Kerala

Arianna and I spent three days in Kerala, one of the two southernmost states in India. We were in a part of the state called the backwaters, where a network of rivers and estuaries meet the ocean. We stayed in a beach resort on a long, narrow island. To one side was the ocean, and on the other side were all the rivers and small canals. Our resort itself was built with little canals, fed by the backwaters, running through it. We stayed in a traditional style hut, with a coconut thatched roof and a tree growing in it.








One of our mornings there, we went in a canoe on a boat tour of the backwaters. We sailed for a while on the main river, up the narrow canals through fishing villages, and back.


Chinese fishing nets






Mangrove trees




Pepper plant



Kingfisher




All of the doorsteps around town in Kerala were decorated for a festival, Onam, that was just concluding.


We went into the nearby town, Ft Cochi, one night while in Kerala. We saw Kathakali dancing and ate amazing fresh fish (bought directly from the fisherman and fried right there).

The Kathakali dancers were mesmerizing. Its a mindblowing form of dance. The dancers convey so much with their facial expressions and with a series of 24 hand gestures (you can see some of the various gestures in the Kathakali lexicon on the wall in the photo). There are no words, but the expressions and gestures convey the story to audiences. The dances intepret parts of the Ramayana, the Mahabrata, and the Vedas.

As impressive as the intricacy of the dance is that performances typically last 12 hours long, from sunset to sunrise! Talk about stamina.