More photos from Keralan backwaters
Misc photos from the backwater village homestay in Chennamkary (near Alleppey):
Search Results for: backwaters
Highlights of Alleppey and backwaters
Alappuzha (Alleppey) was nothing exciting in and of itself, it’s more of a gateway to the backwaters. It sits roughly in the middle of the at least 120km long (north to south) stretch of backwaters; I’m not sure how wide it is (though it is wide too). Basically the area goes from Kochi (Cochin) at … Continue reading Highlights of Alleppey and backwaters
Map of India and my stops
Map of my India trip note that some town names in my “flags” will have slightly different spelling (due to new and old names), but if it sounds close, it’s the same Here is the list of places I visited (with state name for the first time entering a state): Chennai, Tamil Nadu Mamallapuram Pondy … Continue reading Map of India and my stops
A coule of little points missed in recent posts
Hampi: it’s a World Heritage site. Communicating in English: Note: there is a movement in India to make Hindi the official country-wide unifying language, but south India is resisting the idea because English is the common second language – hardly anyone speaks Hindi in the south. Recall that virtually every state (certainly in the south) has … Continue reading A coule of little points missed in recent posts
Now in Mysore after one brief night in Bangalore
The flight was great, though I was only in Bangalore (in the state of Karnataka) long enough to sleep, eat breakfast and wander the veg/fruit/flower market. The cones of coloured powder are kumkum, used for bindi dots on the foreheads of married women, as well as for religious rituals. Update: By the way, Bangalore looked … Continue reading Now in Mysore after one brief night in Bangalore
Flying to Bangalore tonight
On Kingfisher airlines – yes, the same company that owns the popular Indian beer Kingfisher (they are quite the conglomerate; they also have branded bottled drinking water). And I did see actual kingfishers on power lines in the backwaters… The flight is 1hr20min flight, vs a wait-listed overnight train ride. Does anybody work with outsourced … Continue reading Flying to Bangalore tonight
Arrived in Alleppey today after extending Varkala to 6 nights
Actually it is now officially called Alappuzha, but Alleppey seems more common (even in the train schedules!). 2 hours by train (Rs70/$1.75 for “sleeper” class). I almost missed getting on the train! This is the gateway town to the backwaters of Kerala – canals and villages accessible only by boat (over a huge area). I … Continue reading Arrived in Alleppey today after extending Varkala to 6 nights
Still in Varkala
It’s so relaxing, I’m spending 2 extra nights here in my semi-luxurious hotel room (Rs800/$20 per night) – sheets without stains or holes! top sheet! real towels! Yesterday I took a hands-on cooking class (Rs500/$12.50 for 1-2 people) with my new Scottish bud Brennen (the pic shows 4 of the 5 dishes we prepared and … Continue reading Still in Varkala