I left my heart in India...

I realized I started this blog months ago and never published it. Sorry about that. India truly was the trip of a lifetime. Rey and I spent the first 9 days in Kerala, one of the smallest states on the western coast of India. We have a lot of friends from there, so we were eager to see what all the fuss was about, as Keralites are quite proud of their heritage. It wasn't long before we understood why. Kerala is absolutely beautiful. We booked a tour package online, which was the best thing we could have done because we pretty much just showed up and everything was taken care of. We started in Cochin and moved out into the spice plantations, tea estates, and backwaters of this largely natural and unspoiled state. Everything was amazingly green, and the rainy weather (it was actually monsoon season) only emphasized the vibrant colors. Here is a quick photo highlight tour of the trip.

Allepey--water taxi on the backwaters. The old man at the front literally ferried people back and forth across the river all day. The people in the backwaters live on the edge of the water and travel most places by water. They also use the river for washing dishes, doing laundry, and bathing. In the afternoon we saw a "water school bus" taking the kids home from school!

Kumarakom--Snake boat training on the backwaters

Kumarakom--exploring the coastal area

Thekkedy--elephant ride at the spice plantation!

spice plantation--Maddie our elephant

near Munnar--national park in the mountains

near Munnar--our hotel in the forest

photo shoot along the way

Cochin--Jew town

After our stay in Kerala, we took a bus to Tamil Nadu to meet some friends. We stayed at their house in Coimbatore before heading out to the hills for a little safari. We saw wild elephants, bison, spotted deer, birds, and sambar. After the safari, we explored the hill stations of Ooty and Coonoor. Great scenery, great company. For our last leg, we took a 7 hour train ride up to Bangalore, where we met another friend. There we explored the city life of shopping, auto rickshaws, and fantastic restaurants. At this point, after three weeks exploring south India, Rey was more than ready to head home. I, on the other hand, began plotting my next trip to India! :)