Kerala

Kerala translates to "God's Own Country" and I have to agree. It really felt like an entirely different country than India. It was seriously beautiful. See all the pictures!

We arrived in Cochin on Friday night and drove into town. Since we were getting up and leaving at 6:30 in the morning, we decided to take it easy and went out for dinner & some beers. Then, like the grandmas we were on this trip, we went to bed early. In the morning we woke up early to give elephants bathes at this training center. I LOVE elephants!

Munnar
Munnar got hyped up a bit from friends who have been, but it surpassed the hype. It was one of the most beautiful and unique mountain areas I’ve ever seen. Munnar is all about tea plantations so when we arrived, we had some fresh squeezed tree tomato juice (kinda tastes like strawberry/banana) then went to learn the history of the tea plantations & how they make tea. Interestingly enough, black tea is made from green tea but oxidized more – who knew?! After some quality tea time, we went to a spice market and bought fresh spices for about 50 cents per bag. Pretty sure I would have paid $5 in the states. Then our homestay dad (Anil) took us a for a hike through the tea plantations, which was breathtaking.

Day 2 consisted of driving around the beautiful mountains and soaking it all in. About 30 min in, I had to go to the bathroom so we stopped at some random restaurant that was filled with 20-something boys. As soon as we walked in, about 40 eyes were on us. Then they crowded us in the sink area to get pictures with us. We literally had to push our way out of the crowd. We were also wondering where the hell are all of the women?! Oh India… As for the views, I think the pictures speak for themselves. Not gonna lie though, driving 5 hours through windy roads with crazy Indian drivers…we were happy to get out of the car.

And since it was Holi in India, we had to partake in the festivities. Even though Munnar is mainly catholic and they don’t really celebrate, we brought the party with us. Pretty sure everyone thought we were crazy running around the yard throwing colors :)

At night we went to see a traditional martial arts show, which was totally nuts and awesome. Of course, we had to go in the ring and try some fighting ourselves – Elisabeth looks so angry!

In Munnar, we stayed at a homestay with the owners Anil & Jeeva, who were amazing! We got delicious home cooked meals and got a little cooking lesson from Jeeva. And the fresh fruit was also a highlight (yum passion fruit!).

Houseboating on the backwaters in Allepey
Houseboating got a lot of hype, but it’s all true. It was pretty much the perfect day: gorgeous views, afternoon drinking & card games, nap, some laughs and of course huge amounts of food. When we docked for the night, a few boys took us out on a canoe to watch the sunset then we went through these narrow canals and saw all of the families out. The highlight of the night was the lake prawns that we bought from a little market that were GIANT and blue. The chefs on the boat made the most delicious prawns I’ve ever had…pretty sure I could have eaten 5 of those bad boys.

The whole experience was amazing and it was pretty crazy to see how much of their lives revolve around the backwaters. We saw people doing everything in the water: washing clothes & dishes, showering, drinking water, swimming, fishing, etc. The entire town was out on the edge of the water…pretty cool.

Varkala
Varkala was beautiful and uber relaxing, which is just what we needed. We basically, sat on the beach all day, read, and ate yummy fresh seafood. Perfect.

The one big outing that Rachael and I did do was to get an Ayuvedic massage, which is a Kerala specialty. We got a recommendation from the hotel owner and got picked up by a rickshaw to take us to the massage parlor that also doubled as a poorly lit, slightly dingy home. On to the massage – if you don’t want to get up close and personal with me, you should stop reading now 

I went into my massage room, which was decorated with a vinyl table and a step stool. There were some ants on the floor keeping me company & of course the window to the backyard was open so anyone could walk by and see me. I was immediately instructed to strip (while the masseuse stood there) and then told to sit on the stool that had a questionable cloth over it. So there I was sitting butt naked on a tiny stool with a random woman “rubbing” oil in my hair. Her head massage was a bit more like a giant noogie. Then I was told to lay on the vinyl table (no sheets mind you) while she poured oil over me and vigorously, I repeat vigorously rubbed everywhere… When I had to flip over, I thought I was going slid off of the table, no joke. When it was all over, I was told to enter the adjoining bathroom and sit on yet another step stool. Then the masseuse proceeded to bathe me…oh yes, you heard right. By that time, I had given in to the experience as was just going with the flow.

After the massage, I walked outside and saw Rachael. We immediately burst out laughing and knew we both had the same interesting experience. Definitely something I won’t forget. As we left, I gave the masseuse a nice tip – not because I enjoyed the massage, but because anyone who bathes me, deserves a solid tip.

The Trip Overall (pictures here)
Overall, we had an amazing time. I haven’t laughed that much or hard in a long time. It was also the perfect relaxing trip and just what I needed.

We also discovered something called Laugh Yoga, which is pretty much the most amazing thing ever. Rachael was cracking us up with her version of laugh yoga the entire time...love it.

Our driver - Mr. Das
Oh Mr. Das was an interesting character. Within minutes of us meeting him, we learned that he was a bit of a Debbie Downer. Here is a select few of our conversations:
Das: It’s my grandma’s birthday.
Us: How great!
Das: She died last year (and indicated died with a squashed bug noise).

Das: My mom lives in NYC (where Rachael lives)
Rachael: Have you ever been there to visit?
Das: No, I hate my father-in-law.

Das: Do you like motorcycles?
Me: Yes – they’re so fun to ride!
Das: I got in an accident a few years ago and cut open my head.

We also learned that Mr. Das has 3 girlfriends that don’t know about each other which helps explain why his phone is constantly blowing up. But don’t worry - he keeps them all straight with separate, but equally annoying ringtones.