This was a fascinating and exciting trip. Our tour guide, Sam Benjamin, was wonderful. He made the difference between a truly excellent trip and a mediocre one.
No doubt India, especially Southern India, is an appealing place to travel. Our tour took us through a host of places in Kerala and Tamil Nadu. In Cochin, we gained a sense of the people and history of this early port town dating back to at least the 1500’s. The tea plantations of Munnar were interesting. But the temple town of Madurai was fascinating. The tour of the Sri Meenakshi Temple, because it offered and opportunity to both observe and interact with Hindus visiting the temple, allowed me to gain a vivid, experiential sense of the religious passion that drives Hinduism. The bicycle rickshaw between the Thirumalai Nayaka Place and the Temple was quite interesting – allowing me to perceive first-hand the cities’ everyday life and poverty. Johnson, our guide through the temple, was quite knowledgeable.
Thekkady and the Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary were even better. I had my doubts about cooking our own meal under Sheril’s supervision. (Sheril and his wife own a restaurant in Thekkady.) But the meal turned out to be surprisingly good. The hike through the Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary was fantastic. Even though we started early (6:30am) with the hope of seeing the tigers and elephants living there, we did not. But our indigenous guide, Rangu, made our exploration of the Sanctuary exciting, nonetheless. We got a good sense of these animals natural habitats. It was one of my favorite parts of the trip. Our homestay was low key – we stayed in a home built in the 1930’s that contrasted sharply with the hotels we stayed in – and saw Tambi (sp.?), one of the workers at the home, harvest rubber. What was intriguing in our walking tour of the surrounding area was how this rural area was becoming a suburb of newly built cement houses. I counted in the immediate neighborhood six houses built in the last three years. The contrast between the quiet, gentle style of where we stayed and the noisy housewarming celebrations of two neighbors, provided much food for thought about the change going on in this section of Kerala.
The other highlight, besides Periyar, was our overnight stay on a houseboat near Alleppey. The fresh, warm breeze as we slowly wound our way through the backwaters of coastal Kerala very much reminded me of the trade winds in Hawaii. There was gentle, refreshing quality to the whole experience. I loved it.
Not specified in the tour notes but a key part of the trip, was our tour guide taking us over several back roads and stopping so we could see, for example, bricks being made or a trained elephant (waiting to participate in a religious ceremony) and talk to his trainer (or mahout). The stops gave us a very vivid sense of Kerala rural life.
I would also add that our driver, Sandsill (sp?) ably navigated us through the chaos of Indian traffic. Despite the chances many Indians take that would, to a naïve American, likely end in a crash car, I never saw a car accident during our whole trip. Once I got use to the style of Indian driving, I felt quite comfortable and safe with Sandsill. He is a very skilled driver with a talent I quite admire. Watching him “in action” made the time go by quickly.
Our trip ended in Kovalam. A former “hippy colony”, I found Kovalam enjoyable – visiting the beach side shops, restaurants, mosques, churches, and fishing harbor. Even better, was talking to many of the town’s inhabitants. The food, especially the Tandoori dishes and “Sizzlers” provided a relaxed context to reflect on the whole trip.
