Day 21/22/23 - June 15/16/17 - Adventures in Kerala

Hello adoring blog readers, This weekend we had the pleasure of visiting Varkala, Kerala (the state bordering Tamil Nadu to the west). Varkala is cool, breezy, and located on the coast; after 3 weeks of sweaty sleeping, it was a very nice place to visit for some sightseeing and relaxation (see pics of the resort below). Driving to Kerala was an adventure in and of itself. We passed through the Western Ghats, the mountain range we see from our project sight every day. It reminded me of a very tropical version of Colorado and the whole drive was eye candy for a nature lover like myself. One thing that surprised me were the differences between towns on the east (Tamil Nadu) and west (Kerala) sides of the mountains. As soon as we hit the town on the other side of the Ghats, the alphabet that things were written in changed. They speak and write Mayalam in Kerala, whereas Tamil is the language of Tamil Nadu. I guess I expected it to be a more gradual change, but then I got thinking about how human cultures and languages develop. I can only imagine that for early peoples inhabiting this area, a mountain range was a huge ordeal to travel across. Even though they weren't far from one another, whole language systems developed independently, all because of a geographical obstruction. I marvel that we can traverse this barrier in a matter of hours nowadays, yet the cultural barriers cause by its presence will remain for years to come. I guess this is what happens when you don't bring a book on a 6-hour car ride though--you end up thinking a lot.

- Kiera

Evening skies while driving to Varkala, Kerala. The planned 4 hour drive turned into a 6 hour one. Thank you road construction and Indian traffic.

Thursday night dinner at Krishnatheeram.

Some of the views we had from the hotel we stayed at.

Canoeing through Keralan backwaters near Kollam.

Here are some photos of the scenic outlook that we stoppped at. This is the Thenmala Dam, part of an irrigation plan for the Kallada River and a region of the Western Ghats mountain range.