Amazing trip

Wow! It was a beautiful weekend in Kerala. We boarded the plane at 6:30 and arrived in Cochin (or Kochi) at around 8 pm. A very short plane trip compared to the 14 hour car ride...wise option to fly huh? When we arrived there we were greeted by our driver who took us to the Coconut Lagoon Resort which was just lovely. It had well manicured gardens with canals winding throughout. The kids were able to fish from the canals...although they were very small fish, 2 inches maximum! We swam in the pool while watching cows graze nearby, walked to the village, and took a sunset cruise on the backwaters. Saturday morning we boarded our houseboat to cruise through the backwaters of Kerala. It was so peaceful, Ted and I thoroughly enjoyed it but the kids were restless after a few hours of it. The houseboat which was staffed by a driver, navigator and cook,was a big wooden boat with 2 bedrooms and baths and a fully stocked kitchen. The kids fished from the houseboat when we stopped they caught a few small fish. During the afternoon a large storm rolled through and it rained for about 1 hour very hard. They pulled the tarps down on 3 sides so we were still able to watch the rain beat down on the rice paddies. In late afternoon we stopped at a nearby village and tied up to the shore for the night. It was so peaceful to hear the birds and the hum of the village. We were then took on a canoe ride through the maze of canals in the village. It was just simply beautiful. In the morning we arrived at Alleppey and drove to Cochin. On the way we stopped at the beach and set foot on the shore of the Arabian Sea. How cool that was. We then drove towards Cochin, on the way we passed these elephants. I was taking photos and of course they just had to ask if we wanted to ride, well of course those of you that read my camel riding experience know this has been a long desire of mine. But the elephants were awfully big and quite intimidating. I just kept thinking about the elephants that have gone mad in temples and well the kids didn't need to witness their mom being trampled by an elephant! So I am kicking myself for not seizing the opportunity but will wait for another day. We headed to Ft. Cochin and
walked along the sea wall, saw the Chinese fishing nets and several historical churches. We had a wonderful meal of red snapper, grouper and barracuda at a seafood restaurant. We then headed back to Chennai late that night. It was a great weekend!

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