LARGELY BY GOOD fortune- trying to avoid monsoons- Kerala was the last part of our three month travel through the south. Just as well! Kerala is where you go to get away from India. It really is more relaxed and easier on the stress-receptors than other parts. The food is great. The scenery, too. The people are laid back, and after two months of solid travel, this was just what we needed.
With a country as large and diverse as India, it is dangerous to make statements like "this is the most scenic part of the country."
But. We did see some particularly scenic vistas in Kerala.
After the heat of Tamil Nadu and temple/monument fatigue setting in, we first tasted Kerala in its less famous northern backwaters near Kunnar.
Over 600km long, merely 100km wide, while encompassing much of the Western Ghats, Kerala is rightly famed for its waters.
Kovallam, Varkalla, Kollam are just some of the many beach resort towns. Valiyaparamba here is just another anonymous strip of golden sand flanked by palm trees.
We popped in there after putting up the backwaters on one of the local government ferry services.
It takes an hour or two to get to the ends of the main routes, enough time to get the blood pressure down.
The best known part of Kerala is Kochi, on the Malabar coast, ranked (by someone?) as the 6th best destination in India.
Kochi was an important spice trading centre since antiquity. The port of Muziris traded with the Romans, Persians, Arabs, and Chinese, before the Portugese established a fort in the 1500s.
Many of the historic sites, villas and tourist infrastructure are in Fort Kochi, where the bustling port focuses trade in the area.
On the backwater side of the "peninsula? (is it?) are quieter but equally interesting parts.
There are palaces and temples and old go-downs throughout Mattancherry and its neighbour, Jewtown.
Unlike Fort Kochi, most of the east coast's old trading houses and European-era shopfronts are still pre-renovation.
Some of the trading houses are happy for tourists to poke their nose in.
I personally preferred the quieter, laid back atmosphere of these areas.
The massive cantilevered Chinese fishing nets are one of Kochi's iconic sights. Many are seen among the coast at Fort Kochi.
We also saw them north of Kochi in the Kadamakkudy backwaters, which we visited by bus.
Just 60km to the south, wedged in between the ocean and a large lake, Alleppey shouldn't be missed.
There are probably better beaches a little way out of town than this, but Alleppey is all about the backwaters.
One popular way to experience Alleppey is by chartered house boat, which take guests out onto the lake and up the backwaters.
There are plenty of hotels on dry land, too, and to be honest, packing and unpacking for one night seemed like a pain in the arse.
Our hotel was set among the trees on the waterfront, and allowed us to watch the boats of all size and shape come and go.
We also took a Kerala State ferry a few hours inland, watching the people and goods dropping in along the way.
It looked like the houseboats only went a fraction of the distance that ferries do.
At the terminus port, we took lunch in full sight of the boat, and jumped back on for the return journey. All for a couple of bucks!
Even more relaxing though was tiny Monroe Island, a little further south. Here, village life is quiet, slow and traditional. Fish farming, copra and coir and small scale farming dominate.
There's not much to do besides rent a rusty bicycle or be poled around the water for a few hours.
Our guesthouse was bordered by fields and water, had a hammock and a kitchen. After 3 months in India, this was exactly my cup of tea.