From North to South India: My Journey Across Kerala

Entry Written From My Guest House in Kochi, Kerala on February 21, 2014

Pretty much everybody I know in India told me to visit the state of Kerala during my travels. As the southernmost tip of India, Kerala is known for its lush tropical landscapes and laid back vibe. Months ago, the crazy and hectic city of Mumbai was my only basis of comparison for the country and I never would have thought "lush" and "laid back" existed in India.

Well, I gave up on the resistance and figured I might as well check out what all the hype was about. With only a week to explore Kerala before I had to return to Mumbai, I stayed mainly on the beaten track and gave myself ample time to explore its three highlight areas: the hill station of Munnar, the backwaters of Alleppey and the colonial city of Kochi. My visit to Kerala actually felt like a laid back vacation. I spent most of my time just hanging out with fellow travellers as well as my favourite person in the world (myself, duh).

The best part about travelling in the tropics: the occasional surprise room mate to keep me company.

I stopped by Bangalore on the way down to meet a few social entrepreneurs, one of them being my friend Anubhav whom I met during a Dasra course. His early-stage social business is working on transforming hospital care both within India and the United States by arming caregivers (loved ones of hospital patients) with the tools and knowledge to provide care both during and after a hospital visit. He has a really cool job of travelling around India and implementing his service into his clients hospitals.

We got bored in Bangalore and decided to watch Robocop at this old school theatre where the food concessions and waiting area were all outdoors. It was a cool blast from the past.

What’s a Hill Station?

As far as I know, hill stations are unique to India. They are a colonial by-product created by the British inability to cope with hot weather during summer months.

I visited Munnar, one of the most legendary of all the hill stations. Munnar’s lush valleys used to be teeming with forests and wildlife. The local king wanted to keep it that way but the British had other plans saw potential in the area for supplying tea for the empire. As usual, the British had their way but not without the brutal exertion of colonial power that we would all rather forget.

89% of the tea in the world comes from Asia. I can believe it.

The land was returned to the king when the British rule of India ended. Today, the plantations are largely owned by one of India’s major conglomerates. Its 16,000 workers make $3.50/day if they meet their daily quota of 22kg. Believe it or not, that is considered good money in this part of the world.

I decided to go trekking in the hills with some newfound friends from Bristol

Huff. Puff. Huff. Puff. This better be worth it.

We climbed up to 2,400m above sea level which I guess is a big deal in South India. We were above a cloud line and enjoyed this mind blowing morning view. The ridge here separated a valley of fog on the left and a valley of clouds on the right.

Treks were banned a couple days before our hike. Two notorious murderers escaped from the local prison and ran for the hills. They murdered one more person before they were caught by the dogs. How can someone be so screwed up that their first thought when getting freedom for the first time in a while is “hey bro, let’s go murder another person.”

The Ultra Touristy Backwaters

Alleppey’s legendary backwaters comprise hundreds if not thousands of channels on which entire local communities are based. Houseboating on these backwaters is supposed to be one of the must-do’s in the region. I figured it would be super touristy, and it was, but it was a good chance to kick back and relax.

I saw hundreds of these houseboats during my day on the water. Some of they were mammoth boats with 4 bedrooms and even upper floor conference halls.

Our houseboat was quite humble by comparison.

This was our view for most of the ride. Our Captain had this great Avengers umbrella which he propped up whenever the sun got unbearable. We were pondering why he didn't just build something more permanent on the boat since he does this every day.

This is Beeni, a local tobacco of sorts. It's legal (it can be bought at any retail store) and I don't know what's in it other than dried leaves. It's pretty fantastic stuff.

I shared the houseboat with a real cool Danish dude named Jesper and we had great conversation while being served up delicious food from our own private chef. He spent some time in Auroville (hippie centre India) so we totally got into environmental discussions and talked about the state of the planet. I need to meet more like-minded yet pragmatic hippie types in my life.

A white stork battling a black cormorant. This is probably one of a few nature action shots I have ever taken during my years of shooting. I don't know how those National Geographic dudes do it so consistently.

Café Life in Kochi

My last stop in Kerala was its largest city: Kochi. A confluence of influences from China, Europe and the rest of India, Kochi is a cool spot with an amazing character. There wasn't much sightseeing in the city which made for a great 4.5 days spent to unwind and relax.

  

Beautiful Chinese fishing nets off the coast of Kochi. Given their manual intensity, they don't serve much of a function these days other than impressing tourists.

There is an amazing café culture in this city and I spent nearly every day at a different coffee shop hanging out and catching my breathe. I’m learning to compose music as a new hobby and as a stroke of luck I ran into a fellow traveller I met while I was in Alleppey.

For whatever reason, Ulf was travelling with five pairs of glasses so we did a funky photoshoot with them. Our backdrop was literally the wall of a coffee shop. These turned out really cool. I think I need to do more random photoshoots while travelling.

There's nobody better I could have asked for as my first electronic dance music teacher than a German DJ. He showed me the basics of the software I already had on my computer. Music production, here I come!