/Kerala/Allepey/blog-330285.html Sunday morning we arrived in Kolkata early The man who picked us up gave us a short driving orientation tour of Kolkata before taking us to our hotel. We then spent the morning rearranging suitcases because my amazing mom organized a bunch of stuff for my dad to bring along for me to replenish my supplies and Irsquom sending a bunch of stuff home with him. For my whole trip so far Irsquove ha http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/India/Kerala/Kochi-/blog-330282.html Hello Dear Friends Itrsquos a unique time this year and I completely realize that. Irsquom not quite sure if I can draw any solid conclusions about life the country and culture and God just yet but I think time goes on I will be able to say more about what Irsquove experienced here in India. It is 330pm nap time on my third day here at my final destination the Mandirams Society i http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/India/Kerala/blog-330094.html Here is a video of our time in Agra and Kerala in India. http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/India/Kerala/blog-327355.html The Western Ghats the mountains ranges in Kerala and Karnataka and Tamil Nadu in south India are famous for their tea and recently also for the amount of pesticide that contaminates the ground water. However we were introduced to 'special tea' by Derek and Chaim in the Anchor Hotel overlooking the water at Cochi not that hard lots of islands lots of water. It was a dry day to celebrate th http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/India/Kerala/blog-326990.html Hello blog readersI'm absolutely gutted because I did an amazing blog 2 days ago in Goa and just as I clicked publish I got onto a screen saying I'd logged out and the blog hadn't been published. Laura doesn't want me to sit rewriting another blog because she gets bored sat here watching me read it I told her to go out into the night and try and get mugged she didn't find it funny but I kno http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/India/Kerala/Varkala/blog-326738.html Laurie We wanted to catch the train to Kochi but when I tried to get tickets there was none. I thought I knew the way around the Indian Train system but I was wrong. So we got the Semi Sleeper Overnight bus which went on the same road as to Bandipur. So I was a bit worried but it was a Volvo bus with wonderful suspension. So we survived OK.Laurie went for an early morning walk and amazingly http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/India/Kerala/Kochi-/blog-326288.html Hitting the Ground RunningSo I do not have very much time so I will make this brief.After a week and a night at Achen's house we all went our separate ways. The training time was over. No more comfort and security of a family that was used to volunteers. No more people who were there to help get us used to India and acclimate. Nothing is scarier than being pushed out of Taxi door on the step of http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/India/Kerala/Kochi-/blog-324137.html Kochin and the Kerala BackwatersWe awoke to yet another beautiful day although it did seem to be getting a shade hotter as the days went by. We had coffee by the Nilaya Hermitage pool and a large late breakfast before packing for our trip back to Cochin. Rami and Donna were staying one more night before returning to London so we made our farewells to them and to all the wonderful Nilaya staff an http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/India/Kerala/blog-323492.html So Where to Begin So where to begin I guess I can start with getting on the plane in New Orleans Louisiana. Here after a cup of coffee I left my mom dad younger brother and girlfriend I miss them to board a plane for what promises to be an adventure of a life time. Because of Hurricane Gustav I was not able to fly out on that Monday Sept. 1. If you did not know that is the day Gustav c http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/India/Kerala/Kochi-/blog-322325.html Today was another great day at the beach. The weather was beautiful We had our final massages and treatments today today was to stimulate the 3rd eye... not sure yet what that means... tomorrow we go to the Southernmost Point in India. Today was the Ona Festival in India which was neat to experience. Off to bed soon we have an early start the next few days. http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/India/Kerala/Trivandrum-/blog-321324.html Greetings from KeralaWe arrived yesterday the flights weere long but very peaceful. We slept most of the way and ate our way through the airports. We arrived at the spa in the late am met the other travellers and slept on a hammock overlooking the ocan. Kerala is one of the southermost states in India truly are at the bottom of the country. We have our own thatched roof bungaloo complete with http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/India/Kerala/Trivandrum-/blog-320767.html Namaste I have safely arrived at the home of Achen Pastor Thomas John my country coordinator near Cochin India after about 34ish hours of flights and airport travel. I am so glad to be finished with travel at least for the next two weeks. I am amazed at the lush tropical greenery all around and can assure you I will be enjoying God's creation nature to the fullest this year There http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/India/Kerala/Kochi-/blog-319683.html Dan and I decided to go for a canoe ride. We got into the canoe and Dan gave me a quick lesson on riding the canoe. We canoed around 1 hour on the side canal that leads into the main lake.The canoe ride was awesome and very tiring. After the ride we came back and met the rest of the gang for breakfast. We headed back to our rooms to start pack and wait for our houseboat to arrive at Coconut lagoon http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/India/Kerala/Allepey/blog-319366.html Woke up and had breakfast at the resort and checked out quickly to our next destination Kumarakom. Before heading out to Kumarakom we did some shopping at Thekkady and John's search for Hindu newspaper failed. It took about 3 hrs for us to reach Kumarakom. We were searching for our resort The coconut Lagoon and figured that we need to take a ferry to reach the resort. As soon as we arrived the r http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/India/Kerala/Allepey/blog-319363.html I seem to have timed my stay in Kerala quite nicely. Well that's why I dragged myself away from Periyar and raced all the way back to Fort Cochin yesterday so that I could be in striking distance. It's the annual Allepy Dragon Boat Race where the sleepy town comes alive when thousands of revellers come out to watch the dragon boat races.The only dragon boat race I'd seen before was on the Thames w http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/India/Kerala/Allepey/blog-318873.html Got up mega early again argh and whizzed off into Periyar National Park for a boat cruise which is apparently one of the best ways to see animals in the park. I wasn't convinced it would be worth getting up early again but I was proved wrong We got to see an amazing array of birds including giant hornbills soaring gracefully over the jungle canopy and a ridiculous amount of the brilliant bright http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/India/Kerala/Kumily/blog-318858.html I've found a little bit of paradise in Kumily. This is the gateway to Periyar National Park where apparently wild Tigers still roam free. If I'm lucky I'll see them tomorrow on a jungle safari I'm staying at Mickey's Hostel and have the best room ever I have my own little balcony with a lush hanging wicker chair where I can sit and continue to write up my travel ramblings If I had more time I w http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/India/Kerala/Kumily/blog-317527.html In search of tigers... sadly there were none to be seen but we did have a great day out in a jeep in the jungle Met a fun French couple and we went trekking into the jungle with Ramesh who was kind enough to keep peeling the leechess off our shoes and putting more salt on them to keep them away It was hard to look anywhere other than down at the writhing mass of leeches on my shoes We saw lots http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/India/Kerala/Kumily/blog-317521.html Heather and Becca decided to getup early in the morning for the sunrise. They were disappointed by the clouds. We decided to get ready early to head out to next destination Thekkady. John and Dan wanted to have a break from Idly and dosa for breakfast so our caretaker prepared Poori and Aloo Masala. It was a big hit and everyone enjoyed the meal. After the meal we started our drive to Thekkady. On http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/India/Kerala/Thekkady/blog-316519.html