Kerala backwaters

As we left Kanniyakumari, we also left behind the ragged landscape of the Tamil heartland in exchange for the lush greens of Kerala. Forests of palm trees, rice paddies, beaches and tiny rivers crawling through „God’s own country“. The journey took us to Varkala, Kollam, Alleppey and Fort Kochi, most of which are neatly connected by waterways along the coast of the Arabian Sea – the Kerala backwaters, a well-known etappe on the tourist trail.





The images below illustrate views from canoes and river boats that took us through villages in the backwaters, along canals and major waterways. Perhaps the odd comparison to Vietnam is not too far fetched, or indeed the Netherlands (with palmtrees!).






Our Keralan week was spoiled to some extent by the monsoon rains, and any hope of a enjoying a few days of reading in a hammock under a palm tree at the beach were wrecked. However, Fort Kochi turned out to offer much of that post-colonial charm that is surprisingly tricky to stumble over at times. The raggedness of the British, Prtuguese and Dutch built mansions, the wonderful mix of religious enclaves on the street map, the spice merchants still crowding Bazaar Road, the antiques shops at the Jewish quarters and the inviting locals eager for a chat on the state of affairs in Communist Kerala, the diversity of India, the spiritual void in the West and beyond. Alongside Mumbai, and regardless of the whiff of tourists that flock here once the season starts in November, this felt like as a place in the South we wanted to return to some day.
[below a fromer colonial estate we stayed in at Kollam, and images from the streets in Fort Kochi]