A Taste of South India

For the past year, Phil and I have been discussing the possibility of having him come here to visit for his annual vacation. A few weeks ago Phil those plans finally turned into reality and he arrived in Mumbai where I met him at the airport. We spent two days in Pune before heading down south to the state of Kerala to meet my friends from Pune to experience the backwaters.

Our Eco-Friendly Boat

The sun felt much warmer on the skin compared to Pune, possible because the pollution in the air wasn't as bad. The state overall was much cleaner compared to Pune, and although I saw a very small portion of the state, Kochi was very developed and had a very interesting vibe. The atmosphere was noticeably more laid back compared to many cities I have visited so far in India. We ended up spending only one night in Kochi before leaving for our backwater tour which was a really interesting experience. I wouldn't want to do it for several days in a row, but our tour was only one day and one night, which was the perfect amount of time to sit on the boat and watch the world go by. We made the excellent choice of doing an environmentally friendly tour, which meant our boat had no motor and there was complete silence. We ate fantastic meals on the boat and spent a great night outdoors sleeping in mosquito nets with the wind blowing across the lake. I ended up however waking up with huge swollen bug bites on my back as I had been apparently massacred by mosquitoes the day before.

Backwater Canal

Attempting to Steer the boat

Phil and I decided to head out to Tamil Nadu the following day. We decided to check out a hill station called "Ooty", but unfortunately a cyclone hit most of the state and we were trapped up in the mountains in thick cloud, cold weather, and heavy rain for the better part of three days. I was extremely unprepared for this weather, having brought only a few t shirts and shorts with me, and no shoes. However, the drive up the mountain roads to Ooty was one that I wont soon forget, amazing views and the colours were some of the most vivid I have seen so far since arriving last July.

Exploring Ooty

After three days in the cold we took an overnight train to meet Julie, Victoria and Anjali in Pondicherry, a coastal city that was once a former French colony. After spending three days there, it almost felt as if we had travelled to a European country, with french being spoken everywhere, the laid back atmosphere and clean streets in the French quarter of the city. We all joked that it was only once we crossed the canal (more like an open sewer) from the French quarter to the Indian part of town that you could start to feel like you were back in India. In general we spend the three days eating, wondering around and relaxing on the rooftop of our guesthouse that overlooked the bay of bengal. We rented scooters one day and travelled 15km to the town of Auroville, which was extremely beautiful, located in the forest just outside the city. The idea of Auroville is a universal community where nationalities do not matter, and every member lives in harmony and peace, united. While the idea really seemed interesting to me, the actual place itself was really strange in my opinion, and rubbed me the wrong way. The center of the town has a huge dome of sorts with a huge diamond in side which none of us could really understand. I'm glad I went to see, but I won't be moving anytime soon!

This trip had a very distinct feeling that was quite different than the other journey's so far in India. While every area of the country is quite different, I felt the biggest change from what I have come to know in Maharashtra was in Kerala & TN. The cleanliness of the cities, along with the laid back atmosphere of the coastal regions was a nice change. Having Phil here was extremely fun, and it will be great to share the experience with him and I'm sure we will be re-living our trip for the years to come. 

View from the rooftop

Coast of the Bay of Bengal