20th February 2016
So it’s day 6 of the Kerala Blog Express. I’ve been having such an amazing time on this journey so far and I’m looking forward to what the next week and a bit has in store for us!
For those of you who voted, but still don’t really have any idea what I’m doing here I can now give you some extra information. I’m on a two week trip through the Southern Indian state of Kerala. I’m travelling with 29 other travel bloggers and we represent 25 countries. Our trip is being hosted by Kerala Tourism and this is the third year that they have provided this opportunity to travel bloggers. I believe I am the first Australian to take part which is a huge honour! If you want to find out a bit more you can visit the Kerala Blog Express webpage by clicking here. All 30 blogger profiles are listed as well.
So – Here’s 6 reasons why I’m loving the Kerala Blog Express:
ONE
THE FOOD – No joke, I actually think I will return to Australia the size of a house. We have been enjoying A LOT of buffet meals – for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Having a blogger with a sweet tooth on the tour isn’t the best either as the rest of us now feel inclined to sample all the delicious desserts as well (thanks for that The Sweet Wanderlust) Kerala has some amazing dishes on offer and I’ve been relishing in it. Curry for breakfast – yes please!
Just another meal in paradise!
TWO
THE HOTELS – When I first visited India in 2010 we definitely took the entry level hotel or guest house options. Now that I’m a little more mature and my standards have increased a quite a bit I have been incredibly happy with the hotel choices so far. I had no idea such beautiful resorts existed like this in India other than the ridiculously expensive ones. Some of the five star resorts we have stayed at so far have been less than USD150 per night. My favourite in these past six days has been the Kumarakom Lake Resort.
The KUMARAKOM LAKE RESORT
THREE
THE BUS – Seriously, our bus is pimped out frickin awesome! It has all our countries written around the edge – very cool. We’ve also been able to play our own tunes while cruising along. Big thanks to Breifne for putting together a playlist representing everyones country.
Our ride for the 14 day trip across Kerala
FOUR
SELFIES ARE NORMAL – You have no idea how good it is to not feel like an idiot with a selfie pole or needing to photograph my meal before I eat it. There’s 29 other people here with me doing exactly the same thing and it’s fantastic!
My roomie Anita from New Zealand
Veronika from Czech Republic taking her selfies seriously
FIVE
THE BEAUTY – I wrote in my initial ‘please vote for me post‘ about how different Kerala feels to the rest of India. There’s beauty in the landscape, but most importantly there’s beauty in the people. Everyone has been so welcoming and friendly.
Sunset on the Kerala Backwaters
Kids posing for me at a festival in Kerala
SIX
THE BLOGGERS – I’m sure there was a slight apprehension for all of us about being packed together with 29 others for two weeks but so far, so good. I suppose you get to know people pretty quickly when some of the hotels only have double share rooms. No, in all seriousness – everyone on this trip is lovely. We are all extremely happy to be here and it seems we are thriving off each others energy. Let’s see how we all are on day 14.
The bloggers! Photo credit: Patricia – Patchinpixels
