Here is the first update from our last week of holiday in the southwest of India.Kochi, Kerala - Cherai Beach
We sprang out of bed in the dark to get to the airport to catch our 7:50am flight to the state of Kerala located on the southwest coast of India. This will be our first trip ‘on our own’ since we have been in India, so we are very excited to see how we do. We boarded our Air India flight, a 747-400, for the short 1 hr. 20 min. flight to Kochi, Kerala. The huge airplane had just come from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and had dropped everyone off in Hyderabad. We flew to Kerala with only 19 people on that double-decker monster of an airplane. We could sit wherever we wanted. Rowan and I sat and talked to a couple of flight attendants the whole flight and learned a lot about Kerala State. As we flew, we noticed how the terrain was changing into a tropical paradise. Coconut palm and banana trees now dominated the landscape in a sea of green. Our excitement grew as the plane prepared to land. The humidity hit us like a truck as we exited the plane and in 5 minutes we were sweating like pigs; a welcome environment after the very dry, dirty and brown streets of Hyderabad. Maybe I’ll be lucky to get some moisture back in my old dry wrinkly skin! Our driver (yes, we have them everywhere we go!) was there holding a sign for us and scooped us up to take us off to our first stop, the Cherai Beach Resort (for 3 days). The journey to the resort took us south about 1.5 hours through lush, green, water-filled landscapes. The resort is located absolutely in the middle of nowhere (exactly what we prefer) on a long jetty that is surrounded by the Arabian Sea on one side, and salt water lagoons on the other (they are known as ‘the backwaters’). There is a tiny, tiny village just a short walk from the resort with a number of small local restaurants and shops; otherwise fishermen and their families occupy all the surrounding structures. Here are some photos of the resort and a video of the surrounding village:
The resort entrance
The resorts natural salt water lagoon. The water is filled with tropical fish that swim in from the backwaters. Since this is salt water, there are no mosquito's to eat Rowan alive. Whew!
The village
We checked in and were shown to our bungalow where we wasted no time unpacking and getting into our beach gear for a walk on the beach.
Our bungalow
The shower is half indoors and half outdoors
The backyard that faces the Backwaters. Our Bungalow is in a new area of the resort just finished in December, hence the vegetation is still re-developing.
Our back porch
Our back porch view of some Backwaters fishermen throwing out their nets.
We just couldn't wait to see the Arabian Sea and stick our toes in the 78-degree water. As we hit the beach we noticed the resort is occupied primarily by Europeans (German, Swiss, French, Brits) and a few Indians. It seems that many American tourists are not traveling to these parts these days (I seem to be the only American here). I believe this is driven by fear; too bad because since I have been here, I haven’t felt afraid of anything (except maybe Shrikant when he is flashing his neon blue eyes at me :o)
After our walk on the beach we had an afternoon nap and then had a wonderful sit on our back porch facing the backwaters. We watched the birds and fishermen and had a nice cold Kingfisher beer (we could sure get used to this!). We then went out to the beach and walked up to the public beach area where busloads of children had come to play in the surf and watch the sunset. The children were so excited to talk to us, ask where we were from and exchange names with us.
The public beach
Can you find Jenni in the photo?
It is so neat to talk to the kids here in India. They are all so smart, engaging and curious. We now know we will be coming down to the public beach every evening to talk to the local people. Much more interesting than talking with all the European white people!
As the sun started to set on the Arabian Sea, we had to pinch ourselves to make sure we were really here seeing all of this in such an enchanting, far away place.
Now to food........Tonight’s dinner was a highly anticipated event since we are on the Sea and will have a cornucopia of fresh fish to choose from (the food in Kerala is prepared in a much different way than up north in Hyderabad as they have different ingredients here). We could see the smoke rising from the outdoor grill from our back porch so we wasted no time getting over there. I had the mixed seafood grill (scampi, squid, king fish and shrimp) and Rowan had the mixed grilled veg & fruit platter. One word – HEAVEN! Food coma #3!!! It did not take long for our heads to hit the pillows once we were back at the bungalow.
