My sister Amanda was volunteering at an orphanage in Jaipur, India, and at the end of her volunteering, wanted a travel partner for a week. I decided, well, it may be a bit crazy to fly halfway around the world for a 10 day vacation (Oct. 14-23), but hey, why not. I really enjoyed my trip to India for Ian's wedding in April, and Amanda was doing all the planning. She wanted to visit Kerala, in the South West tip of India. It turns out Kerala is an amazing and relaxing place that totally re-energized me. Maybe it was the company, the scenery, or the 5 massages, but whatever it was, it was amazing trip.
Arrive in Cochin
My friend Phoebe drove me to Boston, Logan Airport on Thursday night, for my Swiss Air flight to Mumbi (Bombay), connecting in Zurich. Once I arrived in Bombay, I went through customs and then needed to find the Air India gate for my 1AM Saturday morning flight to Cochin (Kochi). It was 10PM on Friday night, and I was a bit confused. There were no clear signs for the transit passengers, and everyone kept telling me to leave the airport then reenter.
As I wandered around, someone told me to take a cab to the domestic airport, so I did. Well, it turns out the domestic airport is ONLY for Jet Airways, and my connection was at the second floor of where I arrived. I then took my cab back 5km though a busy noisy Bombay airport area to my original terminal. It was only a $6 adventure, and I thought it was actually a fun beginning to my travels, since it ended well. Once at the right terminal, I checked in, and then got on my plane, landing in Cochin at 4AM. The Cochin airport is awesome and it turns out it is so much nicer then other Indian airports because it is privately owned.
As I left the airport, there was a man with a sign MR. Karna (Amanda). It was for me. The greeter and my driver took my bag and drove me to the hotel, were I was able to check in and sleep for the entire day, since my sister was not arriving until 4PM. Amanda had found "The Travel Planners"” who had planned our trip in Kerala, making all the hotel reservations and getting us a driver. Now, it is possible to do this all yourself, but the reasonable money we spent was so very worth it to just not worry or think about how we would be able to see and do the many great things in Kerala.Amanda arrived at 4PM and took a much needed nice shower, before we got some dinner and then went to sleep. Our adventure was just beginning.
Drive from Cochin to Munnar
After breakfast the next morning, our driver Suresh, took us on a mini-tour of Cochin. We saw the Mattenchery Palace (with lovely murals of the Ramayana), the Jewish Synagogue area, the Chinese Fishing Nets. The fishing nets, as the rose and fell were really lovely. We did not want to spend too much time in the city, so soon headed up on the 4 hour drive to Munnar.
The drive to Munnar, in our Ambassador was beautiful, with waterfalls and hills with clouds nestled between them, but with a horrible potholed rode. Our driver was very good at maneuvering around the road to give us an easier trip. He also stopped whenever we expressed interest at looking at anything, which was nice.
Once we arrived in Munnar, we checked into our deluxe suite at the Munnar Woods and then headed to town. Lonely Planet was right, it was a very busy/dirty town, but luckily our hotel was before town, nestled in the hillside with views of the valley and the Tata tea trees. We then both got Ayurvedic massages, before bed.Munnar
The next morning our driver took us to Eravikulam National Park where we caught a park bus up to the top area, where there was a view of valley as fog started to roll in. During the drive up and during our walk in the park we saw the Nilgiri Tahrs, the local kind of mountain goat. We also had amazing timing as we were their for the tail end of the blooming of the Kurichi or Neelakurinji Flowers, which turn the hills blue every 12 years. The next time these flowers will bloom is in 2018, talk about amazing timing! When we returned to the ranger station we bought a cut up pineapple from a roadside vendor, as a treat.
After our time in Eravikulam, we drove over to the Muttupetty Dam. At the dam we got into a speedboat, like all of the local tourists, and were given a fast ride around the lake. Halfway around, we were excited to see 3 elephants! They were just to the side of the lake, eating in the trees. 
Amanda was super excited to see elephants in the wild, because while she had ridden one it the north, it is just not the same as seeing them in the wild. After our speedboat ride, we got some local corn from a roadside vendor and then headed over to echo point, where we heard the echo, then bought some local tea and chocolate.
After our Muttupetty adventures, we had a lunch buffet and then headed out to a tea processing plant. On the way there, we realized Amanda forgot her glasses at lunch, so we had to return, and luckily there were waiting for her to come back to pick up the glasses. After a view of the valley and a close up look at the tea trees (I think they are really shrubs), we went back to our room with its view for the evening rain, and headed to bed.Drive from Munnar to Thekkady
The next morning it was time for another 4 hour drive along the mountain side to Thekkady the gateway to the Periyar Tiger Reserve. It was another beautiful drive, with lush tropical valleys, tea trees, and waterfalls. During the first part of the drive, the children were heading to school, so from town to town we got to see the different colors of the school uniforms. It turns out Kerala has one of the highest literacy rates in all of India, 100% in some counties.
In Thekkady, we went on a Spice Tour, since this was the land of spices, and saw where just about everything came from. Our spice place was mainly a Cardamom grower, with lots of tall Cardamom trees. After our spice tour we headed into the Periyar Tiger Reserve for a boat trip around the lake. While we were waiting for the boat, we saw several monkeys, and took lots of pictures of them. 
The boat ride was a very peaceful view of the landscape, showing us more of what Peiyar looked like, along with a variety of animals, dear, bison, and wild boar. After the boat ride, we signed up for a Hiking and Bamboo Rafting Trek for the next day.That night we tried another Aruvedic massage and steam bath. It was a quite lovely end to the long day.
Periyar Tiger Reserve
Today we got up at 7AM and headed into the park for our bamboo rafting and trek. At Periyar station, we met up with a family of 3 from Bombay, a family of 3 from Canada, and a doctor from Ireland. We then met our guides -– 4 local men, and our guard, with his big gun. The guides had us put on foot/leg coverings to help protect us from leeches, since it rains every day and this brings out the leeches. Once we were all geared up, we headed out.
First we went on small bamboo rafts across the water to a landmass. This is where the trek began. We walked though the woods, seeing the plants from the spice garden in nature. I asked the guard about his gun, and he said he had only used it once, and only shot up in the air to scare off some animals. The trek was along muddy lanes that had many leeches. They crawled all over out shoes. We came to some clearings and then had tea. The great thing about Kerala is how everyone always wants to feed you, and such yummy local food.
After our snack we got on the bamboo rafts, paddled a bit and just enjoyed the peaceful scenery. People call Kerala, God's Country, and sitting on the water paddling away, I think that is a good name for this place. We went on another short trek, saw some animals in the distance and then sat down for a major meal. Then it was back to the rafts and the trek home.
At the end of the day, our driver was waiting for us. We headed back to the hotel, stopping off for some shopping. While were stopped, I squealed, LEECH. It turns out one of the leeched had attached itself to my back. Now at least the leeches were small, but still, this one was engorged on blood and gross. The driver lit some matched to get the leech to disengage, and then Amanda scooped it up and threw it out. No more leeches for me.After the long day, we headed back to the hotel to sleep.
House Boat
The next morning it was yet another 4 hour drive to Kumarakom. It was a lovely drive down the mountains to the river ways of Kerala. Sadly, we had to say goodbye to our awesome driver and the Ambassador, as we got on our houseboat - called a Kettuvallam, for a day on the backwaters, Kerala style.
The backwaters are just so peaceful. People seem to live on small sandbars between open water, where there is fishing and rice growing. At our lunch stop, we went for a walk along one of the sandbars to a Tiger Prawn shop, and bought some very fresh prawns for our dinner.
We continued to float around the backwaters for the rest of the day. We got off the boat a few times, to stroll through towns and enjoy the backwaters, but mostly we just boated around. Different from the hills, there was a real serenity here on the water, which I loved. That evening we had a beautiful sunset and then we docked for the night. That night it was under the mosquito nets for sleep on the water.Drive to Kovalam
We had breakfast on the boat and then a leisurely morning ride through the backwaters. It was just lovely. Around 9, our time on the houseboat came to an end, and we left for Kovalam.Yes, it was another 4 hour ride -– this time on better roads, but not with Suresh, the awesome driver. The new driver took us into Trivadurm, where we went to a local market for rice and spices and other packaged souvenirs. After a brief tourist stop, we headed down to Kovalam and our hotel, the Uday Samudra
That evening I got a Podikizhi (I call it the tea ball massage), which I thought was wonderful. There were two ladies doing the massage, and they just made me smile and relax. It is so nice to just relax and feel like the weight of everything slipping away to nothing. After the massage, Amanda and I got some food, and listened to the waves before heading to bed.Kovalam Beach Day
We spent the morning watching the fisherman bring in their nets and hanging by the pool. It was really the first morning we did not have to go somewhere or sit in a car. It was nice to have a quite start to the day.
During the mid-day rain we got Podikizhi massages and then headed over to Lighthouse beach for some lunch at Fusion. The lighthouse beach was bigger then ours and at it I got a chance to swim in the Arabian Sea.Back at the hotel we enjoyed an amazing buffet dinner, while listening to a local band and enjoying the start of Diwaili fireworks.
Bombay
After a morning by the pool, we headed out to the Trivandrum (the capitol of Kerala) airport for our flight to Bombay. It was a nice flight on Jet Airways (now my favorite of the internal India airlines). 
During the week, Amanda and I had been reading Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts, about Bombay and the Bombay mafia. It was cool to now get to see the city that we had read about. Upon arrival we took a local cab to our hotel, the Taj President, and after checking in, wandered around the city a bit. We saw the India Gate, where I bought awesome samosos from a local sidewalk vendor. We then went to the bar Leopold's that was featured in the book. It was nice to see some of the places from the story -– making it feel real. We then headed back to the hotel, so I could get ready, since my flight was leaving Bombay at 1 AM. Amanda flight was not until 1PM on Monday, so she could spend the night at the hotel.As I left Bombay in my car, we drove along Chowpatty Beach, where locals were setting off many fireworks in celebration of Diwali and the India New Year. It was nice to leave the city and feel like a celebration was going on.
It was a wonderful trip and you can see more pictures here: India Pictures
