Krusin' in Kerala

For our spring break, we were joined by Grandma and Grandpa Wixson and we ventured south to Kerala.  It was a spectacular week full of great interactions with the locals, amazing seafood, and delightful bed and breakfast hosts.

We began our week in historic Fort Cochin, a centuries old port city with several layers of history.  The signature scene of the city are the cantilevered Chinese-designed fishing nets.  We spent many hours strolling along the port watching the fishermen bringing in their nets and even, you can browse the day's catch, pick out what you want, and, this being India, a guy brought it in a plastic bag to a make-shift kitchen.  It was some of the best seafood we've ever had.

Fort Cochin is also famous for it's spice warehouses, particularly ginger and pepper.  As we saw in Michael Wood's "The Story of India," throughout the Jewish area of the city you can find vast warehouses that are hidden behind non-descript small doors.  Once we knew how to identify them, we discovered that by simply knocking and chatting with their propietors they were happy to give us a short tour of their facilities.

It was a remarkable experience to breath in the spiced air, but more than that, we truly were able to connect with a few locals who were happy to chat with us curious tourists, not just the cruise-ship types they normally see.

Next on the trip was our two-night houseboat cruise through a few of the 900km of canals that form the old transportation network of rural Kerala.  It was a very relaxing time, perfect for Daniel to get out a stretch, while we slowly motored down the canals.  Mostly, we watched people go about their daily lives and enjoyed seeing the brightly colored houses with their brightly dressed, sari-wearing occupants, set against the lush green background.  We smiled at the quaint scenes like a very overloaded canoe transporting rice barely staying afloat, children swimming, or a middle-aged man in a narrow hand dugout canoe herding thousands of ducks.

 Of course with all that water, Grandpa Rob couldn't resist dropping a line in with the crew of the boat. He even caught a small fish!

Next stop was Varkala, a special stop for me as I had traveled there ten years back with Laura, Bill, and Cathy on vacation from Kodaikanal International School.  It was HOT!  But, it was beautiful and there is such a chill vibe with so many fellow travelers all taking a break for their more adventurous travels.  It was here that, we all agreed, we had the best tasting fish any of us had ever had.  It was a 3-4 lb red snapper cooked whole on a skewer in the tandoor oven brushed with a light yogurt and masala rub mix.  

We finished our trip with a day of sight-seeing in Trivandrum, the capital city.  There we enjoyed the zoo and the old maharaja palaces.  We also had a great veg thali!

It was a great trip full of food, culture, and best of all, family time for us.  All travelers did exceptionally well, but most of all we were so proud of Daniel, he was a great traveler and is looking forward to his next trip, probably just as much as his travel-bug-bitten parents.