Blogs from Kollam, Kerala, India, Asia - page 8

I'm going to make this entry a short one. It is so freakin' hot here. There is no wind and it's like 35 which is mid-90's. I sweated nonstop for 3 days while here. I don't know how people can live here. The travel agents (this goes from Kumily also) are useless. One agent refused to sell us airline tickets because we were not Indian. As for our schedule...we were initially planning and had purchased a ticket to Kathmandu, Nepal for February 16 which, after new developments (curfews, military checkposts, protests) in that country, we cancelled. Based on some internet news and discussions with some travellers who had been in Nepal, we thought it would be prudent to postpone our Nepal leg. (We are not giving up on Nepal completely and hoping that things get better ... read more

We arrived in Alleppy or Allephuza today - a two hour local bus ride from Kochi or Fort Cochin. Very hot - 35C during the day and down to 25 at night. Kerala is cleaner, greener and more friendly than any place we've visited so far. The general 'look' of this southern province on India's west coast is steep, red-tiled hip rooves over plastered walls under 60 foot-tall palm trees. This province has been a trading and sea-faring area for thousands of years. There are Mosques, Hindu shrines & temples and churches. The people speak malayalan which seems to have a whole lot of extra syllables thrown in just for fun. The mouth doesn't move much but the tongue rolls rapid-fire through the consonants. We find that everyone is very proud of their state and their ... read more

We got up late today and arranged our journey from Travendrum to Goa by train. Alleppey rezervation office at the railway station gives service even on Sundays but only cash is accepted. In hurry we caught the boat to Kottayam which would be our first backwater practice. The Boat Jetty is close to the hotels area and the boats departs in time. We paid 10 InR for one way each for more than 30 km. on the lake. It takes around 2.5 hrs. going and 3 hrs. back.we did not have enough time to make Kumarakom from Kottayam. Kumarakom , said to be worth seeing. We spent the night at the hotel eating and mailing on internet. ... read more

We have just come back from 2 days in Paradise. Jo & Prit have left us now, winding their way to Chennai for their flight home. We decided to stay a little longer in Kerala and see a bit more of the Backwaters. We managed to find a great 2 night package with a local travel agent in Cochin ( Indo World Tours & Travels, Princess Street - this is a recommendation for anyone reading this who might be travelling to Cochin). We set off on a mini houseboat, not motorised, a bit like a punting. We had a 4 hour magical ride through the rivers, narrow canals and ending up at Vembanad Lake and the Vaikom Lake Resort where we had lunch and would spend the next 2 days. When we first saw the resort ... read more

Hi, One of the 'must' in Kerala state is sailing in the backwater. The backwater is a natural net of canals connected to the Arabian sea. All around are coco trees, bananas trees and other plantations. Of course, small villages all around. There are all sorts of tours (it is very touristic), I did the 'villages tour' for whole day when you sail and stop once in a while to watch some methods of making a living. It seems that the natives exploit all available resources. For example, in addition of selling the coco nuts they also make ropes from the coco nuts hair. Another example, they make cement from shells, etc. Nothing more interesting to tell, so enjoy watching the pictures! Bye, Sharon ... read more