Blogs from Kochi, Kerala, India, Asia - page 42

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Asia » India » Kerala » Kochi December 31st 2005

Picture yourself on a boat by a river, with palm trees lining the shore, fine Keralan cuisine being cooked up for you in the galley, and only the distant sound of a million hungry mosquitoes heading ever closer to disturb the tranquility. For the last two days we've been cruising the Keralan backwaters on a traditional rice boat. The boat has three crew- a pilot, an engine man and a chef- but otherwise we had the boat to ourselves- well, if you don't count the aforementioned insect chums and a good complement of geckos scampering around, eating them. The feel of this part of India is very laid back. The people are friendly, always waving from the shore as we drift past. It's a largely Christian area and so there are lots of brightly painted churches ... read more
Bashir- our pilot
Sleeping beauty
Sunset

Asia » India » Kerala » Kochi December 3rd 2005

hi everyone, first thank you ALL for the lovely comments, its so nice to get them - please keep them coming.... We have been having lots of fun after renting a couple of old bikes a LadyBird for me! and a Hero for Mike and exploring all the back alleys and waterways of this captivating town Fort Kochi. We are still here after three weeks and feeling like locals now, everyone recognising us and they have stopped asking when we are going and now started to ask when we buying a house! Very tempting, very good prices for mansion size houses. We had better go before it sucks us in for good. So now all the local shopkeepers, rickshaw drivers are upset we are leaving on Monday. It is getting real hot now and too many ... read more

Asia » India » Kerala » Kochi December 2nd 2005

Avec quelques semaines de retard... 2 semaines dans la nature sauvage de l'Inde en suivant les traces d'Indiana Jones! Comme dans le film, sauf que l'imprevu n'etait pas arrange avec le gars des vues... Moins de 18 ans, svp s'abstenir de la lecture suivante! Seuls grands espaces de l'Inde presque inhabites, les forets sont denses, secretes et mysterieuses. On entend plein de cris d'oiseaux, mais ou sont-ils? Les arbres sont si grands. J'ai mal au cou a force de les chercher... et ces maudites jumelles qui nous lachent au mauvais moment. Mais, tel un heros, un fin connaisseur des profondeurs de la foret (un guide indien) oriente notre regard. Mautadine, comment y fait pour voir tout ca, meme sans jumelle ? Aurel est completement renverse. Lui qui a habituellement un oeil de lynx pour reperer tout ... read more

Asia » India » Kerala » Kochi December 1st 2005

Hi, Cochin is a really nice place, in south-west India, just on the shore of the Arabian see. Cochin is special for Jews as a large Jewish community used to live here. After most of the Jews immigrated to Israel, their number was reduced dramatically and currently only 4 Jewish families live here. However, it is a most livingly place in Cochin and very touristic since all the area around the synagouge is full off handicrafts shops. The quarter of the Jews has the funny name of 'Jewtown'. The synagouge is a very touristic place, very crowded and it is really good that at least when I travel abroad I pay a visit to a synagouge. Kerela state is famous of the Katakali dance. The dancers / actors use a lots of make-up (it takes about ... read more
Day's catch
Day's catch
Day's catch

Asia » India » Kerala » Kochi November 26th 2005

well, its been nearly three weeks since I last called in. Life here in Fort Kochi has been rather hectic, after a smooth flight down to Cochin we were then joined a few days later by Mandy & Doug. It is quite a lot hotter and humid than Mumbai but Mum managed amazingly, no probs at all and plenty of energy, all the locals were so amazed and admired her so much for travelling here. More energy than I had actually, suffering from the bad back and then I got a dose of the skitters (first time ever for me in India) after Mike and Doug, what a merry time! But we battled on and spent a lovely 5 days with our two chauffeur driven Ambassadors heading down south along the coast to Alleppey for a ... read more

Asia » India » Kerala » Kochi November 4th 2005

We left Fort Kochin, headed for the Wyanard Wildlife Park- an 8 hr drive away - north. We drove through some towns - I dont think they saw too many westerners as we got lots of waves and smiles. We started to climb to reach high altitude through twisting, narrow roads. We saw completly different vegetation- rubber trees, pepper plants, tea plantations etc. We eventually got to 2100m safetly and found our accomodation for 2 nights, a lodge in the middle of a national park- completely quiet. Lots of time to reflect. That night we went on an open top jeep and began our safari mission.... to find elephants, deer, bison and a very illusive tiger. How exciting! As I stood there bobbing about searching out wildlife, I could not have imagined doing anything else, ever ... read more
A she bison and her baby bison
A tribal villiage- and Claire

Asia » India » Kerala » Kochi November 2nd 2005

Hello again! Well we left Palolem kicking and screaming, and took a flight to Kochin in the state of Kerala- right near the southern tip of India. We were again greeted with smiles aplenty and people being very friendly, naturally I was very suspicious of 'help' but it was totally unneccessary. Fort Kochi is a colonial town full of character, we had a ricksaw driver take us around the city to see all the sights- some known and some not so known! People from Kochi are mostly Christain or Hindu- however there is one Jewish family and so had the only synagogue in India-very impressive. He also took us to see a huge elephant - but the poor thing couldnt even turn around- he had it in his back yard. We also visited a traditional Kerala ... read more

Asia » India » Kerala » Kochi November 1st 2005

We slowly worked our way down from Pushkar heading south to Kerala. After approximately 45 hours aboard glorious Indian Rail (which we’re often proudly told is the largest employer in the world - take that Wal-Mart!) we arrived. Rumor has it that after spending time in the North, Kerala can seem like another country. In many ways, it is a very unique state. It is one of the most densely populated, culturally mixed and politically unusual in the world. It is home to 747 people per square kilometer, compared to 3 in Canada. Despite this high density, Kerala has the highest literacy rate and best health care in India and is the only state where women outnumber men. Because of the preference for boy children there are less than 93 women for every 100 men in ... read more
Government action?
Sorting through Tumeric
Shipping sand to town

Asia » India » Kerala » Kochi October 28th 2005

Apres avoir passe plusieurs jours dans les plantations de the dans les montagnes du Kerala, dans le sud de l'Inde, nous prenons notre clavier pour militer. Militer pour l'importance d'acheter du the biologique et meme encore mieux issu du commerce equitable, parce que ce qu'on a vu depasse de loin ce qu'on aurait pu imaginer. Une horreur! C'est incroyable la quantite de fertilisants et de pesticides qu'ils utilisent pour le the, bien que selon plusieurs personnes rencontrees la tendance soit a la baisse: beau discours pour nous faire plaisir... Faudrait quand meme pas decevoir les touristes! Ils utilisent tellement de pesticides qu'apres la vaporisation on se croirait en hiver! Et c'est pas des blagues. On a des photos! Telle une armee qui s'avance sur le terrain pour affronter son ennemi, les pauvres hommes se deplacent en ... read more




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