Blogs from Alleppey, Kerala, India, Asia - page 9

Lake Vembanad is the second largest lake in India and stretches north to south for nearly 100 km. Alongside the lake are paddy fields and coconut plantations, together with the village communities who harvest the rice and the coconuts. The tourist industry plays its part in the economic wellbeing of these small lakeside communities and we played our part by spending just short of 24 hours on a kettuvallam, better known as a houseboat. Our boat was about 80 feet long and wide enough to accommodate an outdoor lounge area, a dining room, ensuite air conditioned bedroom and the crew's quarters which included the kitchen. We were waited on hand and foot and the lake and its surroundings were a visual feast. After lunch we had a gentle sail around part of the edge of the ... read more

Hello , I thought I would begin this blog by giving a tiny bit of background on Kerala State, the region of India where I am currently traveling. Kerala is one of the only places in the world to have had a democratically elected communist government in power for most of the past 60 years. Kerala also has the highest literacy and education rates, and the highest life expectancy in all of South Asia. Here there is little of the extreme poverty seen elsewhere in India, and there are also virtually no Western chains or franchises in the entire state. There are, however, hammer and sickle flags flying virtually everywhere, and murals of Che Guevara are commonplace. So I've spent the past couple days traveling across Kerala from the beach town of Varkala to the hill ... read more

Hi again everyone! Just back in the journalism office now, but have had an amazing weekend! A group of us from my accommodation headed to Allepey, supposedly the "Venice of the East", in the next door state, Kerala. It was quite a hard journey to get there - we had to take 6 different public buses, all of which were absolutely packed, and although we left at 10 pm on Thursday night, we didn't get to Allepey until 11 am the next day! We did manage to get some sleep though, as one of our buses was delayed by three hours, so we slept outside on the floor of a bus station - I don't think the Indian people could believe their eyes when they saw us! When we got Allepey we met another volunteer who ... read more

At Alleppy, Houseboat cruise is the best way to explore the beauty of backwaters. ... read more

Hi!! I've been here 3 days now, and I have to say... this is truly where I belong. I have such a feeling of happiness every time I walk down the street or take a rickety, crowded bus to the next town over. I can't imagine myself doing anything else right now! I have spent the last couple days here visiting the places where I'll be working. I've worked out a sort of schedule that the other volunteer, Natalie, and I will be following for the 2 months that I'm here (she's only here for 6 weeks, and then is replaced by another 2 girls from the UK). Monday mornings and Tuesday mornings we're spending at a village school, where students who cannot afford an education are sponsored to attend. We'll mostly be using games and ... read more