Our holiday!

All baggage accounted for?!
On arrival at Cochin airport. A bit travel weary (Freya) but very ready for our 12 day holiday in Kerala (South India). Described by the Kerala tourist board as 'God's Own Country' it's not hard to see why. A real breath of fresh air (literally, in comparison to the smog and smells of Mumbai) with beautiful beaches, hills and backwaters.

'Trolley Dolly' of the sweetest kind! Happy to be pushed around by the very attentive (to the children at least) airport staff while we negotiated taxis and the like.

Excess baggage

Thankfully they allowed us a little bit of excess baggage on the plane...
... for the kids!

First stop Anne's Residence

This lovely hotel was our first home in Kerala. Jo's mum is Anne, and it is also Freya's middle name. This place was a lovely family home with 11 or so rooms to rent. It was spottlessly clean, and had lovely staff and grounds.


Freya was just starting to take a few steps (just before her 1st birthday), and quite enjoyed walking 'in the grounds' (a small lawn, but beautifully manicured!).

Out of bounds

I thought that this internet cafe was great. A real fusion of old and new(ish)! However internet cafes were out of bounds for the duration of our holiday. This sign particularly struck a chord with me as we've had a friend staying with us recently who lived in France for a while. She studied French and Linguistics at Uni, and is now in Mumbai doing voluntary work for a woman's charity for 6 months.

Speaking of French, I did standard grade (oh, the heady heights of standard grade French!?), and used to still remember a fair bit. However I have found that since I have been learning Hindi, it is almost as if my French has been pushed backwards into my sub-concious, and I am not able to access the information any more. We met quite a few French tourists in Kerala (randomly I think, as I don't think there is any special connection between France and Kerala), and when I tried to speak a little French, I found Hindi coming out!

Unfortunately all our language learning was worthless in Kerala, as the locals don't speak Hindi. I realised that I actually use Hindi a lot in Mumbai, and more than that, I like the fact that when I'm out and about it makes me seem in a different league to the commoner garden white person here (otherwise known as a tourist). Without being able to communicate with the locals on holiday, I felt stripped of something. More than that, when I use Hindi in Mumbai, people respond to me differently. There is a warmth and acceptance, and it's easier to barter as well!! Without Hindi, In Kerala I was viewed by the locals as just another white person with a fat wallet, and maybe that's what I was...
... for a while...

Chinese fishing nets

One of the ways to catch fish is to use a small hand-held net and scoop up fish in it. Well...
... if this works on a small scale, then why not magnify the process and produce a 40 foot square net and scoop up a few more fish? This whole contraption is on a large cantilever, and is lowered and raised into and out-of the water to catch a depressingly meager number of small fish. The nets are beautiful though.

Have a little fishy...

...On a little dishy, have a little fishy when the boats come in!

Kerala is well known for it's seafood, and we ate a lot of fish on our holiday. It was particularly nice to be able to buy freshly cought prawns and snapper from the market and have it cooked to our liking in a shack just off the beach.

We had actually been warned by our hotel that the hygiene of these establishments can be a bit questionable- however we decided to chance it for the experience. After all, we're not tourists! We're hardened locals!!?

Wildlife of Fort Cochin

(and the goats!!)

Alistair really loved the freedom of being able to walk about a lot on holiday and explore the locale. Clearly something the goats here also appreciate!?

public bus service

buses in India can be a cramped and unsafe nightmare. A friend said that the trains in Mumbai were the best all-over-body massage, and the buses can be similarly cramped. However we found the bus from Cochin to Kollum very pleasant, and we even got space to spread out and have a snooze! A taxi would have cost 30 times more and been a bit more cramped, so I think we made the right decision here!

KTDC Yatri Nivas

In Kollum we stayed in a rather run-down hotel owned and managed by the "Kerala Tourist Development Center". It was a place with great potential, but had not been well maintained. Our room was a bit shabby and "dysfunctional" (as described by the lonely planet! i.e. nothing works!!). I gave them a list of about 10 things wrong with our room when we left. They say that renovations would be starting later in the year. After these are completed I would recommend staying there, as the rooms all have a small south facing balcony, and the situation was really superb looking out over the lake and town. It also has a very well kept lawn out front, which was great for the kids.

Daily life on the Munroe Island canals

One of the "must do" things to do in Kerala is a tour by boat of the backwaters. These are a series of canals, rivers and lakes that are fairly expansive and very beautiful. We really loved the "munro Island" tour operated by KTDC. It was also called "an excellent tour of this variety" by the lonely planet guide.

Collecting sand. Men work in pairs, one collects sand from the canal bed in a basket while the other waits at the surface. Presumably they take it in turns to do the hard graft?! See how low these boats are lying in the water compared to the picture below. We saw men having to 'bail out' when their boats got too laden with sand.

Fishermen. Here the canals open into the vast Ashtamudi lake. Floating across this expanse of water was one of the most peaceful experiences I've had, even with 2 small children onboard and 8 or so other travellers.

An alternative way to have the "backwater experience" is to go on one of these beautiful houseboats, but the cost is 10 times more (around 100 pounds). Also the trips are longer, and we thought not so appropriate for the kids.

I've got a luv-er-ly bunch of coconuts!

On one of the stops on our boat trip we watched a man preparing 100's of coconuts. Every part of a coconut is used; for cooking, eating, drinking, making utensils and cups, coir-making and even boat building! (see below)

I was very proud of Alistair who was the first in the group to try the coconut water. He loved it and had several!

On the boat trips we were able to observe village life and crafts. These folk are so skilled. Here the ladies are 'coir' making. The coir fibre is made out of the outer part of coconuts which is soaked and beaten into individual fibres, then dried in the sun. This is then spun into individual thin ropes, and then 2 of these are spun together to make a stronger rope. It was a very impressive and slick process, and good to watch.

These men are building a 'kettuvallam' or rice barge. It takes a team of men 2 1/2 months to build one boat which is then sold for approximately 1000 pounds. The boat is STITCHED together with coconut fibre (Coconuts are well used!). Quite a skill.

Wild Palms, Trivandrum

Breakfast time! This was the third place we stayed in. A friendly 'homestay' which was very welcoming to the kids - as were all of the hotels. Mealtimes were around one big dining table with the other guests which was really friendly and made for interesting conversation. Bizarrely the dining chairs, which you can just see, were inspired by Charles Rennie MacIntosh!

Fancy a ride?!

Some of the attractions at Veli Tourist Park... Not sure who enjoyed it the most!

Neyyar Dam and Wildlife Sanctuary

We spent a nice (hot) day here. Freya was quite taken with the elephants and even sat on one! Alistair wasn't so sure but enjoyed the crocodiles and lions. To be honest the animals were a bit miserable looking. Their compounds weren't very nice which, given the rest of the surroundings was a shame, but it was good for the kids to see and we enjoyed a bit of a walk and a short boat trip.

This is the life!

This was the last place we stayed in, just north of Trivandrum (for those who are checking the map!). A real paradise. So peaceful, right on the beach and undiscovered by tourists, other than the 10 or so that were also staying here.

'Wild Palms On Sea' (sounds more like it should be in Blackpool?!) is only about a year old. Owned by the same family as the previous hotel we stayed in. Really nice. Quiet and quite personal.

I managed to grab some alone time here which was fantastic. I even read a book (!) and enjoyed swimming in the Arabian sea when I got too hot. Alistair was entertained much of the time by 2 French boys that took him under his wing. He's quite independent and would disappear with them for hours on end which was great!