The second half of our India tour with Intrepid Travel took us to South India. We traveled from New Delhi to Trivandrum via an IndiGo flight with a connection in Mumbai. Our tour of South India began in Kerala, a state in the southwestern end of the Indian subcontinent known for beautiful beaches and scenic backwaters.
Trivandrum
The South India portion of our tour is actually a separate tour from the one we did in North India so our tour leader and group members changed. After we arrived in Trivandrum and checked into our hotel, we found out that we would have a group of only five travelers in South India, including us and one person we already knew and liked from our tour of North India. Having a small group makes traveling much simpler so we considered ourselves lucky. We only spent one night in Trivandrum where all we really did was go out to eat at a local restaurant where we had one of the largest masala dosas I have ever seen.
Varkala
In the morning we met our group members and then we all went by private car to Varkala, a coastal town with gorgeous cliff beaches, where we stayed two nights. The cliffs above the white sand beaches are lined with quaint restaurants and shops.
The town has a bohemian vibe with its many yoga schools and ayurvedic spas. I attempted an Ashanta Vinyasa yoga class one morning that was a bit above my skill level and resulted in me being quite sore the next day. It was so hot in the outdoor class space that I was dripping in sweat the entire time and my fingers would just slip apart whenever I tried interlocking them. We enjoyed dining at several outdoor restaurants overlooking the beach and swimming in the Arabian Sea to cool off. There were always massive amounts of dragonflies in the air around the beach which made for an unusual sight. There was also a pretty little black sand beach we walked to one afternoon.
Kerala Backwaters
From Varkala we traveled by train to Alleppey where we boarded a houseboat to enjoy an afternoon cruise through the Kerala backwaters, which are a network of brackish lagoons and lakes. Along the way we stopped at a small building on the water where they served the local toddy beverage, which is a popular beverage of fermented sap collected from palm trees. Toddy shops are found all over the Kerala backwaters and they are usually just simple buildings where the drink is served from a plastic pitcher along with some snacks. A whole pitcher of toddy and several plates of snacks cost our group of six the equivalent of about ten US dollars total. The houseboat crew also prepared us a lovely lunch which we enjoyed while cruising through the backwaters enjoying the scenery.
After a few hours of cruising, the houseboat took us to our homestay accommodations, which were located on an island village in the backwaters. The homestay was gorgeous and our comfortable room with a private bathroom overlooked the water. Our gracious host family gave us a tour of their property as well as the surrounding village and rice fields. We were also treated to a pleasant evening canoe ride on the water. Our hosts prepared amazing home cooked meals made with locally grown ingredients for us for dinner and breakfast. We departed the homestay by taking an hour long boat ride through the backwaters back to town.
Kochi
From town we went by private car to the city of Kochi, which is also known as Cochin, where we stayed in a quaint guest house owned by our tour company Intrepid Travel. Kochi is a bustling cosmopolitan port city. We stayed in the Peninsula of Mattencherry and Fort Kochi area, which is the main tourist district. Kochi is a popular cruise ship port which means tons of cruisers make day trips in large groups on most days. We saw many of these groups of people being led around by guides holding up signs for them to follow.
While in Kochi we visited some of the popular sites, including the Chinese Fishing Nets, St. Francis Church, the Dutch Palace, Jew Street, and the Paradesi Synagogue. There are places of worship for many religious faiths in Kochi. We also went to see an interesting traditional Kathakali dance performance, which was performed by males wearing elaborate makeup and costumes while acting out a story through body and eye movements. They were backed by music played by two drummers and symbol player/singer.
Thekkady
We traveled by van from Kochi to Thekkady near the Periyar National Park. The Park is also a tiger reserve but we were told that seeing a tiger there was extremely rare and unlikely. That means it is a well protected reserve where the animals are not simply on display for tourists’ benefit. Thekkady is in the hills and has a cooler climate than the coastal areas we have been to. It is lush and green with many spice and tea plantations.
On our way into town we stopped at The Planter’s House, a cooperative spice plantation where we received a lovely tour of the many spices grown there. We enjoyed some samples straight from the garden followed by a chance to buy spices. While in Thekkady we booked a morning jeep tour around the park but had to cancel due to rain. We both had massages at an ayurvedic center, which involved huge amounts of therapeutic oils being poured all over us. I had to wash my hair four times for it to not be oily afterward. In the evening we went to watch a martial arts performance that involved acrobatics, fighting with weapons, and jumping through hoops of fire. It was more of a sports performance rather than any actual fighting thankfully. Sadly the rain continued throughout our stay in Thekkady and we never were able to explore Periyar National Park.
Impressions of South India Versus North India
We have already noticed some significant differences in South India compared to the areas we visited in the North. South India is so different from the North that it actually feels like a completely different country. It seems much greener and cleaner in the South. There is thankfully no smog in the air. The weather is also much more hot and humid. Dress for women is not required to be as modest in the South. I have been able to wear shorts and sleeveless shirts which is a blessing in the tropical climate. South Indian women traditionally wear the sari or a tunic with leggings while the men usually wear either western clothes or a type of sarong, which can be either a white dhoti or a colorful lungi with patterns. Local men often go shirtless. Overall it feels much more laid back in the South. The population feels less dense and people do not push us out of the way as often happened in the North. It seems like the quality of life is better for most people in the South thanks to more equitable economic conditions and a cleaner environment. I am still learning about India’s caste system and all its complexities but my impression after speaking with our guide is that it is somewhat less important to people in the South. There are a variety of religious faiths practiced in the South while the Northern population is mostly Hindu.
We have been surprised to learn that in South India many people eat lots of meat including beef and that only about 5% of South Indians are vegetarians. Overall India has turned out to be less vegetarian than we thought it would be. We have found plenty of good food to eat but there is much less variety to choose from than we thought there would be with only a small percentage of the offerings on menus in most restaurants being vegan-friendly. Even in the many pure vegetarian restaurants most dishes have ghee (butter) and/or paneer (cheese) in them but could be made vegan by request. We thought the majority of restaurant food would be vegan-friendly and that is just not the case in reality. So far, India as a whole has been quite different from what I envisioned in many ways. It is a great place to practice patience and flexibility as just you never know how things are going to go.
Sounds like a beautiful place overall!