Day 64 & 65: Kerala....

Day 64: Headed to the state of Kerala. Kerala is known for it's backwaters tours and it's spices. Christopher Columbus was actually looking for the spices of Kerala, when he accidentially discovered America. When I first stepped off the plane, I noticed how organized and clean the airport is and how modern looking it is as well. Then having stepped outside the airport, I noticed how green every thing is especially all the palm trees. Got to my hotel in Fort Cochin and noticed how clean everything was, I didn't noticed any trash thrown on the ground and it was quite easy to get around as most people speak english there. Kerala hails as the cleanest, educated, prettiest, and most modern states I have been to India. It sets a fine example of how other states should strive to be. The people are laid back and I only ran into one beggar on the street. I have been told that believe it or not the beggars are seasonal, meaning in low season they have a little farm outside of town that they work on and during high tourist times they come back into the cities. That day took it easy and walked around. Tried some of yummy fish in coconut sauce, which was quite tastey. They have interesting in Chinese Nets that they use to catch fish. Vasco de Gama's arrival in 1498 heralded an era of Euorpean colonialism as Portugese, Dutch, and English fought the Arba traders and then each other for control of the spice trade.

Day 65: Took a backwaters tour....it was quite relaxing as the water was calm, we saw some houses and people as we sailed around. We saw quite a few bananna, coconut, and other types of fruit trees around. Had a great lunch which consisted of food on a bannana leaf, we had some rice, they use a different type of rice than other parts of india, it's a little fuller than basmati, and the shagi's, are often times made of fruit.