Southern India — Kerala

Name changes confuse me. I find myself slipping and saying Bombay instead of Mumbai. Even after spending time in Southern India, I’m not sure whether I should be saying Cochin or Kochi. I heard both. Maybe it doesn’t matter.

What DOES matter is the dramatic contrast between northern and Southern India! In the north, horn honking is encouraged. MANY of the vehicles we passed had signs like the one below on the back of their vehicles.

In southern India it was blissfully quiet. Although traffic wasn’t AS bad as it as in the north, there still were some interesting moments. Just no horn honking.

The south is so CLEAN! In the north, people drop their trash wherever—in the street, along highways, in parks, on lawns, inside buildings. It’s EVERYWHERE.

In the state of Kerala, they have either mastered the art of trash collection, or their residents actually CARE about their cities, or it truly IS God’s Country. Take your pick.

Although the itinerary showed us spending four days in Kerala, our first day was spent almost entirely traveling from Udaipur to Kochi, including a stop in Bangalore to change planes, and grab some airport food for lunch. Colonel Sanders has made his way to India, but I discovered that Starbucks offered fantastic sandwiches—better than we get in the USA, and probably cheaper. ( I still haven’t quite mastered exchange rate math). Good thing I ate because our flight was delayed, and we didn’t get to our hotel in Kochi until almost 6:30 PM.

What was great was that Tauck got us rooms with access to the club room. What was not so great was that the club room closed at 7 PM. Despite that, I managed to consume two glasses of white wine and sufficient food to make dinner unnecessary. It’s amazing what you can accomplish when you’re highly motivated.

This is the only American hotel we are frequenting during our trip— a Hyatt Regency overlooking the bay leading out to the Arabian Sea.

The curtains open automatically when you enter your room. I never bothered to learn how to close them, because I loved the magnificent view.

Of course, if you get tired of watching the river flow, you can always turn your head to look at the window into the bathroom. I wasn’t sharing a room, but those who were could watch their roommate do whatever they needed to do in the bathroom, without leaving the comfort of their bed.

Our second, and final day in Kochi, we were treated to a cooking demonstration by a woman who was discovered by The NY Times several years ago. Check out how her home is equipped, with tv screens, so you can watch while you theoretically master her technique. I imagine that before The NY Times discovered her, her kitchen looked very different.

In addition to her cooking commentary, Nimmy shared details about her marriage, including the fight she had with her husband that morning. She was QUITE entertaining!

Next up was a tour of a palace, synagogue and church, plus an opportunity to shop a bit.

We all thoroughly enjoyed the boat ride back, just in time to catch this spectacular sunset by the fishing nets.

Because we had a reasonable departure time (9AM the next morning), Gloria, Sue and I decided to try the restaurant on the top floor of the hotel.

Our final two days in the south were spent at the Kumarakom Resort. We drove about 2.5 hours to get to the houseboats that took us the final three hours of our journey.

Although we didn’t STAY on the houseboat, we certainly COULD have. Take a look at this luxurious bedroom. Instead, our houseboat experience included a delicious lunch on board.

Jennifer, our trip leader was on the second houseboat, but somehow she managed to convince the crew to pick up speed. It felt like we were on the Amazing Race. When her boat passed us, we decided that she and Whitney had complementary strengths that would have undoubtedly made them a winning team!

The Kumarakom resort was exactly what I needed at this point in the trip. I thoroughly appreciated the opportunity to slow down and completely relax for two days.

Once again, I had a magnificent room. But this time it was adjacent to what was called a meandering pool. I could meander across the way to visit with fellow travelers, so I did.

I loved the outdoor bathroom with the open air shower. I’d had one in Nepal and one in Colombia when traveling with OAT, so was used to showering in the open air.

Both nights, we were treated to outdoor cultural shows before dinner. This lovely young lady did a traditional dance,

The young men demonstrated martial arts, kicking and twirling swords and spears at each other. One segment of the show reminded me of majorettes performing in one of those old talent shows ( was it Ted Mack’s amateur hour?) See what you think.

Before the performances began, we got to drink wine and watch the sky change colors.

Pretty magnificent, wouldn’t you say?

On our last day, our group visited two villages alongside the river, waving to villagers along the way.

The experience was similar to what OAT calls “A Day in the Life”, where we visited two farming families, viewed their home and were invited to participate in activities. Gloria climbed for coconuts,

Susie made coir rope from coconut fiber

Some of us got to play “dress up”

Pam and Jeff were dressed as a farming couple, Pat, Bill and I were getting married. Hey, back in the day, men could have multiple wives. At least Pat and I get along well!

Only three days left on the trip, all of which will be spent in Mumbai/Bombay, before our long flight home.