and into the heart of Kerala

I’d read several reports that Alleppey should be avoided as it is now so over-touristed and so no longer offers the quiet, peaceful backwater experience.  But it was rather easier to get to than the alternatives, and I’d had a hostel recommended to me, so I went anyway.  & then extended my planned five-day stay to ten, as it was such an easy, relaxing place to be!

Yes, it helped that my little hostel on the beach cost me just £2 a night, that the owner was a lovely man who ran great kayaking tours through the backwaters, and that a number of nice and interesting people stayed whilst I was there – but Alleppey was a really nice place.  It has miles of beach to walk along, fishermen to watch, a good mix of local and comforting Western food, and those beautiful backwaters.  Not to mention an outdoor Olympic-sized swimming pool which I intended to utilise but somehow never found time to.  I watched birds, saw sunrises and sunsets, spent days in conversation with fellow travellers, joined two French ladies for a visit to a bird sanctuary (where we saw monitor lizards and tortoises, but no birds!), and took a few trips along the backwaters.  The picture to the left does show other boats, sure … but that wouldn’t fit my definition of overcrowded.

From there I moved on to Varkala.  Much more touristy, with a cliff-top walk full of cafes and restaurants selling Western food, but as a chilli-hater I’m never going to complain about that!  It also has a couple of really nice beach areas (picture above) and an interesting beach section where long-haired gurus have set up their stalls to say prayers and offer blessings (for a fixed donation) – you can watch this discreetly but photos are frowned upon.

From there I continued to Trivandrum, a city with an impressive museum complex and a number of very colourful temples – not to mention a few mosques and churches, often with the three almost next-door to eachother.  Despite what we hear on the news about religious conflict in India, all that I saw in my two months there was an inspiring degree of religious tolerance.  Indeed, the pantheon of deities in Hinduism is so enormous that they seem to easily incorporate the Buddha, Confucious and the concept of ancestor worship, and I wouldn’t be totally surprised to come across a statue of the Virgin Mary in a Hindu temple somewhere.  My favourite though remains Hanuman, the monkey god.

& finally (for this particular India visit) a 10p train ride took me from Trivandrum to Madurai, another city.   Madurai has some great temples (although most do not allow entry to non-Hindus) as well as the remains of the rather impressive and ornate17th century Thirumalainaick Palace.  My final picture here is looking up at of one of its fantastic ceilings.

Madurai did offer one rather interesting experience.  I'd been woken very early in the morning by loud temple-style music playing from nearby, and when this was still blasting out some eight hours later I decided to investigate ... maybe it was an interesting festival, with elephants, etc?  Walking in the direction of the music, I encountered a group of men on the street, who (as is so common here) wanted to know where I'm from, etc.  This gave me the opportunity to ask about the music, and one man offered to take me to its source.  This was just a couple of streets away, with a crowd of sombre-looking people standing under a large canopy.  My 'guide' walked me through the crowd, and between two tearful young boys I found myself looking (through glass) down onto the face of a dead man.  It was a funeral.