Verdant

Cherai beach resort.
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Verdant.  That’s become my new word here in Kerala.  You know how a certain song sticks in your head, and just keeps popping up at weird times…Well I have words pop into my head.  Verdant is this week’s vocabulary word.  Within half an hour of disembarking from the plane, I felt as though I had made a mistake by not coming here sooner.  It’s so green, with coconut trees everywhere.  Kerala while being nicknamed “Gods Country,” is actually named after coconuts (Kera-coconut, La-land.)

Cherai Beach.
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Once more, after about half an hours journey through Kerala, there was a feeling that I had missed out on something.  Aside from the beauty of the place, there was also a contrast between the peoples of Kerala and other parts of India.  India is so vast and diverse; it’s hard to keep up with all of the customs and such.  The only thing binding India together in my opinion is the English language.  Many in India feel the same as I.

Anyhow, the Keralans are the richest people in India, and are a full 30 percent Christian.  There are more Hindus of course, with Muslims living in the northern portion.  There are anti-littering laws in effect.  The roads are paved and orderly (For India), there are no Camel carts or cows wandering the roads (The Christians and Muslims would eat the cows), there are very few hawkers compared to other parts of India as well.  In Kerala, you walk by a market, and people do try to sell you their wares.  They are so gentle and reserved about it though.  If you respond that you’re not interested, they generally leave you alone.  In Rajasthan, people would follow you down the street exclaiming what a dufus you were for passing their shop and not purchasing a thing.  After all the hustle and bustle of the North, and the 13-hour bus ride from the Himalayas to Delhi, it’s simply a real nice place to be.

Sunset.
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I found a driver at the airport, and we made the 40-minute drive to Cherai Beach.  It had been a long day of traveling, and I was ready for some Phi Phi Island style relaxation.  Cherai was a good choice, 15 miles of nearly empty beach.  The sand is the same color as Los Angeles, and the water has that same greenish-blue color.  Difference is, when you go into the water in Kerala, its temp. is around 85 degrees.  If you’ve ever traveled to a tropical destination, only to be upset at the size of the crowds, then Kerala is the place for you.  Cherai beach and most of the others I went to had very few travelers.  It’s mostly coconut trees hanging over the beach.  The backside of the beach is crowded with rivers called “the backwaters,” making Keralas other nickname “Venice of India.”  I sat on the beach, marveling at the fact that only 18 hours earlier, I’d been chillin’ in the Himalayan foothills, and I was now in the south of India, only a few degrees away from the equator.  The next day I had my favorite adventure in India- The backwaters tour…more to come…

Mas sunset.
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As before, I’m behind on the blog.  I’m writing this in Rome, only a few hundred yards from the Vatican (Where I’ve made my home.)  It feels a bit weird, as though I’m writing a novel, not a travel journal.  I was hanging with my friends Julie and Lorraine, for the past week or so, and am only now able to appreciate the fact that I’m here.  To go from South-East Asia, to India, to Rome, is a big journey.  I have been to Rome before several times, and after India, it feels like I’m in Playa Del Rey.  I walk around at ease; know my way around (mostly) and, the food is great!  I love Indian and Thai food, but after six weeks of curry and rice, I needed a change.  To eat pasta and have a salad is sooo cool, no more Delhi belly for me.  See ya soon.