INDIA – The Kerala Way

Go figure how to do life The Kerala Way!

Posted on September 6, 2014

Walk the streets of historical Kochi, hike the tea and cardamom plantations of Munnar, spot tigers in the Periyar Tiger Reserve near Kumily, then relax for a few days in a houseboat on the Alleppey backwaters and the fine beaches of Varkala.

India is a federal union of states comprising twenty-eight states. Kerala state, located in the southwest along the Arabian Sea, is the only state with more women than men (1,084 women per 1,000 men in 2011). Bordered by the state of Tamil Nadu to the east, and the state of Karnataka to the north, Kerala is most famous for its history and arts (most notably in the town of Kochi), the tea, coffee, and cardamom plantations in the Western Ghats mountain range, the wildlife sanctuaries and tiger reserves, the Kerala backwaters along the Arabian Sea, and of course the tropical beaches.

A great start to experiencing the Kerala way of life is at the historical town of Kochi, formerly known as Cochin, which is a major port city on the west coast of Kerala along the Arabian Sea. With a city population of over 600,000 people (which is part of an extended metropolitan region of about 2.1 million), Kochi is the most densely populated city in the state.

Its rich history includes being the centre of the Indian spice trade, the Kingdom of Kochi which came into existence in the early 12th century, the colonial rules of the Portuguese, Dutch and the British, and being the temporary burial place of the Portuguese explorer, Vasco Da Gama, who died here on Christmas Eve of 1524 after earlier sailing around Cape of Good Hope in South Africa.

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Globerovers Magazine July 2013