God's Country

Dear All,

I'm writing from an internet cafe in the tiny colonial town of Fort Cochin, Kerala. Deb and I arrived from Bangkok on Friday. Upon walking off the plane, the clean and humid air filled our lungs, signaling our arrival in the tropical paradise of Kerala, aka "God's Country". Kerala is one of the most progressive states in India, with the highest literacy and birth rates and the longest life expectancy. The state has been successfully run by communists for over half a century and a focus on public works, education and cooperatives have increased the standard of living. It is also the only state in India with more women than men.

The town of Fort Cochin is one of the first places on the Malabar coast the Portuguese touched down early in the 16th century. St. Francis Xavier was one of the early visitors to Cochin, and the original St. Francis Church is still standing today. Cochin also has a population of Orthodox Syrian Christians, Jews, Muslims and of course Hindus. The Dutch took over from the Portuguese in the 17th century, and the English followed in the 19th.

We are staying in a budget guest house in the middle of town, and are happy with a clean room and a fan. We are both craving a hot shower, and here we are at the beginning of our time in India! Yesterday, we took a day tour of the backwaters. Much of Kerala is made up of an intricate canal and river system, with villages interspersed throughout. The tour brought us to one such village where they produce rope out of coconut fur and the most delicious tapioca chips. We travelled through the canals on a traditional boat that was powered by two men using long bamboo poles. They plunged the poles to the canal floor and pushed us along at a tortoise pace. The palm tree forests lining the shores of the canals were gorgeous.

Today, we took a ferry and then a bus about 25 km north to Cherai beach. We have been so fortunate with the weather so far, with most of the heavy rain coming overnight and sunny days. One local man told us he had never before seen the sun in the month of June! As another local man said, "This change is good for the tourists, but not for us", as Keralans rely heavily on the rains for their livelihood.

It was wonderful being back on a bus in India. I had warned Deb of the driving, but I don't think anything can really prepare you for the experience of two-way traffic cruising along at 50 km/hr on a narrow road, horns blaring, barely swerving to avoid head on collisions. The bus was also segregated by sex, with the women allotted the front half and the men the back half of the bus. I'd never before seen gender segregation before on a bus in India.

The sunsets have been particularly spectacular over the last few days. There is no need to write more though, as this photo should suffice.


The sun setting over the Arabian Sea, off the coast of Fort Cochin, Kerala