Our first stop in the south of India was Kochi, a major port city on the west coast of India in the state of Kerala. We spent the first night at a wonderful bed and breakfast and enjoyed the hospitality of our hosts Diana and Jerry. The next morning we headed south by vehicle to rent a houseboat so we could spend time on what are called the Kerala Backwaters. The Kerala Backwaters are a network of interconnected canals, rivers, lakes and inlets, a labyrinthine system formed by more than 900 km of waterways. This is one of the most popular tourist activities in the region and it is easy to see why. Slowly cruising through these canals is a great way to observe the daily life of those who live here.
We then headed about 250 km north to the state of Tamil Nadu to spend a couple of nights at a jungle resort. The resort is set next to a tiger reserve. We went on a couple of early morning hikes and a late day jeep ride. We saw many wild elephants, monkeys, peacocks, wild boar and deer. While we didn’t see a tiger we could hear them at night. Not seeing one in the day may have been a good thing. You feel much more vulnerable on foot compared to riding in a jeep. That was especially true when we saw a large male elephant the first morning on one of our walks. He was alone and that made our guide a bit nervous as elephants are generally social creatures. In any event, we survived the Indian jungle and made it to our final stop, Ooty, in south India. Ooty is a hill station established by the British so they could escape the summer heat of the plains. This is the area where Char grew up. Today we visited the grave site where her father is buried. He died in a motorcycle accident here in Ooty when Char was 15 years old. We hope to visit some of the surrounding highlights over the next few days before heading back to Mumbai. Check the India page for some recent photos. Comments are closed.
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AuthorIn January, 2012, Curt and Char left their jobs in Canada to spend four months travelling around the world. Archives
May 2012
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