Keralan Coast

Every once and awhile there arises that need for, well, a vacation! Luckily for me, being on India time and all, after five long months of break-free school time, I have a nice long six weeks to sit back relax and finally travel. So far, I’ve had the pleasure of visiting a few places along the Indian West coast in the state of Kerala. Think hot, jungly climate, friendly and often too friendly people, sprinkled with a white sandy beach. Oh yeah, and yummy black coffee too!

Being in Varkala, for the first time in a long while, I felt peace. There are no car horns constantly beeping the Airtel cell-phone tune and people actually say hello. Not the, “Yes, hello Madam, would you like to come into my shop, looking free, buying no problem?!”, but the smiley kind only beach life can conjure up with an actual, “good morning.” The Arabian Sea is beautiful and life seems pretty easy there.

Moving upward along the coast to Kollam only to catch a ferry onto Kerala’s bread and butter: the backwaters. On this amazingly beautiful (sorry, no other way to describe it), I finally got to see the Romantic version of tropical India. And yes, it’s as good as it seems. Slowly skimming along the water that houses fish, ducks, watery plants, and the local community, you can feel the immense power water has over our lives. Seeing people bathe and brush their teeth in water that most people would never even dare to dip their little toe into is something that will always continue to astound me. After getting to Allepey on the ferry, not having had quite enough of the backwaters yet, the tourist route led me to spend a night on a houseboat. Again, all at once utterly peaceful and astoundingly beautiful, I am beginning to see why Kerala has been dubbed “God’s own country”.

After fighting past persistent small stout elderly Indian women to get on another ferry in the scorching city of Ernakulum, I now find myself on the little island of Fort Cochin. Full of Portugese and Dutch influences alike, I can’t help feeling like I’m in a little country town in Europe. This is actually almost disconcerting. Yet, the subtle reminders in the forms of overly friendly shopkeepers, unforgiving rickshaw-walas, and the occasional cow peeing in the middle of an intersection keep me in check. Thus, for now, I think I’ll just enjoy celebrating the Dutch holiday Sinterklaas in a formerly Dutch colony while nibbling on some yummy Western food.

It’s funny though how despite almost racing down the mountain at the sound of the last school bell just seven days ago, as soon as you’ve felt the harsh coastal rays for even just a few hours, you’re almost ready to climb back up those hills even for just a quick breath of cool fresh air. However, having been down elevation-wise for even just a short week, I have noticed the effect seeing the sea has on the spirit. Whether it awakens or extinguishes it I’m not quite sure, but the leisurely West coast feeling definitely sweats itself under your skin. I guess for now I’ll just keep on soaking it all in.