Ayurveda: Experiencing an Ancient South Indian Tradition

Ayurveda is a system of healthcare and healing that is known worldwide, and originates in Kerala, India.  It was what I heard most about before arr...

Elephant Rides: Animal Abuse vs. Tourism

Elephant rides top many bucket lists, and tourists from around the world seek them out. Like walking into a guide book, we ran into “domesticated” ...

Street Harassment and Traveling Advice for Women

Everyone has a lot to say about women travelers, especially if they’re solo, especially if they go somewhere in the Global South.  And really, ever...

The Party

After I had made all my arrangements to go to Kerala, I found out something fantastic: it has an active communist party (or two)!  Does communism f...

Munnar: Street Photography in India

  Munnar was like a breath of fresh, mountain air. High up in the Western Ghats, the cool mountain air of Munnar was a lovely relief after so ...

A Day with the Masters: Kalamandalam School in Kerala

We had the opportunity to visit Kalamandalam dance school in Kerala.  The school teaches over 20 different disciplines, including several types of ...

Archaeology in Kerala

  The other day in Pattanam, central Kerala , we had an amazing opportunity to see an archeological site in progress and meet with the site’s ...

Welcome to the Monkey House

The other morning I woke up early to a crazy noise.  After trying to sleep through it for a while, I realized that the monkey-like sounds were actu...

Houseboat Cruise on the Kerala Backwaters

A houseboat cruise on the Kerala Backwaters sounded like a great way to unwind from long hours in a tour bus. Kerala is a low-lying state in the So...

Outside Padmanabhaswamy Temple

Outside Padmanabhapuram Palace

I’ll be posting about the Palace itself later, which I loved, but for now here are a few images from the surrounding streets.  

Living it up in the Hotel Kerala

For our first day of touring we were shepherded from one luxury hotel to the next in Kovalam.  Luxury is not how I roll, and I am not interested in...

Sunrise at Uday Samudra in Kovalam

I’ve never been very good at relaxing (or at resorts), so waiting around at UDS waiting for this trip to start has me a little stir crazy.  After s...

Kerala Blog Express, pt 3

If you haven’t yet, read part 1 and part 2 of this series in order to get caught up on how my journey to Kerala, India came about.   This trip will...

Kerala Blog Express, pt 2

Where we last left off, I had finished the contest in 30th place (only 25 would be selected) out of over 600 registered participants from over 80 c...

Kerala Blog Express, pt 1

If you’re reading his blog, you have probably heard of (and voted for me for) the Kerala Blog Express, a first of its kindtravel blogging trip thro...