2nd March 2016
#KeralaBlogExpress 2016 – Let the games begin!
It’s Saturday – departure day and I have overslept. Oh snap, hurry up man! Last minute I catch the train to the airport in Düsseldorf. Finally, after my four months in South-East Asia and Australia some time ago it is time to go on a far distance trip again. Emirates A380 is calling with a super modern on board entertainment system – lovin travel in style!
Via Dubai I fly to Kerala, in the South of India. The trip I was awaiting so damn long. Thanks again everyone who voted for me. In total 1000 bloggers applied and 30 of them from 25 countries have been chosen to be invited.
At the Airport in Dubai I already meet some of them as we are on the same flight. When I open the flight window the beauty of Kerala reveals to me: OMG! Look at that beach man!
It’s my first time in India and I want to experience this piece of land without being preset. Neither did I inform myself nor did we get information what will await us. The only thing I know is that we will explore the region of Kerala in Southern India by bus for two weeks. You can imagine how excited I am. Soooooooo excited! 
After waiting in the visa queue at Trivandrum Airport for nearly one hour we are warmly welcomed by the #Keralablogexpress crew. Catching us with the video camera and interviewing us is a hard piece of work as I am totally exhausted and look like shit after a 24-hour travel day. From the airport in Trivandrum we go straight to the first resort –The Leela in Kovalam where the rest of the bloggers are waiting for us. Oh look, there are Claire and Franzi who I know from previous trips. Good to see them again and to spend the following two weeks together. At dinner, sunset idyll and with a cocktail in the hand all 30 of us are getting to know each other. Today is Valentine’s Day – what a coincidence.
I am super excited – two weeks in paradise have now officially began! Welcome to Kerala, where spirituality, silence, sustainable tourism and chaos are going hand in hand.
Exploring Kerala – Daily Routine @KeralaBlogExpress
Days are long nights are short. A typical day at #KeralaBlogExpress looks like this: Between six and seven in the morning we head for breakfast. There is way too much food there already. Afterwards, my every day highlight – the bus ride.
We are spending between three to eight hours in our luxury coach every day. Sounds boring!? Not at all! Everybody is talking to each other. This is the place where we all get to know each other for real. This social gathering involves a lot of laughing, sleeping and even dancing. I’m lovin it.
At midday we stop at a resort which we inspect, have lunch at and sometimes even have time to quickly jump into the pool.
One thing is for sure: There is way too much food on this trip. I need to resist but it’s hard.
During the afternoon we visit Tea fields, traditional dance presentations, local businesses and different places in Kerala.
My highlight above all is the blogger community. So many cool people from different countries. 23 women and 7 men from 25 countries.
Photo by Kerala Tourism
Around ten o’clock in the evening we arrive in the resorts. The group is mostly split among two or three resorts for the night. Breifne from Ireland is my room buddy during the entire trip. What a cool guy!
Photo by Kerala Tourism
After-parties usually take place on the private hotel rooms – mostly in our room. #roomformore is the hastag. Let the fun begin!
There is always #roomformore! Photo by BettyTravels
Photo by Mi Aventura Viajando
Between one and three o’clock in the morning everybody is off to get some sleep before the breakfast is awaiting us again around 7.30 am. An exceptional state, I know but I like it this way and I already know that it will be very hard to go back home once the trip is over. What I do not know yet: It will become a #TripOfALifetime!
Stay tuned! In my next post I will have more stories and highlights about this trip plus an Instagram list of all #KeralaBlogExpress bloggers ?
