India Xmas

The friendly culture, beautiful scenery, and delicious food have made India one of our favorite places so far and a great place to enjoy Xmas!

Mumbai


Upon arrival in Mumbai, we sought out a few attractions in Colaba. 

Taj Mahal Palace and Tower Hotel was just a hair out of our price range :)

We became part of the attraction at the Gateway of India as several locals asked to take photos with us around the monument

Marine Drive

KERALA


Fort Cochin

Chinese fishing nets

Enjoyed fresh seafood in Fort Cochin

The rick-shaw- main mode of short distance transport around Indian towns

Kathakali show in India is a combination of costume, acting, mime, dance, and music.  We got to the show a few minutes early to see some of the make up

Alleppey

After having a long (one sided) conversation with us in Hindi, this lady sat down with her fishing pole at 9am while we had a rice patty breakfast before our canoe trip around the backwaters.  Lunch was at our row-man's house and was our first experience with eating with our hands... a challenge with rice based food!

Very beautiful and relaxing covered canoe ride around the Alleppey backwaters

Flooded rice field

Street festival with auto traffic allowed!

Munnar

We spent a week on this spice plantation doing yoga, hiking around the tea fields of Munnar and enjoying 3 organic vegan meals per day.  It felt like the healthiest week of our lives, body and mind.

By far our nicest room in a long while :)

Yoga gazebo where we had sessions twice a day for sunrise and sunset

Beautiful hikes around the tea fields.  The tea leaves were being harvested in several areas and we toured the local tea museum.

Munnar market

After our week of relative luxury, it's back to buses and train rides, but with batteries freshly charged... looking forward to Jaipur, Agra and other parts of Rajasthan before making our way to Nepal...