Weekend in Kerala!

We spent the past weekend exploring the beaches, mountains, and backwaters of Kerala. What an adventure!

Tea Plants

Tea Workers

Chinese Fishing Nets

We stayed in guesthouse in the city of Kochi (formerly know by its colonial name, Cochin). Must-see sites include the Chinese fishing nets, Santa Cruz Basilica, and an the Paradesi Synagogue.

After a late arrival Friday evening, we sat down with our host and planned out our weekend. We sampled some of the delicious fresh fish, and went to bed.

Mhmmm Fresh Red Snapper!

We left bright and early Saturday morning for Munar, a tea plantation community in the mountains outside of Kerala. On the drive up we learned about the different crops harvested in Kerala, including rubber, cashews, pineapples, and pepper. The landscape was lush and green, with waterfalls and hydro-electric dams along the way.

At the plantation, we visited the Tata tea museum and learned more about the tea making process and the history of the plantation. Most of the people working on the plantation are immigrants from nearby Tamil Nadu. The documentary shown went in to great detail about the welfare programs offered to the workers, including maternal health care, child care, family care and other provisions. Munar is also a hot spot for honeymooners, so we saw many young couples.

Sunday we visited a few villages on the outskirts of Kerala and went on a backwater tour.

View on the backwater tour

Monday morning was the day for site-seeing in Kochi. I was able to go to mass in the Santa Cruz Basilica. It was entirely in Malayalam, but was otherwise very similar to church at home. There were a few striking differences. Unlike churchgoers at home, who file in and out of their pews in a very orderly fashion to get communion, churchgoers at the basilica wandered up to get communion whenever they felt moved to in a 15 minute window at the end of mass. I was told later that people will even push and shove for communion at the more crowded masses.

Santa Cruz Basilica, Photo courtesy of Mia. During mass, most of the saints had flashing Christmas lights strung around them

 The rest of the day was spent eating, shopping, and visiting the synagogue. We were sad to leave the palm trees of Kerala for the far less lush landscape of Hyderabad, but it is nice to be home out of the humidity!

-KD