Our last days in India.....to December 15, 2013

 Our last walk in Terrace Gardens!  Someone knew we were leaving!!

 And a chat with a beautiful lady.  Bit of a one-sided conversation.

 Nice to pop in to visit Mr. Sodhi, our landlord in 2012.

 A farewell visit with Sweety, Sanjeev and Yuvraj.

 And we are packed and ready to leave our home of the past four months.

 Some of our favourite people at UFV Chandigarh. Cleaning, driving and coffee!!

 We are smiling for the picture but our hearts are sad.  Au revoir to good friends!

 Delhi with Anil.  We are lost in this mass of traffic.

 A final glimpse of the India we have grown to love!

 Thank you, Gurneet, for the night at the Leela Palace in Delhi before our departure.

And a reminder that family and Christmas are waiting for us at home.  This has been an incredible adventure!  Thank you to all the wonderful people who made it possible!

Kerala is one big garden…...

From the rice fields along the backwaters………..

To the spice gardens and wild spices along the climb up the Western Ghats…...

To the huge vegetable gardens at elevations over 5000 feet--just below the ridge where George is standing with Jose, our most incredible driver.  (If you are going to Karela and need a good, knowledgeable, dependable driver for a few days, you must find Jose!)

To the tea plantations that cover acres of hillsides from elevations of 4000 to 7000 feet, Karela has an endless varieties of fruits, vegetables, tea, coffee, spices, coconut, flowers, rubber trees………..

We started our tour in Kochi.  At the Avenue Regent Hotel, we were reminded that this is the Christmas season despite the 35 degree weather.

Our travel companion for this adventure was Manmeet Bhasin, younger sister of Dilmeet.  Manmeet's language skills were put to the test as she used English and Hindi to communicate with our Malayalam-speaking driver.  Fortunately, he also knew some English and Hindi.
We left Kochi (elev.  29 feet) in early morning to drive the four hours up a twisty, sometimes very bumpy road to the hill station of Munnar (elev. 5600 feet).

Munnar is a small city of about 70,000 people that is surrounded by tea plantations.  It is a popular tourist destination.  Our hotel, the Silver Tips, was most magnificent.  It was built as a movie theatre in 1920, but after silent movies, talkies, new technologies, it fell victim to television, computers, and home theatres.  So, about four years ago, it was converted to a hotel.  The movie theme has been maintained so all guests rooms have a particular movie theme.  Manmeet stayed in The Godfather and we were in Anand.  (Definitely recommended to travellers heading to Munnar!)

We were fortunate to be able to attend a community cultural event in a small cultural centre.  First, we were introduced to a traditional Karela martial arts demonstration, Kalarippayat.

This was followed by a Kathakali performance, a classical dance form.  Not a word was spoken by the actors/dancers although a drama was happening.  All communication was by facial expressions and hand gestures. 

Munnar has a thriving market area.  Being in the heart of tea and spice land, there are many tea and spice shops.  The ladies in Chandigarh sent us on a mission to buy the spices they use in their delicious food.

Where in the world can you feed three people for 205 rupees?  At Saravana in Munnar, of course.  We had a variety of South Indian breads with chutneys, all served on banana leaves.  The service was very fast and we were definitely well fed.  (Another recommendation if you go to Munnar!)

Another "must see" is the Tea Museum.  I have a new respect for every cup of tea I consume.  We learned that women do the picking because they have a better touch.

Yes, we had to ride an elephant.  It was painful!!! but fun for us.  Having three of us on his back was probably painful for the elephant, too, and not really too much fun.

This was the view from the top.

And this, too, was the view from the top--Top Station, that is, at an elevation of 7400 feet.

Tea plants continued right up to this level and women continued to pick.

The women wear protective wraps around their bodies as they move between the plants, and they carry big sticks.  Ugh!  There are dangerous snakes lurking amongst the plants!

Great excitement on our way back down to Munnar!  A group of five wild elephants were grazing in a meadow.

Back down to sea level, we boarded our houseboat for 22 hours in the backwaters.  Our boat wasn't the nicest looking one but was clean and comfortable.  It had three bedrooms, each with a private bathroom.

Our two crew members let us pretend to be driving the boat.

The main canal has villages on both sides.  These consist of houses running along the water, and behind them are the rice fields.  The backwaters are fresh water bodies so small canals run off at intervals so the rice fields can be flooded.

Life is generally comfortable in these villages until the rains come.  Many houses get flooded because they sit below the water line.  The pathway along the waters edge acts as a dyke.

This waterway is life to the villagers.  It is the only travel route, the place where people bathe and brush their teeth, and where they wash their clothes.

Our cook prepared some excellent meals in his little kitchen at the back of the boat.

This was the main dish for lunch.

Amazing views as the sun set……..

All too soon the next morning, our backwater adventure came to an end.  We followed the other 1999 houseboats along a canal to our final docking spot.

One could spend days cruising around this huge expanse of water.

Our next stop was Alleppey Beach--a very beautiful, clean, quiet and warm spot.
We are 10 degrees north latitude!

Manmeet experienced her first horseback ride.  We rode the camel.

There are very many Christian churches in Kerala.  It was settled by the Portuguese, and then came the Dutch, and finally the British.  Santa Cruz Cathedral Basilica was first built in 1505. 

Another attraction is the Chinese fishing nets lined up along the water.  These are manually operated and dip down in the water to scoop up the sea life.

I don't think much of the product at this fish stall came from those nets.

How does a tropical paradise get that snowy Christmas feel?  In Fort Kochi, they do it this way.

Our travels in India have ended, and what a way to end them--a visit to that big garden, the state of Kerala.
We must say thank you to our boss at UFV Chandigarh, Gurneet Singh Anand, for arranging all the details of our post-semester tours.  We have learned so much more about this amazing country.  Thank you also to Ninni and Satbir Anand who travelled with us to Goa, and to Manmeet Bhasin for joining us in this adventure to Kerala. 

iPhone 5 Takes a Plunge…….

…….. into the Arabian Sea!!!  Right after this photo was clicked.  Rescue mission successful!!  Recovery…. not quite!  Thankfully, all photos have been recovered but the salt water has caused a short circuit in my phone's brain.  It is automatically creating emails and making phone calls.  So, if you get a strange message from me, it's just the phone talking.

Apart from that little episode, our trip to Goa as guests of Satbir and Ninni Anand was truly wonderful.  We flew from Chandigarh to Chatrapati Shivaji Airport in Mumbai.

And then on to Dabolim Airport in Vasco Da Gama, Goa.   This part of India was settled by the Portuguese in the 1500's.

Our excursion was arranged by Gurneet, and he made sure that someone was at the airport to meet us.

We spent four nights at the O Hotel at Candolim Beach, about a one-hour, twisty-road drive from the airport.

The hotel was everything one would want  for a tropical holiday.

It had a swimming pool, hot tub, and comfy lounges.

The grounds and buildings were immaculate.

Such an array of tropical vegetation!

The lighted inner courtyard was so beautiful, especially at night.

Lounge areas were open air and peaceful.

And the staff!  I do not think we have ever experienced a more service-oriented, friendly staff.  Everyone, the wait staff in the restaurant,  the cleaners, gardeners, front desk and reception staff, would give us a smile and a greeting every time we passed by.  The food was varied and delicious.

Of course, the beach……..

Uncrowded, clean, perfect waves for having fun….and snatching iPhones!

We absolutely recommend the O Hotel to travellers heading to Goa--and we definitely recommend Goa as a holiday destination. 

Thanks to President Mark and Maureen, we had some great  UFV beach towels to do a little advertising.  In fact, we recommend that the next campus of UFV be established in Goa!

We weren't the only Canadians at the O Hotel.  Omni Television crews were on site filming the final competition for a show that will be aired in Canada in April.  Tune in to Omni Television then to find out which Canadian dancer/actor has won a part in a Bollywood movie!

There are many, many beaches to visit.  Another one we loved was Ashvem Beach.

This one had less surf but miles of flat sandy beach.

There is so much history in Goa as well, and we did take some time to visit some of the sites.

Fort Aguada was about four kilometres from our hotel.  It was built by the Portuguese in 1612, and has the first ever lighthouse built in Asia.

As a good fort should, Aguada sits atop a hill and has spectacular views. 

Our team sat atop a wall of the fort just as UFV Chandigarh students did when they visited Goa last February.

Of course, no visit to Goa is complete without going to Old Goa.  This is the Se Cathedral, commissioned in 1631 after taking 62 years to build.  It is dedicated to St. Catherine of Alexandria.

Our visit to Old Goa coincided with the celebrations around the Feast of St. Francis Xavier so the area was very busy.  Mass was being celebrated in an outdoor venue.

Hundreds of people were visiting the Basilica de Bom Jesus, built in 1605.  It houses the remains of St. Francis Xavier.  After 400 years, this body is in remarkable condition and is put on public display every ten years.  The next viewing will be in 2014.

Se Cathedral and surrounding area.

There must always be a market place, and this very sacred area was no exception.  It was interesting to see Mahatma Gandhi gazing down on all of the activity.

A place of worship in Panaji, the capital city of Goa.

Sadly, the sun did set on our restful vacation in this very different part of India.
We were off to the airport before it rose the next morning, heading back to Chandigarh to do the laundry and repack our bags.
Tomorrow, we are heading right to the southern tip of the subcontinent to visit Kerala!