Blogs from Alleppey, Kerala, India, Asia - page 3

During my first trip to india as a volunteer for an NGO I met the man I'm now married to. We met during the mission in july-august 2014 he was working for this NGO as country manager for a couple of years. As we didn't talk much during that time he invited me back to India for the full month of September. As I had to start the university in October only I accepted. I was so happy and excited but also a bit stressed. That was the first time I was going alone to India to meet somebody I almost never talked to before ! When I landed in Chennai he was there waiting for me with Jasmin and roses. That was so cute ! We went back to Pondy with a car and within ... read more

I'd just like to start this post by giving a massive thank you to Anoop, Arun and their family for letting us stay and looking after us over the past few days. They provided us with some amazing food! Indian food is the best cuisine in the world and when it's home cooked, it's even better. Secondly I want to thank Arun's (Anoop's brother) friends for keeping us occupied, there would've been a lot of boredom and confusion without them. Anoop had loads of things to be doing before, during and after the wedding so we didn't really get the chance to see him properly, so at some point in the next few weeks we'll be heading to Chennai to stay with him again. Anoop was staying at his family's in Kayamkulam, about two hours south ... read more

My Incredible 4 days in Alleppey It was August, I had holidays after my quarterly internal exams. I insisted my dad to make a tour so that I can get relaxed (after a hectic exam section). So, my dad suggested Goa tour, as I was in love with Kerala already, so wanted to go once again (I found out to be cheap & best and c’mon there are lot of places to see in Kerala). My dad amused, agreed. So, we planned a 4 day tour to Alleppey and Kumarakom this time. We booked Innova with the same travel agency which we booked previously with. They were so much handy and reliable. I liked the way driver explained all things, was very much informative. He was very honest and patient. So, after all the booking (also ... read more

Cruising through the backwaters of Kerala we slowly meandered through the lush rivers surrounded by calm, tranquil slow paced village life. The backwaters were nothing short of incredible. Another highlight and memorable experience. Gliding slowly through the waterways we were very content and relaxed as we witnessed this tranquil place. We passed many local houses, fish farms, men, women and children walking the riverbanks. It was so peaceful. We had the opportunity to witness the larger waterways on our houseboat we stayed on for a couple of days and the narrower waterways when we later hired out a small boat for the day on a separate occasion. These waterways were beautiful. There were so many different shades of green. From the bright green rice terraces to the darker green palm tree leaves, the light green mango ... read more

HE SAID... We were leaving Thekkady and heading west to Kerala Backwaters. We woke early and grabbed a chai(tea) at a local coffee shop (Coffee Day), before checking out and jumping into a minibus at 8am. We had a four and a half bus trip and a one and half hour boat trip ahead of us – we were heading to River Side Retreat Homestay in Karumady (Ambalapuzha). We slowly wound our way downwards out of Thekkady through tea and coffee plantations, stopping at the slightly bizarre Pattumala Matha Pilgrim Shrine at 9am before continuing our downward journey on the narrow winding roads of the Silk Mountains. This was a breathtaking trip, as we occasionally met public buses driving at breakneck speeds on hairpin corners with sheer drops off the roadside with no guard rails. We ... read more