A journey through "God's Own Country" - Kerala and Tamil Nadu, India

First of all, let me just say that nothing I can say about India will do it justice. I had heard a lot about this place - have a good number of friends that are totally in love with the sub-continent - but really had no idea what to expect upon arriving. In short, it is a sensory feast (almost overload, but not quite). There are people everywhere dressed in colorful clothing walking amidst colorful shops and buildings, flowers and trees, with a background of car horns, engines, voices, birds, and more. Add in the smells of people, foods, and garbage, plus the feeling of heat and humidity, and you have my sensory interpretation of India thus far. I really like it.

I arrived in Kolkata (Calcutta) at 2AM Thurs, March 24. After doing some necessary kurta shopping, meeting Kari's roommates, spending a day at her work, and packing, we left Saturday EARLY morning to fly to Trivandrum, the capital of Kerala, the most southwestern state of India. We stayed the first day with the parents of a Kolkata friend. We were overfed, given necessary trip advice, and shown around the capital. Additionally, we got to visit a home for men with mental and physical disabilities. While patient care was not up to US standards by any means, the almost 80 men in the home were so incredibly joyful and caring to one another. They sang us songs, we sang them songs and gave them candy, and then we spend an hour or so attempting to communicate and laughing a lot with the men.

The next day, after another very large breakfast, we piled in an auto rickshaw (the transportation method of choice for the trip - made a bit more exciting by packing 4-5 people with luggage into the back seat) and then jumped on a train to Varkala, a beach town situated on a cliff overlooking the Malabar coast of the Indian Ocean. For two days we ate Keralan food, wandered through shops, and relaxed on the beach (plus, played lots of Scrabble, Scrabble related games).







After Varkala, we took a 2-hour car ride to Keralan Backwaters, where we enjoyed an afternoon houseboat ride.





A rainsoaked bus ride landed us in Kochi, where we spent the next day wandering around the city and eating good food (again... I hope you recognize this trend). We got an auto rickshaw tour from a friendly guy named Sunny, hung out at the water and helped some pirates operate their Chinese fishing net (definitely pirates because they were consuming significant quantities of rum...), and watched the first half of the India-Pakistan World Cup cricket match before taking an auto first to the wrong train station and then to the right one and boarding an overnight train for Chennai.





We arrived in Chennai at 7 AM and headed to the Chennai office of IJM (International Justice Mission), where some very hospitable interns got us settled in and fed before we joined them for devotions at the office. If you don't know about IJM, check out the ministry here. We spent the rest of the day wandering around Chennai and catching up on some rest before taking another train - this time a 6:30 AM train - to Pondicherry, a French colony on the coast of Tamil Nadu (on the Bay of Bengal).

My interest in Pondicherry came primarily from teaching the novel Life of Pi, by Yann Martel, which begins in Pondicherry. If you haven't read it, do it. I love it. After checking into our $10 guest house (that's right - 4 people for $10), we set off on an ambitious day's itinerary: meander, eat lunch, meander, cafe, meander, cafe, meander, dinner, meander, dessert, meander, bed.

The french influence was especially apparent in the names of restaurants and cafes. We had lunch at Le Club, went to Le Cafe for chilled coffee drinks on the beach, and ended up at Rendezvous for dinner. When not eating or drinking caffeine, we saw some beautiful european-influenced architecture, lots of pretty flowers, and some interesting animals (including an elephant that gives blessings).







An added bonus was the martial arts performance we stumbled upon. Nothing quite as entertaining as small children wielding large sticks, ribbons, and fire.



On Saturday morning, we hopped on a bus to Ideal Beach, a resort south of Chennai. Look at the picture and judge for yourself:


And Saturday night we got to witness India winning the Cricket World Cup and the celebrations that ensued. Go, India! (I don't have footage of the celebrations, but hopefully I will get some photos from John, a fellow traveler).

We ended our trip with church on Sunday and a trip to Marina Beach, where apparently all the native Chennians (I made that up) hang out on Sunday afternoons. It was a very cool sight.



Now it's time to explore Kolkata, something I'm quite eager to do. Only 17 days left on this adventure... that's VERY hard to believe!